Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2)

by Brenda Drake

  “It must be lonely,” I said. “You’re welcome to come over and play sometime.” I wanted to bite my tongue off. If she came over, Faith would have to hide out in her room.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’d like that.” The bright smile on her face made me glad I’d invited her.

  The ocean came into view, and Emily turned onto the road that ran parallel to the water. Directly in front of us, a lightning bolt shot up to the sky. Thankfully, Emily was too busy driving to notice the strike’s starting point.

  I spotted Nick’s bike parked in the grassy area near the beach.

  “Pull over here,” I said.

  “You see him?” Her tires rolled up to the curb as she parked.

  “No, not him,” I said, opening the door. “But there’s his bike. You don’t have to wait. Nick can drive me home. Thanks for the ride.” I got out and shut the door.

  The passenger’s side window went down. “Are you sure? It looks like a storm is coming,” she said. “I can wait.”

  “No, thanks, we’ll be fine. See you at school.”

  She shifted the gear stick into drive. “Wonderful, I’d like that. We can hang out at lunch. What time is yours?”

  “Eleven-thirty…” I trailed off, my eyes searching for Nick. Another flash of light hit the sky.

  “Mine, too,” she trilled. “I’ll see you then.”

  It might be good to make new friends. “Sounds great,” I said. “See you later.”

  She did a U-turn and drove off. I sprinted to the area where I spotted the lightning. A shadowed figure sat on a white bench near the water. Another flash of light kissed the sky and illuminated Nick.

  Since discovering he was a wizard, Nick struggled with his new magic. And he was careless. Anyone could spot him out here. How would he explain it to someone who was human and not from the Mystik realm? I couldn’t imagine how it felt to have that much power. Unlike him, I was a Sentinel. I had little magic and relied on my battle training to best wizards and other-world creatures. He only needed to shock or electrocute his adversaries.

  “What exactly are you doing?” I asked, approaching.

  He almost fell off the bench. “Shit, Gia. Don’t sneak up on a person like that.”

  “Seriously, Nick? What are you doing? Someone might see you, and then we’d be discovered.”

  “Just leave me alone.”

  “I’m not going to just leave you alone.” I sat down on the bench beside him. A light breeze swept loose strands of my hair across my face. The briny smell of the ocean filled my nose. “Talk to me. You’re my best friend, Nick. I’m here for you.”

  He formed an electric charge on his palm. I created my pink globe and tossed it on his hand, snuffing out the charge.

  He made another electric ball and I cast another globe at it.

  “Quit doing that.”

  “You stop it.”

  “I get it. Your globe is badass. It can counter magic and shield people, but it makes you weak. I can do this all night and wear you out.”

  “You’re not nice.”

  He buried his face in his hands. The knuckles on his right one were torn, with blood coagulating around the wounds. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I can’t stop myself. I know I’m being mean to Deidre, to my parents…to everyone.”

  “You haven’t been that mean to me, yet. That has to say something. I’m the most annoying one of the bunch.”

  He snorted.

  “Did you just snort?”

  “No.” He looked startled. “It was a sneeze.”

  “I think you snorted.”

  His face brightened. “I know what you’re trying to do. And it’s working.”

  “I’m not trying to do anything. That was a full-on snort.” I wrapped my arm over his back and watched the water lap against the retaining wall in front of us. “I know you can’t see a therapist for this, ’cause what would you say? That you just found out you’re the son of the most evil wizard of the Mystik world and the curers recently released your magic?”

  He gave me a half smile. “Yeah, that might not go over too well.”

  “Or maybe you could. They’d think you were delusional, and you’d score some drugs.”

  “Drugs make me nauseous.”

  “Listen,” I said. “I was a mess after getting sucked into the gateway book and thrown into the Mystik world. Everything was happening so fast. I was scared and confused. I made so many mistakes. Hell, I was freaked out. I was facing a shit-ton of life-threatening situations. That’s a lot for a teenager to handle. But now, with all the training and with Carrig’s help, I’m stronger. Both in mind and body. I was born to be this. I just needed the mindset, you know?”

