Chapter 43 –Show Down (Ansel Conrad POV) Pt.3

After placing Andy in one of the private guestrooms in the basement my father, Kalenah, mother and I handle Danny and Cynthia. "You did the right thing son," my father says in a low voice as I close the iron door, locking Danny inside the windowless hidden dungeon.

Kalenah closing Cynthia in the cell next to him, after my mother lines her cell with poisonous hemlock to prevent Cynthia from doing any magic herself should the hidden iron of our dungeon not be enough. Her right leg and hand cuffed to the wall. Sighing, I don't bother asking or even seeking comfort from my father.

I knew what I was doing before I had even injected the sedatives into Danny. Hell, I left the house with an extra one in my coat pocket, planning to the extreme.

Still it was not that I needed reassurance from anyone. The right thing isn't always the easy decision or action made. I guess that also goes for Brennan in a way, not that I wanted to make excuses for him.

It would have been easier to push aside his gut feeling. To keep quiet instead of turning to Kalenah- I stop before I even finish that thought. Brennan was goaded by Thaddeus to reveal Devin's intrusion to the family servers and computers.

Worse even was the fact that instead of telling the truth right away, he initially covered for Devin when she listened in on the conversation he had with Samson.

One bad decision after another.

I didn't expect my children to be perfect. I would never dare put that type of pressure on them, but I did want them to make wise decisions.

I have to believe that Brennan knew what he was doing was wrong.

Leaving a bottle of water and crackers in each cell, my father and mother follow Kalenah and I out. "Would you guys like to have tea? Before you return to the guesthouse?" Kalenah asks my parents graciously.

"That would be lovely," my mom responds, going to my Kalenah's side.

When we're outside, we turn around the back, heading into the kitchen. "You all go on up, I'll bring everything to your office Ansel," Kalenah murmurs, busying herself. Despite shooing my mother, she remains with Kalenah while dad and I climb the stairs.

"While waiting for your brother to arrive," Dad begins the minute we are behind closed doors. "Your mother told me that the girl with Leslie, Naomi, was asking a lot of questions about Faith," his brows furrowing.

Sitting on the longer of two sofas in my office, I rest back, while dad walks to my drink bar, fixing his self a drink. When he returns, he places a glass before me.

"Did mom give you details?" I ask leaning forward.

Taking a sip, he swallows, exhaling as he too leans forward.

"No, she kept it short."

I nod. Faith was an enigma. I cannot fault someone for his or her curiosity. Yet, this early in with the lack of knowledge surrounding Faith, we had to be cautious.

Just as I reach for my glass, Kalenah and mom quietly enter the room, mom closing the door behind them. My father and I stand, sitting when they do, fixing our tea.

"What are you going to do about your brother?" my mother asks sipping her black tea, blowing it a time or two.

What was I going to do with Danny? That was the million-dollar question.

Within these walls, I would not lie.

"I would hate to pick up and move, however, I feel as though Cynthia and Danny will be trouble."

My mom nodded slowly, the pain in her heart, reflected in her eyes. "My worry is that Cynthia is practicing magic and has become stronger than we ultimately believed her to be," my father comments now.

"Do," mom starts quietly, "Do you believe that maybe Danny is under some type of spell?" that thought hadn't exactly crossed my mind.

My gaze flicks over to Kalenah, who seems to be in agreement with my mother. However I did not want Kalenah my wife to answer me at this moment. Instead, the woman that has counseled and helped many of her clients dealing with their grief.

"Loosing Tina was devastating," we all nod in agreement, "However, Ansel, you made some excellent points that despite his grief now I feel Danny should be able to see the logical. However, maybe the shock is all too much and he does not want to face what is right in front of him."

I take a mouth full of my tea, the liquid warming me from the inside out as I swallow. "We cannot expect him to turn off his feelings. And while I would never behave as Cynthia has done," Kalenah pauses, "I will say that there is a good chance that Danny will see Cynthia as the victim-"

"She is no victim here," my father snaps back, not truly angry, but more in protest. "Exactly, we do not see it that way. We love our children... but in her mind," she rolls her eyes before continuing. "Faith caused Cynthia to be sent here to Zedwood. Faith is not full-blooded Fae, not like Andy and Cynthia. So the question serves, we all know of the one child rule-" I nod, as do my parents.

"Well Faith was the first born. Why does she remember nothing, but Andy much more?" Dad tries to finish.

Kalenah shakes her head, "No, I think trauma made her block out-" Kalenah tilts her head to the side thoughtfully, looking past us all it seems.

"She has lived her whole life locked away."

I frown, not connecting her facial expression with words.

