The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “I told you it was intense. This could be life or death. I needed you to know the stakes.”

  “And I get to choose whether I think you’re really crazy or not.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you think. I’m going to Sardinia. But I don’t want you to get hurt. This isn’t your fight.”

  “Then why does it feel like it is?” He paced away from me and back.

  “If you’re coming, I think we should pretend to be broken up or mad at each other.”

  “Why?”

  “Dr. Antos will suspect I’ve told you everything and that you’re siding with me. It will put you in danger.”

  “We could pretend you told me about the prophecy, I thought you were a crazy loon, and you got mad.”

  “That may work.” I nodded. “Very powerful witches may be able to read minds, so we have to be careful. The big unknown is Sonia and what she wants with the sword.”

  “Maybe she just doesn’t want you to have it.”

  “Why wouldn’t she want freedom for witches?”

  “Witches would have more children, and their covens and families would become powerful. Maybe she fears others having power.”

  “That’s a theory.”

  “Okay.” He took both my hands. “If we’re going to be fighting, I need to know. Do you have feelings for me beyond our friendship?”

  It was the moment of reckoning. I hadn’t fallen for him like the scenarios in the movies, like just knowing he was the one. I didn’t like him because he was handsome, brave, and smart. What drew me to him was this sense of goodness that seemed to emanate from him. But what if it was one big act and he was in league with Sonia? I pushed the thought from my mind. I had to trust my gut.

  I let my chin fall to my chest, and he lifted it with his fingers. I stared into his blue eyes. “I think so.”

  “Can I kiss you?”

  “Yes.” I smiled.

  He bent down, and I stood on my toes, pressing my lips to his. Even with our bracelets secured on our wrists, a zing of electricity shot through me, and my body warmed from head to toe.

  “Wow.” He wrapped his hand around my neck and kissed me again.

  “So, I’m guessing you felt that too?” I asked as he ended the kiss.

  “I’ve never had a kiss like that. Have you?”

  “That would have required that I had kissed someone before.”

  “You’ve never kissed anyone? Not even for like spin the bottle?”

  “I never wanted to until now.”

  “Then I feel honored.” He took both my hands in his and held them to his chest. “Okay, staged fight time.”

  “What about Frida? She’s going to be heartbroken. Maybe we can be mad for a day and then go back to being friends. As far as Dr. Antos is concerned, tell him that you want to stay as far away from me as possible. I’ll do the same.”

  “Got it. Double agent at your service.” He bowed.

  “I don’t want you doing this for me.”

  “It feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. “Okay, last kiss.” His lips were on mine before I could take a breath. The warmth of his skin penetrated my chilled mouth, and a hum filled my brain. I wouldn’t forget the sensation soon.

  “See.” He squeezed my hands as he leaned away. “We were meant to find each other.”

  Even through the haze of my elation, a survival instinct kicked in. Perhaps the thought of being separated from him instigated the panicked feeling. My breath caught in my throat, and I clung to his hand as he turned to go. “Wait. We should have some safeguard. A way we can always find each other.”

  “Dr. Antos told me I could locate someone if they had a talisman.”

  “It has to be permanent, something that couldn’t be taken. I need to drink your blood.”

  “What?”

  “You’re part vampire. If I drink your blood, you can always find me. Orm told Alena that when she healed Hunter. Maybe if you drink mine, it will be the same since we’re both witches sort of.”

  “It’s worth a shot.” He bent to the ground and picked up a rock. Pushing up his sleeve, he put the sharpest side to his skin.”

  “Wait.” I pulled my knife from my sock.

  “You have a knife too? Why didn’t I use that before?”

  “I didn’t trust you before. I’ll cut myself first so your blood will help heal my cut.” I ran the blade across my arm, gasping as the pain shot up my bicep. Holding my wrist out to him, I shut my eyes.

  “What do you think is going to happen? Will I grow fangs?”

  “I don’t know.” I popped my eyes open and met his gaze.

