by Debbie Behan
Chapter Twenty-One
Icy Home World
Caitlin panicked and shivered with the sudden change of temperature that felt well below sub-zero. The arms that held her were unusually warm against her skin that had felt ready to snap freeze. Fortunately, though, Shargan used magic and instantly changed her outfit to suit the environment. A white fur coat fitted snugly around her, and a hood warmed her head. Boots of bearskin with white fur spilt out from the tops of them replacing her previous pair and, suddenly toasty-warm, she stopped shaking, her teeth stopped chattering, and she calmed her fast-paced heart as she waited for whoever it was that had her, to speak.
They were motionless on her horse, and she speculated why he stayed there and allowed the magic of her horse to clothe her more sensibly. Did that mean he would keep her alive and for what, to be tortured? Already she knew this person had removed her powers, for try as she did, her mind couldn’t conjure up weaponry or resistance to his harmful control that squashed each thought she had.
She sighed and gave up. He had won this round but while still alive, she would keep the spirit of the Cosmic Riders within. This fight is far from over. Just the thought of her team gave her strength and the will to stay alive. It replaced the sheer panic of the potentially dangerous situation.
She was lifted off her horse, thankful the person that held her in a tight grip didn’t remove the bridle, as it was Shargan that kept her warm.
This place is worse than a day in the snow. There was hardly any light and even coated up, it was bitterly cold. She saw the outline of a person take the lead, and her horse stayed as quiet as she did while taken elsewhere. Her hope was that Shargan had ended up in a stable, or somewhere out of this weather. As for her, a cold, musty smell and a cell replaced the chilly winds and the slightly visible outline of an eccentric old castle she had squinted to see.
Placed on a bed, Caitlin kept still, glad it wasn’t a stretcher in the corner or worse, a hay bed. She preferred not to struggle as her eyes adjusted and she saw who had her. Axon had told her who Jett was after they left the island and it left her shaken to look upon the god Hades. The feel of the bed sagged as the mattress took his weight, and the deep breaths alerted Caitlin to the stress he was under. She didn’t know why but the urge to hug him overpowered her and she flung her arms around his neck.
‘Jett,’ she whispered desperately in an attempt to appeal to the compassionate man she had met and she let out a heartfelt sob before she let him go.
No reaction came from him; not even a change of breath indicated he was her friend anymore. Without a word, he glared at her with cold dark eyes before he strode out and slammed the cell door. She could feel his troubled emotional state and kept quiet. He was too close to losing it, and she didn’t want to wear his rage. He’d had no idea the two holidaymakers he had befriended would be his archenemies. She preferred him to go away and think. So far, he hadn’t hurt her. This can still be resolved amicably.
* * * *
Caitlin lay for what felt like hours before big steps on cement floor interrupted the silence. Then there came the turn of a key in the lock and the squeak of hinges, and slowly the heavy door groaned open. The one thing she knew Jett had lost in her was trust. If he hadn’t come to hurt her, then she hoped her silent stillness would impress on him the loyalty she was capable of, that it might ease his hatred of her abilities and position within the Cosmic Riders.
The aroma of fresh roasted beans filled her senses as china clattered on the wooden sideboard. The darkness of the room prevented her from seeing clearly, and she jumped slightly as he touched her hair. His fingers rubbed a lock before he turned and left the room. She could feel his torment as to what to do with her and knew in her heart that he’d brought her there to kill her. Something stopped him and she had no idea what and suddenly wanted to know why. With a thrust, she lifted herself up.
‘Jett?’ The whisper fell on deaf ears, for he was gone. Thirst had the better of her, and eagerly she gulped the sweetened coffee down. Seconds later, she cursed silently when she felt suddenly tired, and realised she’d been drugged. Her heart thumped with fear of why he wanted her asleep. With a sway of her head, she fell backwards, with no choice but to yield to the nothingness.
