The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  I bent, unhooked it, and handed the knife to the guard along with my phone. We followed them to the elevator and exited in a parking garage. A black van waited.

  “I can’t believe my life is being hijacked like this,” Tyler complained as we buckled our seatbelts.

  “Aren’t you taking a gap year anyway?” I asked as the truck moved forward.

  “I still have important stuff to—”

  “It’s your sister.” I rolled my eyes, not believing he was acting so flippant. I studied our surroundings, realizing there were no windows or latches for the doors. “They have this system sealed tight. I wonder how often they use it.”

  “This is the second time,” came a voice through the speaker.

  “Good to know,” I mumbled under my breath.

  There were multiple turns. Then, judging from the speed of the vehicle, we got on a highway. I timed the ride on the highway to forty-five minutes. After slowing and a few more turns, we stopped. When the doors opened, we were in a hangar. Several private jets filled the space.

  “Your plane.” The guard motioned us to the closest craft.

  Tyler whistled. “I could get used to this.”

  Our compartment on the plane looked like a living area. The seats fully reclined for sleep, and a table sat in front of each.

  A woman dressed in a uniform approached us as we surveyed the space. She showed us to the restrooms and indicated we could choose our seats. Taking a seat opposite Janine, I stretched out my legs. I’d done it. I’d gotten us to Alena and Hunter. My knees bounced as I wondered how soon we could plan to rescue Camille.

  Disconcerted by not being able to see outside the plane as we took off, I flipped through a magazine. Once we were at cruising altitude, I relaxed. The flight attendant brought us boxed lunches. Finishing, I reclined in my seat and closed my eyes. Breathing sounds on my right woke me from my light sleep.

  Seeing Janine pat her eyes. I leaned towards her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not usually the weepy type. I’m worried about Camille. All the witch and vampire stuff didn’t seem real until today. I guess I was in denial.”

  “No, it’s okay.” I handed her an extra tissue box. “She’s a fighter. She’ll be okay. We’ll get her back.”

  She asked me about our time at the camp and the compound in Italy. I told her how Camille had gotten scared on the ice wall, how she asked me to save Frida first, how she formed a sculpture of Grady from balls with her magic, about training with Miguel and how we could talk to each other telepathically, and how she’d saved the canaries.

  “Thank you for being her friend.” Janine patted my arm.

  “Camille is amazing. I will get her back for you.”

  Tyler cleared his throat. “Dad says these witches are really powerful.”

  I locked eyes with him. “I’ve broken Camille out and escaped the compound before. I can do it again.”

  “I hope so.” Tyler craned his neck to look at the front of the plane. “How long have we been in the air, anyway?”

  Checking my watch, I told him ninety minutes.

  “Your flight time will be three hours, give or take,” a voice over the speaker told us.

  Tyler rubbed his palms down his pant legs. “We could be going to Canada, Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, or Mexico. I’m hoping for a Mexican beach.”

  “I don’t think we’ll be seeing the sun for a long time.” I laid my head back and drifted into a light sleep.

  I felt someone nudging me and woke to see Janine jostling my arm. “We’re landing.”

  Like takeoff, the lack of visual clues made the landing uncomfortable. We taxied some fifteen minutes, and when they opened the door, we exited in the interior of another hanger.

  “We could have been flying in circles for three hours,” Tyler noted as we got in a sports utility vehicle. Again, the van had no windows or door handles in the back.

  “Did you ever stop to think maybe Anne Scott is working with Michael’s coven?” Tyler asked.

  “We have Camille’s visions. We have to trust those,” Janine told him. “Nobody would be in this mess if we had trusted them in the beginning.”

  Grady patted her arm. “Don’t blame yourself.”

  “Oh, I don’t,” she said, swatting his hand away. “I blame you.”

  “Mom, this isn’t going to help,” Tyler piped up.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”

  “We all are.” Grady rubbed his neck.

