Chapter 1217: Lost in Anger, Fear & Blame

Dravenna drove one of Phei’s cars down the near-empty highway as though speed itself could undo whatever had already happened.

Night had swallowed most of the island. The highway lamps were spaced too far apart to offer much comfort, leaving long stretches of asphalt buried in darkness before the car’s headlights ripped them open again. The engine snarled beneath Dravenna’s foot, the speedometer climbing far beyond anything traffic laws would have approved of, yet she barely seemed aware of it.

Worry had carved itself across her face so deeply that even all her usual composure could not hide it.

Beside her, Elena was worse.

Her legs had not stopped shaking since they left. One hand clutched her phone while the other remained near her mouth, fingernails already bitten down from repeatedly checking a phone screen that stubbornly refused to give her the message she wanted.

She refreshed it again.

Nothing.

"Why isn’t she saying anything yet?" Elena muttered, mostly to herself.

Dravenna’s hands tightened around the wheel:

"For the umpteenth time, Elena, your mother learned what happened at almost the same time we did. Being your mother does not make her omniscient." Her voice stayed measured, but the car accelerated anyway. "She is frightened. She is panicking. She is probably calling half the people she knows while pretending she is not panicking, exactly like your father is doing at the moment."

Elena knew that.

But knowing did absolutely nothing to help.

She swallowed, stared at the empty phone again, then looked through the windshield. "Drive faster."

Dravenna glanced briefly at the speedometer and pressed harder.

The car surged but Elena barely noticed.

"How does this even happen?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Kids don’t just disappear. Al is a good girl. She doesn’t usually wander around the mansion alone much less this one she’s barely at, she doesn’t sneak out either or even like going past the gardens unless somebody is with her. There’s no way she left the property on her own."

Dravenna remained silent for several seconds.

That silence said too much.

Elena slowly turned toward her.

Dravenna exhaled through her nose. "I don’t think Althea left the mansion on her own either. Considering everything happening now, and what happened at the Paradise estate after she and your father left, I think we have to assume she was..."

"Don’t!"

Dravenna stopped.

Elena’s eyes had filled with anger so quickly it almost hid the fear beneath them: "Don’t you dare say that happened to my sister, Dravenna."

There was nothing useful to answer.

Dravenna gave one small nod, faced the road again and drove.

The darkness kept breaking beneath their headlights.

***

The Ashford Madam ran out of the car before it had properly settled inside the mansion grounds.

She did not wait for the door to be opened or bother with shoes.

Her bare feet struck the stone driveway and she hurried toward the entrance with her dress gathered slightly in one hand, every trace of her usual sovereign composure stripped away by something far simpler and far more human.

Her daughter was missing.

Damien Ashford was already outside waiting:

Damien was a tall, broad-shouldered and strikingly handsome despite the years, he usually carried himself with the calm authority expected from an Ashford patriarch but tonight he looked like someone had driven a blade beneath that authority and twisted it.

The moment his she reached him, words erupted between them.

Melissa had parked and got out while they argued, when she got out she stood behind them with Patricia Bloom. Patricia wanted to go forward, but Melissa had caught her hand:

"Wait."

Patricia looked toward her.

Melissa quietly nodded toward the two.

Whatever Damien and the Ashford Madam were saying could not be heard clearly from where they stood, but neither needed the words translated. Anger, fear and blame had already taken over the conversation. Damien gestured sharply toward the mansion, she answered with enough fury to make him stop.

Then, almost as quickly as it had risen, the argument collapsed beneath the realization that neither of them had the luxury to keep fighting and place blame own one another.

They simply stood there;

Lost.

A minute later, headlights flashed through the gates and a familiar car tore into the driveway.

Elena too was out before Dravenna had fully stopped to park properly.

"Mom!"

She ran straight into her mother’s arms.

Whatever strength Elena had held together on the highway finally gave way. Her shoulders shook as she buried her face against her mother and cried quietly, fingers clutching the back of her dress.

The Ashford Madam held her tightly.

Damien looked away.

His gaze dropped toward the ground, and the tension in his jaw made it obvious he could feel every ounce of anger Elena had aimed at him before they arrived.

Dravenna exited more slowly. She gave Melissa and Patricia a grateful nod.

"Thank you for coming." And walked to Damien and rested one hand against her cousin’s shoulder; he said nothing and neither did she.

There would be time for blame later.

If they were lucky!

They eventually gathered around the large circular table inside the mansion.