"Yes we know Dmitri kept-"

"No," Lenah whips her head from side to side; blinking as she made eye contact with me, back to herself. "No, it's safe to say that Faith was in Zedwood. We've all heard of those who try to hide that they have two children. Faith was hidden even in Zedwood-"

"Or you did say that she thought there were Loyalist and Independents, what if those are Zedwood lies?" my mother Mary chimes in, questioning Kalenah and I.

Placing my mug on the table before me, I shake my head, sighing heavily. "We need more information-"

"Not from Faith," Kalenah says in her strict mothering tone. "Forcing her to recall too much at once, she's barely even made herself comfortable in the house Ansel." I hide a smile.

"Cynthia has the information we need, and I think we get it by any means necessary," my quiet mother says sitting straight up, legs crossed. Pulling my eyes from Kalenah, I gape at my normally mild mannered mother. Who is this person and what has she done with my mother Mary?

"Don't look at me like that Ansel," she chides, "That girl is afraid of her own shadow but I'm not surprised she hit Cynthia, either." Dad snorts grabbing his drink.

"It's just a shame she broke her hand doing it," he adds from behind his scotch-whiskey.

My mother throws dad the stink eye, before facing me. "I have no words for your brother, but we cannot leave without first learning what Cynthia knows. If Faith is having trouble remembering her past," I nod, "well that only leaves Cynthia. You already have her controlled for now. If she wants to have visits with her children, then she'll tell us all she knows," mom gives a sharp nod at the end.

I glance over at dad; the smirk he's failing to hide behind his drink grows.

Kalenah on the other hand, when I look at her, her face seems rather tight and unsure. "What love?"

"She drugged Andy," Kalenah says as though we've somehow forgotten that. "She drugged Andy," she repeats, "I don't know this Cynthia, but I'm not sure using her children as bargaining chips for information is going to work. Hell, Ansel, surely everything you said to Danny outside should have already crossed her mind. I mean does she truly believe that the Elders won't come looking for her?"

Back to square one, I think.

Kalenah was right.

"The only reason she would be so brazen as to send the Elders our way, and not expect them to come after her is if she knows they won't."

"The truth of the matter is everything Cynthia has said when she first met Danny Ansel, everything was a lie. Who's to say what happened to Cynthia between her escape and when she found Danny? We do not even know how much time that period was! We searched into her background but found nothing about Faith."

All truth.

Cynthia before Danny was the biggest mystery.

"Do you give her money?" my father ponders.

I shake my head, "To what end? Once she goes through it all what's stopping her for asking for more? When will it be enough?"

"Not to mention, giving her the money yourself, is no guarantee that she will not tip off the Elders," my mother adds.

I groan, rubbing my face roughly, "You know what guys... we can talk about this until we're blue in the face, I won't do anything rash. Instead I'm going to go talk to Angela, see if she can look into the hotel phone records and Cynthia's phone. See if she made any strange calls and uhm," I huff not knowing what to do right then.

Within hours, Cynthia and Danny both would be awake, the sedatives wearing off unless we gave them more.

"Talk it through with us son," my father says, "We are behind you. If you need to call in the other families in Bend, do so. Cynthia isn't just a danger to Faith, but them as well. Even in this later hour, it's best to have everyone on the same page-" Kalenah jumps to her feet, "I'll get Angela now," she states already scurrying out of the room.

Trading my tea for scotch, I rush it down, the burn waking me as a dopey looking Angela in pajamas comes tumbling into the room. Releasing a deep yawn, she doesn't bother with any greetings going straight to my new system. Knowing that Kalenah might have brought her up to speed, I remain silent. Taking out my cell phone, I twirl the thing around underneath my index finger idly.

Playing this all-cool while inside, I'm anything but. We could run. We could all run. But the truth was if Cynthia was the cause for the sword over our heads, I couldn't see anyone agreeing to have her brought along.

We could all suddenly leave; hide out in the home I grew up in. When I married Kalenah, I expanded the home, but Danny knew of that, Cynthia as well.

Our escape could truly only be places that Cynthia and Danny had no knowledge of.

One of two compounds in Arizona.

Paradise Valley or Scottsdale.

Then again there was the Western Massachusetts compound– though it wasn't completed.

Any strange calls out of Cynthia or Danny's room – I start thinking when Angela's face morphs into a frown. "I cannot get into the Hotel they were staying at," Angela says confused. "It's like their entire network is down-" she mumbles.

"Ansel! Ansel!" Kalenah calls me in panic, breathlessly. Jumping to my feet I hurry to the door, her voice calling out to my protective nature, "I cannot find them," I frown.

"Cynthia and Danny?" I ask wondering why she would go check on them? They were securely locked away. "No!" she says her voice shaking uneasily, "Samson and Faith."

.

.

.

__________

© 2016 roxann_season All Rights Reserved