  I closed my eyes, hoping they’d give us our electronics back. I’d downloaded all my pictures of Camille to it. My chest felt empty without her, my head too quiet. I knew at some level, but I didn’t realize how much our silent conversations meant to me until she was gone. The past two weeks without her felt like the longest of my life. Having images of her reminded me how strong she was and helped me feel close to her.

  The vehicle slowed and stopped and then inched forward again before the engine died.

  “We must be here.” Janine leaned forward in her seat.

  I exited the vehicle to see a guy and girl, about my age, and an older woman and gentleman standing before us.

  “Welcome.” The guy approached me, holding out his arm. I took it, using the traditional witch greeting, and he squeezed my arm in kind. When he did, my chest warmed as it had when I’d joined my family’s coven. He released my arm and put his hand to his chest. “I’m Hunter. You must be Jude.”

  “I am.” I turned to the rest of our group. “This is Tyler, Grady, and Camille’s mother, Janine.”

  Tyler stood rigidly still beside me and then stepped up to Hunter, arm stretched out. “I’m Tyler Thornton. I’m here to help.”

  My mouth hung open. The kid, I shouldn’t have thought of him as a kid, as he was older than me, who seemed so on again, off again, now looked confident. His shoulders squared, he gripped Hunter’s arm and turned to Alena. “Princess.” Arm crossed over chest, Tyler dropped to one knee.

  Alena’s face flushed, and she held her hand out to him “You must be my herald, Tyler Thornton.”

  “I believe I am.” With his eyes fixed on her face, he rose.

  Alena turned to me. “Welcome, Jude.” We locked arms, and the surge of heat grew in my chest again.

  Her eyes darted from mine to Janine. “You must be Ivy’s, sorry Camille’s, mother.” Alena squeezed Janine’s hand and looked to Grady. “And you her father.”

  “Yes.” Grady locked arms with Alena.

  Quick as a wink her eyes were back on me. “We”—she hooked her arm in Hunter’s—“are so glad you found us. We have so many questions.”

  I swore a low growl had emitted from Tyler’s chest but redirected my thoughts as Hunter cleared his throat. “Let’s finish introductions and perhaps get them settled first.”

  “It’s okay.” I joined them. “I’m eager to get started.” Studying our surroundings, I realized we probably were underground. ‘How long have you been here?”

  “A little over three months.” Hunter motioned to the older woman and man. “Please meet Orm and Chalondra.”

  As I gripped each of their arms, warmth grew in my chest. “Are you all of the same coven?”

  “Except for Chalondra.” Orm nodded. “You feel the family affinity?”

  “Yes.”

  “Seems Ivy chose well,” Chalondra smiled at me.

  “I’m not sure she chose as much as I was drawn to her, even before I knew I was a witch.”

  “Let’s get you guys situated.” Hunter motioned to the entrance.

  As he walked towards the door, Alena skipped to his side.

  “Hmm.” Tyler grunted beside me and increased his pace.

  I caught his arm. “You okay?”

  “Sure.” His eyes darted from me to Alena as if he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. “What is she?”

  I decided to use my telepathy to answer him. Half witch, half vampire. For a second, his stare hardened, and then it softened again. Y
es, like mine had when I saw Camille for the first time after awakening my powers, his world had turned on its axis. And all would revolve around Alena, or Alena and Hunter, I thought. I wondered whether I was drawn to Camille because of our magical connection or my love for her was real.

  Alena stopped and spun to face me. “It’s real. Don’t worry.”

  I stared into Alena’s eyes, dumbfounded by her words.

  “You’ve got to stay out of people’s heads.” Hunter took her hand as he held the door open.

  “Can you read everyone’s mind?” I stopped as we reached them.

  Hunter held up his wrist. “Pays to keep stones on.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  Alena cocked her head. “We’ll give you a tour.”

  Following behind Alena, I dug in my bag for the bracelets. Finding them, I fit one on each wrist. They led us to the tech room, gym, and cafeteria, Alena’s quick movement picked at my nerves. I tried to look at, think of, anything else, but my concentration kept drifting back. Even though I’d felt the warmth of a family connection when we locked arms, mentally I repelled her. I needed to figure out the reason for my aversion, fast. It wouldn’t do to have a teammate I didn’t trust.

