The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “Correct.” The head guard nodded.

  “Shouldn’t we alert—”

  “You want to interrupt the ritual?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  The doors opened, and I slipped inside the elevator ahead of the men. Hoping the chaos would help me get Camille’s dad out, I took even breaths. When we stopped on level B5, I tiptoed behind the guards, stopping at Grady’s room. The guards proceeded to the end of the hall to Camille’s empty cell. There would be no escaping through the stairwell beyond them, which would have gotten us closer to the amphitheater.

  Laying my hand on the knob, I melted the metal as I had for Camille’s. Inside, Camille’s dad lay on the mat sleeping.

  “Grady.” I jostled his shoulder and dropped my cloak.

  His eyes opened. “Who are you?”

  “A friend of Camille’s. Let’s get you out of here.”

  “I don’t have much energy.”

  “I’ll have to have enough for both of us.”

  Sliding my hand under one arm, I lifted it over my shoulders. At the door, I evoked an invisibility spell and slipped into the hall. I helped him hobble to the elevator. Within a few seconds, it opened, and a slew of guards ran out and jogged to the end of the hall.

  Inside, I pushed the button for the main level, letting the cloaking spell subside.

  “Where is she?” Grady asked, his hoarse voice barely a whisper.

  “Watching some ritual. Here, drink this.” I handed him a bottle of energy tea I’d blended.

  “Who is with her?”

  “No one.”

  “You left her alone?”

  “It’s not far.”

  The elevator stopped, and I lifted Grady’s torso, supporting his weight, as we exited. Lumbering down the hall, I grew more anxious by the second. As soon as we entered the stone tunnel, I rested Grady on the rock floor. Holding my breath, I listened for Camille. I shot into the air, flying to the opening where I’d left her.

  It was empty. She was gone. Witches packed around the exits of the cavern and Theron, Sonia, and the dagger were nowhere to be seen. My heart pounded in my chest, and I slammed my fist into the rock. The mass exodus could only mean one thing: Camille had been discovered. Cursing myself for listening to her, I rushed back to Grady.

  He lifted his head, looking both ways down the narrow hall. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. Gone.”

  “Where? Why did you leave her alone?”

  “That’s what she told me to do.” I spun away and back to face him. “She wanted to see what they were doing with the sword.”

  “The sword draws them. As herald, it’s your job to protect the bearers, not the sword.”

  My foot launched a rock at the wall. “How do you know I’m a herald? Like you protected her all her life. What kind of father leaves their half-witch, savior of the witches, daughter unguarded?” I pressed my palms to the cold stone, which shook as I poured energy into the rock.

  “Hey, you’re not doing her any good wasting your strength.”

  “We’ve got to find her.”

  Circling the space, I realized I couldn’t leave Grady. Camille was smart. She’d head to an exit. We’d find her outside. With one of his arms laid across my shoulders, I carried him back to the main hall. I cloaked us when guards approached. They seemed to be heading to the center of the complex. Maybe Camille had run that way thinking to get out using the courtyard.

  At the next darkened room, I slipped inside and lowered Grady to the floor. I had to think. I needed to get Camille. But reaching her might be impossible, and we could get caught trying.

  “What are we doing?” Grady asked.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Getting caught won’t help her. I say we get out and come back for her.”

  Logically I knew he was right. But I hated the thought of leaving her. She would get outside, I told myself. She could meet us there.

  Cloaking us once again, I supported Grady’s weight as we made our way to the main exit and waited for an opportunity. In half a minute, the door opened and we slipped past the oncoming guards. Grady leaned on me as we trudged across the field. I kept us invisible until I could no longer see the building. Halfway to the first security wall, I stopped behind a tree.

  “This should give us some cover while we wait.” I lifted Grady’s arm from my shoulders.

  He reclined against the trunk. “My head is getting clearer.”

  “Here, put this on.” I pulled a jacket and shoes from my backpack.

