by S. E. Akers
“Any jewels?” Katie asked.
“Just one,” I answered as I spotted a green-banded tumbled stone on the top shelf. “A malachite.”
“Is it in a ring or a necklace?”
“Neither,” I replied as I cautiously picked it up. “It’s just a loose stone.” It was a real one too, sitting charged and idle — a present from his father most likely.
“What do they do?” Katie asked.
“I have no idea. Bea hasn’t covered that one yet. All I know is that it’s an earth stone,” I answered. “What do you think? Take it or not?”
“I revert to my original argument.”
I dropped it inside my purse. “You’re right,” I acknowledged.
“Oh, that you’ll steal, but not the cash?” Katie ragged. “What else is in there?”
“A journal,” I replied as I pulled out a worn leather book and untied its strap. It fell open to a page that held held a medallion-like bookmark attached to a long gold chain.
“Anything else?”
“A bookmark…or a necklace. There’s a medallion on the end of it.” The emblem matched one of the symbols from my dream — the one I thought represented “air”. It covered a flat, disc-shaped iridescent stone. Its hue was a muddy gray, but as traces of light struck its face, it reflected vibrant flashes of neon green and cornflower blue.
From out of nowhere, a repetitive chopping sound alerted my ears. The noise was growing louder with each passing second. It wasn’t coming from inside. I hurried over to the drapes and pushed them back. A large helicopter stamped with an Xcavare logo on its side was coming in for a landing.
I inhaled a throaty gasp. “OH NO!”
“WHAT?” Katie cried out.
I shoved the journal into my bag. “NO! NO! NO!” I ranted as I hurried to the door.
“What’s WRONG?” Katie demanded.
“I’ll tell you in a sec,” I assured her as I peeked out the door. There were two crewmen standing at the other end of the hall. After I’d cloaked myself with the golden topaz, I edged out of the room and gently closed the door. I raced down the corridor, made a hard right, and dashed up the spiral staircase. Sure enough, it led straight up to the main deck. I arrived topside just as the massive chopper touched down on the pad. Everyone was already gathered around the deck.
“Who’s that?” I asked Ms. Fitzpatrick, now visible and practically out of breath. She didn’t hear me over the whirling of the rotor blades, but I didn’t have to repeat myself. I saw the fiery look in Mike Riverside’s eyes and followed his gaze. A tall man with a familiar build emerged from the chopper first. Though his hair wasn’t white like Lazarus’, his salt and pepper locks framed an almost identical, chiseled and narrow face.
Malachi Xcavare… Shit!
I tapped Ms. Fitzpatrick on the shoulder. “I’m not feeling so good.”
“Don’t you want to meet our host with the rest of the group?” Ms. Fitz asked.
“I’d better go back to my cabin,” I replied as I covered my mouth, half-pretending to gag.
“Oh, you’d better haul ass,” Katie calmly ordered.
I scrambled to find the way back to my cabin. My panic was only making the search worse. As soon as I’d found it, I slammed the door shut and flipped the deadbolt.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
“I thought Tanner said he wasn’t coming,” Katie remarked (which right now only added insult to injury).
“Well, I guess he had a change of plans!” I bitched as I paced back and forth. “I’ll just stay in here.”
“What about the rest of the trip?” Katie posed.
Before I could answer her, several loud “knocks” rapped on my door. I froze right where I was, even my breaths stopped. Suddenly the door handle started to rattle. Someone was trying to come into my room.
“Maybe it’s the maid? Go look out the peephole,” Katie urged.
I crept towards the door. As soon as I heard the “pop” of the lock, I grabbed my hilt out of my bag and dove towards a side niche. The door slammed open and the next thing I knew, someone had a hold of my arm and hurled me into the bathroom. I crashed into the tub, bringing the rod and curtain down with me. The faucet squeaked on and cold water started pummeling me from above. I finally wrestled out from under the curtain to find Tanner Grey looking down at me, his arms rigidly crossed.
“That’s as good a place as any for you to come clean,” he remarked with a steely gaze and strutted out of the room.
“It sooo sucks to be you,” Katie whispered.