  I studied her hair, her facial movements, her gestures, the way she walked. My mind jumped back in time to when I was five and Mom had taken me on a tour of my elementary school. I remembered how she held her chin and her sometimes flowing but then suddenly jerky movements. The girl in front of me mirrored Mom’s tone, and it clicked in my brain. Alena’s half-vampire nature reminded me of my mother, a woman I tried to think about as little as possible. I understood better why she’d jumped from drug addiction to alcoholism, to finally abandoning society and leaving me. But I was eight, and especially with an absent father, I needed my mom.

  Plus, I couldn’t be prejudiced against vampires when I was part one. That would be the worst type of hypocrisy, unjustified and unfair. Grady and Tyler perhaps had a case for not liking the species, but I was being a baby, feeling sorry for myself about something that happened ten years before.

  Alena ended the tour at our sleeping quarters. “This is your room, Tyler. There are clothes for each of you, shoes, whatever you need.” Alena opened the door.

  Tyler stepped into the room. “How would you know our sizes?”

  “You didn’t get that they had an X-ray machine in that small room we were locked in for three hours,” I asked.

  Tyler cleared his throat. “Right, the whole knife in your sock thing.”

  “Your electronics are in your rooms.” Alena led us down the hall, opening doors to our respective rooms. “This is you, Jude.”

  I walked into the room as they continued down the hall. Finding my phone on the dresser, I scrolled through the pictures. Soon we could be in Italy with a solid plan to rescue Camille.

  “Dinner is in an hour. You can clean up and make your way to the dining hall,” I heard Alena say.

  At least we weren’t locked up and escorted around like in Michael’s coven’s castle. They must have decided to trust us, as we were given full use of the facility. Showering, I pulled on a pair of pants and slid on a button-up shirt.

  In the dining room, I took a seat beside Janine, whose thin-lipped smile told me how weary she’d grown. Tyler chose the place beside Alena, and I fought an eye roll. As soon as the dishes were passed, I inquired about plans for rescuing Camille.

  “Well, we now know where she is, or was a week ago, right?” Hunter started.

  I leaned forward. “Who is our rescue team?”

  “We can’t charge the compound with an army,” Orm said.

  “Agreed.” I took a slice of meat from the platter and handed it to Janine. “I think a small team can go by boat and slip in and slip out with Camille.”

  “Don’t forget the sword,” Alena added.

  Hunter wrapped his hand around hers. “We need to focus on one thing at a time.”

  I swallowed my bite. “I copy that. I’m not sure rescuing Camille can be achieved without inside help. I know where they’re most likely holding her and the layout. Getting in and out through all the right doors may be near impossible.”

  “We’ll have to brainstorm after dinner.” Orm picked up his wine glass.

  My leg bounced through the meal. I’d rather have been eating in a conference room where we could get some work done. “How many bodies do we have?”

  “We don’t usually have strategic conversations at dinner,” Alena noted.

  “Oh, got it, sorry.”

  After the meal, we retired to a conference room. I reviewed how I’d freed Camille before and escaped, and we talked about the castle’s security. They wanted to know everything about Camille, including my time with her in Iceland and Italy, and we talked until after midnight.

  “Shouldn’t we be in Italy so we can be close if there is a window of opportunity?” I asked as we made our way to the sleeping quarters.

  Hunter turned to me. “Anne started preparing the safe house as soon as we confirmed who you were. It will be ready in a few days. The next major holiday isn’t until February 2.”

  Wondering if every American holiday arose as a remnant of pagan culture, I shook my head. “We aren’t leaving Camille there till February!”

  Hunter turned to face me. “You said yourself the place is nearly impenetrable. They will be distracted on the holiday.”

  Alena squeezed my arm. “The safe house will be ready in a few days. After Anne meets with the council members, we’ll know better where we stand.”

  “What do you mean? So, we do nothing till then?” I looked between Alena and Hunter.

  “Mother is meeting with the vampire and then the witch council. Since the incident on Mabon, rumors have spread that the witches are making a grab for more power.”

