by M. Leighton
“Stop what?”
“Plotting. I can see it in your eyes. You’re devising an evil plan to take my bell.”
“I most certainly was n—”
“Liar!” she cried theatrically. “You may take my life, but you’ll never take my bike bellllllll.” The Scottish accent was a dead giveaway.
“Have you been watching ‘Braveheart’ again?”
Jersey giggled, ringing the bell twice. Bling bling. “Oh, you’re good, James!”
“So,” I said, walking to the bed, dropping my bag onto the floor and setting the rose atop it before plopping down beside Jersey. “Why is it that I’m going to love you? Because I just don’t see it happening.”
“Ha. Ha. You say that now,” she said, flipping pages in the book and then holding it up to me when she found what she was looking for. “But what if I told you I found a way for you to find the Jackal?”
I gasped. “I really would love you,” I said, taking the book from her fingers.
I scanned the first page of what Jersey had found. It was the end of the one of the human explanations for the Jackal. I was familiar with it, as I was familiar with most human fairy tales. I always thought it amusing that they had no idea their stories arose from reality rather than someone’s imagination.
I was just about to tell Jersey I already knew the story when I got to the middle of the second page. It described a lesser known tale, a variation of the most common story of Jekyll and Hyde. In it, the good doctor developed a twitch. It was described as an incessant scratching of his neck, to the point there was an unsightly sore there. The author of this particular story explained it as a sort of allergic reaction the human body of Dr. Jekyll had to the presence of Hyde.
Resting the book in my lap, I looked at Jersey. She said nothing for several moments. Neither did I. When a slow smile began to curve her lips, I knew she’d already come to the conclusion I was making my way toward.
“So, since the humans had it sort of backward, that means if the Jackal has its own body, there is a chance that it will develop the same tick. Is that what you were thinking?”
Jersey nodded, smiling broadly. “I did good, right?”
“You did great!”
“Yes!” she said, pumping her fist in the air. “I cracked one! I knew I’d make a brilliant detective.”
“Oh, yes. You’re practically Sherlock Holmes,” I quipped sardonically.
“I know, right?”
I chuckled. “And it’s great that you’re not prone to exaggeration, ya know?”
“Give me a moment with my moment. I must bask,” she said regally, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
I rolled my eyes lovingly. “You’re a hot mess, Jersey.”
“Stress on the ‘hot,’” she purred playfully.
“And let’s not forget humble.”
“Yeah, yeah. That, too.”
We both giggled and then I got serious. “Okay, so now we have to find the person with this tick, with this sore and then…and then…”
“And then you’ll know who the spirits are in,” she supplied.
I chewed my lip. Jersey was missing a butt load of information, mainly because I hadn’t told her of my relationship with her brother. She didn’t know about my suspicions about the Mountain Dew, Jackson’s love, Dustin Hyden, none of that. But, she was on the right track with the Jackal. At least I was pretty sure she was. It was something anyway. It was a lead we could actively pursue. Maybe I wouldn’t have to tell her the rest. For a while anyway.
“Right,” I said brightly.
“You should really tell Jackson, you know. I mean, he is like Sentinel Supreme. The Lore Wrangling Wizard.”
She was right. I probably should tell Jackson. And in a way I wanted to. I just dreaded it. I knew if I caught him alone, I’d have to ask about the one thing that was more important to me than anything else. I supposed that’s what I dreaded most—his answer.
Just then, I heard the door in the next room close.
I sighed. There was no time like the present.
“Look at that. It’s almost like he could read your mind,” Jersey teased.
No, with no love for me, with a broken tie, there would be no mind reading. But I didn’t tell Jersey that. I just smiled.
Wiping my suddenly damp palms on my skirt, I got up and crossed to the adjoining door, knocking once before testing the knob. It turned easily. He’d warned me never to lock it, but so much had changed, I didn’t know if he might be locking it now.
I poked my head inside and looked around the dark interior. “Jackson?”
“What is it?” he snapped from near the main door.
Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, they found and settled on Jackson. He was standing at the door, but he wasn’t alone. Nadia Cobretti was with him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
My heart broke like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen and smashed with a hammer. It took me a few second to recover.
“Oh, um,” I stammered, aware of the sensation of blood draining away from my face. I was thankful for the darkness of the room and the presence of his aviator glasses, the combination no doubt making it difficult to see my ashen face. “I just had something I wanted to run by you. I can come back later.”
“No!” he barked, stopping me before I could back out the door. He spoke quietly to Nadia. “Give me just a minute, okay?” He opened the door for her and then closed it behind her, turning back to me. He leaned one shoulder against the jamb and crossed his arms over his chest. His entire body screamed impatience. “All right. What is it?”
I wanted to ask him what was wrong. I wanted to ask him if he remembered the time we’d shared. I wanted to ask him if he still loved me. But pride and a constricted airway stopped me.
Doing my best to swallow the lump in my throat and blink away unshed tears, I rushed to say what I needed to say so I could get the heck out of there.
“Jersey found an old human fairy tale that might help us to identify the Jackal. I, um, I just thought you’d want to know.”
