by Carmen Caine
His lashes flickered and trailing an elegant finger down my jawline, he dropped his hand into his pocket and pulled out Jareth’s protection rune.
Puzzled, I stared at the black symbol etched deep into the white stone. The rune looked like it always had. White. Vibrant.
I caught my breath then.
It was still pulsating, and there were no signs of cracks.
I glanced up in surprise to meet Rafael’s clear gaze.
“Yes,” he confirmed, seeing the understanding dawn in my eyes. “Jareth’s still alive.”
Chapter Three – Finding Melody
Relief consumed me, even though I couldn’t believe it.
“Alive? How?” I gasped. “He quit breathing. I saw it myself.”
Rafael drew his brows together into a frown. “I don’t really know,” he admitted, grimacing. He gave his head a rueful shake and added, “But isn’t everything with Jareth … unique?”
I had to grant him that. Though I wasn’t quite sure I’d have chosen the word “unique”. I took a deep breath, overwhelmed by a rollercoaster of emotions and then managed to ask, “Where is he?”
His handsome face darkened with frustration and concern. “I’ve tried everything I can think of. He’s hidden somewhere. By someone who doesn’t want him to be found.”
I was willing to bet everything I had on just who that someone was. Melody. But I’d only said the first syllable of her name before Rafael laid a long finger against my lips. With his gray eyes flashing a brief warning, his expression took a decidedly guarded turn as his gaze focused in the direction of the door.
I turned to see a Fae Protector standing there, touching his cheek in a three-fingered salute.
“Report,” Rafael ordered in a cool tone.
The Protector bowed and replied at once, “We cannot find her. The GPS tracker has stopped sending signals.”
So, she’d neutralized Al’s tracker. I frowned.
The muscle on Rafael’s jaw tightened. “And before it went silent?” he queried.
“Nothing,” the Protector responded. “The signal was too erratic.”
Before Rafael could press further, a cloud of mist suddenly appeared next to the couch and Brock stepped out of it and bowed respectfully in greeting. Turning to the first Fae Protector, he announced, “You may leave.”
The Protector hesitated but then obliged, though with obvious reluctance.
When he’d been gone for several seconds, Brock turned to face us. “He can’t be trusted,” he informed us bluntly. “I believe that he told her about Al’s tracker. We were triangulating a possible location when he abruptly made an excuse to depart the command center. Whilst he was gone, her tracker stopped receiving entirely, thus I fear he might be one of Melody’s minions.”
Melody’s minions. It kind of had a ring to it. The silly thought made me suddenly realize that I was getting tired. The day had been a long one. Tiredly, I looked at Brock, the fair-haired Fae Protector who’d shape-shifted to assume my identity and had pretended to be me while I’d been detained in Avalon. He’d really made quite a mess of my schoolwork. But none of that was really important anymore.
“Then did you find her before she was warned?” Rafael was asking.
“We replicated the Earthly GPS satellites’ signals on Avalon and believe her tracker received them somewhere near the rock beneath the Queens’ Palace,” Brock replied, moving closer to speak in a voice barely above a whisper. “And I can’t promise that Jareth is there with her, but the entrance is secret and cannot be reached by shifting. Somehow, she has blocked all light from penetrating her location. We can’t enter if we can’t find the light.”
I didn’t know there was any place—outside the Second Dimension—that the Fae couldn’t shift into. I watched them both frown.
Rafael murmured in a low voice, “There is one who knows.”
Brock hesitated. He glanced quickly in my direction, before nodding crisply at Rafael. “Right,” he said. “I’ll ask her, at once. But I don’t think she’s inclined to help. Not after … recent events. Rejection, you know. She doesn’t take well to it.”
She? I was sure I knew who “she” was. Raven.
Raising his hand, he touched the elegant gold classification bracelet circling his wrist. I glanced down at my own gold bracelet that we’d used to escape Avalon. It felt like years ago now. I still couldn’t get it off. And now that I’d managed to summon Melody and start the whole mess in the coffee shop by accidentally accessing its light, I suddenly wanted it off more now than ever.
But as usual, the thing wouldn’t budge.
