by E. G. Foley
Jake stared at her. “What did you do?”
She could not seem to resist having the chance to brag at last about her sinister accomplishments. She simpered as though she were still the beautiful opera star Waldrick had paraded around London on his arm. “The cute little silver bullets that I loaded into the pistol for Waldrick were treated with something very special.”
“Tell me!” Jake roared.
“My, my! You almost remind me of him when you bellow like that. It’s adorable.”
“What was on the bullets?” he demanded.
She stared into his eyes, abandoning the sweet act. “A magical coating that drugged the Lightriders, sending them into a comatose state…that only simulated death.”
He nearly choked on his words. “You’re saying—”
“They didn’t die.”
He sat frozen, heart slamming in his chest. Don’t believe her. Don’t believe her, his better sense warned over and over again in time with his racing heartbeat. Even King Nereus had warned that she would try to deceive him.
“You’re lying,” Jake said in a hard monotone. “Hundreds of people came to the funeral, saw them in their caskets.”
Fionnula was shaking her head.
“Derek Stone was there! He told me, and Guardians don’t lie! Waldrick gave the eulogy at the church!”
“Yes, and several hours later, my associates quietly went in and took the bodies.”
“Who?” he demanded, trembling.
“Oh, I don’t know, Jake. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to get their hands on two young, otherwise-healthy Lightriders, can you?”
He stared at her, slack-jawed with shock.
“The Dark Druids,” he finally managed.
She merely inclined her head, as though not even she dared to come right out and speak against them. Not even from the safety of a high-security, undersea prison cell.
“Why?” Jake demanded, still telling himself not to believe her. “What did the warlocks want with them?”
She shrugged. “How should I know? Rumor has it they have some sort of project. It’s been going on for years now. But they wanted them alive. Yes, they were quite clear that the Lightriders were of no use to them dead. Something to do with the device implanted in their arms.”
Jake recalled Tex explaining to him and Maddox at Merlin Hall that the Flower of Life implant became unusable if the Lightrider died.
He had eyed Fionnula warily as she floated amid the dark green shadows behind the algae-covered bars of her cell.
“Why should I believe you?” Jake finally forced out.
She shrugged. “Believe what you want. But I’m not as evil as you think, Jake, and neither is Waldrick.”
“What?” he exclaimed. “He made servitors to hunt me down and try to murder me!”
“Pish, Waldrick’s harmless.”
“What about you, then? You tried to eat me and my Gryphon!”
“Well, you shouldn’t have provoked me into taking my Kraken form! How could you do that to me—in a London ballroom, of all places? Honestly!”
He gasped. “You’re blaming me?”
“Well, it’s a little embarrassing to have been seen like that by all Society,” she huffed. “I hope your aunt oublietted them, at least.”
Jake just scowled.
“You think I’m making light of this. No, trust me, darling,” Fionnula said with a dark look. “If you want to see real evil, talk to the gentlemen collecting Lightriders.”
Jake scrutinized her for a long moment. “Let’s just say that, hypothetically, I believed you. Why would you finally reveal the truth now?”
Her eyes narrowed, gleaming in the gloom. “Because the whole point of what I did to your parents was as a favor to those gentlemen, you understand? I was a fugitive from justice, Jake. I needed powerful allies…just in case. A lady on the run must gain the protection of powerful men somehow. And it worked. My offering pleased them and made them aware of my plight. We were on quite friendly terms for years. Everyone was happy. Waldrick loved being the earl. I had the gryphon feathers to turn myself gorgeous whenever I pleased—”
“Everyone was happy?” he burst out in fury. “You mean back in the days when I was an orphan starving in the streets?”
She ignored him. “The Council had two more Lightriders for their mysterious little project. Naturally, I thought they valued me. I considered them…friends. And yet here I am.” Her nostrils flared. “A full year in a cell now, and Zolond hasn’t lifted a finger to try to break me out of here.” She glanced around at the walls of her cage. “It’d be easy for him, I should think. But instead, the Council has forgotten all about me. Well. Fionnula Coralbroom’s friendship is not lightly thrown aside.”
With that, she had turned her back on him, making it clear that the interview was over.
Jake had taken leave of the gruff Viking mermen then.
The moment he had climbed up out of the water, tearing off his mask, his friends were there, clamoring to find out what he’d learned.
But he couldn’t even talk, couldn’t bring himself to say it. Derek had eyed him with a steady, searching gaze, then mumbled to the others, “Let him be.”
Jake was grateful. He didn’t want to speak the words out loud, this heartbreaking possibility that his parents might actually be alive. Because that might make it real enough that he could start to believe it, and he didn’t dare.