Dazed, she woke, stretched and knocked a tin bowl from the ledge beside her. Dizzily she moved off the bed and onto the floor, where she felt for the spilled contents. The room was too dim to see clearly, so Caitlin had to rely on other senses. Feeling it was bread, she sniffed the air, surprised to smell the aroma of bacon and egg. Starving hungry, she stuffed an entire half or the roll into her mouth as she retrieved the scattered remains. She was unsure how long it had been since she ate, but by the sound of her rumbling stomach as she gulped it down, it had been some time ago.
‘Not again,’ she said, as she fell flat on her back just as the last bite went down.
In and out of consciousness, she wondered how she got back onto the bed. At times when she woke she made out a shape that sat on a chair outside her cell door, his head leant back against the stone wall. At other waking moments, he was gone, but had left food and drink.
A noise startled her, and she sat up, squinted and scanned the room. Nothing. She found herself alone but no longer in a cell. A door ajar had her on her feet. She was busting and had to go and find a bathroom. How long have I been here? Her head spun from the drugs, and her groggy state had her grab at furniture each step of the way glad to finally use a real toilet.
I’m still alive. She contemplated that as she splashed water on her face to ease her throbbing head. Clearing her mind of the haze of drugs, she was overwhelmed with relief that her aromatic calming power still worked; a power that was apparently saving her life. She wondered how this gift was not connected to her mainstream magic that Hades had stripped from her already. How it had continued to work was a mystery to her but she was very thankful at this point it couldn’t be taken from her.
With an aching head Caitlin staggered back toward the bed.
Jett made it just in time before she hit the floor as dizziness overwhelmed her. The unexpected feel of another person shook her senses and revived her. She viewed him with eyes wide and frightened.
‘I… um needed to go to the bathroom.’ She felt suddenly overwhelmed. He was so strong; his powerful vibration was equal to none she had ever known. She was no match for this giant of a man.
He frowned as if he heard her thoughts. At the same time, he turned her to face him, and his hand moved to her forehead.
Caitlin gently pulled his hand down. ‘It’s just a headache. Guess it’s from all the drugs you keep giving me. I’ll be okay, but I’m telling you, it’s not necessary. If you don’t want me to leave this room, I won’t. Just put me where you want me to be, and I’ll stay and not annoy you, I promise.’
A palm touched her back, and the gentle nudge moved her back to bed where she lay down quietly.
‘Okay, so it’s here then.’
He didn’t answer. His hand went to her temple this time. The warmth of magic instantly removed the pain in her head, and then he pulled quickly away.
‘Thanks Jett,’ she whispered while watching him leave.
There in the endless semi-dark her idle mind questioned if there were day and night here. Would her eyes ever capture another sunset or sunrise?
The next time Caitlin moved was to have a shower. The warm coat disappeared when it was removed, and her teeth chattered as she rubbed the towel briskly over goose bump skin. The coldness of the room had her shiver uncontrollably while making her way back to bed. She was glad someone had heard her having a shower and had put heat packs in the bed. It radiated heat as the covers were pulled up tight against her neck. The welcome feeling of warmth calmed her immediate fear of freezing to death, but she knew what he had just done; removed the bridle from her horse. Her last link and hope of her friends finding her was gone.
The bed was warm and, grateful for small things at this point, she snuggled up, clean and comfortable for the first time in days. Caitlin even managed to smile when Jett brought in a mug of hot chocolate. She was thankful that for some reason he had let her live. Thirst quenched, she closed her eyes and drifted in and out of sleep.
Every time she woke, Jett would still be there, in the corner of the room where he contemplated her future.
The creaking of his chair as he leant back in it woke her. The fright of being alone like this forever overpowered her need to be close to someone, even him. As a woman possessed with fear and yet determined to end this crazy situation, Caitlin threw the bedcovers aside and scampered over to him. They had been friends once, and she needed to find out one way or the other if they could be again, or if this would be her demise. The latter she gave little thought to as she sat on his lap and hugged him. ‘I can’t stand you not talking to me. Growl, get cross, but no more silence, please,’ she begged.
