The air picks up, and the dinner boxes roll like tumbleweeds in a strong gust. A faint whisper circles around me in the wind spinning violently like my own personal tornado.
“What’s happening?” My voice comes out high and tight.
“Be still.” Aidan closes his eyes, listening to the wind.
Fighting my nerves, I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and sink into the current. The whispers grow clearer, and I gasp as I hear my name on the wind.
“What is it?” Jocelyn leans forward, struggling to shield herself as it blows her hair around her face like flames dancing in the wind. “Do you hear something?”
I open one eye. “You don’t hear the voices?”
“She can’t,” Aidan says without opening his eyes.
“What voices?” Jocelyn tilts her head to the side, straining to hear.
“Gimme a minute.” I close my eye and drop back down into the stream.
“Ciara.” The ghostly voice floats between my ears, and I’m not sure if I heard it or imagined it. Confused about how to answer, I wait for the voice to continue.
“Prepare yourself. Tomorrow night, the Wheel of the Zodiac turns again, bringing the world into the tenth house. My house. Tomorrow night is the annual meeting of the Guardians, the night any new Guardians step up to their rightful place. I will bring your mother to you, for she must pass on the responsibility of guarding my stone. Prepare yourself, for you will become my rightful Guardian. She will show you the way.” Capricorn’s voice fades with the wind.
I feel a pop between my ears, like flying on an airplane, and my hair drops flat as the wind stops as suddenly as it began.
“What just happened?” Jocelyn looks pale even in the firelight as she glances back and forth between Aidan and me.
I peek over at Aidan. This whisper talk? I’m going to have to get used to it. “Could you hear that? Do they always do that?”
“No. Only under certain circumstances do the Zodiacs communicate with their Guardians. They don’t even do it the one night a year they come to Earth.”
He frowns. “In fact, most of them don’t interact with their Guardians at all.”
“Do what?” Jocelyn bounces on her butt, looking like she wants to explode.
“I just got a message from Capricorn. Somehow, I have to prepare myself to undergo the ritual. It’s tomorrow night. The night the Zodiac turns, and Taurus can gain his full powers and stay here.”
Jocelyn stretches back on the blanket, folding her hands beneath her head. “Better get to sleep then. It sounds like tomorrow is going to be pretty rough.”
Aidan takes his cue, lying down closest to the door.
I slip my coat off and curl up on my side, pulling my knees up in the fetal position with my jacket beneath my head. My mind swirls with everything waiting for me with the light of a new day. I slip into an uneasy sleep, the flashing neon lights from the casinos as my lullaby.
I sit up, my mind racing, and rub my throbbing head. I peer over at the window, squinting at the early morning light streaming through the window, mesmerized by the dust dancing lazily in the beams, and for a moment, my spirit lifts. On my knees, I crawl to the sun, stretching back out and reveling in the warmth. The night had been long and cold, and while I want to go back to sleep, I have too many thoughts whirling through my head. It’s like riding my own personal roller coaster.
My mind wanders, mulling over everything we’d have to get done today, finally stopping on the ritual tonight and an uncertain future. I’m not sure I have what it takes to go through it. What if it changes who I am? What if I can’t do what they think I can? I still don’t understand why I’m here.
With more questions than answers, I carefully move all my limbs, gingerly testing my leg, surprised that it feels mostly normal. In fact, it’s in better shape than the rest of the bumps and bruises on my body. I search through my muddled brain, piecing together the last few days, but it’s like looking in a mirror after a hot shower.
I stand and cross the room, ripping into a bag of chips. Aidan didn’t exactly do the best grocery shopping, but the chips will do for now. Chewing slowly, I hope this will all be over by tonight, and things can get back to as normal as possible.
I glance across the room at Aidan, who is snoring softly by the door. As much as I want this to be over, I don’t want him to leave. I already care for him more than I’m willing to admit. I stuff more chips into my mouth, chewing as I cross the room, and nudge Jocelyn with my toe.
