Dimitri slid the doses in his vest pocket. “If we’re not back in fifteen minutes, leave us.”
The two vampires started their ascent. They moved faster than I thought a being could on the wet stone face, and within a minute, the darkness took them.
“I don’t like this,” I told Grady.
“I agree with them. We can’t afford to lose you.”
Every thirty seconds or so, I turned my wrist over to check my watch. Five, then ten, minutes passed.
“I’m going up.” I put one foot on the rock.
Grady put a hand on my shoulder. “No, you’re not. Give them time.”
Within a minute, my eyes made out two forms descending the cliff. In another thirty seconds, Dimitri and Aaron landed beside us on the sand.
“What happened? Where’s my dad?”
“All we got is this.” Dimitri held up a cloth bag. “It was tied to a tree near the cliff. There’s a note inside from your dad. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but I figure it’s meant for you.”
Reaching inside the black velvet bag, I pulled out a plastic bag with a paper sealed inside.
“We need to get out of here,” Grady insisted.
“I came to get my dad. Not some love poem.” I waved the page in the air.
Dimitri shoved the sheet into my chest. “It’s not happening. You need to let it go. He left this for you. That’s what he wants you to have. We’re leaving.”
Too mad to focus on the words on the page, I shoved it back in the bag. I sat on the dingy, sulking till we got to the boat. With a giant leap, I jumped onto the deck. Passing Alena’s body, I reached into my pocket. I produced the adrenaline syringe and tossed it to Tyler.
“You should probably wake her up.”
Tyler uncapped the syringe. “You brought these for her, didn’t you?”
“Or anyone who needed them. You know we couldn’t let her go up there.”
Tyler pulled the top from the needle. “Camille is not going to like that you drugged Alena.”
“Alena is safe. That’s what’s important.”
“I’d hate to be you when she wakes up.”
“I did what needed to be done.” I walked towards the bridge.
Alena would be mad, but I didn’t care. She’d gotten out of control and had to be managed. That was why I didn’t like Alena. Her emotions got the best of her. What bothered me more was that I knew Camille was susceptible to the same weakness and guessed Hunter might be too. We needed a third herald, one for each of the trinity. I guessed a suitable stand-in like Grady would do, if that person was up to the task.
In the control room, I peered into the darkness as the boat sailed over the waves. As it got later and the temperature dropped, the fog began to form.
“Are we going to be okay?”
“All the instruments are working.” The captain tapped the display.
I kept my eyes on the control panel, trying to focus on anything but my failed mission. Why hadn’t Dad been outside? Why would he stay with them? Did he have a tracker or something that Michael’s coven could use as a beacon? I rubbed the soft velvet bag in my pocket. I wasn’t ready to read the letter yet.
A device on the control panel beeped, and two green dots appeared on the radar.
“What is that?”
“We’ve got company.”
Peering into the fog behind us, I made out two small glowing circles. “They’re coming in fast.” Gripping the counter, I balanced my weight as the boat accelerated.
“What’s going on?” Alena entered the bridge. “And you”—she poked her finger into my chest—“I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“I did what had to be done. We have company. Let’s get out there and figure out how to throw them off course.”
Grazing past her, I made my way to the back of the boat. Alena, Tyler, and Grady joined me. The glowing spots in the fog seemed to grow bigger as we watched.
I turned to Alena. “What about a wall of water?”
“A wall of water might suck us in. Let’s try some wind. It will produce high surf on its own.”
We each raised our hands and pushed on the suspended air molecules, driving them away from our boat. I planted my feet as the craft accelerated. The spots of light grew smaller until we couldn’t see them.
Then, the roar of the engine died, and we tumbled to the rail.
I ran to the bridge. “What happened?”
“This is what happened last time. They must have sent out some sort of spell to disable any moving craft,” Alena guessed.
“Or any electronic device.” The captain flipped switches and pushed buttons, but the power to all the instruments was gone.
Looking back, I saw the orbs of light growing larger. “I think it’s time for that wave now.”
“We don’t know where we’re going,” the captain insisted.
I looked to Alena. “Do you see anything?”
Her eyes trained across the glass. “There, she pointed. Take my hands.” She held them out to Tyler and me. “Get all three boats lined up beside each other. Produce a wave, and I’ll direct it.”
“I don’t see anything,” Tyler argued.
“No one but me saw anything last time.”
“What do you see?”
“A white form, like last time, although this time it’s flying.”
I yelled over the sound of the surf. “Does it matter? We need that wave, Tyler. They’re closing in fast.”
“Right.” Tyler closed his eyes, and I copied.
Feeling the boat move forward, I intensified my efforts.
“It’s working,” Alena said.
“Guys we need more speed,” Grady insisted.
“Come help us.” I looked over my shoulder to see a wave about six feet high in our wake.
As Grady joined us, the wave rose, and the boat accelerated. Behind us a wall of water blocked sight of the oncoming crafts.
“You still see your magic guide?” I asked Alena.
“Yes, I am keeping the wave rolling in his direction.”
“Him?” Tyler questioned.