He didn’t move for a minute, and her mind raced with embarrassment that he didn’t feel the same. The slight movement had her sigh with relief when his arms wrapped around her and hugged her against him. They still had a strange connection, and Caitlin knew he couldn’t hurt her as she couldn’t bear to hurt him.
The warmth he exuded amazed her. He wore very little and yet his body didn’t seem to be affected by the cold. A thought crossed her mind of how cool his skin felt when they danced together on the island and she realised his powers enabled him to adjust to the weather changes. The music they danced to and the fun they had replayed in her mind. How sweet he was and the mood he emitted then was far from that of the man she had seen of late. To herself, Caitlin hummed the tune and kept the image of Jett firmly in her mind. As she did it, she felt him move slightly with her in a rocking motion to the sound. He hears me. She lifted her face to his.
‘You remember too.’
He too had kept the memory of their lovely time together.
He stood up, lifted her with him and put her back in bed. His footsteps left her unsure of his mood as the door closed and locked behind him. She fell asleep with a sense of relief. To have found the courage to see if the bond they had was still there, and for him to show her it was, made her happy.
The juice beside the bed made her aware it was morning. The slight adjustment of light now enabled her to tell day from night. Caitlin figured she must have slept deeply not to hear the unusually big lock that clunked on his return.
A yawn and a stretch put her in an upright position. She eagerly gulped down the freshly squeezed orange juice he left. A daydream of the warm beach at Dolphin Island on Delphinus kept her entertained rather than dwelling on the cold and eerie quietness of where she sat. The vision of how much fun she had with Jett and his family made her smile. She wiggled her toes and imagined the water and sand beneath her feet. How she wished they could go back there and start again! They could introduce themselves as they should have and put all this madness aside. She’d thought they were going to be friends forever. Was last night a dream or did he show me we were still friends?
Still deep in thought, she was startled when Jett shimmered into view beside her bed.
‘Dreams of sun and surf will do no good here. Ice and cold are all that is offered on Pluto.’
He can read minds! All stress of how miserable the last few days were, slipped from her thoughts. He had finally spoken.
She could feel his eyes take her in and hoped it was in a better way that he now viewed her. He poked her skin and lifted her hand as if he looked for something, but she knew why he did it. Her skin was soft as a child’s, and it confused him.
‘I never had daylight touch me in my youth, and it wasn’t until I transformed, you know, into immortality, that Rory found me. It was then I saw the sunshine for the first time. Only after being introduced to adults did I see how different I was to others.’
He frowned, and shook her hand gently for her to tell him more.
If they were to become better acquainted, she had to talk, be truthful, and in return hoped he would open up too. Caitlin knew he could read her thoughts.
‘I am still suffering from the drugs you gave me. Sit and allow me to create that moment in time, and you can see it for yourself as you read my mind.’
He stiffened, let her hand go and the air around him thickened.
‘Yes Jett, I may be female and without powers, but I’m not stupid. Please, pull your chair over so I can begin.’
He turned to the chair, and with his eyes aglow, their magic within dragged the seat across the room to him.
‘Impressive.’ She smiled.
He was all powerful and grumpy but sat as she asked.
‘Before I spill all, I also have a question, one for my future security. Can the rest of your family read minds as well?’
His indignant expression almost made her smile again. ‘They wish! And a god should not be made to wait.’
Not using her own will, his powers rolled her to face him, and her eyes shut tight. If she hadn’t lived in a world of magic, this would have frightened her.
‘Tut tut! Patience, Hades,’ Caitlin said before she allowed the secrets of her past that he craved to flood her mind. Her memories took her first to the darkness in her earlier years that she spent locked in an underground basement. Then to her late teens when Rory heard the cries of a teenaged girl, broke in and found her, uneducated, dirty and with nothing but a worn doll and a torn and dirty, baby blanket tucked under her arm. This blanket she had believed was magical and that it had protected her from night-time evil.