Nobody touched the drinks placed before them.

For several moments, the only sound came from the old clock somewhere deeper in the room.

Melissa finally broke the silence: "So what do we actually know?"

Damien leaned forward with both hands clasped together he said:

"When Althea and I arrived on the island, I had a meeting at the Price mansion. After that, there were two other business meetings I couldn’t postpone." His voice sounded tired already. "When I returned, the staff told me Al hadn’t left her bedroom the entire day and hadn’t answered them."

Elena immediately looked up.

"And you all know how she is when she’s angry."

"Yes, Father," Elena cut in with anger, for a moment forgetting her place and this was her father. "Al locks herself in her room whenever she’s upset. We know. But you were supposed to..."

"To what?" Damien’s head snapped toward her. "Where were you, Elena? You’re the only one she listens and opens up to. Where were any of you?" This was not his fault either and the constant blame was killing him... yes she’d disappeared in his care but he’d been absent and so had them!

"Can we not do this, Elena, Damien?" The Ashford Madam’s voice was quiet.

That was enough.

Damien shut his eyes briefly, he swallowed whatever he had been about to say and continued.

"I thought the same thing the staff did. Althea was angry and wanted to be left alone. What bothered me was the time. She has never stayed locked away for an entire day. Eventually she comes out because she’s hungry, bored or wants something."

A weak, painful smile almost appeared on Elena’s face, that was exactly like her little sister.

Damien’s expression hardened again. "So I went upstairs myself to ." He paused. "But the door wasn’t locked." Silence pressed closer. "The staff assumed it was because she hadn’t answered. But it wasn’t locked, and Althea wasn’t inside."

Elena’s fingers curled beneath the table.

"We searched the bedroom first. Then the house. Gardens, service areas, security buildings, every room she might have gone into. We checked the entire estate and every camera footage." Damien looked around the table. "Nothing."

His voice lowered. "That’s when I started calling my people, with every resource I could to get to search for her while I called all of you." The final sentence came reluctantly but not one could argue with it:

"Althea is missing."

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Then theories began arriving almost at once; a frightened child hiding somewhere unusual, a security failure, someone slipping through one of the gates, a servant helping her leave, an accident.

Dravenna listened until she could no longer tolerate it. "Stop."

Everyone looked toward her, she leaned back slightly.

"We all know what is happening. Stop circling around the inevitable just because saying it aloud frightens you."

Melissa frowned: "What exactly is happening?" She and Patricia exchanged a look.

Damien rubbed both hands over his face. "I think someone among the families kidnapped my daughter."

Patricia went still.

Melissa’s eyes sharpened. "Why Althea? Do the Ashfords have enemies in the families trying to make a revenge?"

"Far from it," Dravenna said.

Melissa turned toward her.

"Something attacked the Paradise estate after Damien and Althea left. Or more accurately, something entered the estate looking for one particular object." Dravenna’s eyes hardened:

"A key."

Melissa did not interrupt.

Damien said seriously pouring light onto the situation: "As you know, every Legacy Family holds authority over the collective treasury they created after coming to Earth. Each family possesses a key. Someone attempted to steal ours, but they were stopped by Annabelle, my sister who lives with us, and our Head Maid."

Understanding began creeping across Melissa’s face. "And since blood can substitute for the key..."

Dravenna nodded. "Yes, blood from a sufficiently direct member of the family."

Melissa’s face changed completely. "So you think they took Althea because..."

"Because she is Damien’s daughter," Dravenna said. "Her she carried the same Bloodline as all of us."

Damien slowly nodded: "The troubling part is that Althea herself doesn’t know any of this... I thought she was too young to get involved in any of this mess."

"No," Dravenna agreed. "She doesn’t., you were right this doesnt change that decision."

Melissa’s attention moved toward Damien. "You seem surprised I know blood can substitute for one of the keys."

"I am."

Melissa shrugged: "I know a lot of things." Melissa leaned forward. "But that’s supposed to be a sachet amongst even other legacies so who else knows?"

Damien hesitated: "Very few people. Elliot Heavenchild. The Price patriarch. Old Abram-Manson. Old Man Maxton..."

"Then you already know who has your daughter."

The room went dead.

Damien’s head rose.

Something violent moved across his face so quickly that Patricia instinctively stiffened.

His fist struck the table: "THEY WOULDN’T DARE!"

The words thundered through the room, for several seconds, nobody answered.

Melissa simply looked at him: "Oh, they would!"