Rafael knit his brows, the streaks of green glitter giving him an almost wicked appearance as he peered down at me. With a slight bow, he repeated, “Please come in.”
Clutching my fork tightly, I stepped inside.
“I’m flattered by your faith in me, Sydney,” Jareth’s snide voice drawled from the shadows.
Rafael switched the living room lights on, and I could see Jareth reclining on a leather chair in the corner.
Surprised, I looked at them both. “I thought you were enemies?”
“’Enemies’…” Jareth drew the word out in a mocking tone. “That’s such a strong word.”
Rafael tilted his head to the side and tapped his long fingers on the back of the leather couch before offering a clipped explanation. “Jareth and I adhere to different belief systems.”
There was a stilted silence. They obviously didn’t want to talk about their relationship. I leaned against a stuffed chair and watched as they both glared at each other. Taking advantage of their distraction, I glanced around the living room, looking for evidence to prove that they were not human. It looked like a normal room. There was nothing alien about it at all.
It took some time before I noticed that their attention had shifted to me.
“What is it, Sydney?” Rafael folded his arms, perplexed. “Are you searching for something?”
I jerked and then promptly blushed. With a nervous titter, I replied, “Hey, you were the one who wanted to talk to me!”
I clearly made a horrible spy. It was obvious that I’d been up to something. They apparently thought so too. Jareth frowned as Rafael leaned against the wall to observe me from under half-lowered eyelashes.
After a few moments, Jareth prodded impatiently, “Well, Rafael? What did you want to speak to her about?”
Rafael didn’t reply. He appeared unusually tense. Every line of his body was taut, even his jaw.
With a humph of laughter, Jareth took a coin out of his pocket and began his infernal flipping.
I waited, not knowing what else to do and then Jareth chuckled again.
He rubbed me the wrong way. “What is so funny?” I asked, frowning a little.
But Jareth wasn’t looking at me. He was smirking at Rafael. “You should tell Marquis you won’t go through with it. Why don’t you throw out all those rules you adore and just follow where your heart leads you?”
Rafael shifted and cleared his throat. “I don’t understand what you speak of.”
“Oh, I think we can all see that is a lie.” Jareth snickered. “If not now, it will be soon. Very soon.”
At that, Rafael turned his full attention upon Jareth. His gray eyes were furious.
It only took a second for Jareth’s mouth to twist in a responding anger. “Emotion isn’t something you can contain, you fool! All those years of human studies should have taught you that. Why else do you think your engagement was rushed—”
“I haven’t formed any perilous ties!” Rafael thundered, stepping away from the wall to face Jareth fully. “That’s a dangerous lie!”
“Look at yourself in the mirror and then come back to tell me that.” Jareth’s eyes roiled with emotion.
They continued to glare at each other.
In my pocket, I held tightly onto my trusty fork. I was a little nervous, but mostly fascinated with their exchange. I couldn’t begin to understand their relationship. I really didn’t think they were enemies. They certainly fought like relatives. Maybe they really were cousins.
With a belligerent yawn, Jareth rearranged himself to dangle his foot over the chair. Adopting a flippant tone, he said, “You’re headed for a rude awakening, and it’ll be over the most ancient of things. Emotion. Friendship. Love.”
Rafael took a deep breath and turned pale.
“Yes, O Blue-Threaded Rafael, the Golden Child. Soon, everyone will know that you have turned Blue and will wonder why.” A wicked glint of humor flashed in Jareth’s eyes. “Though I think I’m close to answering that.”
Rafael remained silent, no longer appearing angry. Instead, he looked ill.
Jareth’s gaze shifted to me. “I find it fascinating that Sydney is still Blue and an even deeper shade than before, don’t you, Rafael?” It really wasn’t a question, and I wasn’t sure what he was implying.
“Blue?” I repeated.
“If you were to leave, Sydney would be White soon enough.” Rafael’s voice hardened. “I’ve completed our mission. You should return.”
