Free Valley of Dust by Karoleen Vry Brucks Page B

feel like I gained a younger sister. Thank you, Lucian, I will get that rest.” After she said her piece, she ran inside the house to her room.
    Carla had surprised him when he found them in what used to be called a garden. She had awoken almost immediately, demanding to go with Selene. After such an experience, he was surprised she stayed by Selene’s bedside and never worried about her own condition. Though the doctors had assured Lucian that Carla was in perfect health, he could not help but wonder how Selene managed to heal her. No strigoi had the power to do that. Lucian was happy, however, that he chose Carla to be his assistant. Carla had taken to the job easily, and when she met Selene it was like instant friendship. After hearing Carla consider Selene family, he felt warm inside, something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He was happy for them both, and even though he had lost his brother, he felt like he gained a new family.
    When he went to view the garden after putting Selene down to rest, he realized how powerful Selene was. The energy she consumed was two acres worth of lush garden. The aftermath was a desert of dust. He knew the dirt would have to be replaced. It was a true wasteland. Anton was nowhere to be found, and Jacques confirmed to him that he saw Anton charred as he fled the mansion. He felt bad for Jacques. Anton had used much force to get to Selene. When he saw his friend, he realized his body left an imprint in the wall. He knew Jacques would need to consume energy, and that killed a bit of Jacques every time. Jacques was a very rare undead in that he hated having to consume mortals to regain his strength. Lucian hoped Jacques would recover from this ordeal without any mental trauma. Knowing Anton was charred made Carla’s story more interesting. Carla had told Lucian how Selene had lit Anton on fire with just a glare from her eyes. This worried him a little bit. He was also interested in finding out how Carla was healed. Carla had said she felt a warm touch and then all the pain was gone. She had thought she was dying but then awoke to see gold streams coming out of Selene’s hands and into her body. Selene had healed a mortally injured woman, not to mention sparking Anton into a ball of flames. The place had been a wreck when he arrived. Everyone came out severely wounded, and he was lucky to have had his security force take the case before any outside police force got ahold of it. The investigation would go nowhere, like all cases dealing with strigoi did. He knew the culprit and Anton could not be touched for now. It took a week of contractors and a small fortune to get everything inside the mansion fixed up, but the garden would take much longer. The power of an elemental strigoi was amazing. She really gave the Gypsies’ definition of strigoi a run for its money. Live strigoi were stronger than the undead because they were born witches. They had powers that made them who they were. Some could change into creatures, others become invisible; there were many traits that still had not been discovered, and Selene’s was one of them. He knew she would surpass him soon in power. He suspected she already had more power than him. She just needed to learn to control her powers better.
    Now he was concerned about how Selene was mentally and physically. He arrived at her room and saw she was awake. He could tell she was still in shock. Her face was ridden with guilt and sadness; who wouldn’t be after what Anton had done to them? “Selene, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?” he asked. Lucian saw the despair in her eyes, and he wished he could make it go away. “Before you tell me everything’s okay, Lucian, it’s not going to be. I killed Anton. I don’t know how but when I saw him hurt Carla and I thought she was gonna die, I thought of him burning, and before I knew it he was running like a big ball of fire. I am sorry, he was your brother. I was never close to my sisters, but