  He stared at his hands, and I stared at the water, searching for the right words to say. “This has to be tough for you. I get it. I’ve been there. It’ll take time to adjust. How about I be your counselor? Anytime you feel anxious or angry, you call me and we’ll punch some bags or whatever. It always helps me to relax. Plus, my services are cheap.”

  “Violence would make you relax.” He was pleased with his retort and laughed, which was followed by another snort.

  I chuckled, removing my arm.

  “That wasn’t a snort… Never mind.” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “What is wrong with me? I don’t mean what I say, or want to punch things. It’s like an out-of-body experience. I see myself doing terrible things, and I can’t stop it. I’m not me anymore.”

  “You’re still you, just a little more powerful. It might be the wizard power that’s making you snap. You’re not used to it.” A thought came to me. “How about I ask Uncle Philip if he knows how you can control it?”

  He straightened and stared at the water. “Do you think Professor Attwood would?”

  “He told you to call him Uncle Philip,” I said.

  “I keep forgetting.”

  Nick and my long-lost uncle had become fast friends. Uncle Philip had been in love with Nick’s birth mother, Jacalyn, before Conemar killed her. The two spent many hours together as Uncle Philip shared stories, letters, and pictures of her with Nick. I was certain my wizard uncle would want to mentor Nick.

  “It won’t hurt to ask him for help,” I said.

  “Okay, let’s try.”

  “Good.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “I think you have some apologies to make.”

  “What? Are you my mother now?”

  “No. I’m your conscience.” I snorted then, and we both laughed so hard we almost fell off the bench.

  Chapter Three

  The McCabe Boarding Home for Foreign Exchange Students was an old converted condominium building. Worried that authorities would watch the Sentinels too closely, Carrig had convinced the Wizard Council to change their original plan from a home for wayward teens to a boarding house. Several Sentinels from around the world had joined the school.

  The inside of the McCabe Fencing Club in the building next door resembled an abandoned warehouse. Concrete columns wrapped in bright blue padding supported the high ceiling. Mats covered the entire floor, and kicking bags hung from hooks embedded in the ceiling.

  For the past few weeks, the practice drills were grueling. Arik matched me blow for blow, our dummy swords smacking at each contact. With some effort, I dodged a high swing. Carrig called us to break, and I relaxed, trying to ease my breaths.

  Arik cut a glance at me. “Gia, you can’t beat me.”

  “Oh, really? Be ready to get schooled, little boy.”

  “Hmm…” He grinned, his gaze sweeping over my body. “Will you be wearing a school girl costume while you school me? I can imagine it now…”

  “Stop being an arse, Arik,” Carrig, aka my biological dad and the head leader of all the Sentinels, grunted. “She be taking it easy on you. Now, go again.”

  Arik got into a fighting stance.

  I kept my eyes on Arik’s shoulders, waiting for a hint as to what his next attack would be.

  A loud
bang came from the right of us and my gaze flew in the direction of the noise. Jaran had backed into a weight stand and knocked it over.

  Kale and Lei fought on the mat beside us. He’d move forward, and she’d move back. She swung her leg at him, and he ducked. Her long black braid whipped around as she got back into her stance. Their personalities were complete opposites. She was fierce and aggressive, and he was calm and calculating.

  Next to Arik, they were the top fighters out of both the past and present Sentinels from our wizard haven of Asile. They’d even won awards at the Mystik Trials. The Mystik world had seven wizard havens, along with creatures from many of the outlying covens, compete in the games. It was much like the human world’s Olympics.

  Kale dodged Lei’s next attack, diving and smacking onto the mat in a forward roll. He was back on his feet fast, but his stance was too wide. She dropped into a squat and swept her outstretched leg against his shins. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the floor.

