The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2)

by Carmen Caine

  I’d never met anyone like him. He was fascinating. And handsome.

  I cringed a little, recalling how I’d blurted exactly just that to his face, only moments ago.

  I blushed again even though I knew it was pointless to relive the embarrassment again and again. It would only make me feel bad about myself.

  I could do only one thing now, and that would be to move on.

  And, of course, watch my mouth closer in the future.

  However, before I could really move on, I had to think about Rafael just a bit more first. I had to. Otherwise, I couldn’t move on. It made some kind of strange logic to me, anyway.

  I sighed.

  It was funny that I was thinking about a guy so much.

  After watching my mother boyfriend-hop year after year, I’d pretty much lost interest in having a boyfriend myself. I had absolutely zero interest in guys. Or at least I’d been telling myself that for quite some time, and I’d gotten pretty good at believing it.

  I didn’t waste my time thinking about romance.

  Yeah, I occasionally read and watched the popular teen romances like any other girl, the ones filled with snarky, sarcastic heroines falling in love with vampires and werewolves. In the first chapter, the girl would drool over how beautiful the guy was, and he was either horrifically rude to the point that any normal person would have punched him in the face, or else he would spend his entire time consumed with worry that he’d accidentally turn her into a tasty vampire or werewolf snack.

  In chapter two, for no apparent reason, they would fall madly in love, get all kissy and decide that they’d just have to get married exactly right that instant. I’d always wondered why the authors left out the main part of the story—how they’d gotten to know each other.

  After watching my mother in real life, I knew real relationships took time, time to build up trust.

  It was time that I didn’t want to bother with. I knew I’d never live long enough in one place anyway.

  I sighed again.

  I'd never had to worry about it anyhow. Boys had never exactly beaten my door down. They'd never really noticed me. And I’d never really given them a second glance, either. My time was consumed with watching out for my mother, Maya, and helping her pick up the pieces after her latest deadbeat boyfriend would ride off into the sunset without her.

  It was then that I recalled what Rafael and Jareth had talked about in the mirror.

  What were they afraid would happen?

  Were they afraid Rafael would fall in love with me?

  I laughed aloud at the thought.

  No one like Rafael would be interested in me.

  He was intriguing, sophisticated, and strikingly handsome. I’d never thought that a guy could pull off wearing glitter and black eyeliner before, but incredibly, he did, and did it very well. And it didn’t hurt that his entire physique looked like it was sculpted out of marble.

  No, a guy like that had his pick of girls, and I wouldn't even make the lineup.

  He was just a distraction. He wasn’t even human. And he was a prince. A prince of fairies, but still a prince.

  I laughed at my reflection in the mirror. “You’re turning into a snarky, sarcastic heroine yourself, Sydney,” I said aloud. “Standing here and drooling over a boy.”

  The squeak of Jerry’s hamster wheel brought me back to reality. The little gray mouse was sitting on his haunches, his tiny black eyes riveted on mine.

  “I missed you, Jerry,” I said, reaching into the cage to tickle his tummy.

  He flipped on his back, closing his eyes with a blissful expression, and I picked him up, kissing his little pink, twitching nose before setting him gently back on his wheel.

  Rising up on his haunches again, he sniffed at me, but something about him struck me as odd. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I bent closer and just stared into his black eyes.

  Those eyes seemed ageless, wise, and far beyond the intelligence of a mouse.

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  Catching my thoughts, I rolled my eyes.

  I was clearly exhausted. And it didn’t help that everything of the past few days was bordering on the absurd. It was no small wonder I was starting to look at even Jerry differently.

  “Jerry, I’m silly,” I confessed, shrugging out of my bizarre Fae outfit and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Wiping the makeup off my face, I shoved my feet into my shoes, threw an oversized sweatshirt on and then remembered Ajax.

  A little embarrassed that I’d just changed in front of him, I glanced sideways and was relieved to discover he’d stretched out on my bed and had fallen asleep, all four paws in the air.

  Annoyance quickly supplanted the relief. Some guard dog he was. He was hardly better than Tigger!

