by E. G. Foley
Good times.
Janos did not know if Maddox’s birth mother was alive or dead after three months unaccounted for, but he was certain that if the Dark Druids had killed her, she would’ve taken at least a dozen of them or their minions with her.
Slipping out of the guardroom, Janos proceeded deeper into the Fortress, intent on searching the sections of the building he had not yet seen. Now that he was back in corporeal form—for he had to carry his weapons—he took care to keep his footfalls silent, using all his vampire stealth.
Again, it was quiet as he stole along the sides of the corridors, pressing his back to the wall now and then when he heard someone coming. He ducked into rooms until they passed and managed to stay out of sight.
He couldn’t stop wondering about Ravyn as he sneaked along. Perhaps he would find her being held in a cell here somewhere, much as the Dark Druids had held Derek for a time, and poor Celestus, the angel. Much as they now held Red.
But, surely, if they were holding her prisoner, the Order would’ve heard about it by now.
No, the sad truth was that Ravyn was probably dead. The thought depressed him. The loss of such a proud and skillful fighter—not to mention an old friend—was a very great shame.
Even though Janos knew Ravyn had been as disgusted with him as every other loyal Guardian, he still cared about her like a sister.
But, as it turned out, mere moments later, it was she who found him.
And the greeting Janos received when he slipped around a corner somewhere in the bowels of the Black Fortress was a knife to his throat. A viselike grip slammed down on his shoulder.
He froze, expecting one of the palace guards.
“Hello, old friend!” came a harsh, barbaric whisper instead. “Imagine seeing you here, vampire. Selling us out to the enemy yet again—vampire?”
“Ravyn?!” Janos glanced over his shoulder in astonishment. “You’re alive!”
“Don’t look so surprised,” she said through gritted teeth. “I, for one, took my training to heart. So, any last words before I cut your head off?”
He lifted his hands up cautiously in a token surrender. She sounded half wild. “Let’s not do anything hasty—”
“What are you doing here? Come to grovel your way back into Wyvern’s good graces again after you helped us in the battle? No doubt you’re still trying to play both sides against the middle.”
“Don’t be absurd!” he whispered. “I’m your advance rescue team.”
She was silent for a moment, weighing this.
“I’m working with the Order,” he insisted.
“Ha. I’ve heard that before. Why you?”
“A situation presented itself. Wyvern needed me for something. I decided to take advantage—”
“Oh, but that’s what you do, isn’t it? Twist everything to your own advantage—”
“Would you shut up and listen to me?” he whispered. “There’s a team coming tonight. I’m here to rescue the Gryphon, find you, and try to figure out what the devil happened to our Lightriders. Now, you can either help me or proceed with my decapitation. Either way, I don’t have time for this.”
Her fingers tightened on his shoulder. “Cheeky as ever, I see.”
“That’s why you love me,” Janos drawled.
With a growl of annoyance, Ravyn spun him around and stared at him, sizing him up.
For his part, Janos was shocked at the sight of her.
Normally bronzed and black-haired, she had always been a muscular woman, but as a highly trained soldier, Ravyn Vambrace was far more dangerous than any mere athlete.
He had no idea how she had been surviving for the past three months, but she looked wild-eyed and fierce, the sleeves of her shirt cut off, her sculpted arms bare. Her brown canvas breeches were filthy and her knee-boots were scuffed.
Her skin was almost as pale as his from being in this lightless place. And there was no fat left on the woman.
It was clear her experience living secretly as a fugitive within the castle had further hardened her as a warrior. Her dark eyes, so like her son’s, blazed with hungry intensity.
And serious distrust of Janos.
“How are you alive?” Janos asked softly.
“You mean how have I avoided getting captured?”
He nodded.
“I found Zolond’s potion room. Helped myself,” she said with a cold smile.
“What, all this time?” Worry filled him at this news. Taking potions for too long could wreck a person’s health. “What about the side effects—”
“What choice did I have?” she snapped. “At least I’m alive.”
