“You mean the monsters who killed the Gods way back in the day?”
“No. Those are dark angels. Black Angels are a breed of dark angels, but they kill with different weapons. Poisoned arrows, blades, spheres, or potions, and it looks like Liam’s aligned himself with the Black Angels. Which means things are about to go south real soon.”
“I couldn’t have said it any better myself,” the black angel said, as he tossed a potion into the dome. Smoke filled the dome, and Julie coughed, glancing at Jade through the cloud of smoke. “Jade, is that…?”
“It’s chloroform,” Jade said, coughing, as smoke filled the area around them. “Looks like we’re going up to heaven, Julie, and it’s not going to be a pleasant trip.”
“You want to do what?” Sky halted to a stop, staring at Josslyn over the hood of the car, certain he hadn’t heard her right. Did she just say…
“I want to become a PI,” Josslyn said, as she slammed the car door shut, peering over her shoulder at Sky. “Did I stutter?”
“No. I just didn’t think I heard you right!” Sky cried, hurrying after her, as they neared the small, brown and white building on the other side of the street. “This is it?”
“Yup. Come right in,” Josslyn said, taking the keys from her pocket and sticking the key in the lock. “I already bought it.”
“You already bought it… without telling anyone about it?”
“Well I told Jade, and Jasmine knows, and now, so do you.”
“Yeah, now! After you bought this small building to do something crazy! Are you having a midlife crisis, Joss?”
“No, I am not having a midlife crisis,” Josslyn said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Sky. “Why are you being like this? I’m excited about this Sky! I get to help people.”
“I’m just concerned, Joss,” Sky said, as they walked into the building, their feet tapping on the light, gray tile. “I mean, you’ve almost died, twice within the last year. Now you want to become a P.I? How did you even afford this? You have no job! And you’re broke! Not to mention, your wiccan duties. Won’t this interfere?”
“Believe me, I know how many times I’ve almost died,” Josslyn said, shivering at the memories. “But I think this’ll help us. Can’t you imagine, supernatural beasts coming here to ask for my help? It’s why I picked a spot, away from all the noise,” Josslyn said, as she rounded the L-shaped desk, and continued down the hallway. “And I took out a loan.”
“But—”
“Will you just be happy for me?”
“I guess.” Sky said, sighing. Why was he getting so mad about this? She was doing something she wanted to do. Something to keep her busy. Was he jealous?
“I’m sorry, Joss,” he finally said after a few minutes of silence. “I didn’t mean to get all weird about it. I am happy for you, I’m just a little jealous.”
“Jealous about what?”
“That all of you have so much going on!” Sky cried. “Jasmine has school, and work at the law firm. Jade has the bar. Julie… I’m not sure what she has, and Jorja is looking to go on this adventure. I’m so bored! I have nothing to do, now that I don’t have my powers anymore.”
“Well, what did you do before you were an angel?”
“I was a kid!”
“Oh. Right.” Josslyn laughed. “Sorry, I forgot. Maybe you—”
A loud rumble suddenly filled her ears, interrupting her, and she startled. The ground underneath her shook, and she grabbed a hold of the desk, looking at Sky. “Sky was that…”
“An earthquake!” Sky cried, as he stared at Josslyn. “Josslyn, didn’t you girls feel an earthquake when you first got your powers?”
“Well yeah, but that was almost a year ago, and that was different!”
“But something is definitely going on here,” Sky said. “It might be the reason you were drawn to this building.”
“You think there was a reason I bought this place?”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
Right. Josslyn blew out a breath, releasing her grip on the desk, remembering that she was one of the chosen ones. Nothing in her life happened that was a coincidence, frowning, as a noise filled her ears. Was that a squeak?
“Did you hear that?”
“Of course I heard that,” Josslyn said, spinning on her heel and making her way down the hallway. She opened the door to her right staring down the steps into the dark basement.
“This place has a basement?”
“It’s Minnesota. All buildings have basements here,” Josslyn said, flipping the light switch next to her. The light above them flickered, and she raised her head, watching as the light flickered once more, before completely going out.