  “Time to go, Ajax!” I snapped.

  I had to repeat his name three times before he begrudgingly lifted one eyelid, acting like it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. After four more times, he gave me a dirty look, heaved a loud sigh, and finally slid off the bed.

  He reluctantly padded after me as I returned to the kitchen where Al stood next to Betty, patiently watching her write a list on one of the old receipts she saved for scratch paper.

  They smiled as I helped myself to a spoonful of peanut butter and leaned against the counter. Reading her scribbles, I wondered why we needed three rolls of duct tape, goggles, and several rolls of plastic sheeting, but I didn’t ask.

  “And don’t forget the Lysol, Betty. Three cans should do it,” Al reminded her, reaching down to pat Ajax on the head.

  To my surprise, Ajax tilted his head sideways so Al could scratch behind his ears. If he’d been a cat, I’m sure he would have purred.

  I scowled at him. Apparently, I was the only human he didn’t care for.

  “We’ll be back soon, Betty,” Al promised as he bundled me and Ajax out the door and into his truck. “Good thing I didn’t have to work today after all, kiddo,” he said as the truck engine rumbled to life. “Now we can talk!”

  I tensed immediately.

  “You’ve impressed me, Sydney.” He nodded thoughtfully, pulling out of the driveway. “You see what everyone else ignores. You’ve a real head on your shoulders, and I’d say a knack for detective work. But there’s one thing we have to discuss, kiddo.”

  Apprehension flooded me. Al knew Rafael and Jareth were aliens. He was going to ask me about it. What was I going to say? Could I lie to him? I was a terrible liar.

  “People like you have a responsibility!” Al blithely continued, speeding down the road towards the shopping center. “And it’s people like us who uncover the truth. The real truth. And that requires us to keep the truth protected, Sydney! And to protect that truth, you must always remember the most important thing!”

  He paused dramatically.

  I waited with a rising sense of panic.

  “You’ve got to uphold the laws of our country!” he said, touching his hand to his cap in a salute.

  Nervous, I began babbling, “About that phone call, Al. It was Harmony, pretending to be me.” Harmony hadn’t known the Mackenzie Covert Code Phrase when I’d been trapped in Avalon with Rafael and she’d tried to impersonate me. Surely, not knowing the code had tipped Al off. “I couldn’t answer the phone, because … because…” My voice trailed off. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I’d been in Avalon, the land of the Fae. I just didn’t see Al believing in fairies.

  Al’s face grew serious all at once. “Betty and I figured it out, Sydney.” He drew his brows together in a line. “But you don’t have to hide from us, kiddo. Rafael’s a different kind of kid, but he’s a decent one. I knew that the day he saved Tigger. We don’t mind you dating him.”

  “Huh?” I blinked.

  “It’s that Marquis we’ve got to watch. I’m sure Rafael doesn’t have a clue that his dad’s up to no good.” Al pulled into the busy parking lot, turned off the engine, and dropped his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. “At first, I thought
it was just drugs. Why else would a rock star hang around that house so much? But then Jack brought up another possibility.”

  I remembered Jack, the janitor in the air force base in Arizona who had sent the alien detection kit and how it had shrieked the instant Marquis and Rafael had arrived for Thanksgiving dinner.

  “We could be dealing with something out of the ordinary here, Sydney,” Al informed me seriously.

  I couldn’t stop myself. “You mean like fairies and lizard people?”

  To his credit, he gave it due consideration before shaking his head. “I don’t think it’s your aliens this time, kiddo. Let’s look at the facts. Marquis didn’t know who Yoda was.” Al held up his fingers and began ticking off items one at a time. “He’s never had a good, old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner. That means he’s a foreigner. And he was messing around with that laser tube in the trunk of his car. That had to be high-grade military equipment there.”

  I wanted to point out that the military equipment was actually a Tulpa cultivated by the lizard people, but Al seemed to be shying away from the paranormal and delving into governmental conspiracies. “But how do you explain the alien detection kit going off at Thanksgiving?” I couldn’t resist asking.

