Jaden (St. Sebastians Quartet #1) (12 page)

"Let's wait until the others arrive."

"I knew you'd say that." She set a coffee on the table, then looked over her shoulder. "We're not supposed to have drinks in here, but Carly usually gives me a break. I'm in here all the time and I never spill."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Hayley and Bria arrived together. The sight of the two of them was jarring. Hayley carried herself with confidence. Even in a simple, white sundress and sandals, there was an air about her that made you look her way. Bria was exotic and beautiful, but carried her insecurities like a badge of honor. She walked with her shoulders hunched. She never smiled and she never made eye contact. Hayley spoke to everyone.

"What she needs is a makeover."

Jaden saw Sydney was watching the pair approach, too.

"You noticed," Jaden said.

"She's afraid of her own shadow. We can't fix that, but we can keep her from announcing it to the world. She has victim written all over her. And Nico doesn't help."

"You can see he cares about her."

"But he hovers. She's come to him for help and he's put her in a cage. He thinks he's protecting her, but he's not. She needs to learn how to take care of herself. How to protect herself from predators who'll want to victimize her."

Jaden was surprised Sydney had noticed all those things. She seemed too rigid to note the needs of another person. Maybe Jaden had misjudged her.

"Agreed," Jaden said, as Hayley and Bria got to their table.

"Agreed about what?" Hayley asked.

Jaden and Sydney looked at each other, then Jaden said, "That I'm ready to put the Man in White in his place once and for all."

She told them about what had happened to her the previous night, downplaying the part about Kenda staying overnight with her. She wasn't ready to discuss that with anyone. Especially virtual strangers.

"He pulled you into the water?" Bria's eyes were wide. Both hands were cupped over her mouth so it was difficult to understand what she was saying.

Jaden could have played that part down, too, but she didn't think that was a good idea. If it had happened to her, it could happen to Bria and Hayley. Bria needed to be prepared. "He did."

"Then you were in his world? In the dream world?"

"I don't think I was actually in it. I think it was just a dream, like the others."

"But you said someone spoke to you."

"Yeah, but he wasn't..." Jaden paused, then started again. "The man who spoke to me didn't feel evil. Not like the Man in White. I felt peace when this man approached me. I really think he wanted my help."

"Has anything like that ever happened to either of you?" Sydney asked.

"No. Thank God," Hayley said.

Bria shook her head. "Will it?"

"Not necessarily," said Sydney. "At least, that's my guess."

"It happened because we're together," Jaden said. "I'm sure of it. He doesn't like it."

"He's gonna come after one of us next. I know it." Bria looked to Hayley. "Why don't you seem scared?"

"Being scared won't help," Hayley said as Sydney was saying, "Again, not necessarily, Bria."

"If Kenda hadn't been there, she would have died."

"Okay." Sydney motioned for Bria to settle down.

"It's not okay. What if Jaden hadn't left her purse at the gallery last night? Kenda found her floating in the pool."

"I was unconscious. I was still breathing."

"What if the Man in White comes after me when Nico isn't home?"

"We need to stay calm," Sydney said again. "Let's figure this out."

"Bria is right," Hayley said. "Maybe we shouldn't be alone right now."

"I was fine all morning and afternoon," Jaden said.

"Anything else happen last night?" Hayley asked.

"No." Then she sighed. "Kenda stayed with me, so that made me feel better. We watched Netflix. And somehow I managed to fall asleep."

"Any dreams?"

"No. And I slept nine hours. I never do that."

"You probably needed the sleep," Sydney said.

"Let me tell you what I found out today. Chimera is a place. Well, not a place, but it's mentioned in folklore." One by one, she lifted the books and showed them to the others. "Get this. I've been all over the internet, trying to find out something about a place called Chimera and came up empty. Then I get here and ask Crissy and she brings me these. They were special ordered by my aunt."

Bria sat back and hugged herself. "That's kind of creepy."

"No way," Sydney said. "Are you sure?"

"You can ask Crissy yourself." She lifted up the nameless book. "Only thing is, this one is written in some language no one understands."

Hayley reached for the book and paged through it.

"I'm not exactly sure what it's about. But it must be relevant. It looks just like the other book."

"Chimera?" said Sydney. "So what did you find out in the other book?"

"Get this," Jaden began. "The story goes that there are supposedly four daughters of Maliki Bakari Adelaja, the ruler of this place called Chimera. Maliki means king, by the way. The daughters were Adia, Winda, Kesi, and Sauda. Chimera existed in a world similar to earth, but from what I understand, it's not on earth. The Maliki had a brother, Brell Adelaja, who ruled the neighboring kingdom of Sheol. The brothers didn't get along. Maliki Brell is said to have hated Maliki Bakari. Where Bakari believed in goodness and love, his brother was only interested in power. After the death of their parents, and the dividing of the kingdom into two kingdoms, war broke out. Brell wanted all of the kingdom, but Bakari thought they should share it." She paused to check her notes on the laptop. "Now this is where things start getting interesting. Brell sought the aid of a warlock to help him get power over the entire kingdom. This warlock practiced dark magic. He told Brell that he could put a spell on Bakari's kingdom. Send it into a sort of hibernation. The hibernation would last two centuries. In this time, Brell could destroy his brother and court and people. The land would be wiped clean and the kingdom would be his. Only, Bakari had his own magician. It was a white witch. Before the warlock could enclose all of Chimera in ice, the witch sent the king's four daughters out of their world and to earth. It is said they, with the witch, were supposed to travel here where they'd be safe. With the princesses gone from Chimera, Brell couldn't destroy the kingdom. When the time was right they'd return and restore their father's kingdom. But something went wrong. The witch was injured somehow and the daughters were sent to earth unprotected. And the warlock knows. He came to earth, he followed them here to kill them. So they can't return to Chimera."