Jocelyn rolls over, groaning, and peers out of one mostly closed eye. “What?”
She sits up, rubbing her head. “I feel like I was run over by a truck. What time is it?”
“It’s about seven.” I take another handful of chips and offer her the bag.
Jocelyn shakes her head, lying back down. “It’s too early.”
I set the chips down, grabbing some wood to add to the fire, and gently stoke the embers back to a flame before adding the wood. “We gotta get going. We’re meeting Sarah in a few hours, and we have to get back to my house and find Capricorn’s stone.”
“Fine.” Jocelyn slowly stands, stretching from head to toe. “I’m getting too old to sleep on the floor.”
Aidan jumps up to his feet like he’d slept in a five-star hotel, smiling at Jocelyn’s glare.
“Ready?” As Jocelyn and Aidan nod, I slip on my jacket and lead the way out.
Reno is a ghost town. It’s both disconcerting and a relief that we don’t pass anyone along the way. We park around the corner from my house, and quickly walk the distance, shielding our eyes from the glare of the sun as it glitters off the snow.
We slip through the gate, sneaking around the back of my house to see hundreds of footprints crisscrossing the yard and several holes dug in the snow. I run my eyes up the back of the house, and everything on the outside looks to be intact. Dreading the idea of going inside my own home, I take a deep breath and walk up to the patio door.
My heart sinks as I peer in through the sliding glass door, which slides open easily with a light tug on the door handle.
The living room looks as if a tornado had gone through, backed up, and gone back through the space. Everything is smashed and littered across the floor. My furniture is overturned and broken, the half-packed boxes empty and torn.
“Ciara, I’m so sorry,” Jocelyn says softly.
I glance over my shoulder, shaking my head slightly at the tears forming in Jocelyn’s eyes.
“Don’t. We can fix anything in here. We should head to my room, grab the stone and go.” I square my shoulders and march upstairs with Jocelyn and Aidan trailing behind me.
My bedroom turns out to be just as trashed as the living room. The sheets had been ripped off my bed and tossed to the floor. The mattress cut from corner to corner with the stuffing lying in heaps on the floor.
I kneel beside the pile of boxes that was the last stack I’d been packing. Frantically, I flip over the box and my stomach knots as I find it empty. I crawl around the floor, shifting pile after pile of clothes and books, before sitting back on my heels to stare at the wall. “It’s not here. I packed it in this box, but it’s gone.”
Aidan sighs deeply, closing his eyes. He shakes his head with barely any movement. “It’s here.”
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, willing myself to relax. After a couple of deep breaths, my eyes fly open. I can feel the stone.
We all freeze as the front door opens and hold our breath, listening to the muffled male voices downstairs. Heavy, deliberate footsteps slowly climb the stairs.
Jocelyn reaches over, giving the bedroom door a tiny push, careful not to shut it all the way.
I ease onto my stomach, pressing myself flat against the floor, my heart pounding.
The footsteps thump down the hallway, the wood floor creaking beneath the weight. They stop outside my bedroom, and the door slowly cracks open. He pauses, cursing as something crashes downstairs. The steps pick up, leading away from the door
and back down the stairs.
I let out my breath and turn my head to press my cheek flat against the floor, gasping as my gaze falls on a tiny wooden box beneath my bed. At their quizzical stares, I point to the box.
Aidan twists around, reaching beneath the bed and clasping the box tightly in his hands. He pushes it beneath his body. We wait, listening. After what seems like an eternity, we hear the front door slam shut.
I jump to my feet, grabbing a satchel that lays on the floor in front of me, and throw it over my shoulder as Aidan hands me the glowing box. I run my finger softly over the goat engraved on the top, feeling a slight tingle in my hand, as I shove it in my bag.
“Let’s get out of here.” I peek out the door just to be sure then fly down the stairs, taking them two at a time. On the bottom floor, I glance around, making sure we’re alone before Jocelyn and Aidan follow me to the back door. We slip out and make our way to the fence.
