The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2)

by Carmen Caine

  And he’d kissed me. Or—I mentally amended with a grimace—he’d started to kiss me.

  But that reminded me of his apology afterwards. He’d clearly regretted it. With a pang of disappointment, I wondered what it would be like to really kiss him with no regrets attached.

  And then I realized that I’d just been standing there, staring at him with my hands locked behind his neck.

  Surprised at myself, I stepped back, but he caught my wrist.

  He didn’t say a word, but his dark lashes lowered, and his brow gave a humorous twist. Leaning forward, he tucked my hair behind my ear and then slowly traced my jawline with his thumb before dropping his hand.

  A wistful regret crept into his tone as he whispered, “I’ll always protect you, Sydney. Destiny can never stop me from being your friend.”

  It was depressing.

  And for the first time, I began feeling a little ticked off at destiny. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

  And then Rafael moved away to crouch next to Jareth still huddled in the snow.

  “Are you ill?” Rafael asked him, raising a concerned brow.

  Jareth stirred, and a low moan escaped his lips. “I’m fine,” he practically growled. Slowly, he lifted his head to study our surroundings. “Stonehenge?”

  That distracted me from my inner monologue. Giving everything a closer look, I realized that we were actually at Stonehenge.

  I eyed the huge stones forming a ring about us and caught my breath in wonder. I really don’t know why I was so shocked. I’d just been to Avalon. Why should popping up in England faze me at all?

  “We’re lucky it was night here,” Jareth grumbled. “Otherwise, it’d be hard to explain our unexpected arrival.”

  In my mind’s eye, I could see the faces of the startled tourists as we burst into existence out of thin air. What would have they said if we’d told them the truth that Stonehenge was really a big fairy ring, a portal to Avalon?

  But that strangely made me think of Al, and I suddenly wanted to be home.

  And then I had a new question. “How are we getting back home?” I asked. “Will we be caught if we shift?”

  “There aren’t any traps set on Earth yet,” Rafael answered, pushing himself up from Jareth’s side in one agile movement. “Once we leave the vicinity of this portal, we can shift back easily enough.” Reaching down, he grasped Jareth’s arm and half-lifted him to his feet.

  “I’m fine!” Jareth cursed angrily under his breath, but then he swayed and would have fallen if Rafael hadn’t caught him.

  “Clearly you are not fine!” Rafael drew his brows in a firm line.

  “And just what are you implying, oh pure-blooded prince?” Jareth spat rudely, ungratefully shoving Rafael back to stand defiantly on his own. “Do you think the Inner Circle …” he began, but then he choked and passing his hand in front of his face, abruptly fell silent.

  I didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, but I knew it had to do with the strange things we’d seen in the Hall of Mirrors.

  If it was true, then he was the result of horrible experiments.

  There was a strained silence.

  I looked at Jareth, standing tall and bold beside Rafael, still striking and darkly charismatic in his own way. I’d always thought him obnoxious, but there was a vulnerable air about him now. He was clearly affected by what the mirror had depicted; from the early separation from his Dark Fae mother, to the torture done to him by the white-cloaked figure, to the strange image of him morphing and writhing in pain at the end.

  Suddenly, I felt sorry for him, but I didn’t know what to say.

  And then Rafael broke the silence. “I can’t fathom what the mirrors chose to reveal. But this isn’t the place to discuss it. We should return at once.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” Jareth grunted, brushing past him brusquely. “I’ve never liked this place.”

  Rafael lifted a curious brow and watched him go before turning to me to hold out a hand. “Shall we?”

  I stepped forward in the snow, uncertain if he was just gesturing politely, or if I should really take his hand.

  He made the decision for me.

  Capturing my fingers in his, he moved forward, pulling me along. His fingers were warm and much longer than mine.

  I just followed him in the dark, glad he was there and knowing that I’d rather have him in my life as a friend than not at all.

  I had to laugh at myself a little.

  Only just last week, I’d have never believed I could even be an iota depressed over the fact that destiny would deny me a romantic love.