Jackson’s jaw looked like rock it was clenched so tight. Did he despise my presence that much? Could we have gone from a timeless love to near-hate in a matter of minutes?
“Explain.”
My emotions were in such a twist, it was effortless to jump from agony to anger. “Look, there’s no reason for you to act like such an ass about it. I’m still your princess, you know.”
His lips thinned and I knew I’d touched a nerve. I hated to pull the royalty card, but he was being a tyrant, ordering me around like that. What happened to plain ol’ manners?
“Fine. Would you mind explaining what you discovered, Princess?” He practically spat the last, no less than I would’ve expected. It’s what he would’ve done before, before…everything that mattered had happened. It seemed Jackson and I were back to square one.
Hanging onto my anger, my speech was clipped as I gave him the highlights of what I’d learned and what I suspected. He remained silent the entire time, as, I assumed, he watched me from behind the cover of his dark glasses.
“I’ll let Commander Jessup know. We can alert the doctors and school nurses to what we’re looking for, as well as be vigilant ourselves. If we don’t get results quickly, you and I can go to the creek and try to summon images. I don’t know how long it might take for the tick to arise or for the sore to present itself. I’m sure there’s no point in going yet.”
Although he said it off-handedly, I was hard-pressed not to take offense. It seemed he was more than willing to put off spending alone time with me. Or any time with me, it appeared.
“If that’s all, I need to go,” he declared, glancing pointedly at his watch.
“Hot date?” I asked, unable to keep a little snap from my words.
“Something like that,” he replied abruptly.
I knew our time was drawing to an end, but something in me wouldn’t let me leave until I at least tried to address the other burning
issue.
“Uh, Jackson,” I began, worrying my lip with my teeth. “I, um, I have something else I’d, uh…” I trailed off, disconcerted.
“Well?” he prompted gruffly.
In that one word, he shut me down.
“It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”
Without another word, I backed out through the adjoining door and closed it sharply behind me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I slumped against the cool wooden panel, the chill of the hard surface seeping into my very marrow it seemed. I felt cold and lifeless through and through.
“What did that jackass brother of mine do this time?” Jersey asked. When I opened my eyes, she was standing in front of the bed where I’d left her, hands fisted on her hips, all hell in her eyes. If and when the rest of the world deserted me, I’d always have Jersey.
But I still couldn’t tell her everything, especially now. So instead, I pulled myself together and put on a show.
“Oh you know,” I sighed and rolled my eyes as I pushed myself away from the door. “Just…Jackson.”
“Whatever he said, he didn’t mean it. Sometimes I think he’s just emotionally retarded.”
I smiled, but made no response. My chest tightened at the memories of just how extensive his emotional acumen he could be. How decent and kind and caring and thoughtful and considerate and protective.
When he cared, that is.
When he was in love.
Shaking my head, I growled and then grinned over at Jersey. “Freakin’ men!”
“I know!” she said, her expression indignant. “We oughtta…oughtta…”
I watched her, patiently waiting for it to come to her.
She exhaled and waved me off. “Meh, I got nothing. Let’s get out of here.”
“Where to?” I said, all for getting as far away from Jackson and his red-headed devil as possible.
“Kellina’s. Didn’t you say you kept seeing her face?”
“Yep.”
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?”
I didn’t move. I simply stood studying my friend. “You know, you’re a pretty smart chick.”
“You’re obviously not if you’re just now figuring that out,” she jibed with a teasing wink.
“Obviously not,” I agreed drolly, walking past her, through the door she held open. She poked me in the ribs as I passed, her way of letting me know she was joking. I already knew.
As we walked down the hall, I turned my attention and my head toward Jersey, purposely avoiding looking at Jackson’s door. Or any of my surroundings for that matter. “Everywhere we go, we need to keep our eyes peeled for people with scratch marks or sores on their necks,” I reminded.
“Got it.”
Like silent shadows, my two Sentinels fell in behind us as we passed. I knew there was nothing I could say or do to lose them.
Or was there?
I stopped suddenly, putting my hand on Jersey’s arm.
“What is it?”
“I just realized something. We need to go back and look at that book,” I said turning and walking urgently back toward our room. I hurriedly unlocked the door and strode inside, Jersey right on my heels.
“What is it?” she asked again.
Lowering my voice to a whisper, I explained, “I forgot about the goons. I don’t feel like having babysitters today. I think we can crawl out the window and run around the side. We’ll be long gone before they realize we’ve left.”
Jersey paused, her brow furrowing. “Do you think that’s such a good idea? I mean, there are Lore out there and, um, Madly they’re pretty dangerous.”
I was taken aback. Jersey was never the rational, responsible one. “All right. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”
She tilted her head to one side, her frown deepening. “I’m serious. Maybe you should keep them around. Just for a while. Until all this blows over.”
Reaching out, I squeezed her shoulder. “Jersey, I appreciate the concern, but I’ve got more power than they do. The only person who could really help me if I needed it would be Jackson anyway, and he’s…well, he’s not coming. So, sis-tah,” I said sassily, “it’s just you and me. You in?”
I was surprised when she paused a second time. She really was taking this seriously. “Fine, but if we get killed, I swear I’ll torture you for eternity.”
