Chapter 18

“Davik!” Ilane pleaded - her speech was slightly slurred. “I need your help Violet has gone missing!”

“Well,” Edgar said with a sigh. “It seems like you have something more important to deal with. We will talk tomorrow when you have a moment free. Hopefully, we can do the transfer of funds then.”

I took Ilane’s arm and helped her to a chair as Edgar and Revar saw their way out and closed the door.

“Ilane, tell me what happened. Where is Violet and why are you like this? Is Kafe alright? Brandon said he had not been at the shop all day. Does he know anything about what happened?”

“Yes, Kafe is alright, Davik,” she said softly, “so, do not worry. He was knocked out by the same powder that I have been. He is still sleeping, as my body had a less concentrated dose due to my size relative to his.”

“Do you know what was used to knock you out, and who it was that used it on you? I will see to it that the person, or persons, responsible are punished!”

My response made her laugh out loud, but then grab her head. It looked like whatever she had ingested had given her a headache along with the grogginess.

“Well, when you find Violet, you can punish her to your heart’s content. She was the one who did this to us, using a powder that we give out to help people sleep. The concentration was much higher than we normally give out, but I believe the idea was to keep us sleep for at least a day.”

“But, why?” I asked, the shock evident in my voice. “Why would she risk doing that to you and her brother?”

Ilane shook her head, “I can only assume she did it so she could get away before someone told you. She knew I would try to stop her, and failing to do so, tell you. Kafe would have just immediately come to tell you so you could stop her. Now, she has been gone for a full day, with no way to know where she went, or where she means to go.”

I knew it was worse than that. Violet would not leave any noticeable sign of where she went. There would not be any tracks to follow, unlike the night she had been taken by her father. Then, she had left a trail on purpose, though one only I and a few other hunters could discern. Ruben was out of practice and would not have been able to track it, which is why he had followed me and Trent that night.

Now, she would be hiding herself from me and when she did not want someone to know where she was, she would effectively leave no sign. There were two towns and five villages that she could have gone to, not including Fardun and Dru’tirk. She knew which plants that grew in the forest were harmful and she knew enough to keep herself well fed. She also had a cache of funds that she no doubt took out of the bank.

“Ilane, Violet had an account at the bank. Are you still one who can access and give access to the account, or has Violet gained full control over it?”

“Hmm,” she said as she thought for a minute and then replied. “No, we did not get to that yet with everything that had happened. Why do you ask?”

“I will need you to write up a document and use your seal to make it recognizable to the bank. I had to go there today anyway, and I believe that she may have withdrawn the entire contents of the Drectar in the account.”

“Okay,” she replied with a nod. “I can meet you at the bank when you go to make the deal. Just let me know when it will happen.”

“How about we get you from the clinic when we are going to make the transfer, that way you will be with us and we can find out as soon as possible.”

“It sounds like a good idea, but who would mind the clinic while I am away at the bank? Kafe can handle working the welcoming area, but he is not trained to do what Violet, Lillian and I can do.”

“I can do it,” said a voice from the stairs. We turned to see Celka standing there, a warm smile on her face. “I can run the clinic, after all I had been a travelling healer for many years, and it will ensure that your patients are taken care of while you are out.”

“You would do that?” Ilane asked, to which Celka simply nodded. “Thank you so much Celka, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

Celka simply gave another nod and made her way back upstairs. I asked Ilane how she was doing and if she was ok to go home. We both agreed that she would not make it home alright, but we did not have any other beds.

“I know we have the rooms, but we have not yet gotten more beds. It will be something I will have to remedy before I go to Retvan.”

“She can sleep in our room,” Liza called out from the top of the stairs. “Sorry for listening in like that, Celka told us you may need our help. Since we have two beds in our room, one of us could bunk up, freeing a bed for Ilane to use.”

Ilane gave her thanks and I helped her up the stairs to the girl’s room. I left the girls to help Ilane get settled and I made my way back down to the study.

