“And you claim not to be grey.” Ayla sniffed, walking to join Meredith.
“This isn’t going to end well,” Luxor said.
“Intuition?”
“Logic.” She peered over. “It’s not such a bad idea though.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Not about confessing to the authorities, but a trial and error with Meredith.”
“Your fatigue has scrambled your brain. She will medicate you so fast, you won’t know the difference between your brain and your butt.”
Luxor sighed. “We better save Ayla before Meredith smothers her to death.”
“Is there anything else we need to know?” Sheriff Darebin said.
Meredith shook her head. She led him through the lounge-room to the kitchen and switched on the light. She blinked repeatedly. “Nothing, nothing is out of place. Or taken. The kitchen windows were smashed. “What the hell is happening?” she said, and wiped her hands over the glass of above the sink. “This glass was shattered, it was all over the sink and the floor. Here look, my finger, I cut it.” She thrust her finger in the Sheriff’s face and waggled it.
The Sheriff held up a hand to prevent anybody from proceeding forth. He took slow and measured steps. “And you say this window was smashed?”
“Yes, but—” She shook her head, and took a step forward but was halted. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe the cleaning fairies helped,” Sheriff Darebin said.
Luxor snorted, and quickly covered her mouth.
“You saw it Luxor, didn’t you?”
Luxor shrugged. “It was pretty dark.”
Sheriff Darebin tilted his head to the side to indicate for Deputy Bosch to join him, and they moved into the lounge-room and far from everyone's earshot. Almost. Just as Luxor’s hearing had enhanced earlier on, she blocked out any background noises, honing in and concentrated on their voices.
“What do you make of this?” Sheriff Darebin asked.
“Hoax, for sure,” Deputy Bosch said. “There’s nothing wrong with the window outside.”
“Stupid girls, like we don’t have better things to do.”
“And the aunt? She seems convinced.”
“Crazy small-town loon. They are rife here, mark my words,” Sheriff Darebin grunted. “I should take them down to the station and give them a heavy penalty. My parma will be cold and my beer will be warm by now.”
“My first arrest,” Deputy Bosch said, rocking back of the balls of his heel.
“Settle down son.”
Once the conversation had ceased, Luxor moved away to the far end of the kitchen, and settled Meredith, switching the kettle on. She wished she had a sedative to calm Meredith’s nerves, it seemed to be their go-to solution in their family.
“Ten bucks we’ll be arrested,” Pandora said from the side of her mouth.
Sheriff Darebin returned, his posture rigid with his hands behind his back. “I don’t know what the objective is, but I don’t appreciate behind called out on false pretences.” His eyes darted around the room. “This time I am letting you off with a warning.”
“But—” Meredith started. Luxor pinched her shoulder.
“Thank you. Let me see you out,” she said. Pandora joined them, and she lead Meredith away, while she walked the officers to the door. “Sorry about that. My aunt has suffered a breakdown with the recent death of my uncle. She has her good and bad days, unfortunately this is the latter." The lie rolled off her tongue with an alarming ease.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, bowing his head. “Do you have assistance?”
“Yes, a home nurse comes every few days.”
“If she becomes unmanageable or hostile, please don’t hesitate to call. In this small town, we look after our own,” he passed her a business card.
Luxor took the card and resisted the urge to tell him what she thought about his help after eavesdropping on his conversation. “Thank you. Sorry again.” She closed the door and locked it, and rested her head against the wood. Taking a few measured breathes she joined the others.
“You owe me ten bucks,” Luxor whispered to Pandora.
“We didn’t shake on it.”
“I’m afraid to stay here now,” Meredith’s voice quivered.
“It’s not like there’s an abundance of hotels about,” she said. “It’s been a long day, could it be you—”
“Don’t you dare say imagined it, I have a sane mind, and I saw what I saw.”
“If you say so,” she said and yawned. She hitched her backpack onto her shoulder and cocked her head to her side.