  “Do you have one for Camille?”

  “Yes, I brought three sets.”

  “Who was the other for?” Grady sat down and pulled on the shoes.

  “My dad.”

  “They had him too?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I knelt on the grass as a search light panned the area.

  “We can’t stay here long.”

  “We’ve got to give her time to get out.” Craning my neck, I scanned the darkness for any signs of movement.

  “Once they have her, they’ll start looking for—”

  A shrill siren cut off his words. Spotlights illuminated the ground between us and the castle.

  “That’s our cue.” Grady tossed the backpack at me. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Arm around his back, we loped toward the wall as fast as his legs would go. I prayed Grady had enough strength or magic to get over the walls. I couldn’t believe we were leaving Camille. I was leaving Camille. My chest grew tight as we reached the stone structure.

  “You got any more of that energy drink?” Grady peered up the embankment.

  Hearing barking, I dug my hand into my pack. “Here, hurry.”

  “You a full witch? Can you help me over?” Grady asked.

  “Yeah, as of this morning I belong to Michael’s coven.”

  “No way. How’d you get out?”

  “Let’s jump, then talk.”

  I fit my bag over my shoulders and my arms around Grady’s chest. Holding him tight, I called to the wind and jumped. My shoes scraped the glass shards cemented to the top of the wall, and I poured my strength into the spell, propelling us a good fifty feet past the barricade.

  Landing, I let go of Grady.

  “You’re strong.” He wiped grass from his pants.

  “Thanks, maybe we can climb a tree and wait there.” I pointed to the copse of trees not ten feet from us.

  Hearing an engine, I looked back to the compound. One, two, three sets of headlights exited from the gate along with at least twenty men carrying flashlights.

  “Not an option.” Grady took off in a slow jog towards the trees.

  Catching up with him in two strides, I fit my arm under his and we ran, limping at times, through the grass. The fog seemed to suck up every bit of light as the orbs from the flashlights grew smaller and smaller. We tripped on a limb or rock every other step, and I thought we’d never make it to the outer wall. I kept my eyes trained on our pursuers and let Grady guide us.

  “Wall!” Grady yelled as I slammed into the cold, hard stone. “I’ve got enough juice now to get over.”

  “Let’s do it then. On three, one, two—”

  I called to the wind, heading straight up over the twenty-foot barricade. Then, I shot forward a hundred feet. Hoping Grady had followed, I lowered myself to the ground behind a group of trees. Panting, I reclined against a trunk.

  “Let’s wait for her here.”

  Grady sat beside me. “They locked her up after she got into my cell?”

  “Yes. I only got her out because everyone was distracted by the ritual.”

  “Do you know what happened to your dad?”

  “He joined the coven.”

  “They gave me that option too—”

  Not wanting to hear more about the choice my dad made, I stretched my palm out to him. “We haven’t met officially, I’m Jude.”

  He shook my hand. “So, herald Jude, what’s the
plan?”

  “Stop calling me that. And how did you know anyway? We wait here till Camille meets up with us.”

  “I’m good with people.” He shrugged and turned to face the road. “How will she know where to find us? You got provisions?”

  “I can call to her. We have three days’ worth of food for four people.”

  “I’ll give you one day. If she’s not here, then we need to get off this island, make sure our families are safe, and get that brand off you. What skills do you have?”

  “Telepathy, but only with certain people—”

  He cut me off. “That’s how you can call to her? You got any other tricks up your sleeve?”

  “Yes, and before we came here, she had us drink each other’s blood.”

  “Smart kid. Where’d she learn that?”

  “These dreams she had.” I wanted to keep my vampirism to myself. “We weren’t sure if it would work, though.”

  “The hallucinations? Of the other children of light?”

  “They were visions, more like watching a reality TV show. She saw what they were doing in real time.”

  “I had a ticket, was on my way to Iceland when Michael’s coven took me.” Grady tugged another jacket from the backpack “You mind taking first watch? I need to rest.”