“Well, that’s not freaky at all,” Sky muttered from behind her.
“Shut up, Sky.” Josslyn reached into the cabinet next to her, withdrawing a flashlight and running feet suddenly sounded on the stairs. A squeak sounding along with it. “Sky…”
“Josslyn, get back!”
Sky grabbed her by the arm, dragging her back as a gigantic beetle raced up the steps toward them. It lunged forward, racing out the door, and down the hallway of the office.
“Holy crap!” Josslyn jumped back, her eyes widening, as a dozen other beetles raced after it. She slammed the door shut, pressing her weight against it. “What is that thing?” she asked, glancing over at Sky.
“I don’t know!” Sky shouted, slamming his hands against the door, trying to help her keep it shut. “But Joss, we have to grab that beetle! It could hurt someone! You know damned well that thing is not from this earth!”
“And you want me to go get it! It could be infectious or something!” Josslyn cried, sighing as Sky gave her a look. “Fine. I’ll go get the ginormous beetle.” She turned and raced down the hallway, rounding the corner and lunging forward. She wrapped her hand around the beetle’s large body, wincing, as her body hit the ground with a loud thunk.
The beetle squealed loudly, wriggling, trying to break free of her grasp. Swinging around, its eyes glowing a bright orange and baring its large, sharp teeth as it lunged toward her.
“Ahh!”
Josslyn jumped back, striking her hand forward. Ice shot from her fingers, turning the beetle into an icicle. She kicked her foot out, smashing the beetle to bits, behind her the door slamming open.
“Josslyn! Run!”
Sky grabbed her by the arm, just as the door to the basement burst open. Hundreds of beetles raced out from the basement, as she and Sky raced for the door. They shoved the door open, rounding the corner, as the beetles raced out after them.
“Josslyn! Stop them!”
“I can’t! There’s too many of them!” Josslyn shouted. “Plus, look!” She pointed across the street at the news anchor. “Do you want me to be the main headline on the news tonight?”
“You do have a point,” Sky said, eyeing the news anchor. “Plus, we have bigger problems right now, like where the beetles came from. We’ve gotta get down to the basement.”
“I thought you said the basement was creepy.”
“It is! But we don’t have a choice,” Sky said, dragging her back into the building. “Something is seriously amidst, and if we’re going to get rid of those beetles, we need to know what we’re dealing with!’
They hurried down the hallway and trotted down the steps. The light above them flickered again, and Josslyn frowned, squinting as she tried to see through the darkness. The light suddenly flickering on next to them, shining a bright light on the large hole lying in the ground.
“Whoa. The earthquake did that?” Josslyn asked, her mouth gaping open as she peered into the hole. Squealing and jumping back, as a giant, gray tentacle snapped toward her. “Yikes!” She gingerly peered back down into the hole, watching as a gray, large-bodied monster disappeared around the corner far below. “Uh… Sky. I think we need to get to the book.”
“What? Why?”
“Because there’s a new monster in town.”
>
“You’re there, aren’t you?” Jorja asked, braking to a stop at the stoplight, and staring up at the bright, blue sky. “You’re in the hidden city, aren’t you?”
It had been just last night, in a dream that she’d remembered about the sapphire of Raj. It was a myth. A story she’d heard when she was a kid. When her adoptive father had told her the story. How had it gone?
She scratched her head, thinking. Her eyes suddenly widening, as the memory came back.
* * *
“Mom! Tell me the story!” Jordyn cried, patting the spot on the bed next to her.
“Which one?” Jorja asked, laughing as she took a seat next to her daughter as she lay, huddled in her Minnie Mouse comforter, skimming through the books on her nightstand.
“No, not from a book! The one about the sapphire!”
“You want to hear about the Sapphire of Raj… again?” she asked, glancing at her daughter. She’d only told her the story about a hundred times.
“Yes!”
