Ruby drew her own conclusions from the lack of a reply.
“Gran, do you mind if Kayla and I have a few moments alone?”
Ruby sighed and nodded acquiescence.
Seeking more privacy than one wall could provide, Kayla followed Jaden off the porch and across to the terraporter. The enormous outlines of their bats prowling on the far side of the terraporter startled them.
“What are you doing here?” Jaden demanded.
“Nice to see you too,” Ohanzee retorted. “We sensed you needed us. Is everything alright?”
“We’re not sure.” Kayla elaborated on what had just happened in the kitchen, ending with their decision to come outside and discuss what they should tell Ruby.
Before they could debate the issue further, Tazanna’s ears pricked up. The fur on the ridge of her neck rose. Ohanzee sniffed the air and then growled, a low, gruff rumble emanating from deep within his throat. The bats took up defensive positions in front of the teens, ordering the teens to touch them so they became as invisible as their protectors.
“Why?” Jaden asked.
“Danger,” Ohanzee whispered, so softly the teens strained to hear.
Kayla trembled, and it surprised her when Jaden wrapped her in his arms. Melting against him, she sighed inwardly. His arms tucking her close felt heavenly. She’d longed for this since the last time he’d held her. Here, she was instantly transported to her own little tranquil island of safety, where nothing could touch her.
Kayla longed to stay where she was, even return the embrace, but that would send the wrong message twice over—once implying she was still afraid and another perhaps clueing Jaden in that she felt more for him than she should. Or thought she did. Halfheartedly, she drew back, squeezing his arm with the hand that wasn’t touching Tazanna, hoping he wouldn’t feel rejected.
“Thanks, but I’ll be okay,” Kayla murmured.
Jaden shot her a quizzical glance, and Kayla shrugged, not sure what else she could say or do.
“No, not danger,” Tazanna declared in a puzzled voice, relaxing her stance. “But I’m familiar with this sensation.”
Ohanzee concurred with her judgment, his ears oscillating on his head like he was having difficulty establishing the source of whatever he was hearing.
Unexpectedly, Kayla’s arm tingled, and she rubbed at her birthmark, peering into the darkness to see what came their way.
Jaden saw it first through a gap between the wings lifted in front of them and pointed it out to Kayla.
A pale pink beam aimed directly at them, Jaden’s gran behind it and walking toward them. Kayla traced the beam back to its source—a strange ring adorning Ruby’s right index finger. Ruby appeared oblivious to their presence, more intent on what the ring was doing than what it was pointing out.
“She can’t see us, can she?” Jaden hissed to Ohanzee. “We’re touching you.”
“She shouldn’t be able to,” the bat answered, but he sounded uncertain.
Ruby suddenly glanced up, tracking the beam of light from the ring on her finger to where they huddled. She gasped, and her steps faltered.
Tazanna smiled. “Her reaction suggests we’re mistaken about our invisibility.”
“Jaden, is it safe for me to come to you?” Ruby asked, her voice quavering.
“Yeah, we’re definitely visible.” Jaden stepped out from behind Ohanzee’s huge wing. He strode toward his gran, her face drained of color and distress drawing her body in tense lines.
“It’s okay, Gran. They’re friends.” Jaden took her hand and eased her toward the gliders, reassuring her with his eyes.
Clutching Jaden’s hand, Kayla held her breath as Ruby inched closer to the bats.
“Hello,” Ruby offered, her voice unsure.
“Welcome, Wise One,” Tazanna said, inclining her head.
Kayla couldn’t believe her ears. Since when is Tazanna so polite? And shockingly, Ohanzee followed suit.
“We are most honored to have you with us,” Ohanzee hummed.
Ruby smiled tentatively. “Thank you. I’m Ruby. Who are you?”
The bats introduced themselves with the same air of deference. It annoyed Kayla. “How come you’re not so civil when you talk to us?”
“Because you are not our elder,” Tazanna replied, sniffing. “Don’t humans have a rule about respecting their elders?”