  “Nope, I don’t plan on sleeping.”

  “Well, you’d better. You’re going to need your strength.” He reclined on the grass tucking his elbow under his head.

  Three hours passed and nothing changed. I guessed they’d given up looking for us. I wondered if they already had Camille but forced the thought away. I called out to her in my mind over and over.

  As the eastern sky grew pink, Grady tried to convince me we should move before it got too light.

  “You said you’d give me one day. We wait till tonight.”

  We stayed in the tree all day. I reached out again and again for Camille, but heard nothing. By nightfall, Grady had recouped and was ready to leave.

  “You gave me a day. We leave at midnight.”

  “You’re so stubborn. She’s not coming.”

  “How can you just give up like that?”

  “I’m being smart. You obviously can’t think clearly about this. We need backup, an army to get her out of there. We need to find someone to help us. But first, I’m making sure Tyler and Janine are okay. Plus, we must get that brand off your arm. No one will ever trust you with that thing.”

  Turning my back on Grady, I tried to digest his words. “Fine”—I raked my hand through my hair—“you take watch, I think I’m finally exhausted enough to sleep.”

  I woke to Grady poking my bicep. “It’s ten. We should head out.”

  “Fine.” I slung my pack onto one shoulder and dropped to the ground.

  We stayed parallel with the road, snaking through brush and trees. When we’d been walking about an hour, lights shining through the windows of a home came into view, and we made our way to them.

  “My powers are limited right now. What else you got?” Grady asked.

  “Telekinesis, mind control—”

  “That’ll do. Why don’t you suggest to whoever is home that they need to give us a ride to the ferry?”

  “What if they’re witches?”

  “If they’re of Michael’s coven, we’re in trouble.”

  Approaching from the side, I cloaked both of us again, and we huddled under the window. We listened for an hour with no sign of magic being practiced before deciding the occupants were a safe bet. I supported Grady as we walked up the steps to the front door. A hard rap produced an elderly gentleman. Fortunately, Grady spoke Italian. He relayed our plight while I urged acceptance and a desire to help to the gentleman’s mind. After a few exchanges, he nodded his head and closed the door on us.

  “What was that? I thought he was going to help?”

  “He is. He’s getting his coat and keys.”

  Within a minute or so, the man appeared again with a hat and coat on. We followed him to the car. It wasn’t till we got in and he turned the heat on that I realized Grady was shivering uncontrollably.

  “You weren’t cold out there?” He rubbed his hands together.

  “Must be the adrenaline.”

  The drive took fifteen minutes. I thanked the gentleman in English as he stopped in front of the ferry building. He nodded and smiled, and Grady exchanged a couple of lines with the man.

  “He says the next boat is at five in the morning.” Grady waved at the gentleman as he drove off.

  “That’s not going to do. We’re sitting ducks here.”

  “We could steal a boat.”

  “With the dark and the fog? We’d be lost at sea.”

  “Well, maybe there’s a phone inside, and we can coax the ferry driver into work early.”

  I stuffed my hands in my pockets as we entered the building. Grady spoke to the worker, and I pushed suggestions into his head. After a few minutes, he agreed to call the ferry boat captain. I listened to Grady’s side of the conversation, only understanding a few words, and prayed magic worked via cell phone. Grady handed the device to the attendant, who spoke a few more minutes in Italian and then ended the call.

  Grady handed the attendant’s phone to me. “He said the ferry boat captain will be here in half an hour. You can use this first. I have to figure out how to break it to my ex-wife and son that Camille and I are witches.”

  I took a seat on a bench, contemplating what to say to my grandparents. “I’ve got to think a bit too.” Passing the phone back to him, I crossed to the window peering out at the dark ocean.

  Hating I hadn’t called them since, I remembered my conversation with Nan and Pop the first day we’d arrived in Sardinia a month ago.