Rafael brought me back to the present with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and a light peck on the cheek.
“Grace is here and Betty will be soon. Perhaps it’s best they not see us right now,” he said. His warm smile slipped a little as he added, “And we really need to track Jareth down.”
I barely had time to nod before he and Brock disappeared, leaving a telltale smattering of mist floating in the family room.
I heaved a breath of relief that Jareth was somehow still alive. Perhaps it had something to do with his lizard DNA. Whatever it was, I was grateful. Truly grateful. Somehow, I’d grown to love him like a brother—a really obnoxious one but a brother all the same.
Feeling better by the moment, I headed for the kitchen as the front door banged shut and I fell into line behind Grace who was dragging her soggy lacrosse gear across the floor. She unceremoniously dumped it into a pile in the middle of the kitchen. Gathering her black hair into a ponytail, she peered over Al’s shoulder.
“Whatcha up to, Pops?” she asked with a curious grin.
Al looked up from his boxes of spy equipment spread out over the kitchen table. “I’m taking inventory here, kiddo,” he said, a little distracted. With a frown, he patted his shirt pocket and pulled out a small notebook and pencil. “Ah, I’m late. Jack’s expecting me to check in. Can’t miss it.”
I wanted to tell him the good news about Jareth, and I could tell by the serious expression in his eyes that he was worried, so I said, “Looks like Jareth might make it back here, after all. His … uh … concert wasn’t … uh … cancelled after all. He’s making an … unexpected recovery.”
Al’s bright blue eyes lit. I guess that’s what I loved about Al. He accepted people for what they were. He let them be weird, maybe even obnoxious, and chose to focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. Anyway, I could tell by his face that he was genuinely pleased by the news.
“That boy is full of surprises,” he said, sending me a warm smile. “Well, if I don’t call in to Jack, he’s going to have every UFO club this side of the Rockies knocking on our door. I’ll catch up with you later, kiddo.”
I watched him hurry down the hall to his bedroom to check in with his janitor friend, Jack. Jack may just be a janitor at a military base, but all of his kooky inventions had worked. And the thought of him watching over us, even from afar, was suddenly comforting.
“UFO clubs?” Grace snorted, stepping over her lacrosse bag as it made a puddle on the floor. She moved to the refrigerator. “Well, at least he’s forgotten the chicken house coop idea.”
Reminded of the Mesmers, I eyed the windows, wondering if we should just move ahead with converting the house into a chicken coop despite what Grace and Betty thought. Those Faraday caps had worked. And I knew the Mesmers were only regrouping. Who knew what they’d come up with next?
After a moment, I noticed Grace’s dark eyes peering at me from over the top of the refrigerator door, and I jerked a little. For some reason, I felt guilty. I don’t know why. Looking around for a distraction, I grabbed the first thing I saw. It was a small purse-sized can of Lysol that had come as an add-on to one of Al’s bigger spray cans he’d been using in the garage.
“I’ve been looking all over for this,” I said, holding up the small can. I promptly winced. I was horrible at hiding things.
She was clearly suspicious of m
e. One of her dark brows lifted.
In the awkward silence that followed, I jammed the mini Lysol can in my pocket as if it were some kind of contraband. She just watched me, absently tugging her ponytail. We were both rescued by the sound of feet stomping on the porch, and I glanced through the window to see that Betty was back.
We met her at the door.
“What did you get, Mom?” Grace asked, helping her with the grocery bags. Squinting into one of them, she wrinkled up her nose and pulled out a stalk of Brussels sprouts. “Little green balls of death.”
“They’re very good for you, honey.” Betty greeted us both with a smile. “And they were on sale. They’ll go good with our meatloaf tonight. Sydney, can you bring in the bag of potatoes?”
Jumping at the chance to escape, I mumbled a “sure" and ducked out the door.
I was going to have to watch out for Grace and Ellison. I didn’t know if they were truly suspicious, but I didn’t want them to be. I sure didn’t want them to get mixed up in this mess.
It was dark and still raining as I darted to the truck. Across the street, Rafael’s house was illuminated in a blaze of light. I could see people milling about through the curtains. It looked like he was having some sort of party, but I knew better.
