Sydney reached across the table, then so did Hayley. The four women clasped hands.
"That goes double for me," Sydney said.
"And me," added Hayley.
Bria looked at them for a moment, then dropped her eyes to look at their joined hands. Jaden couldn't tell if her quivering lips heralded the coming of tears or a laugh. But it turned out it was neither. Bria thanked them, sniffled a bit, then reached for her coffee. "Enough of me," she said. "Tell us what happened with Kenda." Then she did laugh. "Not the sex. I mean with Chimera."
"Oh man," Sydney said. "I wanted to hear about the sex."
Jaden shook her head, smiling despite herself.
She told them about Kenda's dream, and how she'd had to wake him up because he was moaning and talking in his sleep. "He was covered in sweat. And he was upset. I mean, really upset."
"So what does that mean?" Hayley asked. "Is he involved?"
"I don't know. We thought that maybe he's connected somehow to Kesi's guardian, but who knows. I know you guys haven't accepted the soul connection Zuri said we share with the princesses, but I believe her. I know I'm connected to Kesi. But if Kenda is connected to her guardian I think I would have felt something change inside of me. But nothing happened. So I want to see Zuri. And she needs to see Kenda. Explain why he's dreaming about Chimera now."
"I'm not completely sold on this whole soul connection thing," Sydney agreed. "I haven't even stopped taking my meds. I did both last night, by the way. Meds and Zuri's lavender oil. I just don't believe I have any understanding of what's been happening to us for the last, oh I don't know, twenty some odd years. If you want to see Zuri, then we see Zuri."
"I'd like to know why Kenda is dreaming about Chimera, too," Hayley said. "It has to mean he's involved somehow."
"So when do you want to go?" Sydney asked.
"Kenda said he'd only be an hour or so at work. I thought we could let Zuri know we'd be coming; then head out after he gets home."
"Okay," Hayley said. "I'll call Zuri. You call Kenda and find out how much longer he's gonna be at work."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
That wasn't exactly how things had turned out. Kenda ended up having to work an extra hour, but promised he'd get to Zuri's as soon as he could. So they'd gone on without him.
When Zuri came to the door, it was difficult not to envision her as the floating witch from Kenda's dream, bringing sunlight and safety with her. Today she was wearing a long, purple print dress. Her hair was up, with tendrils falling around her face. She led them inside. This time, she settled them in the sun room. She left, promising to return with refreshments and snacks.
Jaden wasn't hungry. She'd just drank two cups of coffee and had two danish at Kenda's, but she didn't want to be rude.
"I would love to explore this house," Hayley said. "It's wonderful."
"It probably has secret passage ways and hidden rooms." Bria looked around the sun room, but there weren't any hidden passages there.
The walls were made of glass. To the right, in the yard, was a pond, complete with lily pads and miles of tall grass. To the left was the garden they had walked past the day before. Jaden imagined how it would look with vibrantly colored flowers swaying in the wind. Jaden would want to walk in the garden and sit by the pond. It would be the perfect place to relax after a long day.
"It's been ten minutes," Sydney said after a while. "What all is she getting?"
But Zuri returned, pushing a cart of drinks and snacks ahead of her. And she wasn't alone. Kenda trailed her. And Kenda wasn't alone. He'd brought Chris, Tyler, and Nico with him.
"What are they doing here?" Sydney demanded.
"Kenda is our baby brother," Tyler said. "If there's something weird going on and it involves him, it involves us."
"Yeah, but we haven't established the fact that it involves Kenda. That's what we're here to find out."
Zuri motioned the men to seats. "If he's dreaming about Chimera, he's involved."
Frowning, Sydney shrugged. "Okay."
"I made cookies, and there's pound cake."
"Wait a minute." Sydney scooted up on her seat, her expression incredulous. "You bake?"
"I do. It's one of the pleasures I acquired while living in your world. I enjoy it. It settles my mind." She walked to an overstuffed armchair that was situated at the head of the room. She'd barely sat down when the guys were going for cookies and pound cake.