Janos stared at her. “Just what have you been taking, love? Do you feel all right?”
“Do I look like I feel all right? Idiot,” she retorted, still menacing him with her knife. Then she grumbled, “I found a vial called Camouflage, and another called Invisibility. But that one gives me a headache.”
This is bad.
No wonder she seemed a little crazy at the moment. He’d be too if he’d survived on potions and sheer grit for three months in his place.
“Well, don’t worry,” Janos told her with more calm assurance than he actually felt. “When the team comes tonight, we’re going to get you out of here.”
“Really?” Tough as she was, Ravyn stared desperately at him, clearly longing to believe.
Janos lifted his right hand. “I swear it on the life of my hatchlings. We’ll get you back to Merlin Hall by this evening—to your son—and the healers can fix…whatever needs fixing.”
Ravyn stared at him for a long moment. Her voice caught as she asked, “Is he all right? My boy.”
“He’s fine,” Janos said smoothly, ignoring a twinge in his conscience over what he’d told Wyvern. “He’s more like you every day, truth be told. Now, are you with me?”
Without warning, Ravyn lunged into his arms and hugged Janos tight. A faint, sudden sob escaped her. “If you’re lying, I’ll gut you like a trout, I swear.” He could hear her fighting back tears. The poor thing was traumatized.
“I would never lie about something like this. I’m here to save you, ol’ girl.” He hugged her back for another moment. “Don’t fret now.”
She sniffled. “I could kiss you!”
“Please don’t,” Janos said with a smile. “You smell like a Noxu.”
Ravyn stepped back, blinked away a single tear, then hauled off and punched him in the chest for that jest.
“Ow,” Janos said, but he could not have been more pleased.
Just like old times.
Having teased her back to some semblance of her usual self, Janos rested his hands on his hips. “Now, how are we going to rescue that Gryphon?”
Ravyn’s chiseled face grew somber. “I’ve been trying to do that for three months. Maybe now that there’s two of us, we’ll have better luck. Still, rescuing Red is the easy part.”
Janos furrowed his brow. “What’s the hard part?”
“Tex.” Her jaw tightened and her eyes turned even grimmer.
“You’ve seen him?”
She nodded. “They’re keeping the Lightriders in the basement. Come on, I’ll show you.” Knife in hand, she stole off silently down the corridor.
Janos glanced around, uneasy for Ravyn’s wellbeing, but awed by her will to survive.
And people wondered why he loved women. Remarkable creatures.
He shook his head with admiration, but Ravyn was getting away, heading for another lightless stairwell ahead.
Summoning up all his vampire stealth, Janos gripped his knife and glided after his former teammate.
Just like old times, indeed.
CHAPTER 23
An Excruciating Wait
That night, scores of people congregated on the lawn of Merlin Hall, anxiously awaiting the return of the rescue team the Elders had sent.
The mood was tense, voices kept low as adults and kids alike clustered in small groups beneath the stars or s
at on logs around the towering bonfire they had built; its blazing light glowed in defiance of the darkness.
The fire filled the air with a pleasing, rustic scent that blended well with the smell of autumn leaves. It sent a plume of orange sparks snapping skyward, where the waxing moon glowed gold on a silver-sequined field of navy blue.
As Jake walked across the lawn, hands in his coat pockets, he was glad to see so many people concerned about the outcome, but he still couldn’t believe that Derek had gone on the mission.
The master Guardian had admitted when Jake had asked today that he hadn’t even popped the question yet to Miss Helena.
Hadn’t found the right moment, he said.
Now, if anything happened to Derek while he was out there, he might never get the chance. Jake shuddered at the thought, flipping up the collar of the light wool jacket he had put on to ward off the chill of the autumn night.
He avoided the crowds around the bonfire, rounding the lawn to take cover in a scant grove of slender birch trees. Maddox was already there, leaning against one of the ghost-white trunks, arms folded across his chest as he waited in silence for word.
Jake nodded a greeting; Maddox nodded back.