I glanced around, wondering where Ajax had absconded. And almost as if he’d read my mind, he jumped up to my side from the surrounding darkness, nearly giving me a heart attack.
“That’s not funny,” I practically growled at him, jerking the bag of potatoes from the truck. Recalling the time I’d painted his toenails with neon nail polish, I sent him an evil grin. “Remember, I get even.”
He clearly followed my thoughts. Jumping back, he immediately sniffed his nails as if to assure himself that they were still their properly polished black.
But then a series of lights flashing from Rafael’s curtained window caught both of our attention, and making my mind up all at once, I hurried back into the kitchen to dump the potatoes onto the countertop.
“I think I’ll take Ajax for a walk,” I informed Betty in as normal of a voice as I could.
“OK, honey,” Betty acknowledged from where she stood by the sink, washing the Brussels sprouts.
As I left, Grace deflated into a chair by the table, heaving a loud sigh. “Why does everything healthy have to taste like battery acid?”
“Battery acid?” Betty was asking as I closed the door.
I have to admit, I was curious myself about her reply, but I couldn’t stick around to find out. Stepping outside, I paused a moment, listening to the steady rhythm of the raindrops as I scanned the surrounding gloom for any sign of Mesmer activity. I’d just squared my shoulders to cross the street when a red sports car zipped into the cul-de-sac and swerved into Rafael’s driveway.
A very tall, gorgeous, familiar figure stepped out, and even in the darkness I could tell it was Raven.
I knew I’d been right about Brock’s rejection comment. So, Raven was the one who knew how to access Melody’s secret hiding place.
Raven turned to face me, lifting her hand as an umbrella magically appeared to protect her from the spattering rain. I scowled that she was so careless to display her shifting abilities, but I think she knew I was the only one watching her. Even in the dim light, I could make out the smirk on her flawless face. With her platinum blonde hair fashioned in the shortest, sassiest haircut imaginable, and the most expensive of red designer dresses split up the side to reveal a svelte, slim leg, she was as stunningly beautiful as ever.
And as usual, I couldn’t help but feel woefully inadequate where Rafael was concerned. It was a bit hard to believe that he’d break his engagement with her and then choose me, someone who lived in jeans and hoodies. I wondered what he saw in me. I mean, really saw in me. I was average. There was nothing special about me.
Lost in my thoughts, only part of me vaguely noticed Raven moving away, tossing her head as she executed a perfect pirouette on one of her insanely high-spiked heels, apparently just to annoy me. Clicking up the sidewalk, she opened Rafael’s front door and disappeared inside.
I expelled my breath, unaware that I’d even been holding it.
I’d been ready to dash across the street to see what was going on. But with Raven there, I was suddenly reluctant.
I glanced down to see Ajax sitting by my feet, watching me with a huge grin on his face.
“What are you smiling at?” I snapped at him. His snarky expression knocked me out of my pity party enough to lie. “She doesn’t bother me.”
He only grinned wider and that was enough to send me marching across the street without a moment’s hesitation. I’d fully intended on boldly knocking on the front door, but as soon as I stepped foot on the driveway, voices from the backyard caught my attention.
Ajax’s too. His long dark ears pricked forward and dropping into a crouch, he crept alongside the house.
I followed.
It was still raining and chilly, but the large trees afforded some protection as we inched towards the privacy fence ringing the backyard. The gate’s latch was undone and wondering why Rafael never locked his gate, I pushed it open a few inches and peered through the withered rubbery leaves of the rhododendrons growing alongside the inner fence.
A short distance away, Rafael stood against the backyard porch railing with his arms crossed and his car keys dangling from a finger. He wore a light gray knee-length coat with a black scarf carelessly tossed over his broad shoulders. As usual, he looked strikingly handsome. He was the essence of masculine beauty. Angular lines, sculpted planes, and muscular hardness. I couldn’t resist admiring him a moment before shifting my attention to his companion.
Raven. She was standing close to him. Too close, only inches away.
