I found another silk shirt in the closet and put it on. Finally, I slid between the sheets of the most comfortable mattress I’d ever dreamed of. I sighed as my head sunk into the soft feather pillow and the down comforter settled over me.
I slept like the dead. The dead that are at peace, that is. Not the haunting, disturbed, confused dead that roam the Earth, looking for some sort of closure. It was the best, deepest, longest sleep I’d had since I left my parents’ home.
I awoke late the next morning to Halli’s quiet bathroom activities. I opened my eyes and smiled as the sun peaked around the edges of the closed blinds. I could see. I wondered if I would ever wake up again and not have that be my first thought.
Reluctantly, I crawled out from under the covers and stretched as I stood. When Halli left the bathroom, I went in and brushed my teeth and threw a ponytail in my hair before getting dressed. The bruises on my face had darkened overnight. I could see exactly where Grease Ball’s fingers had clamped down on the flesh of my cheeks. I shook my head, trying to push his image away.
Everyone sat around the large, curved kitchen island when I came in. There was a seat next to Johnathan and one next to Halli available. Johnathan looked at me expectantly. I sat next to Halli. A combination of savory aromas wafted toward me from where Joe stood at the stove. The smell of eggs, bacon, melting cheese, peppers, and sausage brought with it a flood of memories. My mom dancing around the kitchen, humming church hymns as she cooked Sunday brunch each week between services.
“Glad you could join us, Paige. What would you like in your omelet?” Joe flipped the eggs over in the pan.
“Mmm.” I looked at the options spread out before me. “Cheese, of course. And, bacon, tomatoes, and mushrooms.”
As Joe added the ingredients to the eggs, I turned to Halli. “How are you feeling?”
She smiled. “Okay. I’m still a little dizzy and my headache hasn’t gone away, but, at least I’m not throwing up anymore.” Her eye was nearly swollen shut, and her bruises had darkened overnight, too.
“Good.” I looked at Joe. “Is that about done? I’m starving.”
“Just about. Grab a plate so I can slide it on there.”
Joe and I were the last to finish eating. Everyone waited for us before we all moved to the living room and the comfort of the expensive couches there.
“Well,” Joe began. “The last several days have been eventful. Does anyone want to talk about it or have any questions I might possibly be able to answer?”
I asked something that had been bothering me all day. “How did Brone know we were here?”
“My best guess is he somehow traced Johnathan’s magic when he exploded the trees. He used a nuclear amount that would have telegraphed to any who were watching for it. How he figured out where the cave was, I don’t know.”
“Will he be coming for us, now?” Halli asked.
Joe shrugged. “Probably not yet. His magic is weak here. I’m sure he’ll send more of his minions after us, though, so we should all stay very alert and make sure you don’t go anywhere without another of the Five with you.”
I looked at Johnathan. He didn’t meet my gaze. He looked a bit uncomfortable, squirmy even.
“I have a question,” Alec said. “Do you really think I could be Trey’s offspring? I mean, we never really came to a conclusion on that.” I wondered if he changed the subject on purpose.
Joe looked down at his hands. “I’ve looked into it a little while you all have been out gallivanting. I’m still not positive, but it is a possibility. I don’t know how to prove or disprove it at this point, though.”
Alec looked frustrated at his answer. “Then at least tell us more about Merlin. If I am the son of an Incubus, I’d like to know more about one before me.”
“Okay,” Joe said, nodding his head. “I think I already told you he was the one who trained the first Five.”
We all nodded and Seth said, “Yeah… so, who were the first Five?”
Joe smiled. “Arthur, of course—”
“No way!” Seth cut him off. “The Arthur? Like, the sword in the stone guy?”
“Yep, the one and the same. King Arthur.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Who were the others?” Seth asked.
“Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, and Guenevere… she was the only girl.”
Halli sat forward. “So, were there really all those problems over Guenevere?”