I might as well have asked the wall. They could only hear each other.
“Oh, I think not.” Jareth disagreed with an arrogant toss of his head. “The mystery here has only deepened and it’s you, my dear Rafael, who appears to be the wild card. I can see your fate as easily as you can see mine. Your choice is soon.”
Rafael was so tense that I thought he was going to burst. I wondered why he just stood there, listening to Jareth’s continual provocations instead of saying something back.
“I’m curious…” Jareth fell silent, watching us both for a time before his face clouded and he sprang to his feet. “I see it now! The path you walk will break the Glass Wall!” He lifted his hand and pointed his finger at me.
Rafael’s response was startling. Launching himself between Jareth and me, he grabbed my arm and shoved me behind him. “Silence, Jareth! Your lips are far too loose! How dare you accuse me of such treason?!”
Jareth’s voice was angry. “If that is the path, then I can’t risk it. I should end this all now! Here! You know what is at stake!”
Ignoring him, Rafael slid his arm about my waist and half carried, half pushed me to the door, saying, “Forgive me, Sydney. You must go. We can’t speak now.”
“Ah, yes, let’s keep her ignorant, shall we?” Jareth shouted after us. “After all, why does she need to know about the Glass Wall?”
I craned my head around Rafael to catch a glimpse of Jareth. With his dark brows drawn in a mask of anger, he still pointed his finger at me. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a flash of silver in his hand.
“Go, Sydney!” Rafael ordered, catching me by the crook of the arm and propelling me out to the porch. He seemed angry, sad, and a little frightened as he slammed the door shut, practically in my face.
I blinked, a little unsure of what had just happened. But one thing disturbed me. If I was right and Rafael was frightened, then I was pretty sure that I should be utterly terrified. But over what?
Suddenly I realized that I was shaking.
Wondering what I’d just witnessed, I ran across the street and back home.
Betty and Al waved from the couch as I passed by. Grace was still in her room. Grateful to be alone, I closed my bedroom door and leaned against it, breathing heavily for a few moments.
Now that I was safe in my room, the whole situation seemed adventurous and exciting. My heart was pounding and I had never felt so alive. I’d always wanted to have an adventure—like in the movies. Now, I actually was!
Enthusiastically, I scrambled for my science notebook. Thumbing through the pages, I found a blank space and wrote the words The Glass Wall.
Why had Rafael become so upset when Jareth had mentioned it, and what did it have to do with me?
I scribbled down a few more notes that Rafael and Jareth held opposite beliefs but that they didn’t really fit the classic definition of enemies. After all, Jareth was sitting quite comfortably in Rafael’s living room, and they had obviously been on some kind of mission together.
That brought another thought that arrived with an unexpected pang of loss. Rafael had mentioned their mission was complete. Did that mean they were leaving soon?
I leapt up from the bed and found myself pacing a little.
I didn’t want them to go. I was just starting to get into the whole thing, and I wanted to figure out what was happening. They were far too interesting to disappear from my life. Yes, I supposed, in theory that they could be dangerous, but they didn’t seem out to harm me.
Jerry’s wheel began to squeak, and I watched his little feet zooming over the bars as he ran in circles.
Then my eyes fell upon the mirror and the stones. I stared at them. I already had my evidence. Harmony had used the mirror to contact Rafael, and I already knew the stones weren’t normal.
I quickly retrieved them and sat on the bed to inspect the mirror first. I turned it around. One side was the mirror, the other a kind of metal with an engraved protection symbol. I peered into it, looking at my reflection, and turning it round and round, looking for something special. It looked like a regular mirror to me. I frowned, confused why Rafael had given me a mirror and looked at the stones.
They seemed a bit faded, not nearly as white as before, but I figured it was because they had been sitting in Jerry’s cage. I let them run through my fingers and decided to put them all back in my pocket. I had missed their sense of comfort.