  Arik caught me off guard as I laughed at the shocked expression on Kale’s face. His padded wooden sword landed on my shoulder. I yelped and fell spread eagle onto the mat.

  “Bloody hell. Why didn’t you block me?” Arik looked at me with concern in his eyes.

  A few of the foreign Sentinels fighting nearby snickered.

  I glared at them.

  “Didn’t you hear the command from Carrig?” Arik reached his hand out to me.

  “No…maybe.” I huffed, grabbing his hand. “Didn’t you notice I was distracted?”

  “How would I notice? You were facing me and seemed ready for my attack. You can’t be distracted in a battle.”

  “We’re done here,” Carrig shouted over exerted grunts and the clunks of wooden swords banging together.

  Arik yanked me to my feet, with a smile playing on his sexy lips. “I thought you were going to school me.”

  “Shut up,” I said, pushing him aside playfully and staggering over to the others.

  “Grab your bathing suits,” Lei said, burying her fake sword into the equipment barrel. “We have an hour to soak our muscles before globe practice.”

  Sinead, Carrig’s wife from the fey nation, had a large pool installed in the backyard of the gym. A wooden deck surrounded it, and on one side were jets to massage our sore muscles.

  After I changed into my bikini and pulled on my cover-up, I met Arik at the path that led down the hill to the pool.

  “Where are the others?” I hugged two towels, the fall air chilly on my exposed skin.

  “I sent them ahead so I could show you something. Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  He took me along a path cutting between tangled trees, my flip-flops crunching over fallen leaves.

  “So,” I said. “My nana sent me tickets to a play in New York City. I asked Uncle Philip, and he said we could go.”

  He pushed some twigs out of my way. “I’m not one for stage performances.”

  “Really?” We didn’t know that much about each other. We hadn’t been together that long and when we were, we were either practicing or making out. “What do you like to do, then?”

  “Play games on Jaran’s iPad. Watch pro wrestling with Demos.” He ducked under a low-hanging branch, a smile pushing at the corners of his lips. “Romance you.”

  I wasn’t sure if the warmth in my cheeks was because of what he said or from our recent workout.

  “The play is an adaption of a novel,” I said. “To Kill a Mockingbird. Have you read it?”

  “I don’t read many books.”

  Wait. Did I hear that right?

  “But you’ve read The Secret Garden.” I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. I hadn’t realized he didn’t read much. Books were like oxygen to me. Without them, I couldn’t breathe.

  “When Oren died,” he said, “the book was among the few items he’d owned. He had read it excessively to me as a boy. To the point of madness, and that is why I had whole passages memorized.”

  Oren’s book? His parent faery. He’d been murdered by a hound. Arik was thirteen and had witnessed the attack. The ground dipped and I focused on my steps. My heart sank in my chest. Though I was disappointed that Arik didn’t want to attend the play in New York with me, I was even sadder to find the thing that had bonded us together when we first met wasn’t real.

  “Why the frown?” he asked.

  “I just thought you liked the book as much as I do.” It was strange how I’d never realized how different we were.

  “I see,” he said. “I do feel as though the libraries are my own secret garden, if that makes you feel any better. And I didn’t entirely dislike the story. You must know I was a young boy. I wanted to read about knights and dragons, not about a little girl and her friends.”

  He had a point.

  “Are we better?” He sounded worried.

  “Yes, of course,” I said.

  The path ended at a small cemetery. A broken picket fence surrounded the tiny clearing. Moss covered the chipped stone grave markers. I could barely read the names etched on them: Parker, Jacobs, Howe, and Procter—my eyes stopped on the name. Emily’s last name was Procter. I wondered if it was one of her relatives.

  “What is this place? A secret burial ground?” I crept around the headstones. “They’re old. This one is from 1662.”

  The moss-covered trees shaded the area covering the grave with an earthy coldness.

  Arik went the other way. “This one is legible.”