“Okay. Okay. I get it. You want to hear the story,” Jorja said, laughing again, as she sat back, wrapping her arm around Jorja, brushing a lock of her brown hair behind her ear. “Now let me think. Oh yes. Once upon a time there was a princess…”
“Who lived in the city of Raj,” Jordyn said, finishing her sentence. “A kingdom, that lay deep in the lands of the United Kingdom, and as the king and his men fought for their kingdom, Princess Melinda was bored.”
“Well, can you blame her?” Jorja asked, pulling Jordyn close. “She was locked up in the tower, only allowed out when suitors came to visit her. Suitors, her father would pick to be her husband.”
“That’s so wrong!” Jordyn cried, crinkling her nose in disgust. “Everyone should be able to marry whoever they want!”
“True, but you have to remember, this was a long time ago,” Jorja said. “But what happened next?”
“She found a hidden message.”
“Right! Hidden in the wall of the tower,” Jorja said. “A message with a clue. What did it say?”
“Up high, in the highest of spots within the kingdom, when the sunlight touches the shadow, you will find the mightiest of all treasures.”
“And where was the highest part of the kingdom?”
“The bell tower!”
“Yes. So, when a guard came to give her, her midnight snack, she snuck past him racing through the castle in just her nightgown. She walked long, she walked far, hiding from the guards who were looking for her, and climbed the steps to the bell tower.”
“Lots of steps!” Jordyn cried. “Two hundred steps!”
“Yes. Two hundred steps later, and she was finally at the top. She was so tired, her legs ached, her arms ached, but she didn’t care. She had to see what was up there. But when she got to the top, there was nothing there. Just a view of the kingdom, as dark faded to light.”
“Mom! The bell!”
Jorja laughed, glancing down at her daughter. “You know, you could at least let me tell the story.”
“Mom!”
Jorja laughed again. “Okay, I guess we’ll both tell it then. Anyways, once she got to the top, she looked high, she looked low, yet there was nothing she could see, that is until she looked at the bell. Then she thought to herself, “What if I need to ring this bell?” And she pulled the string underneath the bell. The bell dinged loudly, so loud, that it nearly deafened her. She covered her hands over her ears, as the sun rose high into the air, and the tower she was standing in suddenly turned. Then she thought, what if I need to ring this bell again? So, she rung it again.”
“And the tower turned!”
“Yes, it turned again. One last time she rung the bell, and as the tower turned one last time, the floor underneath her opened, stairs appearing below her.”
“And she went to investigate!”
“Yes. Not being able to keep her curiosity at bay, she walked down the steps, descending into the darkness. At the bottom of the stairs, what she saw, she couldn’t believe. There was a gold, brick pathway leading to a temple in front of her. Around her, temples surrounded her. Some big, some small. There was bright green grass, blue skies, and a river nearby. All stuff she’d never seen before, because she’d been stuck inside that tower for so long. She laughed, spinning in a circle. She raced across the lawn, jumping into the river, taking a sip of the cool water, then finally, followed the gold path to the temple, and lying on the pedestal in front of her, inside the temple was a sapphire. It glowed a brilliant blue, with a circular middle and five pointy sides, but before she could pick it up, hooves sound behind her.”
“It was the bad man,” Jordyn said, scowling.
“Yes, Cyrus, the man who was battling her father for the kingdom. He was young, naïve, and while his army battled Princess Melinda’s father, he was looking for the sapphire, which would bring him all the power he wanted.”
“Finally!” he shouted, shoving Princess Melinda to the side, and grasping the sapphire. The sapphire glowed, and he plopped it atop of his staff, darkness suddenly washing over the kingdom. “Thank you, Princess Melinda. Now I have the power, and all of the kingdom, and your father shall bow to me! And you…” He stabbed his staff toward her. “You will be my queen.”
“I will not!” Melinda shouted, spinning on her heel and trying to run away. Soldiers stepped out from the shadows, blocking her path, and she stared at them. “Please don’t do this. Please. I don’t belong with him!”
“Melinda!”
The shout sounded, and she stared across the field as her father raced across the lawn toward him on his white horse. “Melinda, I’m coming!”