Returning to my bed, I read my notes again, but paused when I came across the entry about Melody. Instantly, I recalled where I’d seen the neon pink lap quilt before. Reese’s Aunt Melody, the odd woman who had touched my arm at the soccer game had dropped it.
I sat bolt upright.
The woman had touched me. Her name was Melody. It was her wheelchair in Rafael’s house. Jareth had told me they were down here looking for their mentor. It must be Melody! It had been their mission to find her and that had been the reason Rafael had spent time with Reese. It made complete sense. Melody must also be the reason Harmony had shown up at school— to figure out when and where I had encountered her.
If finding Melody had been their mission, then they had certainly completed it. They probably would be leaving now.
I was so depressed I could hardly sleep.
Chapter Fifteen - More Hints
Samantha asked me to work a few hours the next day, but first I had to listen to her “Keep Your Grades Up” speech.
“The instant your grades go downhill is the instant you lose this job!” she threatened, frowning at me. “So, do you promise to make your schoolwork a priority? You can’t get far in this world without a proper education.”
“I know,” I said. “I promise.” I wondered if she gave that speech to everyone, or if she’d been talking to Betty. But I felt guilty even thinking that. Betty would never betray me. Samantha probably just said that to everyone.
“Ok, then.” She nodded, apparently satisfied. “I have several appointments for custom orders tonight that I need you to take. I’ve got to run and inspect the new kitchen that I had to rent to fill Jareth’s orders.” She pointed to the order sheets pinned onto the bulletin board and walked away.
I went to the bulletin board and looked at the orders that I’d written down for Jareth. I saw the words “Paid in Full” stamped across the top and noticed everything had come to a total of $78,300.23. I also noticed Samantha’s writing on the margin. She’d crossed out “Jareth Sucks” and had replaced it with just “Jareth”. I smiled, knowing he’d be disappointed with her change.
I sighed. The entire day I had experienced a sense of loss every time I thought of either Rafael or Jareth. It was kind of funny. I was going to miss them when they were gone.
I gathered the catering binder and order pad and headed to the front of the store. A quick glance around revealed neither Jareth nor Rafael. I sighed again. My life was teetering toward boredom already.
My first customer turned out to be Reese. She flagged me down as I headed toward the back table to set up my temporary station.
“I need to change my order, Sydney. Get over here and write it down,” she snapped rudely.
I walked to her table, wondering why she was here when Jareth and Rafael were not. It was then that I noticed she looked decidedly peeved. So did her friends.
“I have to move my party out a few days.” Reese pouted.
“I really don’t see why,” one of her friends inserted. “She was just an old lady.”
“I know! I mean, it wasn’t like it wasn’t expected.” Reese rolled her eyes. “And, I’ve been planning this party for so long.”
“What happened?” I asked curiously.
“My Aunt Melody died.” Reese appeared extremely put out.
I caught my breath. Dead? Surely, Jareth and Rafael hadn’t killed her. I shook my head. No, that couldn’t be. I’d only seen the empty wheelchair, though. I couldn’t suppress a shiver. Maybe they were more dangerous than I thought.
“You’re so weird, Sydney.” Reese looked at me in disgust. “You’re always spacing out. Don’t you pay attention to anything going on around you?”
I looked at her and she suddenly reminded me of one of Betty’s clueless chickens. She wasn’t even worth getting upset over. “What date did you want to change your party to, Reese?” I asked sweetly.
“The Saturday after Thanksgiving.” She glared at me with growing frustration.
“All changed.” I scrawled the modifications on the page, smiled, and then moved away.
The rest of the evening passed quickly. I took down several big orders, but nothing as big as Jareth’s, of course. Still, I knew Samantha would be pleased.
Betty and Grace picked me up and Betty insisted I drive home. Grace waved at me absent-mindedly and spent the trip home texting Ellison and laughing. Betty had me drop her off at the neighbor’s house down the street, and I drove Grace the few remaining feet home.