I’d like to say that I backed out and returned home, but I didn’t. Falling victim to flaring jealousy mixed with a modicum of curiosity, I held my breath and, moving forward, plastered my face deeper into the soggy wet rhododendron leaves in the effort to hear what they were saying.
As I watched, Raven reached up as if to cradle Rafael’s cheek, but stopped in mid-act as he shoved his hands in his pockets and took a deliberate step sideways out of her reach.
“No, Raven,” he said, a frown marring his brow. “You’ll have to help me because it is the right thing to do.” He paused for dramatic emphasis before adding, “I’ll never be yours. My heart belongs to Sydney.”
I have to admit, I smiled at that. In fact, I was giddy.
She made a gesture of complete disgust. “Are you mad—”
“I will no longer discuss this with you,” he interrupted in an aloof manner.
She scowled outright, mulling it over and chewing her upper lip with her perfect teeth. “Very well,” she finally said in an undertone. “But do not expect me to be there once you tire of your … fling with this … this—”
“Enough, Raven,” Rafael warned again, his expression deadly serious. “To the matter at hand. You have the power to help. Will you?”
She was clearly not pleased to have the subject switched. She flung her head from side-to-side a couple of times before accusing in an arch tone, “There is much you are not saying, Rafael. Why would you think I know Melody’s secrets?”
He tilted his head, contemplating a moment. “You have always been her favorite, Raven.”
Her lips thinned even more. “I only joined Inner Circle because of you,” she admitted reproachfully. “But now I see that they are truly right in their beliefs. You’re a Pureblood like me. Our bloodlines are untainted. Together, we can restore the Fae to what we should be, superior beings that leave Earth and the Second Dimension to their own deserved fate.”
“That is the poison that Marquis and Melody fed you,” Rafael said in a voice of deep disapproval. “The Fae are tied to the Earth and the Second Dimension as well. All three of the dimensions need each other. We cannot exist on our own.”
She sniffed in disdain. “Nonsense. Melody is right. We d
o not need them. They are inferior.”
“No, Melody is wrong,” Rafael inserted patiently. “They are not inferior simply because they are different. In some ways, humans are more powerful than we are. They have power in their thoughts, the power to create.”
“Please!” Raven rolled her eyes. “There is nothing to debate here. We are for certain better off without them. Their existence serves no purpose, as Melody says. It is better if both Earth and the Second Dimension are … dealt with.”
Arching a slow brow, Rafael asked calmly, “And what do you mean by ‘dealt with’?”
It was the way she jerked that made my heart leap into my throat. She looked guilty. Thoroughly, utterly guilty. Clearly, she knew something. And that something didn’t sound too good for Earth’s prospects.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice a little too high pitched.
Rafael was suspicious of her as well. I could tell by the way he straightened, and by the commanding tone threading his voice as he informed her, “The Fae cannot exist by themselves, Raven. Earth, Avalon, and the Second Dimension are entwined through the Tree of Life. If one is harmed, all are affected. What is Melody planning?”
Deliberately avoiding the question, she asked in an amused tone instead, “Tree of Life? Do you believe such nonsense? Have you ever seen this mighty magical tree here on Earth or even on Avalon? Tales, Rafael. Tales for little ones. I have never seen it. Have you?”
He was silent.
“Have you?” she pressed.
“No,” he confessed softly, shaking his head. “But I know it exists. The fate of Jareth, Sydney, and I end with this tree. And I know that I will see it. Soon. I see it in Sydney’s fate lines. She holds the future of us all now.”
I swallowed at the unexpected turn in the conversation. I held their future? Like I needed more pressure.
“Do the right thing, Raven,” Rafael was saying earnestly. “I need Jareth. Sydney needs Jareth to make the right choice. We must find him. Quickly. Her choice will be soon.”
My heart stood still at that. Soon? I didn’t hear what they said after that. I was completely overwhelmed. Soon? Surely not. He had no way of telling. Did he? I thought he’d told me that it could be years and years in the future before I was faced with my Blue-Threaded choice. What had changed? I felt sick. I’d just grown comfortable with the idea of pushing my Blue-Threaded choice way off into the future so I could pretend it didn’t exist.
