Jaden (St. Sebastians Quartet #1) (17 page)

"But they didn't call it Chimera. They referred to it as Two Lands."

"The Kingdom of the Two Lands. That's what Zuri called it. And that's the title of the second book. The one that Hayley's trying to find a translation for."

"How is that going?"

"She's had it less than a day, so she can't have found out much. What I would love to know is how one brother could be so evil? What was their relationship like when they were children? Did Brell somehow expect that he would get the kingdom all to himself, even though he was the younger sibling? How did their relationship fracture so much? And why didn't their father see what would happen when he died?"

"I can't answer any of that, Jaden."

"We need to see Zuri. All of us need to go to her today."

"Is she still a witch in our world?"

"I'd say so. She was able to incapacitate our car so we'd have to come to her front door, and repair that same car so we could drive down the mountain and back home."

"So why does she stay here? Why doesn't she go back to Chimera and save everyone?"

"She's here to save the princesses. To bring them back to Chimera with her." Jaden raised a hand in front of her.

Kenda stood from his lounge chair, put his coffee down on the table, then motioned for her to move over.

He was in sweatpants this morning and he hadn't bothered with a shirt. She also knew that he wasn't wearing anything under his sweatpants. He was practically naked. And in the summer sunshine, with his hair mussed, he seemed perfect. Like a dream. Would she wake up back at home and find out all of this had been a dream? Even with the threat of Prodigy and the peril of the sisters, she wanted this to be real. She didn't want to lose Kenda.

"There's not much room," she said, as she shifted to make room for him.

"There's room enough." He squeezed in beside her, then sighed contentedly when she eased an arm under him.

They sat like that for a while, in the quiet of the morning. Their breaths synchronized, their arms around each other.

"When I was dreaming, when I was in his head, I remember Kesi wrapping her arms around his leg and looking up at him. She was crying and her lips were trembling; and her eyes. She was only four, but her eyes. It was like looking into your eyes."

"You're telling me I have the eyes of a four-year-old?"

"No. But I could see you in her." He shook his head. "Or maybe I can see her in you."

Jaden worked free of him and sat up. "So you think Zuri is right, that we have..." she paused to exhale. "...that we have the souls of the sisters in us?"

He didn't answer at once. He stared out toward the water, then slowly nodded. "I do. The dreams, what happened to you yesterday in the pool. Prodigy is trying to get at Kesi through you."

"What about you? Does your dream mean that somehow you're connected to the man who was Kesi's guardian?"

"I don't know. Like you said, we need to see Zuri. She's the only one who'll be able to make sense out of all of this."

"Zuri said when Kesi found her guardian, she'd know she could go home."

"And you haven't felt any change?"

Jaden shook her head. "But that doesn't mean anything, I guess." She let her head fall back against the lounge. "Who knows. This is all so confusing."

"The only thing that's not confusing is that I'm glad you're here. I'm glad all of this happened, if it's the reason I met you."

She looked at him, but wasn't sure what to say at first. She settled on honesty. "I feel the same," was all she said.

Then they were kissing.

He spread her thighs with his knee, rolled on top of her. She exhaled as the weight of his body pinned her to the sofa. In a moment, his sweatpants were down around his thighs and he'd slid into her. And for a while she forgot about Prodigy, Zuri, and the princesses. All that mattered was Kenda and the exquisite sensations thrumming through her body.

*****

Jaden was back on Kenda's deck a few hours later. They'd made love out here, on the lounge, then had gone up to shower where they'd made love again. After that, Kenda had gotten dressed and gone to the office. He'd promised he'd only be an hour or so. She figured that was the perfect time to call the girls and get them together for a visit to Zuri. She'd wait until Kenda returned, but there was no telling how long it would take to gather the ladies. She didn't have anyone's telephone number, but Kenda had Hayley's saved on his house phone. So Hayley was first on her list.

Hayley answered on the first ring.

"Hey," Hayley said. "Everything all right?"

"I'm fine, but I think we should get together."

The line was silent for a few seconds. "Okay. It's just that..." More silence. She laughed. "Oh! I'm a little slow this morning. I drank too much last night. I drank too much and you spent the night with Kenda."

Jaden looked down at his phone then swore. She hadn't even thought about how it would look, her calling from his house.

"Oh, that. Yeah." She cleared her throat and went on. At least she tried to go on, but Hayley interrupted her again.

"One night at your house, last night at his house. So is it official? You guys a couple or what? You know that means you can't move at the end of summer. You have to stay right here in St. Sebastians. I have an extra bedroom. You can move in with me if your aunt gives you the boot."

"Hold on. It was just two nights."

"I saw the way you were looking at each other last night. Once we get all this Chimera business out of the way, it'll be smooth sailing for the two of you."

"That's why I'm calling. Kenda had a dream last night. I think he's involved."

Hayley interrupted her again. "Hold that thought. Give me thirty minutes and I'll be over. Bria is here, so I'll bring her. You call Sydney. Something tells me we all need to hear this.

"What about the gallery?"

"Only open till noon on Saturdays."