  It was amazing how much things could really change in a single week.

  And then we were past the stones and stooping under an opening in the fence surrounding them. I could hear the bleating of sheep in the distance. And then I stumbled a little, realizing that I was on the verge of exhaustion.

  I was going to crash soon.

  I could only run on adrenaline for so long.

  I wanted nothing more than to sleep in my own bed, but that reminded me that Brock was there, sleeping in my place, pretending to be me.

  I wondered if Jerry somehow knew that the Sydney in the room was really an imposter. For some reason, I wanted him to know. I wanted someone to miss me. I didn’t like to think I could be replaced that easily.

  And then Rafael stopped, bringing me back to the present with a gentle squeeze of my hand. A frown marred his brow. “Jareth already shifted. He didn’t wait. Are you ready?”

  I looked around, barely able to make out the fact we were standing in the middle of a large field with Stonehenge rising behind us.

  “Are you ready?” he asked again.

  I barely had time to nod before he pulled me close and a moment later I stood next to the elephant in his living room.

  Jareth was already there, lounging back on the leather couch with one booted foot propped on the coffee table. He was absently strumming a guitar as if he’d been doing it for hours.

  “Thanks for waiting,” I said sourly. “I thought we were a team.”

  “Team?” Jareth tossed his dark hair back. “Whatever gave you that idea, Sydney?”

  I just glared at him. I wasn’t feeling too sorry for him at the moment. Turning to Rafael, I asked, “So what next?”

  He glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s close to midnight. You really should get some sleep.”

  “You have school in the morning.” Jareth leaned forward with a grin, clearly relishing reminding me.

  “School?” I scowled a little. “How can you possibly expect me to concentrate on school when we’re supposed to be finding the Tulpa before the lizard people do?”

  Expelling a loud breath, Jareth tossed the guitar aside and strode to the front door. Flinging it wide open, he peered up and down the street.

  “Hmmm, no lizard people or Tulpas running around that I can see,” he announced sarcastically. “It looks like we’re back at the beginning.”

  “But we’ve learned a lot!” I protested with a scowl.

  “Have we?” Jareth appeared astounded. He began to shout and wave his hands in the air. “We already knew the Glass Wall was a farce to begin with, and that already implied that the Brotherhood had their hand in it from the beginning!”

  Coming back to me, he planted his obnoxious face directly in front of mine.

  “And now we know they’ve used the time to gain an astounding amount of control over both humans and Fae,” he continued, pressing closer as I began backing away from him. “But do we know exactly who they control? And just how those cords work? And more importantly, do we know how to sever them? Also, who can we really trust? And what of the Inner Circle? What about the chupacabra? Do we even care about that Tulpa now that we’ve uncovered all of this? And if we still want the Tulpa, how do we find it? I can smell it, but I certainly don’t see it anywhere. It’s like a mirage. The closer I get to it, the further it moves away. I don’t ev
en know what dimension it’s in anymore. It certainly isn’t something that you can help with—not that you’ve even been really trying! I only see more questions and very few answers!”

  His criticism of me stung a little. “You said before that you weren’t exactly relying on me to find that Tulpa!” I retorted in my defense. It wasn’t exactly like Tulpa hunting skills were taught at school or anything.

  But then I reached the wall and he stopped, ending his tirade with a roar of frustration.

  In my mind, I coolly noted that he hadn’t mentioned anything about himself regarding the things we’d seen in the Hall of Mirrors. I supposed I couldn’t blame him. Thinking of him standing in the desert by himself, a tear trailing down his cheek made me suddenly feel sorry for him again. In some respects, his life had been a lot like mine. He’d been lonely; that much was clear. And he’d grown up without a mother, which I essentially had also.

  Reaching up, I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “I’m sorry about everything that’s happened to you,” I said. I really meant it.

  A startled expression flashed in his dark eyes. His mouth snapped shut.

  Feeling suddenly awkward, I stepped around him and approached Rafael, asking, “What do we do now?”