“Sadly, not one that’s followed with regularity these days,” Ruby said. “I think Jaden and Kayla are two of the few exceptions.”
“A pity. There’s much we learn from elders.” Changing the subject, Tazanna asked, “How is it, Wise One, that we are not hidden from you? Does it have something to do with the unusual ring adorning your finger?”
Ohanzee rumbled. “Yes, it gives off the strangest signal.”
Ruby smiled more readily this time. “I’ll tell you about the ring if you tell me why you’re here.”
Kayla chuckled. Ruby, shrewd lady that she was, must’ve already calculated the odds of extracting information from these amazing creatures. Something Kayla and Jaden could learn from Ruby if they ever intended wheedling more information from Zareh than he cared to share.
“The Wise One is as cunning as she is beautiful,” Ohanzee said.
This tickled Ruby. “Oh, and who’s the charming one, set to distract the unsuspecting victim?”
Ohanzee and Tazanna both roared with laughter, surprising the teens, who hadn’t yet heard them laugh this way. Rich, sonorous bellows rolled from the depths of their beings, shaking and reverberating the surrounding air.
“Well, Ohanzee,” Tazanna sputtered when she was capable of speech. “I think you’ve met your match.”
With merriment in her eyes, Ruby said, “Not for lack of trying. Now, shall we share information?”
Tazanna beamed. “A fine suggestion, Wise One. I’ll begin by answering your question. Ohanzee and I were sent to your world to assist Jaden and Kayla. They have an important and time-sensitive task to complete. Your face tells me you already suspected Kayla’s involvement?”
Ruby nodded. “When she didn’t answer me directly and looked to Jaden for advice, I gathered she was more than an observer. She’s a seeker too, then?” When they nodded, Ruby said, “How is it possible she and Jaden are in the same town? Aren’t seekers geographically distant?”
Kayla blinked. Ruby knows about seekers? Conversations they’d had flashed through Kayla’s memory. and pieces fell into place.
Jaden had said his mother told him the medallion came from his grandmother. Kayla bounced to Ruby’s strange comment that Jaden’s mother “should have told him more” before giving him the medallion.
When she recalled how tense Jaden’s mother had been when they’d left yesterday, and how she’d seemed desperate to say something, but hadn’t, Kayla’s misgivings grew. Ruby wasn’t the only one hiding something.
“Gran, you know a lot more than you’ve been telling us,” Jaden said. “Care to explain how you know about ‘seekers?’ And why these gigantic bats aren’t freaking you out?”
“Calm down,” Ruby said in a measured tone, turning her steely gaze on Jaden. “I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets.”
Jaden’s shoulders slumped as his indignation cooled. “Sorry, Gran. This has all been so frustrating!”
“I’m sure it has. As for these wondrous creatures, if I’m right, they’re called ‘gliders.’” Ruby looked to the bats for confirmation.
“You are correct, Wise One,” Ohanzee hummed, impressed.
“How did you know that?” Kayla asked, unable to curb her own curiosity.
“Let’s get comfortable before we talk,” Ruby said. “I suspect it will be a long night.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jaden wasn’t sure what to expect as his gran led them back to the front porch. Gran had this information all the time? And Mom knew too? Torn between anger that they had said nothing and dismay that they were equally involved, Jaden kept his own counsel.
Reaching the porch, the humans dropped into assorted chairs while the gliders settled on the soft grass bordering it.
“I doubted the validity of my grandfather’s bedtime stories about the medallion and relic stone; but now I believe,” his gran said, glancing at the bats. “You were in those stories—these unbelievably immense bats who would carry the medallion keepers, or ‘seekers,’ on their backs.”
Ruby’s revelations intrigued the bats as much as the teens.
“He spoke of our kind?” Tazanna asked.
“Yes. And of the evil one.” Ruby shuddered.
“You mean the Gaptor?” Jaden asked, incredulous.
“Yes, dear. From the way you say that, and your knowledge of his name, I presume you know all about that monster too?”
