“Am I dreaming?” Lucy asked.
“Yes and no,” the woman said. “This is my ability. I can project. I’m the one they have locked up.” She lifted her chin, and her mouth softened. “I am Gloriana.”
The name landed in Lucy’s chest like a stone dropped into a well “I have so many questions, how did you find me?” Glorianna smiled “The more connections you built, the more connected to you I felt” “How are you so calm?” Lucy asked.
“Because this is where I stay,” Gloriana said simply. “I visit places. But it’s safer for me here than where they keep my body.” Glorianna showed her visions of her body and where she lay. “If I was awake the pain and torment they have probably put me through all these years would have driven me insane, Staying where they cannot get me was the best choice, however I cannot hold out for much longer, I used most of my energy to get to you”
Lucy’s throat tightened. “I’m going to rescue you.”
“I know you will,” Gloriana replied. “In time. But for now, it’s time to wake up and train. You don’t have long before they arrive. Get everyone in order. And when you overcome this, then plan to get me.”
“Who is ‘they’?” Lucy asked.
“I don't know, the ones who took me, the ones who have been looking for connections to me” Gloriana said softly. “They are coming Lucy, and you need to be prepared.”
Lucy reached for her, but her fingers met air. “I promise,” she said.
Gloriana’s eyes warmed. “Good,” she said. “Go.”
The field folded. “Byron, wake up,” Lucy said sharply, standing at the foot of the bed.
He sat up instantly, eyes narrowing in the half-dark. “What’s wrong?”
“Gather everyone in the main room. Now.”
There was something in her tone that made him move without question. Within ten minutes the manor was awake, reluctantly. It was just after five a.m., that cold hour before dawn when the air still felt half asleep.
One by one they shuffled into the main room; Lucy paced in front of the fire. The others could tell from the tightness in her steps that this was serious.
Byron leaned against the wall. “Everyone is here”
She stopped pacing.
“I had a dream,” she began. “At least, I thought it was a dream. But it wasn’t. I met someone, Gloriana. She’s the fifth.”
That got their attention. Barnaby nearly dropped his mug.
Lucy continued, “Her gift is astral projection. She lives in the astral plane, she can move between worlds, but her body’s being kept in that fucking hell hold. She confirmed she’s the one that they have locked up and she needs help.” She looked around the room. “But that’s not all. The people hunting us? They’re coming. She didn’t say when, only that it’s soon. Could be a week, could be a few days. We just need to get our shit together before they arrive.”
A heavy silence followed. The only sound was the faint tick of the clock.
Corey straightened, his leadership instinct kicking in. “Right, you heard her.” His voice was rough but steady. “Yes, it’s early, and yes, you all look like death, but I don’t expect you to be jumping to it yet. Get washed, eat something, then get ready. It’s going to be a shit couple of days.”
He started pacing, giving out orders like a sergeant who’d had too much coffee.
“Mandy, Davina, I need you to thicken the woodland around the manor. Secure it as much as possible Use whatever you can. We don’t want anyone strolling in here uninvited. Make it’s dense, make it nasty.”
Mandy nodded, already thinking ahead.
“Barnaby,” Corey turned to him, “surveillance. Cameras, sensors, anything that blinks. Also, help Damian plant some defensive charges around the perimeter.”
Barnaby grinned sleepily. “Explosives and tech? That’s my love language.”
“Try not to blow yourself up,” Corey shot back. “Damian, tell Ethan to ready the Doves. We might need recon fast.”
“On it,” Damian said, already moving toward the door.
Corey looked around the room again. “Everyone else, train or support. I don’t care what you do, just be useful.”