Both of them were more or less a wreck, he supposed, wanting with all their hearts to see their loved ones return safe, and so scared of something going wrong that they almost didn’t dare breathe.
Jake sat down on a boulder, running one of Red’s scarlet feathers back and forth between his fingers. Maddox pushed away from the tree and moved about restlessly. He picked up a large stick and swung it at the leaves in his path as though it were a golf club. Jake wished he’d hold still.
“What’s taking so long?” the older boy finally demanded, turning to Jake. “They should’ve been here by now, don’t you think?”
Since Maddox seemed to be in even worse shape than he was, Jake pulled himself out of his brooding as best he could and, curious, struck up a bit of conversation. He didn’t answer the question, though.
“So if he rescues your mother, do you think you might finally start being nice to him?”
Maddox stopped swinging the stick. “The bloodsucker, y’mean?”
Jake nodded, but Maddox’s face hardened in the moonlight.
“Why should I? He promised me he’d keep an eye on Ravyn when they left for that battle, but he came back without her. Now he claims he’s going to rescue her.” Maddox shrugged. “But he did betray the Order once before, so I guess I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“He did not betray the Order.” Jake rose. “He just didn’t want to be a Guardian anymore.”
“Same thing.”
“No, it’s really not,” Jake said emphatically. “He just got sick of protecting ungrateful VIPs who treat Guardians like cannon fodder. If Janos were a real traitor, he wouldn’t have saved my life like he did.”
Maddox let out a sardonic sigh.
“You should’ve seen him battling those Nightstalkers in Taormina,” Jake insisted. “Even you would’ve been impressed. I could swear he was having fun taking them out one by one. Bloke’s a serious fighter.”
“Well, he should be. He was trained by Derek himself.”
“Come on, man. Give him a break. He’s trying to help us.”
“And why do you think that is?” Maddox asked flatly.
Jake sat back down on the boulder. “Because he’s not as bad as everybody thinks.”
“Don’t be naïve.”
“What are you talking about?”
Maddox stared at him. “It’s because of Isabelle. He loves her.”
“What?” Jake waved this off with a chortle. “You’re out of your head, St. Trinian.”
“He does. I have eyes,” Maddox said. “He can’t help it. He doesn’t mean to. He just does.”
His friend’s somber tone gave Jake pause for a second. Was it possible? Then he snorted. “Don’t be a doorbell, man. He just flirts with her. He flirts with every female he sees.”
“Not Dani, not Nixie.”
“They’re younger. Isabelle’s nearly a grown-up lady. He doesn’t mean it one iota! He’s just joking around, and everybody knows that, especially Isabelle. Everyone, that is, except you.” Jake grinned. “You ask me, he does it just to needle you—Stick. Personally, I think it’s pretty funny.”
“You would. You’re just like him,” Maddox said with a huff. “Couple of troublemakers.”
Jake scoffed. “Compared to you, who isn’t, Mr. Perfect? Mr. Everyone Should Do Exactly As I Say Because I’m Saint Better Than You Trinian?”
“A: I usually do know better than you,” Maddox retorted. “And B: at least I’m striving for excellence. You just want everything handed to you—milord.”
Jake jumped to his feet. “That’s not true!”
“Seriously, how are you surprised they didn’t put you in the Lightrider program?”
“Now, look here—” Jake took a step toward him, but Maddox wasn’t through.
“You can’t follow orders. You started as a thief. You scoff at rules or just figure out a clever way around them—”
“That’s rubbish! I’ve been doing exactly what Derek and Aunt Ramona tell me for the past three months—”
“And it’s nearly killing you, isn’t it?”
“Why don’t you get off my back, Maddox?” Jake pushed him, but thanks to his wonky telekinesis, he shoved the older boy harder than he’d meant to.
Maddox slammed back against the tree trunk with a woof! Then fury filled his face.
“You brat!” He lunged forward and swung the stick at Jake.
