Charlotte wasn’t sure who had asked the question, the room buzzed with overlapping conversations. She clung to Tal’s side, unable to stop shaking. Disbelief had given way to terror about ten minutes ago. Tal’s reassuring words and tender hugs couldn’t change reality. Someone had kidnapped their daughters. “Why were E’Lanna and Echo in the meadow?” Tal directed the question to Lor, who was attempting to organize the information. Zane stood beside him, a newly applied bandage encircling his head. The younger men exchanged guilty looks and tension rippled through Tal’s body. “Neither of you saw anything?” “They were like ghosts. I was thrown around for a minute, and then something slammed into the side of my head,” Zane told him. “They struck incredibly fast,” Lor agreed, disbelief evident in his expression as well as his tone. “I wasn’t able to get off more than a spark. It was almost as if they were waiting for us.” “How could they have known where to wait?”