I hold my eye up to a split in the wood, searching as much of the front of the house as I can see. I’m just about to open the gate when a man in a police uniform crosses the yard into my driveway.
“Psst.” I whip around, searching for the source of the noise. My neighbor, Julia, whom I barely know, motions to us from her side of the fence. I cross the patch of yard, pressing up against the wood. “Hurry up. Climb the fence.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Julia’s house is warm, almost stifling compared to the freezing temperatures outside, with most of the heat produced by a roaring fire. The smell of burning wood fills the air as the firelight warms the peach-colored walls.
“Sit. Please.” Julia motions to the couch, then disappears through a doorway, returning almost immediately with a carafe of coffee, mugs, and an assortment of cookies. She sets the tray down on the coffee table and fills a cup for herself before lowering into the rocking chair near the fireplace. The chair creaks quietly as she gently rocks back and forth.
“Please, help yourselves.” She watches as we each take a steaming cup and a cookie.
I don’t know much about Julia. She’d bought her house shortly after I’d moved into mine. We’ve always been friendly but never really friends. I take a bite of my cookie and set it down on my leg, thinking about the men slinking around out front. “Thanks for helping us.”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on your place over the last two days. Men have been coming and going, breaking things and digging up your yard.” She takes a slow sip, rocking gently in her chair. Her strawberry blonde hair sways with the movement. “I’m surprised you came back.”
Unsure of what to say, I just shrug my shoulders. “I had something important that I needed to get.”
Julia studies me so intently that I fidget with my cookie. “It’s good you have your stone. I hoped that it would be safe until you returned.”
I sputter, knocking my cookie on the floor.
“What stone? What are you talking about?” I lean over, picking up my cookie, placing it carefully on the table, concentrating on the crumbs to keep from looking at Julia.
“I know you carry the birthstone. I can feel it on you. When you undergo the ritual, you’ll know these things too.”
“What are you talking about?” Nervous laughter bubbles up, but at her look, I sigh, my shoulders slumping.
“You know about this? I had a list of Guardians, but I don’t remember seeing your name. Too much has happened the last few days.” I scoot to the edge of the couch, leaning my elbows on my knees.
“Scorpio, is it?” She takes a long look at Aidan, and he nods. “I am the Guardian of Sagittarius. Our mothers are friends, but we’ve never really gotten to know each other. I went to a different school. When you moved out here, your mother asked me to move in next door and keep an eye on you. None of us ever understood why she kept you in the dark.”
How many people in my life know about the Zodiacs? I hang my head, running my hands through my hair. “Me either. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“It was forbidden. As Capricorn's Guardian, it was his issue to deal with.” Julia drains her cup, setting it gently on the mantle, and folds her hands across her lap. “The question is, what do we do now?”
I briefly wonder if I’ll ever get the hang of all the rules and regulations. “I find Taurus’s stone and put a stop to him. We’re meeting Sarah in a little while to get it.”
Julia watches me intently, her brown eyes shining in the firelight. “Are you sure you can trust her? He controls her.”
I take a sip of my coffee and level my eyes at Julia. “I’m not sure who to trust.”
Julia smiles, for the first time since we entered her house, lighting up her face and softening her appearance.
“We Guardians do our best to work together. Rarely do we have problems. I’m here to help. Our Zodiacs have long been friends, and their Guardians too. Our families go way back, and I think it’s time you and I pick up that tradition. What do you need from me? I’ve been ordered to evacuate, which I was getting ready to do when I saw you in the backyard. Those men have barely left your house, and it’s a wonder you got in without being seen. They’ve been raiding the neighborhood but so far have missed mine.” A shadow crosses her face, and she scowls into the fire, causing the flames to jump.
Jocelyn, who has been silently listening, pipes up. “We could use some sandwiches or something. If you don’t mind.”
“Of course. I have some already made.” She turns to me. “Anything else?”
“We don’t want to take your food for your trip.”