“It’s Hunter, I think, but he has wings. Maybe Hunter’s spirit?” She shouted over the wind.
I wanted them to focus and bumped Alena’s arm. “Does it matter?”
The lights on the dash flicked, and the engine whirred.
“Guys,” the captain called. “I think we’re good. You can release the wave.”
Dropping Alena’s hand, I rested against the cabinet behind me. With my anger like a hard pit in my chest, all I wanted was to be alone. But I couldn’t check out until we were safe at our base. Camille’s image flashed in my brain, and I longed for her embrace, anything to erase the rage building inside me.
“Jude,” Alena yelled.
“What?” I stood up.
“Go outside with Dimitri and Aaron to watch for oncoming vessels.”
“Got it.”
Having something to do distracted me from the page sitting in my pocket. We watched the fog roll past as the boat glided over the water, but there was no further sign of pursuers. Hearing the captain call for land, we stood ready to deboard. Finally, the wharf came into view along with Hunter and the vampire guards. I jumped to the pier and secured the back rope around a wooden post.
Hunter helped me tighten the knot. “How did it go?”
“We were followed. Let’s get to the vehicles fast.” The sound of a plane caught my attention. “Hear that?” I turned to Dimitri.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dimitri yelled to the group, and we started running to the vehicles.
“Cloaking spell,” I called as I shut the door to the SUV.
We locked hands.
“What if they have thermal equipment?” Tyler asked.
“We’ve got enough witch power in this vehicle to erase any trace,” Grady insisted. “Focus.”
Hunter instructed the driver to take us to an alternate safe house in case we were followed. I hated that I wo
uldn’t see Camille that night, but at least there would be no chance that we led them back to her.
Focusing on the cloaking spell helped distract me from the failed mission. But as soon as the vehicle stopped in the garage my mind switched gears. I exited the vehicle and grabbed my bag from the trunk.
“What happened? Where’s your dad?” Hunter trailed me into the house.
“Give him a minute.” Dimitri tossed a can of blood at me as I collapsed into a chair. “Food, then talk.”
We sat around the table, the vampire species chugging human blood, and witches downing Orm’s special energy concoction.
“Are we safe?” Hunter’s eyes trained around the table.
“I don’t believe we were followed,” the tech guy named Alfonzo answered. “They lost us when we cloaked.”
“Is there a guarantee?” I asked.
“Nothing’s one hundred percent. I’ll go help monitor all the scans.” Alfonzo dropped his can into the recycling bin and left the room.
“I’m glad we had a backup location,” Grady noted.
“We won’t be able to use that approach again, thanks to Jude’s failed extract-dad mission.” Alena shook her head.
I jumped up, sending my chair flying to the wall behind me. “We wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway.” I paced to the other side of the room. “We knew there was risk. That’s why we separated you, Hunter, and Camille.”
“What does the note say?” Dimitri asked.
I pulled the sheet from my pocket and unfolded the page, spreading it on the wood table.
“What language is that?” Hunter leaned over the paper.
“It’s Greek, my dad taught me this poem when I was four.”
“It’s Greek, wonderful!” Alena slammed her hand against the table. “Who can read Greek?”
I held the page in front of my face. “My dad taught me when I was young.”
“Many European witches know Greek,” Grady supplied.
Happy a bit of her thunder had been stolen, I studied the words. He’d written out the whole sonnet, as he’d done for me when I was four. Representing the last time my dad had spent more than two days with me, it signified everything about my father I hated. He’d instructed me to never be without a copy nearby. As a child, the poem lay in the top drawer of my desk. So many times I’d almost wadded the page and threw it in the trash, or held it over a flame, angry at Dad for being absent, hating the stupid poem that meant nothing to me. Still, the day he’d written it stuck in my head, and I could never bring myself to destroy the words. Since then, I kept a picture of it on my phone.
“What does it say? Hunter asked.
I smoothed the paper even though I knew the words by heart.
In a land ringed by gods, an ancient city sleeps.
The Alonso crest adorns a door, holding the Earth’s ancient lore.
Their beauty surpassing all, a soulless people roam the earth.
They know not love of God or man, but a forbidden creature holds fate.
“Vampires, that verse names vampires,” Alena interrupted.
“Obvious now,” I replied.
“The forbidden creature?” Alena gripped Hunter’s arm. “Could that mean me?”
“Or Theron,” Hunter agreed.
“Let him finish,” Grady told them.
Younger still, an angelic breed, hold the balance of the creed.
In their midst, children with three shining souls prepare a lance.
“Witches, the children of light, the sword,” Alena blurted out.
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes.
Once laid out then nevermore, only he may open the door.
Within the Book that lays the tale, the blade’s true master shall be restored.
“Okay that last part is cryptic. Who is he and what door? Who is the blade’s true master?” Hunter questioned.
“Longinus?” I supplied.
Grady paced away from the table. “Longinus proved the existence of God by drawing water from Jesus’ side.”
“We’re supposed to prove that God exists?” Hunter asked.
I turned to face Grady. “Maybe that God is merciful by freeing the witches and vampires from their curse?”