Pandora followed suit while Ayla stayed back to console Meredith. Luxor felt as if it was her obligation after all family should be there for each other, but she couldn’t. The omission of her name on her mother’s name stung and she reverted to being bitter, something she tried hard not to be. She aimed to be positive, to not allow her father's negatively to turn into something uncontrollable.
“You realise this is Ayla’s fault,” Pandora said once they reached the top of the stairs.
“How so?”
“Her sloppy work, she shouldn’t have let things be,” Pandora said. “How are we going to explain this? Meredith won’t let up.”
“We will figure something out, she has no proof.”
Luxor nudged her bedroom door with her toe and was relieved to find her room untouched. The lilac doona covered neatly adorned the four-poster bed, with the matching four large cushions, and three cushions all plump and ready to rest her weary head.
But that wouldn’t be happening tonight.
“Looks like Ayla missed a spot, now we’re in deep shit.” Pandora tsked, and headed to the edge of the destroyed balcony. “We need to pry her away from Meredith and get her to fix this mess.”
Luxor nodded, not thinking about why Ayla would leave her room in the same state.
A shriek came from the doorway. Meredith pointed straight ahead. “Balcony, no balcony.” Her eyes bulged, and she stepped forward.
Luxor blocked Meredith's path, hindering her vision. She raised an eyebrow at Ayla in a non-verbal way of saying, “what are you waiting for?”
“What are you talking about? Are you sure you’re okay?” She placed the back of her hand against Meredith's forehead.
Meredith swatted the hand away. “I’m not crazy Luxor.”
No, but I apparently was.
Ayla waved her hands around and pushed out a blanket of baby pink light.
Luxor waited until the baby pink flecks dissipated, and stepped aside. “Balcony looks intact to me.”
“What?!” Meredith spluttered. “Th-hat wasn’t like that.” She gripped her hair and made her way over to stand on the balcony. Kneeling down she knocked on the solid ground. “What is happening?”
The angst on Meredith's features tugged on Luxor’s heart. She knew exactly how it felt for things not to make sense, and to be treated as if she was insane when the truth was within reach.
“Let’s go to bed.” She lifted her up by the shoulders, and ushered her out of the room.
“You believe me, don’t you? I’m not like Astrid, she sometimes talked such nonsense. But for me, I’m normal. Everything has a logical explanation,” Meredith blabbered on.
Luxor kept silent and allowed her to vent, but Meredith kept shifting, making it impossible for her to help. It took close to thirty minutes to settle Meredith. She had to help her with all of her clothing, both getting out of them and into her pyjamas and into bed. All the while Luxor continued to convince her again that when a person is tired the eyes can play tricks on them. Whether Meredith had believed it or not Luxor wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t do anything about it now.
“Goodnight.” Luxor kissed her forehead, and tucked the doona under her chin before leaving to her own bedroom. “That’s a dose of drama I could have done without.”
“Isn’t it usually the Hunter and Ayla show which keeps you entertained?” Pandora said,
crisscrossing her legs in the chair, tapping her fingers against her knees.
“Unfortunately.” She crouched down on the floor to the side of her bed, and struggled to plug her phone in. The blisters continued to ache every time she moved her fingers.
“If you like verbal boxing matches, each tongue lashing is worse than the last,” Ayla sighed and settled into a seat.
“God, I miss Evie.” She stared at the phone and willed it to switch on. “You’ll love her,” she said to Pandora.
“That’s because they’re alike. Without filter or constraint,” Ayla deadpanned.
Luxor side-eyed Ayla and wished she could materialise a zipper for her mouth, her snarky remarks were becoming increasingly tedious.
A glint caught her attention from the balcony, and she crouched down, entranced by the glimmer. Etched on the ground was a golden sigil of a chalice held on by a small v.
Luxor outlined the rim of the cup with her finger, and hissed. “Holy hell.” She pinched and blew on the tip of her finger.
“Oh, my Heavens,” Ayla said, holding a palm to her chest. “This can’t be.”