When Kenda sat beside Jaden and offered her a cookie, she declined. "Sydney brought danish."
"Here?"
She was about to say to his house, but realized that he may not have wanted her to have anyone over to his house while he was gone. Having guests over had been presumptuous of her.
"Are there any left? I love your aunt's danish."
"No, we sort of ate them all. And we went through another pot of your coffee."
"Glad you felt comfortable enough to have them over."
"Is that sarcasm?"
"No. I mean it."
He ran a finger over her cheek, then kissed her on the forehead. Jaden thought he was going to say more, but just then, Zuri started speaking.
"I want to make sure everyone is on the same page. Kenda, please tell us what you dreamed."
Kenda nodded, but he wasn't looking at Zuri. His eyes flicked between his brothers, then to Nico. This couldn't be easy for him. He was about to talk about tree men and night crawlers in front of the men he looked up to most in the world.
"It was just a dream," he said, eyes on Tyler. "To be honest, the more I think about it, the more surreal it seems."
"I understand," Zuri said. "All of this must be strange for you."
"Strange isn't the word."
"Okay. So tell me what you dreamed."
Kenda cleared his throat. Slowly, carefully, he told everyone about the dream. While he did, Zuri asked questions that helped create a more complete picture of what happened. When he finished, he sat back on the sofa.
"And that's it," he said. "I never saw what happened after Zuri...you came and returned the light. Jaden woke me." He turned to Jaden. "And I don't think I thanked you for that."
"I remember that day," Zuri said.
"Oh come on," Nico began.
Zuri slashed a hand through the air. "You are here to listen, not comment. If you can't be here without speaking, I will ask you to leave. Is that understood?"
"I don't want you filling Kenda's head with nonsense. Tree men and night crawlers? Come on. It's one thing to say they've all been having nightmares about the same man, it's another thing to tell Kenda he went to another world where monsters are real."
"I'm not a baby, Nico," Kenda said. "I can come to my own conclusions. I don't need you, or Tyler, or Chris, to tell me what to think. And for the record, I was dreaming, too."
"Apparently you do need us to tell you what you think if you believe any of this."
"Enough," Zuri said.
Tyler rubbed a hand over his face, but didn't say anything.
"As I was saying," Zuri resumed, "I remember that day. The daughters never left the castle without their guardians with them. You had three adult companions, you said. Those were the other guardians." She got quiet and thought for a few minutes. "What happened after you awoke is of no consequence. That attack on the girls was one of many. What matters is that you dreamed of it." Zuri's attention shifted to Jaden. "What about you? Did anything happen to you when Kenda woke up, or when he told you about his dream?"
Jaden shook her head. "No. Nothing."
"But that's not all." Kenda was talking to Zuri, but his eyes were on Chris.
"What else?"
"You're not gonna like this," Kenda told Chris, "but you were there, too. You were a guardian. I spoke to you."
For a moment, Chris didn't say anything. Then he laughed uncomfortably.
"Now I've heard everything," Nico said.
Kenda's eyes were fixed on Chris' face. "I don't know if that means anything, but I t
hought you should know."
Zuri considered this. "We have to see how things play out," she said at last.
"Tell us more about the brothers Bakari and Brell and what happened between them," Hayley said.
"The brothers," Zuri said, shaking her head. "What a sad tale." She folded her legs beneath her, then began the story. Bakari was born two years before Brell. As the oldest, he was heir to the throne, the castle, and all the land."
"Why was it called, Kingdom of the Two Lands?" Kenda asked.
"Centuries before, Bakari's ancestor defeated the neighboring kingdom of Sheol. He became ruler of those people as well as his own people. Overtime, people referred to the lands less by their individual names, Sheol and Chimera, and more by the united name of Kingdom of the Two Lands. But the people of Sheol never accepted Chimera's ruler as their own. They believed one day a deliver would come and restore their kingdom to them."
"This is already heading in a bad direction," Sydney said.