Jett’s eyes widened with pity as her recollections showed him how a frightened Caitlin covered her eyes and came out into daylight for the first time with Rory, petrified and clinging to a man she didn’t even know. Although trusting this person, her steps were shaky as cars whizzed by, people shouted, and horns blew. All were loud strange noises she’d never heard before. At his house the television had her cringe behind him, shaking uncontrollably.
Nervousness had her pull out of the trance she was in. She woke to the kinder features of Jett who leant on an elbow, his face close to hers, staring at her intently with a look of shock on his face as he read her thoughts.
‘Anyway.’ She spoke and squirmed, uncomfortable to have revealed so much and yet feeling it important. ‘To cut a long story short, I guess my skin is my only reminder of a lesson I’m yet to understand, and as for how soft it feels, well maybe I’m normal, and everyone else is weird with their thick skins and olive complexions.’
For the first time, Caitlin saw his mouth at the corners nearly give way to a smile, and his eyes were bright with compassion as they had been the first time they met. He was still in there somewhere, and even though he got up quickly, cutting off any further communication, she remained hopeful he was still her friend.
He opened the heavy curtains and flung open the window. The cold snap had Caitlin pull the covers tight around her neck. He looked out with a confused stare; his thick dark curls blowing across his forehead, his black eyes dark and worried. He fretted for something and although unsure of him, Caitlin wished she could relieve whatever ailed him.
After a while, he closed the window and without another word left the room.
Alone again, Caitlin was pleased how concerned for her he seemed, but as he stared out the window, she wondered if he still debated killing her. She hoped not. To kill her now made no sense.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Friend or Foe?
In five days Caitlin had not seen Jett or even heard his familiar footsteps. What went wrong? Had she told him something he had not appreciated? After coming out from the bathroom, she contemplated this while sipping warm milk that mysteriously appeared on the night table. It also amazed her how food and drink only ever came while she showered. How strange was this behaviour?
Was it to ensure there was no contact even with servants? She could be killed and disposed of with not a soul knowing it was her locked away.
Before this, Jett had kept a watchful eye on her as she slept and as creepy as it first seemed, Caitlin had got used to it, even comforted by the thought he may be protecting her from his family. Weirdly, even tonight as she woke dazed, her eyes scanned the room, but again he wasn’t there.
On waking her instincts were to stick her head out of the door, even bang against it to get attention, but she decided against it as this would anger him. Consistently being where he put her gained his trust and at this point Caitlin had no intentions spoiling this earned achievement. After a good workout, a routine exercise plan Rory had taught her, Caitlin wondered if this was a test. To escape, which would be tricky since she didn’t even know where to find her horse, would give him reason to end her life if caught. To shake the crazy ideas from her mind, her attention was sucked up in a crime novel she found. This story, unfortunately, made her even more suspicious of where he had gone. The notion he was at war and possibly out in combat with her team, or her man, had her pace the floor.
Stop it; she stood still coming to her senses, realising if any of the team were injured, she would, herself, be consumed and crippled with pain. What about Axon? If he was hurt, she would never know. With a violent shake of her body, she brushed away the negatives and kept her thoughts positive. Comforted the connection with her team worked both ways, she took three deep breaths in a row. If she kept busy the team would not become concerned about her own safety and attempt a rescue; this she feared would only end badly, and not just for them. After all, I’m not in any immediate danger, just very lonely.
It was the afternoon of the sixth day when Caitlin’s stress from not hearing from him accelerated. What if something happened to him and nobody found her? The thought freaked her out and to relieve the stress she decided to have the bath that someone had filled earlier while she slept. It was cool enough to get into now and she added a sprinkle of the tranquil aromatic bath salts left on the vanity. It completed the antidote she believed would calm her.