  “Jude!” Pop’s deep voice sounded warm and welcoming like always. “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”

  “Yeah, well, I needed to talk to you. Have you talked to Dad lately?”

  “Been over a week, we’re starting to get worried.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I peered out at the churning sea, thinking he could be just levels below me, but I had no way to get to him.

  “I know about you and Dad. That’s what I’m doing here, becoming a witch.”

  “Well, it was bound to happen sometime.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t think we should keep it from you, but it was your dad’s choice. Come home and let me train you.”

  “It’s too late for that.” I paced away from the window, trying to abate my anger. Dad deserved my rage, not Pop.

  “Jude, about your mom…”

  “I don’t want to talk about Mom.” I assumed the phones were tapped, and I couldn’t chance them knowing I was part vampire. “It’s okay. I understand her better now.” I hesitated a second, letting my words sink in.

  “Oh, okay, well, why don’t you talk to your Nan. She’d love to hear your voice.”

  “Thanks for understanding, Pop.”

  “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”

  My grandfather, or Pop, had to be the coolest man ever. At seventy-three he still worked twenty hours a week as a pharmacist. I hated that I’d left Nan and him. They counted on the income from my part-time job. Of course, it’d been Pop who’d suggested I go to Iceland.

  What did I say to them? How could I keep them safe? My mind ticked through all the possibilities. I had no idea if Pop or Nan still practiced their magic. Maybe they had in secret, but I couldn’t count on it. Then, the answer came to me. Dad kept a basement apartment as a safe house. They could go there. He’d always said to use it in case of any natural disasters or national emergency. I’d always pictured us fleeing to the small apartment because of an earthquake or atomic bomb threat. Maybe he’d designed it to be witch proof too.

  “Here.” Wiping his eyes, Grady held the phone out to me.

  “Everything okay? What’d they say?”

  “I have to go there. They’re not going to believe in mag
ic if I tell them over the phone. They’ll throw me in an asylum just like they did Camille.”

  “They put Camille in an asylum?” I took the phone from him.

  “Just to get her meds regulated.”

  I wanted to hit Grady for not telling Camille the truth about her magic. Turning the phone over in my hand, I took a deep breath. I deserved a big belly punch for leaving her alone in the corridor.

  Grady stood and straightened his pants. “Tyler may be of use to us. If we can awaken his magic, then we’d have another team member. He may even be a herald.”

  “That’s right. Camille and Tyler have the same birthday. Only one year apart. I could help you train him.”

  “I convinced him to take his mother and find a hotel room near the airport. Told him I got messed up with the wrong people. It scared him enough he will do it, but we have to get to Iceland fast.” He walked to the attendant’s desk.

  Dialing Pop’s number, I let it ring and left a message. Remembering the safe house number, I tried that line. Pop picked up on the first ring.

  “Hello.” His deep greeting rumbled through the phone.

  “Pop, it’s Jude.”

  “Jude. You okay? Your dad called. Told us to take shelter. What’s going on?”

  “When did he call?”

  “About a week ago. You know anything about that?”

  “Dad joined Michael’s Coven. It’s a long story. I sort of did too but just to gain all my powers. The brand didn’t take.”

  “No, it wouldn’t because you’re—”

  “Some things are best unsaid, Pop.” I cut him off before he could say the word vampire.

  “I agree. Where are you? Can you get home?”

  “We may need a safe place to stay in LA.”

  “How many people?”

  I glanced up at Grady. “Four, maybe.”

  “Well, it will be tight, but we’ll make do.”

  “You and Nan okay?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry about us.”

  “Okay, I love you.”

  I ended the call and joined Grady at the desk.

  Busting through the door, the seaman’s girth rivaled his height. He muttered under his breath as he ushered us onboard. We followed him to the control room. Hearing the engine roar to life made my stomach turn. I looked out into the fog. Was I really leaving her? Abandoning her? I paced the small space.