“Oh, this is just perfect!” Cyrus shouted, stabbing his staff toward her father. Red light flung from the staff, zinging toward the king, striking him in the chest, and he fell from his horse to the ground, not moving.
“Father!”
Melinda raced across the lawn, shoving the soldiers who were blocking her path, running toward her father. “Oh, Father! I’m so sorry!” she cried. “I never meant for any of this to happen!”
“I know, my sweet Melinda,” King George said, lifting a hand and stroking his daughter’s cheek. “But that sapphire is dangerous. It holds unimaginable power and will bring unthinkable damage to the realms. It needs to be destroyed!” He gasped, his breath fading, and he fell to the ground next to her.
“Father!” Melinda screamed, wrapping her arms around her father, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Please, don’t go! I need you!”
“A fitting end to an unfit king,” Cyrus said from behind her, laughing. “And now the kingdom is mine, and now, so are you!”
“Not so fast, Cyrus!”
Another shout sounded, and Melinda turned, tears in her eyes as a man raced toward them. He sat high on his black horse, tanned skin, brown hair, and holding a spear. “Benjamin?”
“You’ll have to fight me first!” Benjamin shouted, jumping off his horse and aiming the sphere at Cyrus.
“You think you can defeat me, boy?” Cyrus asked, laughing. He lifted his arms above him, lightning surrounding him, and he strode forward, grabbing Benjamin by the throat and choking him. “I’m stronger than all men of this world!”
“But not immortal!” Melinda shouted, grabbing the spear Benjamin had dropped, racing forward and stabbing the spear through Cyrus’s heart.
“No!”
Cyrus shouted, his hand dropping from around Benjamin’s throat. He turned, narrowing his eyes on Melinda. “You! You did this to me? Why?”
“Because the sapphire doesn’t belong to you. This kingdom doesn’t belong to you. Melinda doesn’t belong to you, and no one, with a black heart shall ever hold this sapphire!” Benjamin said, yanking the staff from Cyrus’s grip and smashing it against the ground, the sapphire splitting into five shards.
“What? No! The power is mine!”
“Not anymore,” Benjamin handed the pieces off to the soldiers standing behind him. “Here, spread these across t
he realms, No one can ever know of the power it wields, and know, of where it leads to.”
“The hidden city,” the soldiers said.
“Yes, and if anyone ever taps into its power, it’ll bring utter chaos to the world.”
“Do you think the hidden city is safe?” Melinda asked, rising to her feet. “Do you think we’ll be able to keep the sapphire safe?”
“We’ll do our best,” Benjamin said, extending a hand. “And Melinda, I have one last question for you.” He got down on one knee, taking her hand in his. “Will you take my hand in marriage? Help me protect this kingdom, just as your father always wished?”
Melinda stared at him in surprise. He’d always been so nice, and the only one of the suitors she had ever seen herself with. Plus, he had just saved her. “I’d love nothing more,” she said, smiling. “As long as you promise not to lock me up in a tower.”
“Are you kidding? I’m going to show you off to the kingdom!” Benjamin cried, gripping her by the waist and spinning her around. “But first we must, cease him!” he shouted, jabbing a finger toward Cyrus. “From this day, until the day you die, you will be imprisoned at the castle, and if anyone tries to resurrect you, they’ll be in for one quite the surprise.”
“No! You can’t do this! This is my destiny!”
“The only destiny you have, is a hole in the ground,” Melinda said, narrowing her eyes on him. “It’s what you deserve.”
“No! This isn’t right! I will be heard! I will not be forgotten!”
“What happened to him?” Jordyn asked, glancing up at her mother, laying her head on his shoulder.
“He died,” Jorja said. “And was entombed within the kingdom.”
“And Melinda and Benjamin?”
“They got married, and had a bunch of kids,” Jorja said, stroking a hand over Jordyn’s long, dark hair. “And the sapphire is safe. For now.”
* * *
The light turned green, and Jorja sniffed. She wiped a hand across her cheeks, wiping away the tears, and stepped on the gas. I have to find it. I have to put the pieces back together. When I do, it’ll lead me to you. I know it will.
Bound by Magic Page 5