Jake ducked the blow then grabbed the other end of Maddox’s makeshift bat, and they proceeded to have a tug of war over it.
“How now! Cease and desist, you two!” Archie exclaimed, marching into their midst with Nixie a step behind.
She had her wand out and looked prepared to use it to zap them apart if necessary.
“Stop this ridiculousness at once!” Hands planted on his hips, the boy genius frowned at each of them. “Steady on, lads. We’re all on the edge here. Let’s not take it out on each other. Both of you, just calm down.”
“Or else,” Nixie growled, her wand at the ready.
Jake let go of his end of the stick, then Maddox cast the thing to the ground and sullenly retreated to lean against the tree trunk again.
Nixie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“What time is it, Arch?” Jake asked, sulking a bit at the insults. What a pain Maddox was. “They’ve been gone for ages.”
Archie pulled his fob watch out of his vest pocket and held it up to squint at it by the light of the distant bonfire. “Coming up on midnight,” he said, then put it away.
Jake paced across the grove, fallen leaves crunching under his feet. He flung back down onto the rock where he had sat before. “This is intolerable! Why couldn’t I go with them?”
“Uh, because you’re a kid,” Nixie said.
“A kid who defeated Garnock the Sorcerer, not to mention Davy Jones, the Lord of the Locker. I think I know what I’m doing!”
“Relax,” Nixie ordered. “You’ve managed to keep your head together this long, Jake. What’s a few more hours?”
“She’s right,” Archie said. “You can do this, coz. So can you, Maddox. You’ll have them back soon and everything will be all right. You’ll see.”
Nixie plopped down onto the big rock beside Jake and elbowed him. “In the meanwhile, have you apologized to Dani yet?”
Jake glanced uneasily at her. He had been so distracted all day by these new developments that he had not got around to that yet.
Archie gave him a chiding frown. “Go and talk to her, ol’ boy. It’s the least you can do after you were so beastly.”
Maddox gave him a matter-of-fact look. “Jealousy is not an admirable quality.”
“Look who’s talking!” Jake said, but stood up stiffly. Nixie was right. He owed Dani an apology. He just hoped she accepted it.
“Just make sure to grovel,” Nixie said with a bland smile.
Archie nodded ruefully. “Girls like it when you grovel.”
“Well, I hope she doesn’t plan on lording it over me until the end of time,” Jake said.
Maddox frowned. “Dani’s not like that.”
“Courage, man.” Archie slapped him on the shoulder as Jake trudged past.
“Good luck,” Nixie called.
Jake sent her a dry look, then smoothed his waistcoat and wished that, for once, he could borrow just a dash of Janos’s charm when it came to females.
Of course, the carrot-head was likely to clobber him if he tried mimicking any of those suave moves.
But he truly did feel awful for ruining her big moment, and for, well, being an all-’round jackanapes today. He knew he’d been hard to live with for the past twelve weeks, but maybe tonight, Red would come back safe, and things could finally go back to normal.
He drifted over to the bonfire, where he saw Dani sitting on a log beside Isabelle. The girls were talking, heads together, but when he walked over, their conversation ceased.
Jake stood there awkwardly while they both just looked at him, Isabelle distracted, Dani stiff and cold.
Why, he had never seen her so angry at him before, not like this.
Usually, her anger or exasperation at him involved yelling, but those flareups of her Irish temper passed quickly, like a summer storm.
The cold stare the future Lightrider gave him when he approached was something else altogether. It unsettled him, made him unsure.
“Um, could I talk to you?” he mumbled, already feeling embarrassed when the other people around the fire glanced curiously at him.
Dani just sat there.
“Please?” Jake prompted, the fire warming his back as if to make up for the chill coming from the pretty redhead in front of him. “It’s really important.”
“Fine.” Avoiding eye contact now, Dani rose to her feet and smoothed her skirts. “I’ll be back in a moment, Isabelle.”
“Take your time.” As Dani marched ahead, Izzy sent Jake an encouraging look.
He nodded a discreet thanks and followed the redhead.