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As Lisa led Irena away, Daniel looked over at their uncle James. Except for his black hair, he bore a startling resemblence to Andrew. The thought must have leaked through Daniel’s shield because James gave a sad smile.

“So Matt tells me,” he said. “And I’m cryokinetic as well. It’s one of the two affinities that really run in our family – the other being umbrakinesis like you, Rini and Matt.”

“Really?” Lydia sounded fascinated. “So what about me and Karen? We’re rather the opposite. And Lyrrekka was one of your family as well, wasn’t she?”

“She still is,” he said. “Who cares if she’s a dragon? And yes, the opposites crop up as well but not as often.” He looked over at Kyle. “But speaking of your mother: has anyone told your grandparents that you’re alive yet?”

Kyle stared at him for a long moment with a frown that turned from puzzled to worried. “I haven’t, but I hope so. What if Adrian goes after them?”

“I told them last night after the fight,” Sarah said quietly. “I was going to leave it until everything had settled down, but once the Lavernes knew about you I had much the same thought. They seemed less surprised than you might expect. From what they said, Cary had been having dreams about you being alive.”

“If anyone would it would be granddad,” Kyle said, looking relieved. “I don’t suppose his dreams gave anything useful.”

“Unfortunately no,” Sarah said. “He thinks that Ystelyan’s concealing you must have intefered. But they want to see you again once everything has settled down. Right now they’ve slipped away to visit friends in Denmark until I call them and say it’s safe.”

“Ah, wise of them.”

“I wonder who that was calling Dad,” Karen said after a pause.

“I don’t know,” Sarah said. “But I got the impression that whoever it was might be able to tell us where Andrew is. Lydia’s plan is good but that would be simpler.”

“Or it could just be a trap,” Lydia said. “Perhaps we should have gone as well.”

“That’s why your father took Lyrrekka and Kenna,” Sonia said. “I think the three of them can handle just about anything.” She sank down into a nearby armchair with a sigh. “I would have liked to go as well but…” She trailed off with a groan. “I think I need another nap. Why is this taking so long to heal? It doesn’t hurt but I’m so tired all the time.”

Sarah laid a hand on Sonia’s forehead and closed her eyes. “You’re diverting a lot of your energy into self-healing, now the ground work is in place,” she said after a moment. “So you’re tired because you’re speeding things up. But another nap would be good for you.” She looked around at James. “Bedroom?”

“I’ll show you,” he said and looked around at Daniel, Karen and Lydia. “You three as well. You’ll want to dump your stuff, no doubt.”

Sarah helped Sonia to her feet and they followed James to the door, then up a large flight of stairs and along a corridor to a set of rooms.

“How big is this place?” Daniel asked in amazement. He’d thought Sarah’s place was large but this was a mansion.

“Twenty bedrooms, plus a couple of cottages in the grounds. We have the entire extended family living here, after all. Astrals tend towards very close knit families. It seems we need each other.”

“That makes sense,” Lydia said. “I know I get twitchy when I’m away from the others for any length of time.” She frowned. “I wonder how Drew’s coping with that on top of everything else.”

“He’ll be fine,” Karen said. “It doesn’t have to be family. Though it’s hardly ideal being dependent on your enemies that way.” She stopped by one of the doors. “Is this still my room?”

“We have rooms?” Daniel asked.

“You do now,” James said. “But Kaz has one already. Since Matt was officially sponsoring her, she’s stayed over a couple of times – even though we had no idea who she really was. You two have a choice of the room opposite or the ones either side. The other two are Rini and Lisa’s. I guess Andrew will get the last one once we get him back.” He gave a half smile. “I did wonder why Matt always insisted on keeping these rooms free.”

The four rooms turned out to be pretty much identical, excepting the posters on the walls and other personal touches in Karen’s. They were all large, with dark wood furnishings and windows looking out over the grounds of the house. From the window of the room he picked, Daniel could see the boundary wall about half a mile away. He was about to comment on the view when his father’s voice sounded in his head, together with an impression of a park somewhere.

Everyone! Quickly! We need you!

A/N: If readers who pre-ordered the Arc One book or who have bought it since would consider rating and/or reviewing the book on Amazon   (or even just liking the page) or Goodreads it would be helpful and I’d be immensly grateful. Thanks!

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