Joe shook his head. “No. Guenevere and Arthur belonged only to each other. Those stories evolved over the years to explain the downfall of the kingdom. Really, the Five fought together valiantly. They not only had the Fae and their allies to contend with, but dragons and sea creatures, too. Those were perilous times for the Five.”
My eyes widened at the prospect. “Dragons? They were real?”
“They were. And, still might be. They’ve been known to go into hibernation for hundreds of years before, when their numbers were diminished. Crazy times those were—but, I’m afraid we’re heading for some even crazier ones.”
We were all silent for a moment.
“How old are you, Joe?” Alec asked.
“Why?”
“Well, it seems like you mentioned before something about the Quinae Praesidia having long lives. I’m just wondering how long.”
Joe leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Well. I was born in 1655, so that makes me… three hundred fifty eight next month.”
I nearly choked on my own spit.
Halli was the first to recover enough to speak. “You’re kidding right? Just pulling our legs?”
Joe’s smile was sad. “No, Halli, I’m not kidding. And, I’ve been alone since Mia was killed in 1980.” He shook his head. “Another thing you all might find interesting is that you’ll all stay young—late teens, early twenties—until you’re the last one left. Then you age into adulthood in preparation to train the next Five.”
We were all silent. I wondered if the others were thinking the same thing I was—I didn’t want to be the last one. I didn’t want to go on without my friends. As disappointed and angry as I was with Johnathan right now, I couldn’t imagine life without him. Without any of them.
“Has there ever been a time when none of the Five survived?” I asked.
“Never. One has always survived to train the next group. Always.”
“This is depressing.” I stood and stretched. “What’re everyone’s plans today?”
Alec and Johnathan looked at each other.
“Me, Seth, and Johnny were thinking of going for a hike,” Alec answered. “We wanna check out some of the arches. Mariah told us which ones are the coolest.”
I tensed at the mention of Mariah. Not that I had anything against her, her name just reminded me of her blonde friend whispering in Johnathan’s ear. Touching his arm. Kissing his face.
Johnathan avoided my gaze. “We should probably get going if we want to be back before dark.” He looked up at me, eyebrows raised hopefully. “Do you and Halli want to come with us?”
I shook my head and averted my gaze from his, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about yesterday.
“Are you—”
“I’m sure,” I interrupted.
The boys shuffled to their rooms to gather their jackets, belts, and packs.
I looked at Halli. “What should we do today? Any ideas, Joe?”
Joe watched the boys disappear down the hall and then looked back at me. “I was thinking of going to check out the spot Brone appeared to your attacker. You two are welcome to come with me. I’ll show you the Elephant refuge. You should be able to feel something there if Dark Magic has taken place.”
“I’m in. How about you, Hal?”
“Heck yeah!”
The boys ran out the door, pushing each other as they went.
We took a little longer. We prepared a lunch to take with us and made sure we had plenty of water. Mostly we dawdled so the boys wouldn’t thin
k we were following them. I washed my only extra T-shirt in the sink and hung it over the shower curtain to dry. Halli did the same with her dirty clothes.
We ended up leaving about an hour after the boys.
Even though there was a chill in the air, the sun was out and it felt good to be outside. Especially knowing we had a nice, warm house to return to at the end of the day. We walked to the entrance of the National Park; Joe paid the entrance fee and grabbed a map. We ended up not really needing a map, as Halli and I could both feel where our destination was. I wasn’t sure at first if it was the refuge pulling at us or the Dark Magic in the area. As we drew closer, it became evident it was the Dark Magic we felt. My skin crawled as if a million boring insects were just below the surface, burrowing deeper. Like walking face first into a spider web and then spending the rest of the day feeling like spiders crawled all over me. Or, like the time when, in the first grade, I found out half my classmates had lice. My head itched for days even though I never got them.
My stomach churned. My omelet worked against gravity and tried to come back up my throat. The sensation grew the closer we got.
“Breathe through it, girls. Concentrate on something good and pure and it’ll slip back out of the forefront of your consciousness,” Joe instructed.