“We’re not gonna get killed, Drama Queen. We’re just going to Kellina’s. We’ll be fine.”
She looked skeptical, but she agreed anyway. “O-kay, but if I break a leg, you’re bringing me ice cream every single day.”
“Deal.” I walked to the window on the wall opposite the door. I pulled a chair over to it and climbed onto it to silently slide up the glass. I looked down at Jersey. “Oh and Jersey?”
“Yep?”
“Don’t fall.” I grinned cheekily and hoisted myself up to sit on the sill before squeezing first one leg and then the other through the window.
It’s not that far, I thought as I looked down. I’d done the reverse of this twice with Jackson. But for some reason, it looked a lot different from this perspective and without Jackson’s strong hands keeping me safe.
Rebelliously, I pushed thoughts of him from my mind and slid off the sill, bending my knees as I hit the ground to soften my landing. I stood proudly and dusted off my hands.
I looked back up to find Jersey peeking through the window, staring down at me. Her eyebrows were raised in appreciation. I could tell she was impressed. The old Madly—the Madly who wasn’t so overwhelmed with the weight of her responsibility—was back! Even if it was just for a while, I wanted to throw caution to the wind. And hope the wind didn’t hurl it back in my face.
Jersey, the daredevil, showed back up and she quickly climbed out and jumped to the ground. Her smile said she was on-board. She was back, too.
With matching grins, we darted around the side of the building and made for the street on the other side. When we were sufficiently out of the danger of being caught, Jersey let out a whoop.
“Did I really just try to talk you out of this?” she asked rhetorically. “What was I thinking?”
I chuckled and we hurried off toward the woods. Once we were safely hidden in the sun-dappled forest, we slowed our pace, steadily making our way to Kellina’s.
Aidan was waiting for us when we arrived. He’d certainly taken to his role as Kellina’s protector with zeal. All he needed was a giant staff and a white robe to match his you-shall-not-pass glower.
Rather than inviting us in, Aidan stepped out onto the porch. He didn’t close the door, however, but rather held it open. Kellina appeared at the threshold, making her way slowly onto the porch.
“You didn’t have to come out. We were coming up to you,” I said, reaching forward to take the only thing Aidan hadn’t commandeered—her other arm. He was practically wrapped around her.
“It’s okay. I wanted to come out. And I need to work on getting my strength back.”
“Just don’t push it and set yourself back,” I advised as she lowered herself into a wicker chair. “You need to take it easy until your body heals.”
“She already has one grandmother, Madly. What are you, a hundred and twelve?” Jersey picked.
She had a point. I had no idea where my maternal commentary had come from.
“I think I know why you’re here anyway,” Kellina said, her breathing labored even after such minimal exertion. In all the continued Atlas-related drama, it was too easy to forget that my friend had very nearly died. At my hand.
Aidan held up his hands. “I didn’t tell her.”
“No, he didn’t. I’ve been having these really strange dreams. I didn’t think much of them until last night.”
Trepidation prickled in the hair at my nape. “What happened last night?”
“I had a dream about you and some…creature picking rotten apples in an orchard.”
At that, the hairs did more than just prickle. They felt as though they
stood on end and screamed bloody murder. “Tell me about it.” I was pleasantly surprised by the calm in my voice. I certainly didn’t feel calm.
“Well, there wasn’t really much to it. You were walking behind him and he was picking, like, rotten apples and putting them into a basket.”
I waited for her to continue, to get to the more significant part, the part that would help me in some way. Only she didn’t.
“What made that dream different?”
“I’m not sure how to explain it. I knew it was you, but it didn’t really look like you.”
“What did I look like?”
“You had bright red hair and your eyes were glowing. Like literally glowing. They looked like aqua fire. And all around you was…destruction. The earth was caving in where you walked. The trees were being uprooted by the wind. Water was spraying up everywhere like big geysers. And then I saw Dustin.”
My heart stopped. “Dustin?”
“Yeah. Dustin Hyden. You know, that guy I told you about that sort of had a crush on me?” Kellina glanced quickly at Aidan from the corner of her eye, obviously minimizing things so as not to upset him.
“Yes, I remember.” I hoped no one noticed the breathless quality of my voice. “What about him?”
“You were watching him. And he was on fire. But it was like you…you…”
“Like I what?”
Kellina cringed. “It was like you set him on fire.”
I felt my jaw slacken and my mouth drop open just a little bit. What was I supposed to make of that?
“So…I mean…do you think it’s significant or something?”
Obviously she did, but I needed something…more.
“I know it is, Madly,” she said, her expression weeping with regret. “Let me see if I can explain this.” Kellina looked over my shoulder, out into the woods, as if trying to collect her thoughts. “Okay, I’ll do the best that I can. Here goes.” She cleared her throat. And rocked my world.
“When I was possessed by the spirit of Wolfhardt, it sort of opened me up to the world of the Lore. Like, I can sense things, see things, feel things, know things, things I shouldn’t sense or see or feel or know. Things only Wolfhardt could sense and see and feel and know. He was part of a plan, Madly. He—”