Jaden sighed. He didn’t want to scare his Gran with details of their encounters just yet. “You could say that.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, truly I am. I was hoping our generation wouldn’t be the one posing the threat.” Seeing Jaden’s enquiring look, she went on. “Not all seekers are threats, or didn’t you know that?”
“I suppose we were told that indirectly . . . but the message is much clearer when phrased that way. Please, Gran, won’t you continue?”
“It’s hard to know where to start . . .”
“Why don’t you tell us about that interesting ring on your finger?” Tazanna said, not bothering to hide how captivated she was by the object.
“Yes, do, it’s so very unusual. It’s making my ears buzz pleasantly,” Ohanzee added.
Jaden barely suppressed his laughter. It was funny seeing the bats so out of their element.
His gran frowned. “I’m not sure why it’s doing that, but my grandfather called this a relic stone.” Moving her other hand to remove the ring, she paused, glancing at the gliders. “How long have you been at my home?”
“We left as soon as Jaden and Kayla arrived and only returned a short while ago,” Ohanzee answered. “Why?”
“I didn’t see you before the ring pointed you out. I wonder if you’ll still be visible when I’m not wearing it. Only one way to find out.” His gran sighed and tugged the ring from her finger.
They all waited. “Well?” Jaden asked when she said nothing.
“They’re still there! Maybe once the chosen family member has worn the ring, their eyes are forever opened to the other world. How fascinating!” Ruby passed the ring to Jaden, who inspected it.
“Chosen family member?” Jaden echoed.
“Yes, I’ll explain in a minute. Isn’t the ring fascinating?”
Jaden examined the ring, or relic stone as his gran had called it. Aptly named because it was, in fact, made from stone. Sculpted from what looked like white granite, the craftsmanship was outstanding, the stone polished so the person wearing it felt discomfort. The face of the flat, glossy, round surface bore an engraved lightning bolt, made more striking by the silver embedded in the grooves.
“Remarkable,” Jaden commented. He offered the ring to Kayla.
Their fingers touched, and current shot through his arm and into his body. Jaden almost jerked the ring from Kayla’s hand. The intense, reflexive reaction puzzled him. How can I hold her hand and not experience that same, startling effect?
Jaden noticed Kayla staring at him. Did she feel the same thing? Does it have something to do with the ring? Are my feelings for her all related to this mysterious quest? No, I liked Kayla the moment I met her, and that was before we found our medallions.
Kayla arched her eyebrows in a silent question. Jaden couldn’t tell her what he’d been thinking. He shrugged, smiled crookedly, and tilted his head sideways, indicating it was nothing. Kayla dropped her gaze and inspected the ring.
His gran prattled on, oblivious to their silent exchange. “When you two stepped outside, it confirmed Kayla was more involved than I first suspected. It was time to show you the ring. My grandfather told me to pass it on to the person in our family to whom it was visible. I couldn’t give it to anyone who couldn’t see it.”
“Why?” Jaden asked.
“Because it chooses only one person in each family, and the ability to see the ring reveals the chosen one. Your mother and uncle couldn’t see the ring, so I had to wait until they had children. Then I had to wait until those children came of age before testing the stone on them.”
Jaden nodded slowly. “You’ve been waiting a long time to get rid of it.”
“I have. I tested the stone, first on your sister and then on your brother, with no success. Then you came of age, but the strangest thing happened before I could test it on you. Hindsight suggests meddling by the Gaptor.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Remember the last time you were here, and you came down with that mystery illness, resulting in that mad dash to the ER? Then they couldn’t find anything wrong with you?”
Jaden nodded. At Kayla’s questioning glance, he elaborated. “We were here for a family gathering, celebrating my sister’s new job. It was our last evening together, and we were relaxing in the living room after dinner, when Gran asked me to help her with something upstairs. I rose to follow, but that was as far as I got. I blacked out.”
“It was all rather alarming,” Ruby murmured.