“Nonsense. I made enough, and I don’t have far to go. If all goes well, I’ll be back home tomorrow anyway.” Julia winks at me.
Sighing, I nod. “That’ll be great. Thank you.”
Julia slips from her chair, disappearing into the kitchen. I lean close to Aidan, whispering, “Does she mean what she says? Can we trust her?”
Aidan shoots a quick glance at the kitchen and nods. “It’s true about Capricorn and Sagittarius. I think we can trust her.”
Julia returns with a bag full of sandwiches and some bottled water. She reaches out to hand them to Jocelyn, pausing at the thundering bangs on the front door. She dumps the bag in Jocelyn's lap.
“Time to go.” She grabs a duffle bag from behind the couch and makes her way to the back door, the three of us hot on her heels.
Julia stops short, causing a minor collision between the rest of us as shadowed figures bang on the back door. One man takes a small step back and kicks the door, splintering it open.
“This way!” Julia dashes across her kitchen, racing for a door I hadn’t noticed. She throws it open and motions us through it. We dash down a short flight of stairs as she pulls the door closed.
We’re almost at the base of the steps when I see the second door. I burst through it as the entrance into the kitchen crashes open with a loud bang.
“Hurry!” Julia races in, slamming the heavy wood behind us and sliding a thick timber across it.
“Where are we?” I choke out the words as I bend over double, gasping for a full breath of air.
Massive bodies slam into the wood, attempting to break through it.
“I found this tunnel after I moved into this house. I’ve heard stories about weird things happening here. It leads to the ravine out back. Get out of here!” She leans against the door as our attackers work dangerously close to breaking it down.
“What about you?” I take two steps farther into the tunnel.
“Come on, Ciara, let’s go.” Jocelyn pulls on my arm.
“I’ll see you tonight.” Julia winks, and the torches that line the tunnel flare to life.
I stumble, startled by the sudden fire. “What the hell?”
“Sagittarius rules fire. Let’s go.” Aidan pushes me down the tunnel with Jocelyn behind us.
The fire blazes as we pass each torch, sealing off the tunnel. Somewhere behind me, I hear shouting voices, barely audible over our pounding footsteps as we burst through the en
d of the tunnel.
Jocelyn slowly navigates to a stop beside the bridge. We scan the streets but see no sign of Sarah. We’re a little bit early, so I hand out sandwiches and water, passing the bag to the backseat with Aidan.
I stare at mine, my appetite missing.
“You should eat that,” Jocelyn says softly.
“I can’t believe we left her. There was so much fire in that tunnel.” I take a small bite of my sandwich.
Aidan leans forward, a mouth full of bread and meat. “She’ll be okay. Her element is fire.”
Jocelyn looks at Aidan, her eyes wide. “Can Ciara do that?”
Aidan shakes his head as he swallows a mouthful of food. “Not with fire. Each Zodiac rules one of the four elements. In time, Ciara will be able to command the earth.”
His words make me choke on my sandwich. I finally get my coughing under control and wash down the food with a swig of water. Not having any answer to that statement, I finish my sandwich and fish the box out of my bag, running my fingers over the smooth wood. I gently pull on the top, the lid refusing to open as it has every time I’ve tried to open it.
“Any idea how to open this thing?” I glance over my shoulder at Aidan, who’s intently focused on his food.
“Every Guardian protects their stone in their own way. All the birthstones are unique. It probably needs a key.” Aidan doesn’t even look up from his sandwich.
Frowning first at Aidan and then the box, I turn it slowly in my hands, examining every inch, and notice a small imperfection on the bottom of the wood. I stick my fingernail in the edge and pull, popping off a tiny rectangular piece and revealing an oddly shaped keyhole.
“You’re right.”
Jocelyn drains her water bottle, tossing it over her shoulder and into the back seat. “Where’s the key?”
“I have no idea. I can’t even tell what kind of key this needs.” I stick my fingernail in the slot, trying to feel out the size and shape of the key.
The Tenth House Page 13