I rose out of the tub, soaking wet, and followed him into the other room.
“Why am I NOT SURPRISED to find you here?” Tanner raged. He didn’t let me answer. “I tried to reach you last night…and again this morning.”
“Tanner—”
He threw up his hand. “So I contacted Beatrix. She told me where she was, but she made a point to avoid talking about you. Now I know why. Whose INSANE IDEA was this?” I opened my mouth but he cut me off again. “It doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “I think you two love nothing more than to ignore what I say just to piss me off!” Tanner kicked the corner of the bed. “Do you know who’s out there?”
I nodded. “When is he leaving?”
“He’s NOT,” Tanner replied with a flat laugh.
“You said he, ‘WASN’T COMING’,” I rebutted with a sharp point. I quickly shied back after I noticed the purple streaks whirling in his eyes looked almost black.
“He wasn’t…not until around two o’clock this morning, when he learned what had happened to the plane. That roused his curiosity. So was mine when he got everything set in motion so quickly and sent word that he ‘had to make an appearance’. Lucky for you he asked me to tag along.”
“I guess Mike ended up getting his wish,” I remarked matter-of-factly.
Tanner shot me a steely glare. “You need to focus on the problem at hand…and your friend needs to abandon his truth-seeking quest,” he insisted. “Especially out here…trapped on a boat with him at sea,” the Amethyst Talisman theorized as he stared out the porthole. “He doesn’t know how dangerous tangling with Malachi can be.”
“What was wrong with the plane?” I asked.
“The engines,” Tanner answered with a raise of his brow. “They were missing.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Both of them. They just disappeared,” Tanner remarked with a telling laugh and knelt beside my chair. “Should there be any reason why two engines that were being checked out by the mechanics were there one minute, and when they turn their backs for a second, they were gone? Without anyone seeing anything?”
“You’re asking me?” I queried crossly. “I don’t know.”
“You sure? Nothing happened in New Orleans? Nothing you want to tell me?” Tanner pressed as he leaned closer.
A whole Hell of a lot happened, I thought silently. I couldn’t tell him about the voodoo shop. He was already livid enough! I didn’t even want to think what he would say (or do) if I told him that I’d run into the Talisman who killed Gallia — twice, and almost gotten killed by a Half-Talisman, Half-Vampire. I would surely get the mother of all lectures, and who knows what else? Ironically, my guilt’s only saving grace turned out to be a curse that prevented me from revealing too much.
Time to dust off the old poker-face.
“Nothing,” I lied. “I got my passport, we did some sightseeing, I ate a lot, and then we went to a jazz club,” I disclosed, knowing the abridged version was the more prudent route to take — definitely easier on the ears. Mine.
Tanner shot up to his feet. “Fine…if that’s the story you’re sticking to,” he grunted and headed for the door. “I have to get back to Malachi. There’s no telling where he’ll pop up. I’ll do what I can on my end to keep him a safe distance. Stay at least twenty feet away from him.” Tanner pointed to my watch. “Good thing you packed that. Considering your current predicament, I’m sure it will come in handy,” he grumbled. “Though
I highly suggest you abandon any more harebrained plans to tempt fate and resign yourself to playing ‘seasick’ in your cabin,” Tanner advised warily. “But that’s up to you…” He grabbed the doorknob and paused. “And from now on, you’re to answer me immediately when I call.”
“I can’t,” I replied. “I don’t have the amethyst.”
Tanner’s mouth cracked open. Oh, it was obvious. His tolerance-threshold had been officially “reached”. “Then it looks like you’ll have to stay in here!” He shook his head and then gave the door a thunderous slam.
“That’s a no-brainer,” I relayed to Katie as I flung myself on the bed.
“No sunning on the lido deck? Not even any shuffleboard?” Katie teased. “I guess it’s just you and me. Unless you’re planning on ditching me…again?”
“I said I was sorry,” I repeated for the nineteenth time.
“And last night was a full moon,” Katie threw in artfully.
“I was well aware of what was hanging in the sky last night. Enough!” I pleaded. She didn’t respond. “What can I do to make it up to you?” I sighed.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Katie moped. “Just don’t do it again. This is our vacation. Spend it with me.”