  He took my arm and put his lips to the cut, sucking the red liquid from the wound. Several seconds passed, and he didn’t stop. “Jude.” There was no response. “Jude.” I kicked his shin.

  Abandoning his hold on my arm, he stepped back. Seeming transfixed on my cut, he blinked and looked into my eyes. “Is it bad that I liked that and didn’t want to stop? As soon as your blood hit my tongue, I couldn’t think of anything else.”

  “So, you want further proof that you’re part vampire?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I won’t ever drink your blood again.”

  “I think it’s kind of a permanent thing, so you won’t need to. Here.” I handed him the knife.

  He shoved up his sleeve and cut his arm in the same place as earlier. I lifted the cut to my mouth. His blood tasted of bitter iron, and my nose scrunched up. “Okay, yeah, I don’t want to do that again.”

  “Me vampire, you witch.” He chuckled, pressing his thumb to his wound. “Here.” He took my arm and wound some gauze around the cut. “I think you’re a little worse off than me.”

  “It will heal. Okay, so staged-fight time.”

  Grabbing my biceps, he pulled me to him, pressing his lips to mine. It was a hard kiss, not soft like the others, and I was surprised to find myself responding to his intensity. I wondered if I’d been thinking rationally with the whole blood sharing thing. Perhaps all the kissing had me confused. What if he were working for Sonia?

  “Okay. I’m ready,” he whispered as he ended the kiss.

  Falling back, I steadied myself. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t trust me,” I yelled and stomped back to the fire circle.

  He grabbed my arm. “You’re a crazy loon. You just said you loved me, and then you go on about some daft thing like witches and prophecies. I just want to screw you, not be in a relationship.”

  His language shocked me, but when I looked at the other campers, I realized it got a reaction.

  “Don’t ever touch me again. And if you ever tell a soul, I’ll make you wish you didn’t.” Stomping past the group, I ran towards my tent. Frida trailed behind me, calling for me to slow down.

  Throwing myself on my cot, I covered my head with the pillow.

  A form depressed the edge of my bed. “Camille, what happened?” Frida asked.

  “Jude is a pompous jerk and a filthy animal, just like every other male.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “No, he just thought I would be with him, and when I said no, he tried to kiss me anyway.”

  “I can’t believe Jude did that. He seemed so nice.”

  “Well, I guess he’s nice as long as he’s getting what he wants. Did he think I’d sleep with him because he saved you?”

  “Yeah, he’s crazy. He picked the wrong broad. I would’ve in a heartbeat.”

  I lowered the pillow from my face. “Are you serious?”

  “Well, yeah, before you told me all that stuff.”

  “That was my first kiss, and he ruined it.” I hid my face under my sleeping bag.

  “That sucks.”

  “Frida, I know you want to help, and you like to talk though things, but I want to be alone.”

  “No, that’s fine. I get it.” Her weight shifted off the cot. “Let me know if you want to talk.” I heard her footsteps retreating and then the tent door
open and close.

  Within a few minutes, I heard the zipper again. “Camille?” Ema, our counselor, began. “I need to ask you about the incident with Jude.”

  I sat up as she lowered herself to my cot. I hadn’t thought about the repercussions of accusing Jude of kissing me. “It was just boys being boys, a misunderstanding.”

  “Are you sure? Because Frida and the others are reporting something different.”

  “I was just embarrassed and mad that he thought I was leading him on.”

  “If he touched you against your will, that is not okay, and you need to tell me so that Jude can be handled appropriately.”

  “I don’t know.” I covered my face with my hands. Real tears formed in my eyes as I realized the mess I’d caused. “I did like him. I just didn’t want to break the rules. I think he misunderstood my signals.”

  “It is normal for a victim to rationalize the actions of their assaulters.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

  “I’m not sure his lips even touched mine. He just leaned towards me, and I thought he was going to kiss me.”