As one, they looked at her.

"I think the figure who spoke to me last night, the one encased in ice, was the Maliki of Chimera. He called me Kesi. That's the name of one of his daughters."

When nobody said anything, she went on.

"I know it sounds crazy—"

"Sounds crazy?" Sydney asked. "It doesn't just sound crazy. It is crazy. You think the three of you are the what? Reincarnated daughters of this Maliki of Chimera?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you think he's real," Bria began, "and that he thinks you're his daughter, Kesi."

Jaden shrugged. "The three of us have the same dreams. We've seen the Man in White, who I think is this warlock of Brell. Hayley painted him so vividly that Bria and I had very dramatic reactions to her painting. All of these things seem crazy. There has to be an explanation. Why is it so hard to believe the explanation may be as insane as what's been happening to us?"

"When I said I'd help, I meant help resolve this," Sydney said, "not makes things worse."

"How does this make things worse? It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Tell me you're not buying this?" Sydney looked to Hayley.

"Oh man, my head hurts." Hayley rubbed her temples. "I don't know, Jaden. This is a little weird, even for me."

"But?" Jaden said. "I can hear a but in there."

"I don't know. Crazy as it sounds, there's the ring of truth in there."

"Come on," Sydney said. "You're too smart for this." She turned on Bria. "What about you?"

Bria shrugged. "I'm not ready to rule anything out. This is the first lead we've had. Why not pursue it and see where it takes us?"

"I don't believe this. You're all lunatics." Sydney rose and disappeared behind a shelf of books.

Well, Jaden thought, they didn't have to believe her. Or maybe they did. She had no idea. But it stood to reason, if she was supposed to do something to save the people of Chimera, so were Bria and Hayley.

"I'm gonna see if I can find out anything else about Chimera," Bria said.

"And I'm gonna see if I can find a translation to this book." Hayley pointed at the nameless book. "Did Crissy say where the books came from?"

"No," Jaden said. "And I was so surprised, I didn't think to ask."

"Well, that's where I'll start." Hayley rose and went to the circulation desk.

Sydney returned with a stack of books, but Jaden didn't ask her what she was focusing on.

Two hours came and went. They'd all been reading, except Hayley who periodically went to the counter to have powwows with Crissy.

"Anything?" Hayley asked after she sat down.

Bria cleared her throat quietly. "I found the same story Jaden found. Only the website I was reading said the warlock's name. Prodigy."

"What website said that?" Hayley asked.

"It's an online encyclopedia of supernatural folklore put together by some history professor. Beryl Chambers." Bria pushed her laptop to Hayley, but Sydney grabbed it first.

"Sorry blondie, but I recognize that name."

"Who is she?" Bria asked.

"I don't know about history professor. From what I know, she's a rich lady who lives up on the cliffs in some old mansion. She just bought it a few months back."

"That creepy mansion where that kid killed his family?" Hayley crinkled her nose. "Who would want to live there?"

"Have you seen the gardens?" When nobody said they had, Sydney continued. "They were beautiful once. There's an actual maze on site. It used to be beautiful."

"When were you there?"

"She contacted me after she moved in. There were some legal matters she wanted me to handle for her."

"Let me get this straight." Jaden knew she was interrupting, but everyone seemed to be missing the point. "This Beryl Chambers talks about Chimera on her supernatural themed website, moves a few months ago, Bria moves here nine months ago, now here I am. This can't be a coincidence."

"What, do you think she pulled out her crystal ball and lured you all here?" Sydney asked.

"I didn't say that?"

"So what exactly are you saying? From where I'm sitting, it sounds pretty woo woo. And never mind that. If you did an extensive search online for Chimera, why didn't you find this site?"

Jaden shook her head. "I don't know. But I searched everywhere."

"Okay," Hayley held her hands up. "That's enough. Arguing isn't getting us anywhere." She jerked a finger at Sydney. "Jaden has a point. You can't tell me you don't find all this strange. A little too convenient?"

Sydney didn't answer at once, then she rolled her eyes. "It's a little strange, yeah, but that doesn't mean she lured you here."

"I didn't say she did," said Jaden. "I was simply pointing out all of the odd coincidences."

"We still have a few hours of daylight." Hayley looked at them, one by one. "Why don't we do a drive by and see if we get any weird vibes?"

Bria was shaking her head in the negative before Hayley had finished the sentence. "We can't do that. What if she sees us coming on the ferry. Or what if we get caught?"

"The house doesn't face the line the ferry travels, so she won't see us."

Sydney nodded. "This is an idea I can get behind."

"But you've been there before," Jaden said. "Why do you want to go back?"

"Curiosity. If some cosmic force has drawn the three of you to her, I wanna see what happens when you're all in the same vicinity. Will she sense your presence? I'm genuinely curious."

"I don't like this," Bria said. "It could be dangerous."

"Dangerous how? She's a fifty-year-old rich lady living in a mansion on an island. What could possibly go wrong?"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Jaden was the last out of the car. She slammed the door shut, then leaned against it, huffing out a breath.

Hayley threw her hands in the air. "Don't look at me. No one else saw it. What the hell was that, anyway?"

"Looked like someone had thrown bits of glass all over the road," Bria said.

"How many tires," Jaden asked, as Sydney was doing an inspection of the car.

"Only the front driver's side," Sydney said. "Not so bad, considering."

"We should have turned back when we got lost," Bria hugged herself and peered out at the trees surrounding them. "We've been driving around up here for hours."