  Chalondra opened the door beside us. “We planted the story all around the world.”

  I rolled my eyes. “To cover the incident on Mabon and cause them to be suspicious of Michael’s coven. Good thinking.”

  Chalondra nodded. “We’ll see if it makes a difference.”

  Sleep didn’t come easily, and when it did, images of Camille, Miguel, Mom, Dad, and the sword danced in my head. They must have had automatic lighting because the space outside my fake window brightened and I looked to my clock. Seeing it to be just before six, I threw my covers off. In the kitchen, I found a weary-eyed Tyler, nonetheless trying to make inroads with Alena.

  I pointed at him as he joked about the weather in Iceland. “You need to focus on coven training. You’ll be far more useful as a full witch.”

  “There’s no way I can get him ready in a month, much less a week,” Grady noted, entering the room.

  “Fine.” I downed a glass of orange juice. “We need to be training together anyway. We’ve got to work as a team if we want to succeed at any plan.” An idea started to form in my brain, but I wasn’t ready to share it. We needed someone inside, and I figured Tyler and his dad were the most expendable. Perhaps if they acted as if they were giving themselves up for Camille’s freedom, we could get an inroad into the compound. I knew they would never set Camille free, but if timed right, Grady and Tyler could cause a distraction long enough for us to sneak in. Of course, if the plan failed, then we’d be down two or more men. But if we were inside, even as captives, I’d be closer to Camille.

  After our workout, I felt justified in thinking Tyler would make good bait. He was so distracted by Alena he couldn’t get a simple levitation spell to hold for more than a minute. I wondered if there were any girls in Iceland. The way he pranced around Alena, trying to prove how strong he was, drove me nuts. Hunter seemed not to notice Tyler’s flirting, and I wondered if Hunter felt secure enough in his relationship with Alena to be unaffected. I appreciated that he focused and stayed on task.

  “So, the team?” I asked at lunch. “Who can we use?”

  Orm cleared his throat. “Both Alena and Hunter can’t go into the c
ompound.”

  “What?” I set my piece of sushi down. “We need the strongest witches on this.”

  Orm’s mouth formed a smile. “How do you know I’m not stronger than Hunter?”

  “Are you?”

  “No.” Orm’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “But we can’t take the chance of all three children of light being captured.”

  Hunter abandoned his bite. “Jude, Tyler, and I should go.”

  “Am I chopped liver?” Grady asked.

  “We need someone to man the boat. Maybe two people for backup,” I pointed out.

  “I should go in,” Alena said.

  “No.” Hunter shook his head.

  “I’m a vampire and a witch. It gives me an advantage. Plus”—her eyes cut to the table—“he’s killed you once. They want me alive.”

  “There’s that.” Hunter balled his fists and let them rest on the tabletop. I figured he wasn’t happy being sidelined, that his girlfriend might be stronger than him, or he didn’t want any chance of her being captured. I couldn’t blame him for thinking any of those. Ever since they’d mentioned February, I couldn’t stop picturing Camille, hair matted and pale, looking almost lifeless in the cell I’d rescued her from.

  By the end of our afternoon session, I felt more confident about our chances of rescuing Camille. Fast and strong, Alena was a natural at most everything. Hunter and I were well matched in strength and ability. Being of Michael’s line, it didn’t surprise me that he took the lead in our scenarios and seemed comfortable making decisions. My strength lay in reading people and communicating, and Alena’s in her vast knowledge and speed. With our differing abilities, we formed a solid team. We just needed to get into the castle.

  I didn’t do well with waiting, but they weren’t moving until the council meetings. It was two days till the witch’s gathering, so we trained and strategized. I liked the idea of using Tyler as bait but realized Camille wouldn’t. It wasn’t her call though. I’d have to beg forgiveness after the fact. The final plan would be a group decision anyway. Wondering if my dad could be of some use kept me up at night. I doubted Michael’s coven fully trusted my father. But Pop said Dad was still at the compound in Sardinia, so there was no way to contact him on a secure line.