There were still a few more hours left before I went to bed, so I decided to continue my contribution to the journal. I did not notice how long I had been writing, until I felt a hand on my shoulder, jolting me out of my task. I looked up to see Trina’s warm smile - as her sister’s before - no doubt to make sure I went to bed.

“Hello Trina,” I said, returning her smile with one of my own. “How long have I been down here writing?”

“Nearly three hours, now. Ilane is doing ok and is resting comfortably. She thinks the effects will wear off fully by morning. Have you made much progress in your writing?”

“Yes, I have,” I replied with a nod. “I have gotten to the night that Ruben kidnapped Violet. I have been not only mentioning the events that have occurred in my life, but the effect that it had on me. What I thought and felt when those events transpired. That way, my side of things could be accounted for, should anything ever happen to me.”

“Now Davik, I do not want to hear you talk like that, understand? I do not want to think what will happen - to all of us - if anything ever happened to you!”

“I know, Trina,” I said with a sigh. “We do not know what the future may bring, or how things that are unfolding will turn out. While I can hope that we will succeed in this venture to stop Brenson, I must be realistic. He is an extremely powerful Voguel and, though my abilities would help me go toe to toe with one, he is out of my league. Even with my weapons, there is still a good chance I could lose. Look at how many times I have almost died or almost been crippled. I have been very lucky so far, but at some point, my luck may change for the worse.”

Trina got a saddened look on her face and reached her hand out towards me. I understood the gesture, closing the book and taking her outstretched hand. We then made our way upstairs, where I stored the journal in my trunk. I turned to say goodnight to find Trina in my bed, smiling. I shook my head and laughed at the fact I had been surprised by this. Liza had mentioned bunking up, but she had not said who was bunking up with whom. Given the events of the past few days I welcomed the support they were giving, in their own unique way. I took off my shirt and boots, then climbed into bed, facing towards the wall. I heard a shuffle of movement, and soon felt the pressing of bare, firm breasts into my back. To say anything now would just serve to upset Trina and make her feel shame for her actions. I closed my eyes and hoped that I would not have to relive any more dreams of Brant’s memories.

I did not have any dreams that night, for which I was thankful. I feared that if it would not be a memory of Brant’s, it would be my fears manifesting to torment me. Thankfully that was not the case, though I was surprised, when I woke, to find myself alone in my bed. No doubt Trina wanted to leave before something happened, as she was very shy compared to her sister. I made a note to talk to them about it, as I did not want them to feel obligated to share my bed any longer. I got dressed and went out to do my morning business.

When I got back in, I found Liza in the garden tending to the various crops. That told me I had probably missed morning meal. She smiled and told me where the plate of food she had set aside for me was. I thanked her and went to enjoy my meal. As I finished the last few bites of food, Liza came into the dining area.

“Morning, Davik,” she said with a warm smile. “How are you holding up? You know, with Violet missing?”

“As well as can be expected. Once I have my tasks at the bank completed, I am going to grab a pack and go out searching for her. She cannot have gone far in twenty-four hours. I am confident that I should be able to pick up her trail.”

“That may prove more difficult than you would think. It seems she got into our stable the night she left and took one of the horses. So, she could very well be much farther than you expect. Clive tried to follow the tracks, but she went through the town and the tracks had been trampled by other horses and people moving around the town.”

“Of course, she did,” I said with a frustrated sigh. “They have been used to her daily presence and she knew if she went out the gate behind the house, we would be able to get an idea of where she would be going. When did Ilane leave? How was she feeling?”

“Ilane seemed better, more coherent than she had seemed last night. Celka left with her after morning meal to check on Kafe. They hope that, between the two of them, they will be able to help him, if he is still under.”

I nodded and then asked, “Trina was gone when I woke up, is everything okay? I was worried that she had pushed herself too far out of her comfort zone. She has always seemed the more restrained of the two of you.”

“Oh. she is fine. Davik. I have never seen her sleeping with a bigger smile, so please do not worry about it. We had a private talk before she headed to work at the stall. She was worried she overstepped, given the whole thing with Violet. I promised that I would broach the subject for her.”