I pulled up, parked in our driveway, and turned off the keys to the ignition. I looked at Rafael’s house through the rear view mirror, wondering if Melody were alive or not. The thought was a somber one. It reminded me that Jung was dead and that someone had been responsible for that. Surely, they hadn’t killed an old lady? I just couldn’t believe they were capable of that.
“You like him, don’t you?” Grace asked suddenly.
I jumped. “Huh?”
“Rafael.” Grace pointed to the Bentley in his driveway.
“He’s engaged,” I said, frowning.
“Really?” Grace seemed surprised. “I could have sworn he liked you. You know … something in the way he looks at you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
“I dunno. Guess I was wrong.” She shrugged and hopped out of the truck.
I followed her into the house.
“Come here, kiddo!” Al called me from the kitchen.
He was sitting at the table, poking around with a clear plastic tube and some wires. “Jack sent us a high-priority package.” As I joined him, he dropped his voice conspiratorially. “You know, in response to the matter I told you that I’d bring to his attention.”
I looked closer at the tube. It had some kind of electronics board in it, a panel of lights, and a metal disk on top that reminded me of a food processor blade. It was definitely the kind of thing that a friend of Al’s would send. “This is an alien detection kit,” Al explained. His voice held a note of awe. “It’s designed to detect magnetic and electromagnetic disturbances.”
“Really,” I murmured, hoping I didn’t sound as skeptical as I felt. He’d been so kind to me that I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“You just take this with you, kiddo.” Al handed it to me gingerly. “If you come across one of your aliens, then we’ll all hear this thing shriek. The alarm can be heard a mile away.”
I looked at it closely. The little lights on the front panel were blinking. “So, it’s already running?” I asked.
“Yes,” Al nodded. “It hasn’t detected anything unusual so far.”
He walked away, vastly pleased with himself. I set the contraption on the counter next to the microwave. I looked at the little green lights blinking on and off and snorted. It was obviously a piece of junk if it couldn’t detect the aliens right across the street.
I rummaged in Al’s spy drawer, briefly looked at his portable bionic ear, but decided to use the night vision goggles. It was time to do a little spyin
g of my own. I was going to figure out what had happened to Melody. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine either Jareth or Rafael killing anyone, but at this point, I reluctantly admitted that anything was possible.
Tigger followed me outside to do his nightly business as I hid behind the pine trees and focused my night vision goggles on Rafael’s house. All the lights were off, except for the hall light downstairs. Both cars were in the driveway, but there was no movement in the house. Surely they hadn’t all gone to bed this early.
Behind me, Tigger returned to the porch and turned in three laborious circles before settling down to snooze.
I peered through the goggles for several minutes. Maybe they weren’t even there. Then the thought struck me, maybe they had left for good already.
That bothered me enough that I decided it was worthwhile to cross the street for a closer look. I marched up their sidewalk to the front door. Peering through the window, I could see the hall light was still on. The furniture was still there, but the wheelchair was gone. I squinted closer when all of a sudden Ajax leapt into my face from the other side of the window.
Screeching, I fell back. I hated that dog. I was positive he had waited until he was sure I’d have a heart attack before letting me know he was there. I could see him on the other side of the window, his lips split in an evil grin.
Now that I was sprawled on the porch, he decided to bark. I scrambled to my feet and gritted my teeth. I had banged my knee. As I limped down the first step, cursing Ajax, the door opened. Wincing, I turned around expecting to see Rafael but was surprised to find Marquis instead, watching me with his beady eyes.
“Sydney,” he greeted me politely and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him.
“Sorry to bother you.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. Unnerved, I blurted, “I was just looking for Rafael.”
“My son?” Marquis folded his arms and nodded thoughtfully. “He’s with his fiancée.”
“Oh!” I shrugged, blinking a little. “Well, sorry to bother you then.” I began to limp down the remaining steps.
The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1) Page 14