Pandora pounced off the bed and stepped in front. “What?”
“The sigil of Lucifer,” Ayla said low.
“He marked my balcony?” Luxor balked. “Didn’t you guard The Chalet?”
“He is above the rules of any celestial barriers, and they don’t apply to him.” Ayla rubbed the back of her neck, her lips set in a grim line.
“You’re keeping something from me.”
“It’s not important.”
“Bullshit. Spill.” Luxor stepped forward until she had her against the barrier.
Ayla eyed the ground, and let out an exhausted sigh. “The sigil is a gateway. Whenever the mark appears, he will be able to enter.”
“What?” she screeched. “So, he can grab me in my sleep?”
Ayla dodged away from the edge and into the confines of the bedroom. “You’re safe. When Hunter refused to swap you over by not giving Cane your blood, so you continued to be protected.”
“But how about everybody else?”
“You’re all that matters.”
Luxor swallowed hard, and shook her head. She didn’t feel any relief, if anything guilt would plague her as anybody would be fair game for Cane in his quest to get her. She knew some way or another Cane would be around but she imagined she would be prepared, and not have him drop on by at his leisure.
“Wouldn’t it have been destroyed when the balcony was?”
Ayla shook her head solemnly. “It’s imprinted. Permanently.”
Luxor’s muscles tightened like bow strings on the verge of snapping, and she stared out into the horizon to focus on anything but the recent threat. A violet mist hung high in the sky and threatened to swallow the impending dusk. The clouds puffed out and expanded as if fighting the assault of the whimsical air. Although alluring a chill skittered down her spine as the mist floated forth at a rapid speed bringing with it the smell of sulphur.
Her fingers trembled as she fumbled for the handles and slammed the doors behind her, and drew the curtains.
“Are you okay?” Pandora asked.
“Yep, yep. Just cold,” she said, not able to tear her eyes away from the door.
The smell. Cane is close by. I know it. How will I protect us all?
The phone beeped twice, breaking the inner turmoil of her thoughts, and she jumped. The light on the screen flashed on and string of beeps rolled in one after each other, on and on and on. When it stopped, she choked on the number of missed calls and text messages.
“Over a hundred missed calls and shit, the text messages don’t stop.”
They were from Principal Wright, Dr. Valencia Lawson, and Evie. And one from Hunter sent the day after the incident with Cane: Stay safe.
Stay safe? Is that all he had to say, I’ve been gone for two weeks.
“I’m in deep crap.” Luxor continued to scroll. Evie’s messages started off as deep concern, to anger then full-blown freak out mode.
It was near midnight and she predicted Evie would still be awake watching a horror movie, but she didn’t want to take the chance and get her into trouble.
“Maybe you should call Theo and Castor,” Pandora suggested.
“By now those two authorities would be writing up some report, and reports are permanent. And the Deputy would be too interested in gobbling his snitz and chugging beer.” She envisioned him in front of the television with his now cold meal cursing the females who dared disturb him.
“Okay, I’m off on patrol, I’ll be amping up security,” Pandora said. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m okay,” she replied, giving her a small smile, briefly averting her eyes from the phone. “But it’s not necessary.” She hated that Pandora continued to be vigilant about her safety. Even though Pandora had explained in detail all the times she had helped, although now everybody had been revealed she felt a tad safer.
“I’ll stay with her.”
“Whatever,” Pandora huffed, as she stomped off.
Luxor lay on the edge of her bed and removed her sneaker. “You need to tone down your hostility, tap into your celestial goodness, and be nice. I don’t need your shit on top of everything else.” She gritted her teeth, and forcibly yanked the laces of the other one.
“As you wish.” She nodded once and tilted her head. “What’s wrong with your hand?” Before Luxor could conjure up an answer Ayla flipped it over. “What in the Heavens?” she gasped. “How did you get this?”
There was no use lying. “By touching my mother’s plaque.”
“I told you two minutes.”