"Back to the brothers, even though Bakari was the oldest and heir, he was kind and he loved his brother. Brell always felt like he wasn't quite good enough. To be honest, the Maliki treated Brell like a footnote. The only thing that mattered to him was the firstborn. Bakari was taught how to fight, how to rule, how to manage the castle and the kingdom. At fifteen, when all kings are assigned their sorcerer, the Maliki assigned me to Bakari." She looked around the room to be sure everyone was focused on her. "It's important to understand how much Bakari loved his brother. The two were close at one time, and Bakari saw how his father treated Brell. So he insisted Brell be allowed to come along with him as he learned how to be king. Brell learned to fight alongside Bakari. Brell learned how to manage a castle. In some ways, Brell exceeded Bakari's abilities. And Brell knew it. And Bakari knew it. But the brothers weren't just brothers, they were best friends. Brell wanted his father to love him and he wanted a kingdom of his own, but he understood that would never happen. Things would have be fine, I think, had not Brell been there on Bakari's birthday when he was assigned a sorcerer."
"Prodigy was part of the kingdom?" Jaden had slid forward on the sofa without realizing.
"He was. And he wanted to be companion to the king. Other than me, he was the most talented sorcerer. And it was unheard of for a female to be selected, but Bakari wanted me. And..." she shook her head. "How can I describe the rage of Prodigy. His fury scared me. He was powerful and knew so much about the kingdom already. That was all part of our training. But foolishly I believed him when he told me, a week later, that he had let the anger go and was okay with Bakari's decision. What I didn't know was that he'd already reached out to Brell. What Brell became, the things Brell did can all be laid at the feet of Prodigy. Prodigy had begun practicing black magic years before, in secret. He convinced Brell that if Brell had a kingdom of his own, and his own people, they would overgrow Chimera and take it over."
"And he went for it?" Chris asked. "Just like that, he agreed to go against his brother?"
Jaden hadn't known Kenda and his brothers for long, but she sensed it would take a lot more than a black magician to turn them against each other.
"We don't know if Prodigy used magic against Brell," Zuri said. "If he used it to twist Brell to darkness. Clearly the darkness was already there within Brell, but I don't think he ever would have turned on his brother without Prodigy's influence.
"So we fast forward five years. Bakari went to the Maliki to ask that Sheol be given to Brell while he, Bakari, would rule over Chimera. The Maliki was taken aback. Actually, he was furious. He sent Bakari to the Outlands for two days. He was in darkness those two days with no food and just a little water. When he returned, the Maliki made Bakari promise to never speak of such a thing to him again. And he didn't. But two years after the Maliki's death, Bakari named Brell regent over Sheol. Now Regent isn't Maliki, but Brell accepted it and seemed happy. But I know Prodigy wasn't satisfied. He wanted to be companion to a king, not a regent. And the people of Sheol... Now this is just conjecture, but I think between Prodigy and the citizens of Sheol demanding independence, Brell was finally and completely turned against his brother. But the attacks didn't begin until Kesi was about two and Bakari announced his daughters would jointly rule the Two Lands after his death. This sent Brell into a fury. Being subject to his brother was one thing, but the possibly of being subject to his nieces was too much. And so, the attacks began. Brell befriended citizens of the borderlands, no doubt with promises of wealth and power once he was ruler of the Two Lands. And they partnered with him. The final blow against Chimera was Prodigy's plan to put it and all of its inhabitants in a stasis, giving Brell time to cement his influence in all the neighboring kingdoms."
"So what happened?" Tyler asked.
"Things didn't go quite as Brell had planned. Word of what he'd done reached the other kingdoms. His partnership with the creatures from the borderlands also came to light. Brell was cursed among the kings and nobody would deal with him. His only hope is that Chimera will be destroyed completely, the daughters never returned to awaken Bakari. Once that happens, all of the surrounding kingdoms will align with Bakari and destroy Brell and the people of Sheol. So Prodigy has been tasked to make sure the princesses never return to Chimera, ensuring their father never awakens and Chimera is destroyed."