  I stopped in front of the one with the fading Procter name etched on it. “This place is sort of creepy.” It felt like chilly fingers ran up my spine.

  Arik stood behind me, slid his arm around my waist, and rested his open palm on my belly. My stomach fluttered under his hand. He moved my hair away from my shoulders with his free hand and kissed my neck. I shivered.

  “You’re cold,” he whispered, his lips moving against my skin. It was a statement, not a question, but his body was questioning. As if he was asking to continue. There was no way I would make out with him in the middle of a graveyard.

  “Let’s go.” I stepped away from him.

  “I thought you would like this place. Somewhat ancient, isn’t it? Sort of like that burial ground outside the library in Boston you enjoy.”

  I turned to face him. “Normally, I would love something like this, but this place feels wrong.” I glanced at the light shifting between the branches of the trees. Something glinted in the leaves at the foot of a tree. I picked it up and examined it.

  “It’s an arrowhead.” I passed it to Arik.

  “A modern one,” he said, turning it around in his hand. “There isn’t any rust.”

  I inspected the tree and touched the many cuts in the bark. “Someone’s been using this tree for target practice.”

  “A hunter or an archer must have practiced here recently,” he added.

  “Must be.” We were in a part of the woods open to the public. Anyone could come out here and do whatever they wanted.

  “Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “We should join the others.”

  I followed him down the hill to the pool and shrugged off my cover-up. The warm water lapped against my chin as I sank down onto a seat in the pool. Arik sat beside me and gave me a devilish grin. “Come here, you.”

  I slid closer. It felt good to be with him, lost in our own world, away from the others splashing around on the other side of the pool.

  Arik drew me onto his lap and kissed me, my disappointment about him not wanting to go to the play disappearing. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and our kisses got hungrier. He slipped his hands down my back, and goose bumps erupted across my skin even though the water was warm, nearly hot.

  Something exploded in the pool beside us and water smacked hard against my back. Demos popped up from the depths, grinning. He shook the water from his drenched blond hair. Out of all the Sentinels from Asile, Demos goofed off the most.
/>   “Did you see how high that splash went? Blinding show, wasn’t it?” He swam to the side of the pool and climbed out.

  I glanced at the group across the pool, and Lei smirked at me. I moved away from Arik, bending my knees and pushing my feet against his chest, and shot off like a missile in the water. Bobbing a few feet from him, I admired his wet skin glistening in the light. I wanted to soar back to him but knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself, and we had an audience.

  “Now who’s the tease?” He grinned and shot after me, catching my foot before I could swim away. He towed me back to him, wrapping his arms around me. “I want to stay here forever with you.” He placed his lips on mine and spun me around in the water, his tongue searching mine. When his hands started roaming, I pushed away again.

  I sank down into the water to keep warm, the scent of chlorine filling my nose, the wake from our movements slapping my cheeks. “You’re dangerous,” I said, with my lips just above the water.

  “I’m dangerous?” He waded toward me. “You are. I’m just an innocent male, helpless to your charms.”

  “Don’t come any closer,” I warned, but so wanted him to.

  He inched closer. “Come back here, and let me show you just what you do to me.”

  I squealed as he chased me. I pushed through the water to the other side of the pool, with him close behind, reaching the others first. Lei and Kale were huddled together in a high-bubbling area, and Jaran floated in front of them as the three talked.

  Demos cannonballed into the water again, drenching everyone. The Sentinels sitting on the edge of the pool soaking their feet, cussed at him in different languages and accents.

  “That was weak,” Pia, one of the twins from the Santara haven in Spain, teased.

  Her twin, Reya, nodded. “You weigh as much as a twig, Pia, and you could do better than him.”

  Demos laughed as he splashed to the steps. “I’d like to see you try.”

  I leaned back and floated, the water flooding my ears and muffling the others’ conversations. It was times like this when I thought about Afton, Nana, and Uncle Philip. What were they doing at this very moment?