“The bigger question is why did your dad remind you of the poem.” Tyler stood and leaned against the wall.
“The poem starts with the land ringed with gods and an ancient city. Athens?” I guessed.
“Yes, and a house with your crest holding the earth’s ancient lore. Perhaps your father is the keeper of messages,” Grady theorized.
“One laid out then nevermore, only he may open the door,” I recited. “We only get one shot and only one person can open the door?”
“I’m guessing the building holding all the knowledge?” Tyler suggested.
“What about the Book?” Alena asked.
I pointed at the page. “It’s capitalized, I’m guessing the Book is the Bible and the blade’s true master is Longinus?”
“Who has been dead two thousand years,” Hunter supplied.
I turned the words over in my head. Why would Dad remind me of the poem? To make sure I followed my calling? To instruct me to do something? I scanned the walls. “Hey, is there a printer here?”
“Should be, why?” Alena asked.
“I need a hole punch too.”
I opened a document in my phone. Along with the poem, Dad insisted I always have it. The image held rows of circles, some blackened in, some not. He’d always said it was some sort of Alonso family heirloom, but I’d never been able to gleam any significance from it.
I sent the document to the printer and rows of circles appeared on the sheet line by line. Once finished, I punched the white dots from the sheet. Holding it up to the poem, I copied the letters that showed through: Pentelis, Chalandri.
“An address?” I held up the page.
Tyler tapped some keys on his phone. “It’s a street in Athens, Greece.”
“I guess we’re going to Greece then.” Alena stood up as if she were ready to walk out the door, right then.
“Wait a minute. Who’s going?” Tyler asked. “It’s Jude’s thing. You don’t have to go.”
Hunter pointed at me. “Didn’t it say, once laid out then nevermore, I think we all have to go.”
Tyler threw up his arms. “Like normal human Greece isn’t dangerous enough? All of you are going to a possibly enemy-lying-in-wait building because of a poem Jude’s dad gave him? Need I remind you he is a member of Michael’s coven?”
My phone buzzed, and seeing Camille’s name on the screen, I realized I’d forgotten to call her.
“Did anyone call them to report we were safe?” I scanned the faces in front of me, but no one answered.
“Crap.” I grabbed the phone and made my way to the next room. Wanting privacy, I snaked through the house to a far bedroom and answered the call.
“Jude, are you okay?” Camille yelled into the phone.
“Yes, everyone’s okay.”
“What happened? You disappeared off the radar. I’ve been calling for half an hour, and it kept going to voicemail.”
“My phone must have lost signal. I’m sorry. We were spotted, and it got a little tight. We’re laying low for twenty-four hours.”
“What? How tight? Is your dad okay? Twenty-four hours? No. You need to come back or at least get me there.”
“It’s going to be okay. Everyone is safe where they are.” I didn’t want to tell her what happened with Dad. Ashamed I hadn’t been more adamant about rescuing him, yet again, I vowed to get him out somehow. Further, I hated being away from her too, even for a night. Not only because I worried about her, but she kept my dreams at bay. Somehow when she slept beside me they didn’t come. The nightly terrors I’d been experiencing since visiting Nan and Pop abated with her presence.
“It’s making me nervous that I’m not getting any information. Like you’re hiding something from me. I’m not a china doll. You can tell me whatever
it is.”
“It’s not that. These lines are probably not as secure. We can’t risk anything. I’ve probably talked to you too long already.”
“Oh, I guess so. I was just so worried.”
“Sorry I didn’t call before. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Done with theorizing about the poem, I found some clothes and headed to the shower. I needed space to think.
Grady found me half an hour later, sitting on the bed and staring at the wall.
“There was nothing else you could have done. Your father got you the message he wanted to. That means they don’t completely own him.”
“Or they do own him, and this is a trap.”
“If only an Alonso coven member can enter, he or anyone else would be barred from entry. We would be safe inside.”
“Assuming the spell or whatever security system is there, holds. We have no clue what we’re going to find, if the place still exists.”
“He wouldn’t have sent you there if it were a wild goose chase.”
“Or maybe he would.”
“What if you talked to your Pop?’
“I guess. I’m kind of beat.” I lay back on the bed. “I’d like to think about this tomorrow.”
“No problem.”
He left the room, and I fixed my eyes on the ceiling. Although exhausted, my muscles twitched from the night’s exertions. I wished there was some way to block it all out. Entering the hall, I realized all was quiet. I guessed everyone else had turned in. There hadn’t even been time to figure out what amenities were included in the structure. Everywhere else we’d been housed had a gym, and I made my way downstairs in search of one.
Finding a small workout room on the basement level, I popped my earbuds in and started some music. Beginning with my tai chi poses, I moved to practicing some yoga poses. Sensing someone beside me, I removed my earbuds.
“Sorry, will I bother you?” Alena asked.
My answer was a resounding yes, but I held my tongue. “Nope.” I started my music again and got in some pull-ups, push-ups, and a round on the weight machines before I decided I might be able to sleep. To Alena’s credit she stayed clear of me, choosing to run on the treadmill on the other side of the room.
The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set Page 71