  “Are you sure? I know we haven’t gotten much of a chance to get to know each other, but you can talk to me. If you’re more comfortable talking to Dr. Antos, I can get him.”

  “No, that’s fine.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “I already put in a request to see him tomorrow. I’ll deal with it then. I just want to be alone.”

  “Okay, well, come get me if you need anything else.” She rubbed her hand down my back, stood, and exited the tent.

  Touching my lips, I could still feel the tingle of the last kiss as if his lips were still pressed against mine. Thinking of the zing and hum of magic that had filled my senses, I smiled. All I wanted to do was picture his face in my dreams, and I gathered my toiletries and made my way to the bathhouse. When I returned, I changed and slid into my sleeping bag. Hoping I hadn’t gotten Jude into a situation that would put him in jeopardy, I closed my eyes.

  Jude was strong, perhaps as strong as Alena or Theron. If he felt some kind of drive to protect me, maybe he was my guardian angel of sorts. It made sense that there would be someone destined to protect the children of light. Even as the thought crossed my mind, I could hardly believe I’d internalized the fact. I was a child of light, one of the trinity. I had to help get the sword and be united with Alena and Hunter.

  For as much as I wanted to shed my bracelet and see if I could contact them, I knew Dr. Antos would be able to sense my magic. It would put them in jeopardy if he had further access to any clues of their whereabouts. I just had to convince Mother to let me go to Sardinia. Maybe I’d fake a relapse, not even tell her about the witch stuff. I turned over the options in my head. I didn’t want to lie to her. If she were aware that my dad was a witch, and she’d kept me in the dark this long, would she fight me embracing my magic? Or would she let me make my own choice?

  Maybe I’d test whether she knew about Dad. If she did, it meant she’d been hiding the truth from me all along. If she didn’t, then I would continue Dad’s ruse. I guessed I should contact him. What if he didn’t know he was a witch? That idea seemed impossible. He hadn’t been there for me. He had failed me by not fighting for my choice to embrace my powers.

  I fell asleep and dreamed of Jude, Mom, Dad, Tyler, Dr. Antos, Alena, Hunter, Theron, and Sonia. The characters intermixed in my mind. I must’ve been thinking I’d miss my mom because I woke with tears in my eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Ruth asked as I sat up.

  “Just had a bad dream.”

  “Do you want to talk about last night?”

  “No, I don’t want to ever hear Jude’s name again.” I shoved off my sleeping bag and pulled on my outerwear.

  I kept up my ruse by stomping out of the tent and to the bathhouse, then the mess tent for breakfast, and finally to study hall. Dr. Antos called me to his office after lunch.

  “The staff informed me there was an incident between you and Jude. I talked with Jude this morning.”

  “You did? What did he say?”

  “That you told him about your visions, the prophecy, the sword.”

  “He didn’t believe me, even though he’s a witch like me.”

  “Half witch, yes. But you realize your hallucinations were just that, fabrications of your mind, right?”

  “How can that be if they held some truth?”

  “Maybe your father’s knowledge flowed through you, and your mind weaved it into a tale. A witch’s visions can be that way.”

  “Okay, I’m confused. First you said they were visions, then hallucinations, and then visions again.”

  “I believe they may have been a mix of the two. I would be interested to meet your father. But we should discuss Jude’s actions. You reported he tried to kiss you?”

  “Yes.”

  “He reports that you threw yourself at him.”

  “What? No! I don’t know. I was so emotional with him not believing me I’m not even sure what happened now.” I tried to conjure the memory of some sad incident, and I thought of my cat, Sammy, and his death. As I pictured the cat in Mom’s arms, tears formed in my eyes. “Why wouldn’t he believe me? I was going to tell you I wanted to come to Sardinia, but I don’t know if I can with things between Jude and me being so weird.”

  “You can’t base your future as a witch on a boy. Perhaps we should have a joint session. I can explain your issues, and you two could come to an understanding.”