I didn’t give her an official response. I just rolled over and propped up my head. I wish she would stop calling it that. So far this “vacation” was just full of lies, stress, and dread — hardly what I’d call a relaxing girly-getaway with my best friend. With nothing else to do, I grabbed my iPod. “Do you want to listen to some music?”
“Just play Mama Mia! instead,” Katie sighed. “That’ll kill two hours.”
With Katie content and distracted, I seized this opportunity to investigate Lazarus’ secret journal. Most of the entries detailed his search for the wand — how long he’d been looking for it, when he’d discovered the hilt, and so on. I scoured through the text slowly. The more pages I flipped, the stranger it turned. It wasn’t even written in English anymore. That figures. It looked like some ancient kind of text. I couldn’t help but wonder if Lazarus knew what the words meant. I’m sure Tanner or Bea did, but assuredly, all I would get out of them was a “yes” followed by my favorite lecture, “If you were meant to know, you wouldn’t have to ask”, and then an order to surrender the journal to them. The only way I could find out on my own was if I pulled it from a memory within the lapis lazuli, and I wasn’t ready to do that just yet. From out of the blue, there was a knock on my door. I bookmarked my page with the medallion and crept towards the peephole. I spotted a man dressed in a white crew uniform.
“Yes?” I called through the door.
“Dinner is being served at six sharp in the lower dining room,” the crewman announced.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Are you going?” Katie asked.
“I can’t. Malachi will be there.”
“Yeah, but what better time to see if your purse works?” Katie posed.
“True,” I agreed as I stared at the brown leather bag, still unsure if it packed any punch.
“It’s not like you’re his dinner-date. I doubt he even talks to you,” my BFF contended.
“Maybe you’re right?” I posed.
“Of course I am,” Katie added. “Just stay as far away from him as you can…and wear your watch, just in case.”
It would let me give this gris-gris a proper test-run. I could inch my way closer to him subtly. Tanner wouldn’t be the least bit suspicious.
A loud gurgling sound rumbled through my stomach and tipped the scales. “Okay,” I conceded. “So, what should I wear?”
I was dressed and ready within a half-hour, but I waited until six to head down. That would give everyone else plenty of time to be seated. Latecomers always got the crappy seats — not scoring one near the host was fine by me. I ran into Kara as I arrived at the elevator. She didn’t say anything directly, but she was definitely sizing me up. Considering she didn’t rat me out to Coach Hayes, I figured I would take the high road and play nice.
“That’s a pretty sundress, Kara.” It honestly was. Its soft pastel colors and flowing silhouette softened up the outward appearance of her bitchy aura quite nicely.
“Yes, it is.” Kara eyed my purse. “That’s an interesting accessory. Are you buying us all dinner?” she cracked with a snide laugh as the door opened.
I threw her a smirk as I followed her inside. Ah now… There’s that sour-center her candy-coating is hiding. I supposed I did look rather silly carting it with me to dinner, but this fly-girl wasn’t going in without her parachute!
Level by level, the glass elevator made its descent. As we were about to land, the opulent dining room came into view. It was the size of a banquet hall and stretched the entire width of the ship. Large portholes lined both sides of the room, allowing you to see whatever was swimming by, just like you were in an aquarium. Malachi was sitting at the head of a lengthy, elaborate dining table. Everyone else was already in their designated chairs, lined up on both of its sides. Tanner sat at the opposite end and thankfully there was an empty seat to his left.
Kara practically shoved me out of her way when the door opened so she could snag the one across from Mike’s. Tanner stood up and started to pull out my chair. He may not have been outright pissed to see me, but he wasn’t that pleased.
Malachi Xcavare rose from his seat. “No, dear,” he called out cordially to Kara with a halting wave. “I’d like Ms. Wallace to come sit next to me.”
Tanner may have acted nonchalant about Malachi’s request, but his eyes sharpened enough that I could sense his alarm. I didn’t have an amethyst to talk to him telepathically, so I simply flashed him a reassuring smile. Now he was pissed. So was Kara, but her tune changed when she realized her consolation prize was sitting beside the handsome professor. I crept toward the head of the table, praying Ms. Lá Léo hadn’t pulled a fast one on me. I just wondered who would want the first crack? Malachi or Tanner Grey?
