Then, they all found they could not look away even if they wanted to, and watched his movements in mesmerized glossy gazes. Suddenly and blissfully unaware they were in any danger at all. The same thing spread throughout the crowd and soon, everyone just stood, staring, in some kind of trance. Even Juliska Blackwell stared blankly into nothing.
What had the Grosvenor done to them?
The trance had not hit everyone. Ivan Crane stood his ground, albeit rather shakily so, hiding Meghan from view as Jurekai Fazendiin approached them. His eyes bore into Ivan’s a bit like he was trying to see through him, and he took long strides toward him, sniffing the air as he did so.
Meghan felt Ivan’s arms shaking as he had now stretched both of his arms back, in attempts to keep her hidden behind him. She could not see what was happening but heard footsteps shuffling through the sand. And the silence surrounding her was eerie. Like no one was even breathing. It seemed like even the air itself had stopped moving.
Ivan took in a quick, ragged breath while up above, Bird had stopped chirping and was now watching Fazendiin striding closer to Ivan and Meghan.
Meghan couldn’t stand it anymore. She needed to see what was happening. What was Ivan blocking her from seeing? She leaned, peering around the side of his shoulder. She froze when her eyes met Fazendiin’s. He was staring directly at her from about fifteen feet away.
Their gazes fixed, a reviling grin spreading across the Grosvenor’s face.
“I smell your blood,” Fazendiin revealed intently. “I wondered…”
Meghan had no idea what he meant, but it appeared to her that Ivan did. Any color left in his cheeks drained. Ivan struggled to keep his breathing even. Meghan guessed they were about to die.
She stared, wide-eyed, unable to look away from the Grosvenor. She saw something familiar in his face. Not something easily placeable. Why was he showing so much interest in her? Did he somehow know she was a newcomer to the Svoda? Or that she was a Firemancer? What would he care about these things?
Fazendiin unexpectedly took a few steps back, his features insinuating some sort of understanding or acceptance. His mouth turned into a cruel grin, which told them he’d just discovered something that pleased him.
The crowd started awakening from their trance-like state, and just in time to see Jurekai Fazendiin once again transforming into swirling blackness, which vanished for real this time, leaving the overcast sky stretching overhead. Normal, like nothing had happened.
For a long minute, no one spoke, fearing he might return, however, seconds later the doorway was sealed shut and the island’s magical protections put back in place. His chance was over.
“Please, everyone,” spoke Banon Blackwell, her voice strong. “We are safe again. Let us welcome our family home.” She motioned for everyone to greet the new arrivals, but she could not hide completely that the unexpected visit had shaken her.
Juliska’s eyes sought out Meghan, and upon seeing her, looked a bit more relieved. She nodded gratefully to Ivan, whom she saw standing in front of Meghan like a human blockade. Only Juliska Blackwell had no idea why Ivan had truly done this, and neither the crowd nor Juliska had seen Jurekai’s confrontation. They had been in a trance.
Heck, Meghan still did not comprehend why he had done this.
Juliska joined the new arrivals, welcoming each of the shaken members’ home.
Ivan turned to Meghan, staring at her, the look of shock and horror painted on his face. He shot a glance up to Bird and mustered out the words, “You were right.” He grasped Meghan's arm and dashed away from the beach, away from the crowd.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Let go of me.”
“No! We have to…” Ivan shook his head. “There isn't any place to go,” he said to himself.
“Ivan, would you please tell me what is going on?” Meghan stopped, stubbornly refusing to move. Bird fluttered overhead trying to look like he fit in.
Ivan opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Finally, he said, “We cannot do this out in the open, it’s too dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” she questioned. “Ivan!”
Ivan stared at her with a look that declared her sudden death sentence. Whatever had just happened had shaken something loose in him. He motioned for her to follow him and she obeyed, in silence, with Bird flying close by until they stopped close to her home.
“No,” she argued at once, refusing to go inside. “You are not doing this to me again, Ivan Crane.”