Not without proof.
Quickly, Jake had dried off and changed clothes, and they had got right back into the coach for the overnight ride home, Derek driving.
With every mile of the night-clad English countryside rolling by, the warning from King Nereus not to believe a word the sea-witch said rang in his ears.
They traveled all night, the others sleeping in the carriage, all leaning on each other, while Jake had stared out the window, wide awake, his entire world potentially turned upside down.
At last, they turned in the drive, entering through tall wrought-iron gates flanked by pillars with stone gryphons on top. The carriage rolled up the long drive, safe once more within the adjoining lands of Griffon Castle and Bradford Park; Aunt Ramona had laid on layers of enchantment protecting both properties.
By the time the weary horses clattered to a halt, it was nearly dawn.
Immediately, Jake jumped out of the carriage. After his journey to the coast, he needed to know if the sea-witch was telling the truth.
The morning was still dark and dewy, but the scarlet stain of sunrise began spreading behind the black trees. Seeing it, an old sailors’ proverb echoed through his mind.
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
Jake walked across the lawn without even bothering to go inside the house. His heart pounded, but his stare was fixed on his destination.
He was barely aware of Archie and Dani hurrying after him, but they caught up without a word, leaving the others behind.
Each of his two best friends walked a step behind him, one on either side, as Jake stalked through the morning fog across the wet green lawn of Griffon Castle.
He fixed his sights on his parents’ white marble mausoleum, his heart pounding.
The same spot where he had stood two months ago to say goodbye. As then, the birds screeched their morning cacophony in the trees. Jake stepped past the memorial lantern continuously burning outside his parents’ tomb.
Once more he faced the black wrought-iron grille, and, behind it, the thick stone door that divided the living from the dead. A pang gripped his heart as he glanced at the gryphon rampant carved above the door.
Red.
His hands trembling just a little, Jake took the key out of his waistcoat pocket and unlocked the metal grate.
“We’re with you,” Dani whispered.
He squared his shoulders but didn’t look back. His stomach was churning as he pulled the outer grate open, slid back the heavy inner door, and entered the tomb.
Archie and Dani followed.
>
Inside the chilly marble space, the preternatural stillness stole the breath out of his very lungs. He shivered, feeling colder standing there than he had in the depths of the North Sea.
It was dark, but the glow from the memorial torch beyond the open door gave at least some illumination, even as it sent black shadows twisting over the walls in a macabre dance.
The dim glow flickered over the stately twin sarcophagi on thick marble pedestals, where the earl and countess were supposed to be resting in peace.
Jake’s pulse pounded as he stepped in. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this, but he walked over to his father’s sarcophagus and laid hold of the stone lid. No disrespect intended, Father.
“Jake—you don’t really have to do this,” Dani whispered, laying a hand on his arm.
“Yes, I do. I have to know if she was telling the truth.”
“Here. That looks heavy.” Archie brushed off his hands and stepped over to Jake’s side. “I’ll help you.”
“No need.” Unable to budge the coffin’s lids using physical force, Jake waved his cousin aside and made sure Dani was clear, then did his best to clear his mind and summoned up his telekinesis.
Let’s just get this over with. Staring down the narrow center aisle between their two marble sarcophagi, he gathered his strength to use the very talent he’d inherited from the man supposedly in the coffin for the task.
Perhaps the enormity of what he was about to find out had skewed the amount of force he put into it, for both stone lids cracked and broke in two pieces when he swept them off his parents’ tombs and lowered them to the ground.
The sharp sounds made Dani jump.
Jake swallowed hard as he walked over to his father’s sarcophagus first. Inside the big, long white marble box was a shiny mahogany casket.
“Let me do this for you,” Archie murmured. “I’ve had to deal with bodies in cadaver lab. You shouldn’t have to—”
“No,” Jake said gruffly. “It’s my father, I’ll do it.” True, he did not have a scientist’s objectivity like Archie. Nor did he know in what state of decay one might find a corpse that had been dead for a full twelve years.
The next moment might well be one of the worst of his whole life. After all, he had dreamed of meeting the elder Jacob Everton face to face many times, but never as a skeleton.
Reminding himself, though, that his Lightrider father would not have been proud of a coward, Jake laid hold of the casket’s lid and struggled to brace himself for whatever he might find. Then—almost violently—he lifted it.
Archie and Dani both gasped, but Jake stood speechless. His jaw dropped. He turned his head, letting his gaze travel swiftly down the length of the casket.
White satin lining. Small blue pillow embroidered with his family crest. Other than that…
It was empty.