  “Jack says high-grade military equipment would’ve set it off.” Al was noticeably enjoying himself. “I have to admit, I was right there with you in thinking they could be bona fide aliens, but then Jack clued me in on all these new inventions the government’s been creating for Homeland Security nowadays.”

  He paused, looking over his shoulder at the busy parking lot and pointed to the streetlight about twenty feet away.

  “They’re creating streetlights?” I asked, puzzled.

  Al lowered his voice even further. “Jack says the streetlights can now record conversations, and that Homeland Security is even spying on Wal-Mart customers with those newfangled thermal face scanners! They even have hand-held versions of scanners that can x-ray the contents of your wallet!” He clucked and shook his head, asking, “What’s this country coming to?”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “That’s why it’s up to us, Sydney!” Al said resolutely. “We’ve got to protect our country because of what it stands for! And that means catching Marquis in the act. Jack and I analyzed that video we got from our spy camera, where he was scanning his own face with that device. He’s probably trying to sell that technology to terrorists. He’s a real shady character, Sydney. We’ve got to gather a boatload of data, and force our government to do the right thing!”

  He smiled at me expectantly.

  Frowning, I finally nodded.

  Al gave a proud laugh. “Lizard people and fairies! I’m impressed with your out-of-the-box thinking. That’s why I know you’ll make a top-notch neighborhood watch deputy. And now that you’ve got that Doberman, you’ll be unstoppable.” He reached over and patted Ajax on the head.

  Ajax actually wagged his tail.

  I felt like pinching his snooty little snout, resentful yet again that he was friendly to everyone but me. But then Al’s words sank in. “Uh … neighborhood watch … deputy?”

  He beamed. Fumbling in his pocket, he took out a small notebook and gravely handed it to me. “You’ll be eighteen in a couple of days, and I’m deeply honored to recruit you into our neighborhood crime watch program!”

  I flipped through the notebook. On the top of each page, Al had carefully written the words: “Date”, “Guilty Party”, “Incident”, and “Laws Broken”.

  “A good crime watcher records all relevant data,” Al informed me. “Data is how we catch criminals these days. I’ll pick you up a pocket flashlight at the store to go with that whistle, and then you’ll be in business to help me catch Marquis. We’ll type all of our data into Betty’s computer. This might be a big-time case.” He dropped his voice and added with a hush, “We might even send an email to the FBI!”

  I didn’t think the FBI would appreciate any data that I’d gather. In my mind’s eye, I saw a bunch of agents rolling on the floor, laughing about the crazies in Seattle who had evidence of fairies and lizard people.

  I just nodded politely.

  “All right then!” Al slapped the steering wheel and then pointed to the pet store on the other side of the parking lot before hooking his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the hardware store. “You go get Betty’s dog pills, and I’ll run and get my stuff and meet you back here in about half an hour, kiddo.”

  With that, he gave me another salute, and taking Betty’s list out of his pocket, headed off.

  Tossing my crime-watch notebook onto the dashboard, I grabbed Ajax’s leash and slid out of the cab. The moment my feet hit the pavement, Ajax turned into a demented devil on a leash, literally hauling me across the parking lot to the pet store and pulling me through the automatic doors, leaving no doubt of just exactly who was in charge.

  “Slow down, Ajax!” I snapped, yanking him back for the fifth time.

  It didn’t faze him. Completely ignoring my frail attempts to control him, he charged down the aisle without even flicking an ear my direction and finally stopped in front of a big barrel of meaty bones.

  I scowled. “After that little display, I’m hardly inclined to get you a treat,” I grumbled.

  My eyes fell on a display of pink rhinestone collars on the end-cap of the next aisle.

  I grinned.

  Catching my expression, Ajax followed my gaze.

  His dark eyes narrowed immediately and he straightened, lifting his lip to reveal a single tooth—the one closest to me.

  “Fine,” I muttered, quickly changing my mind about the collar. Snagging a bone, I pushed it into his mouth. At least it would keep his teeth busy.