“Meghan, I swear to you, I will explain everything. But right now you need to go home, stay home, and pretend that nothing… nothing… out of the ordinary just happened.”
Meghan swallowed hard, her heart racing harder with each panicked word Ivan spoke. “You're really scaring the crap out of me,” she whispered shakily.
“You’re not alone in that sentiment,” he cautioned flatly. He strode off, nodding curtly at Bird who flew up to Meghan's window. He perched on the sill, keeping watch.
Nona came running out from around the backside of the house, having been out scavenging for food. She already knew what had happened, having heard it all through Meghan's thoughts. Equally infuriating was that she did not understand Ivan’s and Bird’s behavior any more than Meghan did.
“Come, Meghan,” pleaded her catawitch. “I feel we should heed Ivan’s wishes. You must go inside.” Meghan nodded and they went into the house. She suddenly felt dried out and in need of water. She poured a glass from a pitcher sitting on the kitchen table. It was ice cold and stung her insides as it slid down her throat. She sucked the glass dry and slammed it onto the table, grasping the table’s edge to steady herself. She could make no sense out of what had just happened.
She closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. She wanted to storm out of the kitchen and out of the house, locate Ivan and force him to spill everything he knew.
She heard footsteps entering the house.
“Meghan,” a concerned voice called out.
Juliska, realized Meghan. She poured another glass of water, feeling the need to keep her hands busy, and exited the kitchen. The water had not done much to calm her nerves but holding onto the cold glass felt better than having nothing to hold onto at all.
“I'm so sorry I could not get here sooner,” apologized Juliska, spouting, “and I'm afraid I will be in meetings all night. Are you okay? I'm sure that had to be a very frightening experience for you, to see one of our ancient enemies for the first time. Even for me, it is still no easy thing to witness. But you don't have to worry, the doorway is closed and all access to the island is once again sealed off, even to Grosvenor. He will not be returning.”
“Not today at least,” Meghan mumbled weakly. “I'm okay, really,” she insisted.
Juliska walked over, laying her hand on Meghan's shoulder, unsure she believed her. “You really are an amazing young woman.”
Meghan threw her a feeble smile. “I am tired. I think I'm just going to try to do a bit of homework, and head to bed early tonight.”
“Yes, the curfew announcement will be going off in a couple hours anyway, and we have to get all the new arrivals back to their homes to get settled in. Are you sure you're okay?”
Meghan nodded yes, though her hand was shaking terribly as she took a sip of her water. Juliska frowned but Meghan insisted again she was fine.
“Okay. Well, I'll see you at breakfast. A word of warning, I may be fighting to stay awake myself if these meetings last as long into the night as I expect them to.” She started to turn and leave the house. “Oh, and I am leaving my personal Balaton behind. I don’t want you to think you’re alone in this big old house. They’ll watch over the place so you can sleep easy.”
Guess I'm definitely stuck here, she thought. No forcing Ivan into a full confession tonight! Aloud she said, “Thanks, I’m sure I will sleep better knowing they're around. And Nona will keep me company, of course.” She forced a confident smile.
“It’s settled then. Good n
ight.” Juliska slipped away.
Meghan noted Jelen and Jenner Wandrer standing guard on the front porch. Juliska passed along her orders to them. Jelen stayed near the front door, and Jenner hiked to the back of the house where they often posted themselves when guarding Juliska’s abode. Meghan could not imagine anyone wanting to take on the brothers who looked like a couple of hefty wrestlers.
Meghan made her way upstairs and into her room. She closed the door and leaned up against it, trying to catch her breath. She heard tapping against her windowpane.
“Bird.” She raced over and opened the window. A rush of cool autumn air flooded into her room. She did not mind it; somehow, it helped her feel like she could breathe again.
Bird and Nona nodded to each other, saying hello.
Bird bounced inside, hiding most of his body behind a curtain dangling to the side of the window, but kept his beady eyes glued to anything happening outside.