Jaden resumed. “From what they told me later, my mom rushed over and found I was burning up. She and my dad bundled me into the terraporter and rushed me to the nearest ER. That was where I regained consciousness, not remembering what happened, and with monitors strapped to me, beeping and squawking like a bizarre mechanical choir.” Jaden paused for a breath.
Kayla couldn’t wait. “And?”
“Several batteries of tests later, they still couldn’t pinpoint a reason for my symptoms. Even more perplexing, my temperature returned to normal within an hour of me being admitted—and without medication.”
“Interesting.”
“You could say that. The doctors thought something else going on, so they kept me overnight for observation, a waste of time because nothing happened. They released me, and on the doctor’s recommendation, we flew straight home. I didn’t get to come back and say goodbye to my gran or find out what it was she wanted help with.”
His gran smiled. “It was help I wanted, but not in the usual sense of the word. The ‘help’ you were providing was allowing me to confirm whether you were the chosen one in our family. I’d asked you upstairs because I knew no one would disturb us there, and I could test my theory uninterrupted.”
“But why then?” Jaden asked.
“That family gathering was the first time I saw you after your eighteenth birthday. For each family member, I had to wait until they turned eighteen before testing them—and no, I don’t know why. It was another one of the many nebulous instructions my grandfather gave me,” Ruby said, sensing Jaden’s unasked question.
“But we now know why you never got to show me the ring,” Jaden muttered.
“Yes. That mystery illness was the Gaptor scheming to prevent me from passing the relic stone on to you.”
Kayla spoke. “The relic stone must be crucial if the Gaptor interfered. What does it do, Ruby?”
“I’m afraid that’s another thing my grandfather was vague about. All he told me was the relic stone was a powerful tool, and it would reveal itself to the person in our family to whom I should give it—the person preselected to be my successor.”
“Nothing else?” Jaden asked.
“No. But, that said, I’ve learned two new things about it tonight: it’s capable of sending out a pink beam which points out the gliders, and once a person has worn the ring, it reveals the other world. Whether this is a permanent or temporary effect remains to be seen. Besides those things, who knows what else it’s capable of?”
“The only thing we should expect is the impossible?” Kayla asked Jaden.
Jaden nodded.
Then Ruby threw a curveball. “Have you seen it—the Gaptor?”
Jaden s
ighed. “We have.” Jaden chose not to plow ahead with details, but when his gran showed no signs of fear, only intense interest, Jaden yielded. Discussing all that had happened since that first unforgettable meeting with the Gaptor was a relief.
Jaden began slowly, monitoring his gran’s reactions, but her keen eyes were sharp and clear and showed only a calculating mind. Soon, the words were a torrent, rushing out of him.
His gran was just as adamant she hear about Kayla’s experiences. Between them, Jaden and Kayla filled her in. His gran was particularly attentive regarding their account of Zareh and his disclosures about their mission, but she let them finish their story without interruption. It brought them full circle back to the ring and its significance.
“And neither Caleb nor Shaylee could see the ring?” Jaden asked, amazed his siblings hadn’t been chosen.
“No. By then, though, I was almost certain you were the one. There aren’t any other grandchildren, and these things must remain in our family. After you left that evening, the relic stone completely slipped my mind. You reminded me of it two days ago when you called and asked to visit.”
“Is it possible the Gaptor might’ve messed with your mind and made you forget about the ring?” Jaden asked.
Ruby sputtered. “Now why would you say a thing like that?”
“Well, if it was so important that you give me the ring, surely you would’ve remembered? And that you didn’t must mean something.”
Ruby deliberated. “A fair question, given the circumstances. But I can’t say for sure why I didn’t follow up and bring the ring to you or why I didn’t remember it until now.”
“It might just be that Jaden had to find his medallion before he received the relic stone,” Tazanna observed, speaking for the first time since they had all taken their places. “There is a definite pattern to these things here. It seems some conditions must sometimes be fulfilled before other events can occur.”
“If that’s the case,” Kayla frowned, “then what’s the next thing in this sequence that we’re supposed to do?”
Dawn of Dreams (Destiny Book 1) Page 24