"And that brings us to the present," Jaden said. "How do we reunite the princesses with their guardians? How do we even know how to find them?"
"We don't," Zuri said. "But just as the four of you were drawn together, I believe the guardians will be drawn to you, as well. They may already be here for all we know."
"And once the princesses have their guardsman, they will return together to Chimera?" Sydney asked. "So where are their bodies in the meantime?"
"Yes, they will return. As to where their bodies are, I don't know. As I said, Prodigy interrupted the spell before it could be completed properly."
"So you're just guessing that soul, body, and guardian will be reunited," Tyler said.
"I wouldn't call it a guess," Zuri said. "That's how the spell is supposed to work. I created it myself."
"How long were the princesses supposed to be gone?" Jaden asked.
"Until they were old enough to stand against Brell and stand with me against Prodigy, and that time has long since passed. They are more than able to defeat Brell and Prodigy."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Zuri opened the doors to the garden. Fragrant air drifted into the room.
Jaden had to get up and move. Clear her head. Rubbing her temples, she stood and looked to see where Kenda had gone. She didn't see him or any of the guys. They probably had poor Kenda trapped in a room somewhere, trying to talk him about of believing her.
"Where you going?" Hayley asked.
"The garden. Just to clear my head."
"A walk sounds like a good idea," Sydney said, standing as well.
Jaden had wanted to go alone, but somehow she found herself strolling past long dead flowers and overgrown grass beside Hayley, Sydney, and Bria. They talked softly, but she didn't want to talk. She didn't want to think. She just wanted to be, for a little while.
How had her life gotten so crazy? Tree men and evil wizards and kingdoms from other dimensions. Was it real or was she imagining things? And what if Zuri was some crazy lady? Who in their right mind would buy an old, decrepit estate on an island and live up there all by themselves? Nobody had ever seen her in town. Did she ever leave the old mansion? That had to qualify as crazy. And here Jaden was, listening to everything this potentially crazy woman was saying.
What if she could just go back into town, forgot about all this, and just enjoy getting to know Kenda?
But even as she had the thought she knew it would never work. The dreams wouldn't stop. The attacks from Prodigy wouldn't stop. The only thing that would stop them was getting Kesi out of her head once and for all.
She stopped walking. Something was wrong. Where had the others gone?
She turned in a circle, then spotted them. They were at the bottom of the hill, near the maze. Hayley looked up at her, so Jaden waved, but Hayley didn't wave back.
"Hey Hayley," Jaden said, starting down the hill, but Hayley acted like she didn't see Jaden.
Jaden's steps got faster. They were ahead of her, but something was wrong. She stopped in her tracks when she realized something else. The clear day was gone. Now a heavy fog hung in the air. But since when? She hadn't even seen a fog move in.
She closed the distance between herself and her friends, her heart pounding harder. When she couldn't take the strain any longer she called out to them again.
"Hayley!" she shouted. But Hayley didn't respond.
"Bria! Sydney!"
She was gesticulating wildly, but nobody looked at her. Not even when she was inches from them and shouting their names at the top of her lungs.
"You're in my world now."
If she'd thought she'd been afraid before, that fear was nothing compared to the fear she felt now.
She didn't have to turn to face the speaker to know who it was.
She pinched the inside of her arm. It hurt. She was awake. But how?
"And they can't save you."
Slowly, she turned.
Prodigy stood before her. Dressed in his usual white, with a velvet cape flipped over his shoulders, his long blond hair blowing in the wind. The picture he made there, with the old mansion behind him, was beautiful. How could such evil be housed inside such beauty?
"My mother used to wonder the same thing," Prodigy said.
"You can read my mind?"
"I can. Not that I have to. I already know everything about you."
She swallowed. "About me, maybe. But not about Kesi. And it's Kesi you need. How do you even know if killing me will hurt her?"
"Her spirit is inside of you. Sure, there's a chance that if I kill you, her spirit will drift free of you at the moment of your death." He shrugged. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."
Jaden (St. Sebastians Quartet #1) Page 13