“Don't suppose you'd transform and tell me what the heck is going on?” Meghan asked warily. Bird shook his head, but proceeded to lower his head as if to say, sorry.
Meghan had nothing left. She kicked her schoolbag under her desk and crept to her bed. She didn’t even bother to change into her nightgown. Nona used her paws to pull back the covers, allowing Meghan to crawl in and pull the blankets up to her chin. Nona snuggled up close to her face, but outside of the covers. She kept her own catawitch eyes peeled in Bird’s direction, wishing to help with anything he might suddenly need.
Nona’s thoughts leaked into Meghan’s exhausted mind. “Whatever is going on, we'll figure it out. We'll force it out of Ivan Crane if we have to!”
Meghan had a thought burst into her mind. Colby had said the Grosvenor’s name. Could he know more about this Grosvenor? Might she be able to get him to talk to her?
In her mind, she searched for the connection to his thoughts. She could feel him there, ignoring her as usual. She spoke his name clearly, trying to gain his attention, and this time he answered her attempt by spitting out, “Leave me alone.”
“At least you're speaking to me now, that's a start I guess,” Meghan sent to him.
“More like ignoring you, loudly!” he shot back.
Meghan sighed. The type of sigh that shouted, I'm lost, I'm lonely, I’m bored. I'm confused...
She was surprised when Colby spoke back. “Bad day?” in such a manner that she could not tell whether this pleased him, or whether he was actually curious, or just had lots of personal experience in the matter.
She ignored his question. “I know you hate this connection,” she said instead, “but I wanted to ask you something. Something I can’t get an answer to where I am.”
“And how am I supposed to know this answer?” Colby retorted.
“The other day, I heard you say a name, a name I recognized. Jurekai Fazendiin. Why do you know that name? Do you know anything about him?”
Colby did not answer right away. When he did, his voice was not so kind. “Why do you want to know this?”
The way he spoke, Meghan knew that Colby did know something.
“Please, Colby, can you tell me what you know about this... man?” She wasn't sure man was the right word to use.
“I should have guessed talking back to you would be a mistake,” accused Colby, at the same time, severing the connection between their minds.
Meghan let out an aggravated sound that grabbed Bird's attention. He chirped for a moment, to which Meghan replied tiredly, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, all in good time, now is not the right time… blah blah blah.”
Suddenly the smell of something burning filled her nostrils. Puffs of smoke floated up over her body. She jumped up, shouting, “Oh, perfect!”
Nona rolled up the bed sheets easily extinguishing the flames that were catching.
“Singeing the sheets again. Just what I need,” Meghan chided herself.
“It’s okay,” insisted Nona. “It’s not like they can hurt either of us.”
“I know. I know. I just cannot go back to losing control like this. Not again. Not now.”
Meghan heard a strange sound in her mind. “Are you laughing at me?” she shouted back. Apparently, Colby was still listening, just not replying, and had let his guard down, laughing heartily at her.
“Not funny!” she spat out grumpily.
Bird threw her a questioning look, which she ignored.
“Humpf!” she rattled, sliding down next to her bed on the floor.
She folded her arms defiantly. This was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER 10
Colby sat at a table, eating a dinner of chicken stew.
“What a dumb girl,” he laughed in between bites, enjoying the distraction she was currently providing. It seemed the worst her temper was, the clumsier she got, which for some reason he found funny. Colby could not remember the last time he had laughed.
“Your father isn’t one for humor,” his catawitch, Elisha, purred from a seat nearby.
“No. Definitely not. But he doesn’t have time for humor. He has a world to take over,” he boasted. Elisha purred wickedly in approval.
“Why do you think the girl wanted to know about my father?” he asked, after another bite of stew.
“Search her thoughts,” purred Elisha, equally eager to know.
“Can I do that?” Colby asked. “Force my way into her mind without her knowing?”
“Why not,” egged Elisha. “She tries to get into your head all the time.”
“Yeah, and I’m not keen on that,” he reminded her.