  Rafael stood in the center of the living room, watching me with a stone-faced expression, but he replied easily enough, “There’s nothing to be done tonight but rest.”

  I gave a little humph. “You expect me to just go to school in the morning and act like everything’s normal?” How could I possibly live with that kind of anxiety?

  “We each have our obligations and skills,” he answered in a calm tone that I found supremely aggravating. “Ajax will stay with you and call if necessary, but you’re safe now. Jareth and I … will have to figure out what must be done next. But at the moment, there’s nothing for you to do.”

  I wanted to disagree. After all, I was the one with the biggest Blue Thread. But even I had to reluctantly admit that standing in their living room all night probably wasn’t going to do much.

  As much as I didn’t like it, he made sense.

  Going home to get a good night’s sleep would only help.

  But still, it felt weird to just walk away.

  And then Rafael advised softly, “When in doubt, Sydney, do nothing. Wait until the way is clear enough for you to see the next step. The next step is all you have to worry about.”

  I expelled a loud, long breath of exasperation. I knew he was right, but I wasn’t quite ready to go home yet. “But what about all the stuff we saw in the mirror? What did it all mean?”

  “It’s not worth discussing!” Jareth’s voice rose in an uncharacteristic sharpness.

  “The mirrors did behave strangely.” Rafael gave a dismissive nod. “Mirrors are windows of possibility. Apparently, humans can manipulate this technology in ways we’ve never dreamed of. Doubtless, what we saw was deeply affected by Sydney’s dreaming nature. Most likely, the images are untrustworthy.”

  Jareth half-bowed in his direction. “And this is the rare occasion that I find myself completely agreeing with you.”

  I stared at them, shocked that they could dismiss it all so completely. “How can you simply ignore it? The scales all over Jareth …” I didn’t mention the events of his infancy. Thinking of Rafael putting on the mask with the symbol, I added, “And that mask! What was that mask?”

  “I’ve never broken out into scales …” Jareth’s dark eyes flashed angrily, but his voice faltered, apparently recalling he had indeed sprouted scales during the clash with Marquis.

  But Rafael unexpectedly came to his aid. “Most likely we saw an illusion. Mesmers are adept at such things.” He didn’t actually come out and call Marquis a Mesmer, but the implication was clear enough.

  “Again, I must agree with you,” Jareth growled, apparently not liking the fact that he’d agreed with Rafael twice. “We probably saw figments of Sydney’s imagination.”

  “On Earth, we call that ‘denial’,” I muttered. Though I had to admit I hadn’t spent any time in a large Coke bottle, nor had plans to in the future. But I knew it couldn’t all be wrong. “Jareth could access the security codes,” I couldn’t resist adding in a near whisper. “There’s got to be truth to some of it.”

  “And just what is that truth to you?” Jareth asked with an edge to his voice that made me nervous. “Are you trying to say that I’m the victim of some bizarre experiment that made me part lizard? And for what purpose?”

  That’s exactly what I knew we were all thinking, but taking one look at his troubled dark gaze, I knew I didn’t dare admit it right now.

  And then Jareth shrugged and laughed darkly, but he didn’t care to explain what he found so funny. Nor did he tell us goodnight. He just walked away and up the stairs without once looking back in our direction.

  “Let me take you home.” Rafael came up to me then, lightly touching my shoulder. “I’ll shift you directly into your room, and we’ll relieve the Protector of his impersonation duties.”

  I nodded tiredly, suddenly exhausted.

  He stepped closer and slipped his arm about my waist, preparing to shift.

  He was so close, I could feel the heat of his skin and my heart lurched in response. I swallowed and heaved a loud sigh. It was going to be hard just being friends with someone whose mere proximity made my heart race at an insane pace.

  It didn’t help that he didn’t seem all that interested in moving. In fact, he just stood there as if preparing to chat a bit, his arm resting comfortably around my waist.

  “You were very brave back there, Sydney,” he said with his lip crooking up in one corner. “Admirably brave.”