  He followed me then, preoccupied with his bone and affording me some time to replay the day’s events in my head. But my thoughts were disjointed and I was scarcely able to concentrate on anything for longer than a few seconds.

  I was totally exhausted. Soon, I’d probably tip into hysteria.

  Deciding to clear my mind of all thoughts instead, I wandered aimlessly down the aisles, looking for the Paunchy Poodle Pills a good fifteen minutes before accidentally stumbling across them. I browsed a little more, selecting some honey treats for Jerry and then paid for all of it and left with Ajax following contently, still carrying his bone.

  “See, I’m not all bad, Ajax,” I attempted to persuade him as I stood outside the store, tucking the bag and the rest of Betty’s money in my sweatshirt pocket. “I got you that bone, didn’t I?” I felt it necessary to point that fact out.

  Ajax growled.

  I glowered, prepared to let him know just how ungrateful I thought he was when I realized he wasn’t even looking at me.

  The bone dropped from his mouth. It landed on the sidewalk with a thud as the silky black fur rose along his spine.

  He was looking at Al’s truck.

  Goosebumps instantly covered my arms, and with a sense of oncoming disaster, I leaned forward and squinted.

  Al was walking across the parking lot towards his truck, carrying a large plastic bag and several white PVC pipes. His mouth was moving, and I could tell he was singing to himself.

  Nothing looked out of the ordinary, and I was about to tell that to Ajax when I saw it.

  A shadow slithered behind Al. Something about the size of a large cat trailed about twenty feet behind him, skittering under the cars.

  Suddenly, I heard Rafael’s dulcet tones behind me. “I’m here, Sydney.”

  I whirled to find him standing at my side. He’d styled his blond hair, rimmed his gray eyes in fresh eyeliner, and changed into designer stressed jeans with a long-sleeved t-shirt. Around him swirled the telltale mist announcing he’d just shifted.

  It was bad news.

  He wouldn’t have done that if it hadn’t been an emergency.

  Evidently, Ajax thought we were in danger.

  I glanced back at Al who had paused in the middle of the pa
rking lot to look at his receipt with his pocket flashlight.

  I held my breath, wondering if the moving shadow had been my imagination. I’d almost convinced myself I’d made it up when I saw it again, crawling up the side of Al’s truck and slipping over the edge into the bed.

  I made a garbled, strangled sound.

  “It’s nothing for you to concern yourself with, Sydney.” Jareth’s distinctive voice broke my concentration.

  He swaggered my way in the perfect rock star strut, wearing sunglasses, carrying an iced mocha, and visibly crunching a mouthful of ice. He’d pulled his dark hair into a top knot and had changed into another dramatic leather outfit, complete with pink shirt and studded jacket.

  I didn’t understand why he’d bothered with the sunglasses. They only drew more attention since the sun had set hours ago.

  Glaring at him, I pointed to Al’s truck. “Something’s there. You can’t let Al get hurt!”

  “How can he possibly get hurt when I’m here?” Jareth shrugged, tipping his mocha back and devouring another mouthful of ice. “Really! You’re quite insulting, Sydney.”

  I frowned, but felt strangely better. Jareth didn’t seem to the think Al was in imminent danger. But inching closer to Rafael, I still whispered, “Is Al safe? Is it the lizard people?”

  Rafael gave me an encouraging smile. “He’ll come to no harm, Sydney,” he promised, and then turning to Ajax, he nodded once.

  Instantly, the Doberman launched himself across the parking lot towards the truck. I’d never really seen Ajax run before. It was impressive.

  “If it’s a Mesmer, Ajax will take care of it,” Rafael assured me. “They can’t control dogs.”

  On the other side of the parking lot, I saw Al shake his head. With the receipt in his hand, he pivoted on his heel and headed back to the store, apparently dissatisfied with his purchase.

  He never saw Ajax streak towards his truck and leap into the back just as a dark shadow jumped out.

  There was a horrendous squeal.

  I’d never heard such a chilling, high-pitched sound.

  Jareth gasped.

  Falling to his knees, he turned white and fainted.