“Well, tell her not to worry,” I responded with a smile. “With everything that happened with Violet, some form of intimacy was nice to have. Her accusations were like a knife to the heart and I honestly do not know where we stand right now. She has a lot to work through and everything bad that has happened to her or those she loves is centered around me. Everyone who had been there for her is siding with me, so it is not surprising that she left.

“What has upset everyone is the means she used to do so. Had she not been trained she could have killed her brother. She also stole from us, which is an issue. The problem is that, looking back, Ruben spoiled her in a lot of ways which would explain the behavior. I can only hope she gets over it and realizes the mistake she made in how she treated everyone.”

“Here is a question, though,” Liza said softly, her tone saying she was choosing her words carefully. “If she did come back and she apologized to everyone, even you, would you take her back?”

Did I want her back? Before her outburst, I would had never thought we would end up here. What is worse is the hints were there, the choices that seemed strange and out of character now made sense. She had always had a temper, but where most things would cause an immediate outburst, these had built up over time. The result was an explosion of anger that explained her actions, but it also would make her mind loop over the reasons over and over. Ruben somehow had a way to get her to stop the obsessive thoughts, and once that was done, he would help her work through everything. She would always be better, though now I knew that this occurrence would still be there years later.

Could I handle the possibility of her having another outburst of that magnitude in the future? That, I would seriously have to think on.

But first, I needed to find her. Brenson and his agents were out there looking for ways to hurt me or get to me. Violet would be the ideal target of their ire, but only if I did not get to her first.

“To be honest I do not know.” I told Liza. “I had assumed that if anything was bothering her, she would tell me. Instead, she tried to manipulate situations to get her way and then when it did not work got mad about it. Instead of making sure that I was aware of her anger, she bottled it up and let it fester. How do I know she will not do so again in the future? While I do love her, I just do not know, currently. I know I will always want her to be my best friend, the rest will have to wait and see if we can get past this. For now, I need to make sure that I get to her before Brenson, or one of his people, do.”

“Then why not leave right away?” she asked, a confused look on her face. “I would think that you would put finding her a higher priority.”

“I need to know how much money she took with her, as that will determine if she will be keeping to the woods or if she would be going into a town. Since I need Ilane to do that and because I have business at the bank anyway, I figured I could complete both tasks with a single trip.”

She nodded and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before returning to the back garden. I finished up my food and placed the dishes in the kitchen before I headed out. Seeing as I did not want to waste any time, I sped through the back alleys, towards the Patron’s home. I was lucky as no one crossed the path I took and thus, I arrived within ten minutes, instead of the half hour or more walking through the town would have taken. I walked up and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, I was greeted by Revar.

“Good morning, Davik,” he said with a smile. “The Patron has been expecting your arrival and is ready to leave when you are.”

I nodded to him and he went back inside. A few minutes later, the door opened and both Edgar and Revar stepped out.

“There has been a slight change to the plans this morning gentlemen, we will need to stop by the clinic before we go to the bank. I have business to conduct with Ilane when we are finished there.”

Both men nodded and we made our way through the town to the clinic to meet with and collect Ilane. When we arrived, I was relieved to see Kafe sitting behind the counter, he looked a bit groggy, but not as bad as Ilane had.

“Hey, Kafe, I hope you are ok? Your mother told me what happened, and I am sorry that Violet did that to both of you.”

“It’s ok, Davik,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “Violet has always been this way, but she just hid it well. I do not know how dad was able to keep her in check for so long, but with him gone, I am more worried about what will happen without him.”

“Well, the first step is finding her, I will start looking as soon as I am done at the bank with the Patron and your mother.”

It was then that the Patron stepped forward and surprised me with his response to Kafe’s statement.

“Kafe, I will help in the search for your sister. I will send my men to each of the towns closest to us with a description of her, to see if she may have been seen there. I am sure Davik will be out searching as well, and I will make sure that there are notifications of what we find at each of them, so that he is kept apprised of our progress.”