I took some slow, deep breaths and thought about Mr. Grewa. The teacher I’d only known a few short weeks had made a huge impact on me. He’d also sacrificed his life for mine. He was a truly good person. Joe was right, the dark feelings receded.
I stepped off into the sand and brush, even though the Ranger had told us not to leave the gravel pathways. The trail we followed was mostly invisible and took precedence over the rules at this point in time. We stopped long enough to gaze up at the elephant shaped rocks. Joe pointed out to us where the entrance to the refuge was. The same as with the Easter Island rocks in Cowiche Canyon, we had to open our sight to be able to see it.
“The entrance to this one is where the ‘trunk’ of the rock that looks most like an elephant is melded to the ‘leg’,” Joe explained. “There isn’t an obvious crevasse there, but with the sight you can see the entrance. We won’t go in today; I don’t want to take any chances that someone might see us and figure out it’s a refuge.”
We bypassed the elephant rock and followed the invisible path to a hidden little valley out of sight of the main trail and the Double Arch. I could instantly see the scars on the earth where Dark Magic had been performed. More than once, from the look of things.
“This is definitely the place. Can you feel it Halli?” I whispered.
Halli nodded. “It’s dead. The ground here is dead. Not even sagebrush will grow here.” She looked up at Joe. “What was done to cause this?”
“I’m not sure. This reeks of Brone’s work, though. He has no thoughts for the Earth or the damage his Dark Magic causes. His projection spell isn’t the answer, though. That would have taken very little Earth energy. Something else has gone on here. Something big.”
I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “We need to find out. We need to know what he’s planning. Do you think it’s a coincidence he chose the same place we chose to come?”
“No.” Joe shivered. “I think this place was chosen by Brone long before we decided to come here. We were drawn here for a reason. A dark reason. This is where you’re needed, where the darkness is gathering. And, I agree, we need to figure this out.”
I thought for a moment. “So, why would he choose this place if his magic is weaker here, where there isn’t a lot of vegetation?”
Joe looked out over the destroyed area of land. “There are some places on Earth that are closer to the Netherworld. Where the barrier between realms is thinner… easier to break.” He looked back at me and then Halli, eyebrows drawn together. “We have to figure out what his plans are. We cannot let him succeed.”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Let’s get out of here—go somewhere else to eat our lunch and talk about this,” Halli said. “This place is making it hard for me to think.”
I nodded. We walked back out by the trail, away from the stomach churning evil of the dead zone. Joe opened up the map. “Where should we go to eat? The nearest picnic tables are here.” He pointed to an area about a mile down the trail.
“That’ll work,” I said.
Halli agreed and we headed out.
We easily found our way to the picnic area. The little cove was surrounded by tall red cliffs. The trail disappeared around the edge of the rock wall.
We sat at the tables and removed the lunches from our packs. Thankfully the queasiness from the Dark Magic area subsided as I pulled my sandwich from the plastic wrap.
I’d taken one bite when I heard voices and laughter coming from the part of the trail I couldn’t see. I recognized Alec’s voice and started to stand. Even though I was still mad at him and Johnathan, I decided to extend my hand in reconciliation and invite them to eat lunch with us. Then I heard the high pitched laughter of a girl. A couple more girls joined in.
I dropped my sandwich on the table and hurried over to the edge of the rock wall that blocked my view of them. I peeked around the edge and my heart cracked into a million sharp pieces, all of them piercing my constricted chest.
Johnathan, his back toward me, walked with quick steps. A giggling blonde practically jogged to catch up to him. The same girl from the day before. Katrina. I covered my mouth, afraid if I didn’t, the sob forming in my throat would escape.
Halli came up beside me. I put a finger to her mouth to shush her before she said anything that might alert them to our presence. She watched alongside me as the girl caught up and sidled up next to Johnathan—and she grabbed his hand.
She grabbed his hand.
He looked down at their clasped hands for a second, his limp in her grip. Her other hand came around to rest on his upper arm. “Your hands are so warm, Johnny! Are your lips as warm, I wonder?” Then she giggled again.