Malachi Xcavare pulled out my chair gallantly. I tightened the grip on my purse and edged nervously into my seat. “I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting you earlier. Ms. Shiloh Wallace, I believe,” he stated with a confident smile.
“Yes, Sir,” I replied politely, warily watching for his reaction — any sort of tell that would let me know he sensed something. I kept my gaze locked on Malachi, but I felt Tanner’s eyes scorching the right side of my face. He was probably thinking “cooked goose” was on the menu for the evening. The only thing more nerve-racking than waiting to see if my gris-gris actually worked was not knowing what Tanner was going to say. It wasn’t a tiger’s-eye, but this was still a “magical thing”. He would want to know where I got it? From whom? And even worse, how I had paid for it?
There goes my appetite…
Malachi pointed to a tall, brawny man to his left. “And this is my bodyguard, Olaf…Olaf Rodman,” he announced with a discreet look directed Mike’s way. Oh, there was no way in Hell that this guy wasn’t related to Karl Rodman, the man who killed Mike’s father and that I’d fried with a billion volts. Aside from the family resemblance, you could tell just by the flinty look in Olaf’s eyes. It didn’t take much to tune into his thoughts either. He could have taken Mike’s fork out of his hand and stabbed him right then and there. It seemed Mike wasn’t the only one who wanted a few answers. Mike shifted in his seat while he entertained a few not-so-pleasant thoughts as well, but his were still mostly directed at Lazarus (and hearing the name “Rodman” sure didn’t help). If I had to score who wanted their revenge more, I swear it would have been a straight-up tie.
Just to air on the side of caution, I inconspicuously slipped off my rings underneath the table and dropped them into my purse. I wasn’t about to take any chances with the supernatural father of the Talisman I’d killed sitting this freaking close. He couldn’t see or even sense the veiled moonstone, but the golden topaz, I wasn’t so sure about.
All throughout dinner, Malachi Xcavare sipped on his
wine, devoured his various entrées, and conversed with Mike and me — but he never suspected a thing. Halfway through the fourth course, things took a disturbing turn when Malachi made an unsettling observation.
“What a magnificent watch you have, my dear,” Malachi Xcavare remarked as he lifted up my wrist. He stroked his hand over its face. “Where did you purchase this?” Malachi looked a little too intrigued for my taste, so I eased my hand away.
“It was a gift,” I replied.
“A lavish gift like that means you have a very special admirer,” Malachi remarked with a twinkle in his eye. “The face on this Rolex is actually made from angelite. Were you aware of that?”
There went my water down the wrong way. I mean, crap… I didn’t think I needed to take it off too. It looked like any other old, ten thousand dollar-freaking-watch!
“No,” I choked. “It’s not mother-of-pearl?”
“No, my dear,” Malachi replied. “Your admirer must want you to stay safe. The lore behind an angelite is quite fascinating. Natives thought it alerted you to danger. Legend states that its wearer is warned when the stone casts a glow.”
“Oh… I’ll have to be on the lookout for that,” I laughed, secretly wishing I’d shoved the damn thing in my purse. But hey — at least it wasn’t glowing.
Malachi swiftly asked, “Where did you get it?” His green eyes were drenched in the same suspicion that coated his words.
“A friend,” I replied casually. His look didn’t falter.
“From whom?” Malachi probed again, this time more tactfully.
I averted my stare and restated, “A special friend.” Malachi followed my gaze, which happened to fall directly across from me, to Mike, who was just taking a bite of his lobster.
The corners of Malachi’s face drew up into a sly grin. “Ah, Mr. Riverside… I see you like to shower your special ladies with extravagant presents like I do.” Straightaway, there went some of Mike’s lobster, right out of his mouth and back onto his plate. The rest was lodged in his throat. Malachi waved to Olaf. The muscular bodyguard pulled Mike away from the table and started smacking his back (a little too hard, in my opinion).