“Fine. Then sit here and keep wondering. Not like we’ve got anything else to do.”
“Yeah, this sitting around and waiting is driving me crazy. I might as well be bored and in school!”
“It’s not that bad,” exclaimed Elisha. She hated school as much, if not more so than Colby.
Colby let down his guard, allowing the girl’s thoughts into his mind again. Meghan caught onto his thoughts about school. “Sounds like you love school just as much as I do,” she told him haughtily.
Colby frowned. He really needed to find a permanent block to keep this girl from his mind, no matter that now and then she was good for a laugh. Before Colby replied, or asked why she wanted to know about his father, he slipped the block back in place; there was a hefty knock at his door. He did not want her to overhear any of his business conversations. He put down his spoon before saying, “You may enter.”
It was KarNavan, leader of the Stripers… the treasure hunters.
“Any news?” asked Colby in complete seriousness.
“None. We still wait, Young Master.”
“We could be waiting for months at this rate!” shouted Colby impatiently, standing up from the table.
“We have no choice. The Projector must out himself by using magic in public before we can track him. Once he does, Young Sir, I guarantee, we can be there in mere moments.”
Colby frowned again. And KarNavan knew why.
“My apologies, Master Colby. I did not mean…” he was cut off.
“I’m getting tired of your apologies, KarNavan. I’m only working alongside you because my father asked it of me. Do not call me young again or I will find a way to sever this trust he seems to have in you.”
KarNavan stepped back, throwing up his hands in feigned surrender. “There is no need. It will not happen again. I will report again tomorrow unless anything new develops.” He turned to leave, the look of malevolence on his face. Spiny brat his inner voice screamed.
Once out of the room he shut the door, body dissolving and blending into the background of the crumbling quartz wall he was marching past.
They were holed up atop a hill in an abandoned fort, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. All that remained of the fort were a few crumbling walls, the remnants of an old building and a bunker, in which Colby remained at all times while waiting to track the adult Projector.
KarNavan sauntered to the edge of the fort, where his second in co
mmand awaited him.
“What of the boy?” Ardon asked, her voice impatient.
“We bide our time,” KarNavan decided. “Let us speak no more of it now.”
She nodded and returned to her meal.
This had better pay off KarNavan thought to himself. He looked around at the anxious hunters hiding in the encampment. Going up against a Projector surely meant lives lost. Plus, he trusted Fazendiin to honor their arrangement about as much as he trusted any arrangement he had ever made.
CHAPTER 11
Colin pricked his finger with a needle. “Ouch. Stupid needle!”
Catrina cleared her throat from just a few feet away. He looked, instantly calming himself upon seeing her face. She emanated patience and compassion.
“You're nearly finished,” she pointed out.
“Who had any idea that making a book by hand would be so difficult,” he said, putting his attention back to the pages he was sewing together.
“It’s not worth doing unless it’s worth keeping,” Jasper said from behind him, appearing on the deck from below.
Colin decided his cramped fingers needed a break and he set the pages down for a moment to stretch.
Jasper glanced down and noticed a smudge of blood on the outside page. “It’s also worth noting that a little blood doesn't hurt either,” he winked and took a seat at the table where they ate their meals. Jasper always cooked, by hand, from scratch, using things he had picked from the garden growing all over the deck of his boat.
“So, we are really in the Bayou?” said Colin, leaning up against a moss-covered wall near the middle of the deck.
“You were expecting something more exotic?” Jasper hinted.
“I guess. I guess I didn't expect I was so much closer to home than I thought.” He could not help think of popping up in Cobbscott, Maine, and seeing if his Uncle Arnon was there, or even still alive. But that was not an option. He could not get past Jasper’s protection cloak, even if he really wanted to.
“To my credit, although we are floating through the Bayou, the boat just magically shifts between inlets. Frankly, I think the boat’s bored, as I do believe we have been floating repeatedly down the same river for days now.” He spoke in a manner which claimed the boat was its own entity, making its own choices of where to float.
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