Aftershock

ELWIN

HE'D BEEN EATING DINNER WITH Bullhorn when Alden hailed him. Assuming it was another Sophie emergency, he immediately grabbed his medical bags and hurried to Havenfield. Appearing at the end of the long walk, he jogged across the property until the house came into view. The bad storm and strong winds slowed his progress, and they seemed to foreshadow something ominous. But nothing would have caused him to expect the scene when he walked through the door.

"I'm so glad you came," Alden said, ushering him out of the rain.

"Is Sophie upstairs?" Elwin asked, barely registering Edaline and Grady on the couch.

"I'm going to need sedatives for Edaline and Grady," Alden said, but not quietly enough. Edaline shot off the couch, suddenly roused from her shocked stupor.

"I don't need a sedative," she argued. "I need to be out there searching for my daughter!"

"Sophie's missing?" Elwin asked, the last hint of color draining from his face.

"Yes," Alden said. "But the Council is sending a team of goblins to assist with the search for the children, and—"

"Wait," Elwin interrupted. "Children? As in plural?"

"Sophie and Dex were in the caves below the Cliffside pasture," Edaline stuttered, stumbling toward them as she attempted to control the sobs wracking her body. "Before we realized it the storm had gotten strong enough to raise the ocean level and now the caves are flooded and Sophie and Dex are missing. Please," she grasped the edge of Elwin's cape and clung as though it were her only tether to this world, "you must help us find them."

The half-desperate, half-insane glint in Edaline's large turquoise eyes convinced Elwin that she was going to need an extra-strong dose of slumberberry tea. It would knock her out long enough for Alden to find the children, and by then, she'd be back in her right mind.

"Listen, both of you," Elwin said, leading Edaline back to the couch and sitting her next to Grady. "I'm sure Alden is going to do everything in his power to find the children. But for now, we need to be sure you're not going to do anything crazy—"

"You mean like go find my daughter?" Grady roared. Then a pained expression flashed across his face, and he doubled over as if he'd been hit in the stomach.

As Elwin looked up, he could see identical expressions on the faces of Edaline and Alden. But he shook off his curiosity. "Exactly," he told Grady gently. "But Alden will find them—"

"Then why isn't he out there doing anything?" Grady asked, but the volatility had passed.

"Because he's too worried about you two to leave the house," Elwin scolded. "So I'm suggesting two doses of slumberberry tea."

"I want to help," Grady said, shooting up off the couch. "I can help look. I don't want to sit here and do nothing."

"Neither do I," Edaline said, standing stubbornly beside her husband.

Elwin's endless patience was wearing thin. "Don't you see? You're going to drink the tea—that's not debatable—but the sooner you drink it, the sooner Alden and his search party can do their job."

Grady took one last obstinate look toward the door, then followed Edaline and Elwin into the kitchen. As soon as it was clear his friends were in capable hands, Alden ran out to join the search.

It took longer than planned to get them to bed, but after their initial stubborn outbursts, Grady and Edaline didn't give Elwin any trouble. They obediently drank their tea and headed up to bed.

But then, there was nothing to do but wait. Elwin paced the enormous hall, occasionally peeking out the front door to see if he could find anything out. But the rain was too heavy and the sky too dark. He stayed there—pacing—all through the night.

Just as he'd made up his mind to go find Alden and demand to help with the search, Alden burst through the front door. The soft colors of the sunrise silhouetted the other elf, and Elwin took that as a good omen. "Did you find them?"

Then he noticed the sick expression on Alden's face and the way his hand was clenched tightly around what at first appeared to be sticks. Then Elwin recognized them as strings. Strings used on registry pendants.

"No," Elwin gasped, sinking to his knees. "They can't truly be gone."

Alden choked back a sob and collapsed on the couch across the room. "I think I might need some of that slumberberry tea as well, Elwin. After this, I'm sure I won't sleep for decades.