Jake spun around and stepped blindly across the little aisle to his mother’s coffin. It was painted white, the corners adorned with little roses. Please, please, don’t be in there. If there’s any chance she’s still alive…
Tears rushed into his eyes and he wavered at the mere thought, the hint, the slimmest possibility of actually having a mother.
But he forced himself to do it–to face her rotting corpse if that was what it came down to. For she might well be inside there. After all, his father had been the stronger specimen. Maybe the Dark Druids had only needed one.
He stood there agonizing, unable to do it, his stomach in knots, fears like banshees screaming through his mind. But he just had to know, for once and for all.
Please, please…
“We’ll help you,” Dani said softly, seeing him falter.
He glanced at her, teary-eyed. She knew how it was. She had lost her mother, too. Jake clenched his jaw and let his friends help this time, and together, they lifted the lid off his mother’s coffin.
An oath escaped him; Jake staggered back in shock, shaking in his shoes.
Empty.
Archie and Dani stared into the coffin, but Jake stepped away, routed.
“Oh my God,” he uttered, his mind reeling. “My God,” he said again. He half staggered out of the mausoleum and took a huge gulp of the dewy morning air.
Then he stared unseeingly into the ever-burning memorial flame.
They’re alive.
The End
The Inside Scoop on The Gryphon Chronicles
The Gryphon Chronicles series will have a total of seven books (six main novels plus the Christmas novella). That means that after SECRETS OF THE DEEP, there's only ONE more to go—the big finale! Keep an eye on the E.G. Foley blog or Facebook page for further updates. You can also sign up for the E.G. Foley mailing list to receive an email alert as soon as the next book is available. Thanks for reading!
In case you missed it…
It’s Jake’s first Christmas with a family, but nothing’s ever quite what you’d expect. Celebrate a Victorian Christmas with a Gryphon Chronicles holiday novella.
JAKE & THE GINGERBREAD WARS
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men…And Gingerbread Men?!
Santa’s Horrid Little Helper
Wanted! Humbug, the disgruntled Christmas elf.
Reward: One Christmas wish granted, courtesy of Santa.
Humbug hates being a Christmas elf. Instead of making toys, he’d rather make mischief. Angling for a new job in Halloween Town, he sets out to prove he’s frightful enough for the task by ruining Christmas for as many people as possible – until Jake and his friends capture him. The kids set out on a rip-roaring adventure to the North Pole to hand the troublemaker over to Santa and collect the reward. But the way is fraught with danger, leaving them to wonder if they’ll make it back in time for Christmas…or if they’ll even make it back alive!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
E.G. FOLEY is the pen name for a husband-and-wife writing team who live in Pennsylvania. They've been finishing each other’s sentences since they were teens, so it was only a matter of time till they were writing together, too.
Like his kid readers, “E” (Eric) can't sit still for too long! A bit of a renaissance man, he’s picked up hobbies from kenpo to carpentry to classical guitar over the years, and holds multiple degrees in math, science, and education. He treated patients as a chiropractor for nearly a decade, then switched careers to venture into the wild-and-woolly world of teaching middle school, where he was often voted favorite teacher. His students helped inspire him to start dreaming up great stories for kids, until he recently switched gears again and left teaching to become a full-time writer and author entrepreneur.
By contrast, “G” (Gael, aka Gaelen Foley) has had one dream all her life and has pursued it with maniacal intensity since the age of seventeen: writing fiction! After earning her Lit degree at SUNY Fredonia, she waited tables at night for nearly six years as a “starving artist” to keep her days free for honing her craft, until she finally got The Call in 1997. Today, with millions of her twenty-plus romances from Ballantine and HarperCollins sold in many languages worldwide, she’s been hitting bestseller lists regularly since 2001. Although she loves all her readers, young and old, she admits there’s just something magical about writing for children.
You can find the Foleys on Facebook or visit their website at www.EGFoley.com. They are hard at work on their next book.
Thanks for Reading!
Also by E.G. Foley
The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book One)
Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Two)
The Dark Portal (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Three)
Jake & The Gingerbread Wars (A Gryphon Chronicles Christmas)
Rise of Allies (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Four)
The Haunted Plantation (50 States of Fear: Alabama)
Bringing Home Bigfoot (50 States of Fear: Arkansas)
Leader of the Pack (50 States of Fear: Colorado)
The Dork and the Deathray (50 States of Fear: Alaska)
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sp; Copyright © 2016 by E.G. Foley.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover Illustration by Josh D. Addessi and Victoria March.
Cover Design by Kim Killion.
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