“You don’t understand, it wasn’t like that. My hand was stuck, and then I was overcome with the sensations of rain and the sound of screaming. God so much pain.” She recalled the moment with a hazy clarity.
“What else?” Ayla sandwiched her hands over Luxor’s.
Her palm tickled, followed by a mild pulsation. “Nothing. I crawled off the grass.”
“Just like that?” Ayla removed her hands, and placed them in her lap.
“Just like that.”
Luxor ran her fingers over the smooth surface of her palm, the soreness and blisters now eradicated. She gave Ayla a small smile, knowing she would refuse a thanks. She pulled her pyjamas out of her chest of drawers and withheld the information about the man at the cemetery. She knew Ayla would continue on with the interrogation and she was too exhausted to go into great detail. Tomorrow she would catch up with Evie, and talk of the otherworldly, and lurkers in the cemetery would be a topic which couldn’t be brought up.
“You need to tell me when these occurrences happen in case of it being an underlying issue.”
“I was like four hundred kilometres away, I doubt they’d follow to taint my mother's plaque.”
“Don’t be naive. They love to taint the small things to get the upper hand. For all we know the Habiti could be constantly around, just out of sight. Look at Cane’s dominance now.” Ayla said as she moved to leave. “Stay alert, and don’t be complacent.”
Hunter's lone message came back to mind. “Stay safe.”
As if I need a reminder.
All snuggled up in bed, Luxor wanted to blow up the balcony but what would have been the use, it would only materialise again and became whole again. She clutched her chest as an ache pinched her. She cuddled Elphie to her chest and inhaled. Hunter’s scent lingered on the fur of the stuffed elephant toy; the deep forest, especially after a downpour. He’d said Elphie reminded him of Luxor; complex, gentle, intelligent, and sympathetic. She should have laughed in his face because apart from being complex, she lacked in all the other departments.
Her eyes became glassy, and she sniffed back any on-coming tears, determined to remain strong and not allow a guy, especially one who had no regard for her, be worthy of her tears.
“Where are you?” she whispered. “Just let me know you’re alive.”
“Bitch, where the hell are you?”
Luxor held her mobile from her ear as Evie screamed through the mobile. She put it on speaker and cleared the kitchen counter from the breakfast dishes.
Ayla wiped the bench and tsked, shaking her head, her obvious disapproval of Evie’s language clear.
“I can explain everything. Coffee?” she asked.
“Explain now,” Evie said in an irritated tone.
“I’ll buy you doughnuts.”
“No, this goes beyond food.”
“Please,” Luxor begged, nervously tapping away on the counter. Silence hung on the other side of the phone, and she waited with bated breath, preparing to go down on her hands and knees to prevent her ire.
“Fine. The Hive. Fifteen minutes,” Evie said and hung up.
“Well, she sounds pleasant.” Pandora hopped off the stool, and fixed the belt on her jeans. She had such a tiny waist she was forced to wear donated kids clothing.
“She’s upset, with good reason,” She said, unlatching the keys from the hook, and twirled them around her finger. “Let’s meet your spirit animal.”
On the way to The Hive, Luxor went over the story they would be telling Evie, but she only had enough time to cover the basics. She arrived flanked by Pandora and Ayla, and headed straight to their usual booth, which was empty, and nestled in comfortably. She had forgotten how much she missed the place.
“Darling, where have you been?” Inez said, her eyes twinkling.
“Back home to visit a relative.”
“I’m glad you're back safe. The usual?”
“Yes, and a chocolate deluxe thick shake, and a triple bacon cheeseburger for Evie.” It would take more than her favourite foods to get back into her good graces, but it was a start.
“Anything else?” Inez asked, eyeing Pandora who turned up her nose as she perused the menu. “Or I give you minute?”
“That’ll be great, thank you.”
Inez gave a short nod and walked away, while Ayla followed.
“Does this joint have tacos?” Pandora asked, flicking the menu to the side.
Betrayed: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Book Two Page 3