  “I guess.” I swiped a tear from my cheek. “I think I need to talk to my dad. He never told me anything about magic or witches. I’m not even sure he practices his magic or if my mom knows about all this.”

  “I believe it would be wise to talk with your father. I’m going to fetch Jude and give you some time to call him. Here,” he held up his phone, “use this device.”

  Turning the phone over and over in my hand, I tried to figure out how I would start the conversation with Dad. I dialed the number and his familiar voice chimed in after the third ring.

  “Hi, this is Grady Thornton, leave a name and number after the tone.”

  “Dad,” I said into the device, “this is Camille. I need to talk to you. You can call on this number. Thanks. I love you.”

  Summoning all my courage, I dialed Mom’s number. She answered right away. “Camille, is everything okay?”

  “Yes, Mom, I’m fine, but I need to talk to you about Dad.”

  “Have you heard from him? I haven’t been able to contact him. I’ve been trying since last week. I thought he should know about your boating incident.”

  “No, I just left a message. It’s not like Dad not to return a call.”

  “It’s not. I tried his assistant, and he hadn’t heard from your dad in over a week.”

  “Something is wrong, Mom. Do you know Dad’s history?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like family heritage?” I hedged.

  “His family is Irish, you know that. Why does it matter?”

  “Is Tyler there? Can I talk to him?”

  “Sure, hold on.”

  After a few seconds, I heard Tyler’s voice. “Camille, we’re worried about Dad.”

  “Yeah, me too. I wish you guys had told me over the weekend.”

  “We didn’t want to worry you.”

  “He’s my dad.”

  “Okay, I know, sorry.”

  “Did Dad talk to you about any special family heritage ever?”

  “No.” There were a few seconds silence. “Wait, the only thing he ever said was something about a Thornton curse, the overwhelming feeling that he had to keep moving. Just his wandering bug, nothing more.”

  I figured Sonia and Thanatos removed Dad from the picture. They knew if they took me, he would come for me. He had probably already been captured. I prayed they’d taken him to Sardinia too.

  “Well, I have more bad news. I had a relapse. This bracelet isn’t working. I had another hallucination. Dr. Antos has a facility in It
aly. He’s had a lot of success with it.” As the words spilled out, I prayed all of this was included on his website. But, I assumed he would have made sure the public information would be congruent with any scenario.

  “Oh, Camille, that sucks. But that seems extreme. Mom really misses you. It’s almost Thanksgiving.”

  “I know, but I can’t live like this.” I sniffed to mimic crying.

  “Okay, well, I’ll let you tell Mom.”

  “Thanks Tyler, take care. And take care of Mom.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” If I’d been there in person, perhaps I would have told Tyler about his potential powers. But I had to figure out what had happened to Dad, in addition to figuring out if the sword was in Sardinia.

  “Camille.” Mom’s voice came through the device.

  Sighing, I relayed to her the same story I’d told Tyler. “Camille, I don’t know about this. What of the expense?”

  I thought fast. “He has a grant.”

  “Camille, the meds were working. I want you home. You need to finish school.”

  “Mom, you’ve been following my grades. They’re better than they’ve ever been. You need to let me make this decision. I’m almost an adult. I need to take control of my life. I can’t live on the meds forever. I won’t.” My speech grew in intensity. Most of what I’d told her was true. If they’d taken Dad, she and Tyler could be in danger too. I needed to have them out of the picture. “I’ll be home by Christmas, okay?”

  “Can’t I see you before you go?”

  “I don’t know the arrangements yet. I’ll figure it out and call you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay, sweetie, take care.”

  “You too. I love you.” Tears formed in my eyes as I ended the call. I hated lying, and I missed her. But I needed to figure out where Dad was and if I could complete the trinity.

  There was a rap on the tent wall. “You finished?” Dr. Antos asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jude followed the psychiatrist into the tent, and I bit the inside of my cheek so I didn’t smile at him. Instead I kept my eyes on my hands. “Here’s your phone.”

  “Did you talk to your father?”