  “So were you,” I said a bit breathlessly. “You got us home.”

  “Home,” he repeated strangely, glancing about the room. “I can honestly say I’ve never felt at ‘home’ anywhere … at least not what I think you mean by the word.”

  In spite of myself, I inched a little closer, and then the image of Jareth as a toddler standing in line to practice martial arts fled across my mind. I stared up into Rafael’s handsome face a little sympathetically and asked, “Was your childhood like Jareth’s?”

  His jaw clenched, but he answered, “The Fae send their offspring to their fates upon reaching the second year. Both Jareth and I were trained by Melody from that age.”

  I flinched on hearing her name.

  He didn’t miss my reaction. He couldn’t have. I was standing in the circle of his arms.

  He didn’t say anything though; he just continued to stare down at me.

  And then suddenly all I was noticing was how tall he was and the fact that I could feel his heart beating against mine.

  And it made me smile a little to realize that his was beating just as fast as mine was.

  The expression in his eyes changed, growing warm and real.

  I don’t know what would have happened if a sudden poof of mist hadn’t appeared right next to us at precisely that moment.

  Stepping back from me a little, Rafael drew his lips in a thin line and said, “Greetings, Melody.”

  Melody stepped forward, the mist dramatically whirling about her. Her blue eyes widened with open disapproval. And then ignoring me entirely, she inclined her head in Rafael’s direction and said, “Greetings, my prince. An urgent matter requires your attention. I’ve asked Jareth to take Sydney home.”

  As if on cue, Jareth appeared at the top of the stairs, looking entirely put out. Cursing under his breath, he began stomping down our way.

  But Rafael stepped closer to me, and his grip around my waist tightened. “I will take Sydney home and return shortly, Melody,” he countermanded in a tightly controlled voice.

  A moment later, we stood in my room.

  I caught my breath, a bit unprepared for the suddenness of it all.

  Rafael’s jaw was clenched and an irritated frown marred his brow, but when he caught me looking at him, his lips smoothed into a charming smil
e. “Pay no heed to Melody,” he said, more as if to himself than me. And then he moved to where my impersonator lay asleep on the bed with Ajax snoring peacefully at his side, all four paws in the air.

  “Up, Ajax!” Rafael ordered with a wry quirk of his lips.

  As Ajax opened his eyes and bounded off the bed to wag his Twinkie-sized tail at Rafael in greeting, the Protector sprang to his feet, immediately changing from my form into his own.

  “You have returned, my prince.” Brock bowed, slapping his arm across his chest in salute.

  “I thank you for your service. You may leave now,” Rafael said graciously, looking every inch the prince he was. “Return to await further orders.”

  The Protector didn’t hesitate. Slapping his arm across his chest again, he disappeared.

  I watched Ajax continue to dance in greeting for a bit, and then I moved to check on Jerry. He was sound asleep in his cage. I wondered if he’d missed me.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Rafael walk to my bedroom window and peer out into the darkness.

  At once, I thought of the Mesmers. “Have they come back?” I asked with trepidation.

  He knew what I meant. Casting me a reassuring glance, he shook his head.

  “You’re safe from the Mesmers, little pixie.” His voice was calm and cool. “Ajax will guard you here, and I’ll see the Protectors stay out there.”

  Joining him at the window, I saw the telltale glint of black, glossy body armor. While I was glad to know the Protectors were still guarding the place, I didn’t want Rafael to leave. I felt much safer with him there.

  He caught my eye and winked good-naturedly, a smile dancing about his lips. And then reaching over to playfully tweak my nose, he shifted and was gone.

  I expelled a long, loud sigh.

  It was just as well.

  I had to get my feelings under control again, but now that I’d let these particular ones loose, I wasn’t exactly sure how to bottle them back up.

  I’d always forced myself to face the facts in life. Life was easier that way. Or so I’d thought. Facing the facts now meant that I had to acknowledge I was really feeling something romantic towards this guy. But nothing could ever happen between us. Destiny itself had determined we could only be friends.