The high-pitched, fake, flirty sounds spewing from her mouth did it. An angry, choked growl escaped my throat. Johnathan, Alec, Seth and the girls all stopped in their tracks and turned toward Halli and me.
The hurt quickly turned to anger. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I narrowed my eyes. Joe walked over and looked from Johnathan, to Katrina, to me. The anger-magic that had helped me defeat a foe or two, started coursing through me. My hair tried to pull free of its ponytail as the static of the magic reached it. My fingertips tingled with energy. I knew the blue veins of electricity would soon start shooting from them.
I flipped around, closed my eyes—and portalled away from there… without first thinking of where I wanted to go.
ot my best idea.
The feeling of suffocation closed around me. Shooting stars broke through the complete darkness as I started to fade from consciousness. This is it. I really screwed up now.
The funny thing was, I didn’t care. Even dead seemed better than seeing Johnathan with someone else. The intense pressure in my chest made me sure it was collapsing in on itself from lack of air. There was nothing in the in-between to breathe in. There was no air in nothingness.
I closed my eyes and waited for whatever came next.
My feet hit solid ground and I collapsed before gulping in huge lung-fulls of oxygenated air. I was afraid to open my eyes. Afraid of where I’d ended up without having a specific place in mind.
I decided to open just one eye. I peeked out of my right eye and saw trees. Lots of trees. I felt grass under my bare hands. I opened both eyes. I faced a familiar forest.
I rolled to my back, pushed up onto my elbows and looked around. I gasped at what I saw. I had portalled to the backyard of my old home. My parents’ home. My heart skipped a beat as anxiety and hopefulness battled it out there. A longing for home I hadn’t known existed pushed its way forward. A tear slipped from one eye as I thought about my mother’s embrace, welcoming me home.
I stood slowly and took a closer look. Th
e once perfectly groomed lawn was overgrown with weeds. I walked toward the house. Some of the blinds were askew. The paint on the back door was peeling. Sadie, I thought. Where’s my dog? I spun around to see her doghouse, empty and in disrepair.
I opened my sight to make sure there was nothing otherworldly going on here. Nothing strange popped out so I closed my sight and walked toward the back door. The doorknob rattled in my hand. It took me only a matter of seconds to pick the lock with magic. I stepped inside to an empty shell of the home I’d grown up in. They were gone. I’d never planned to go back here, but it was nice to think they would always be here if I changed my mind. I wandered into the now empty family room and sat on the carpet.
Where did they go? I dropped my head in my hands. Mostly, I was glad my parents weren’t there. I had no idea how they would react to me showing up, literally, out of nowhere. Plus, it would have been really hard to leave them again—that’s assuming they’d want anything to do with me. It seemed like such a long time since my dad had caught me using magic, freaked out, and tried to send me away to a treatment facility for troubled youth—had it really only been six months ago?
My mom had cried her eyes out the day they’d come to get me. She would have wanted me to stay today—if she’d been home. I was sure of that. And, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to. I stayed on the floor, remembering my sweet, quiet mom, until I grew too cold to sit any longer.
I went back outside and found a large rock. I brought it back in, placed it in the empty fireplace, and heated it up with a warming spell which I locked in place so the warmth wouldn’t fade. I curled into a ball in front of the warmth and cried. Cried for the home the little girl in me thought would always be there, full of the furniture I grew up with. Full of my parents. Mostly, though, I cried about Johnathan. How could he? The scene with the blonde girl kept replaying in my head like a nightmare brain DVD set to loop. The worst part was when she’d held his hand—and he just let her.
I now understood how he must have felt seeing me with the Incubus. But, that was different. I was under a spell. I fought him. I resisted. Johnathan did not appear to be resisting. In fact, he appeared to be enjoying himself. And, Katrina wasn’t an Incubus, or Succubus. She was just a pretty, dumb, bleached blonde, bimbo.
Five: Out of the Pit (Five #2) Page 12