As good as her word, Hayley and Bria were on Kenda's doorstep in thirty minutes. Sydney had beaten them by five. And she'd stopped at Aunt Edna's Bakery and brought pastries and bagels for their impromptu meeting. Jaden had brewed a fresh pot of coffee and brought the pot outside to a table. She poured a mug for each of them, then went back to the kitchen for milk, cream, and sugar.

"Would you get a load of this view," Sydney was saying when Jaden returned. "I'd never leave the house. We're right on the water."

"It's gorgeous," Hayley agreed. "I have a view of the ocean that's pretty spectacular, but I'm not on the water. If I were you, Jaden, first thing on my bucket list would be to make love on this deck."

Jaden pulled out a chair and sat. She couldn't help grinning. And she couldn't have kept quiet if she'd tried. "Done."

Hayley's eyes doubled in sized. Bria covered her mouth. Sydney high-fived her with a, "You go girl!"

"Talk about a smooth operator!" Hayley gave her a stage clap.

"No, not so smooth," Jaden said. "I don't know if it's real or all the stuff happening around us. It's all pretty intense. But I know I like him. Probably more than I should."

"Why more than you should?" Sydney asked.

"Look at him. He's perfect. He's beautiful and rich and he could have any woman he wants."

"And he wants you."

"We'll see how much he wants me after all the excitement of this Chimera stuff is over."

Hayley had been adding cream to her coffee. She stopped to look at Jaden. "Not for nothing, but Kenda isn't that type of guy. He doesn't have casual affairs with women. He doesn't invite women into his home. And if he ever did, which he hasn't, he'd never in a million years leave them in his house alone. He's not like Nico and Tyler."

"Tyler doesn't seem so bad."

As one, Jaden, Hayley, and Sydney looked at Bria.

"What?" Bria asked. "He seems sweet."

"Tyler? Sweet?" Hayley finished pouring cream into her coffee. "He's the worst of the lot. Why do you keep defending him?"

"He's only sweet to you because you're Nico's sister," Sydney added. "Nico would kill him if he made a pass at you."

Bria shrugged. "I like him."

"I like him, too," Sydney said, "but don't you go trusting him."

"Or falling for him," Hayley added. "He'd break your heart without even meaning to."

"I'm not." Bria fisted her hands in front of her and tried to smile. "I'm not ready to have another man in my life. I'm still recovering from the last one."

"Any word on his whereabouts?" Sydney asked.

"No. He could be in Mexico by now for all I know."

Somehow, Jaden didn't think Bria thought her ex-husband was in Mexico. She wouldn't live with Nico and have Nico walk her to work and pick her up from work every day if she did. Bria was afraid her ex was nearby.

"But you don't think so." Sydney's words mirrored Jaden's thoughts.

Bria took a few seconds to answer. Then she exhaled sharply and shook her head. "No. I think he's in St. Sebastians."

Jaden looked from Hayley to Sydney, but neither said anything. "What makes you think that?"

"I feel...you ever feel like someone is watching you? Not like Prodigy. This is different. And...and he leaves signs that he's been places where I go. Nico thinks I'm imagining it, but I'm not."

"What signs?" Hayley asked.

"He's superstitious. Very superstitious. He has this thing about finding pennies, tail side up. He thinks that's the worst omen possible. And a few times I've shown up to work and found a penny, tail side up, in front of my locker."

Jaden felt Hayley and Sydney's eyes on her.

"Don't look at each other like that." The anger in Bria's voice startled Jaden. She'd never heard Bria sound angry before. She hadn't even thought Bria was capable of anger.

"Sorry," Jaden said. "There's no judgment."

"Feels like there is."

"No, there isn't," Hayley said. "We haven't been through what you've been through. And look, you're still here. Nobody has a right to judge you, least of all us."

"It's just," Jaden explained, "that's pretty scary."

"Have you noticed anything else?" Sydney asked.

"Sometimes I think I see him out on Main or at the Downtown Mall. But he's always gone before I have a chance to get a good look."

"He knows you have a brother who lives in St. Sebastians?"

"Of course. We were married for five years. We'd visited Nico a few times. Not as much as I would have liked. Billy never liked Nico. And he'd go absolutely crazy whenever Nico's friends came around."

Jaden put her coffee down and reached across the table. "I won't let him hurt you. If you need me at any time, call me. I'll answer my phone, no matter how late or early."

Sydney reached across the table, then so did Hayley. The four women clasped hands.

"That goes double for me," Sydney said.

"And me," added Hayley.

Bria looked at them for a moment, then dropped her eyes to look at their joined hands. Jaden couldn't tell if her quivering lips heralded the coming of tears or a laugh. But it turned out it was neither. Bria thanked them, sniffled a bit, then reached for her coffee. "Enough of me," she said. "Tell us what happened with Kenda." Then she did laugh. "Not the sex. I mean with Chimera."

"Oh man," Sydney said. "I wanted to hear about the sex."

Jaden shook her head, smiling despite herself.

She told them about Kenda's dream, and how she'd had to wake him up because he was moaning and talking in his sleep. "He was covered in sweat. And he was upset. I mean, really upset."

"So what does that mean?" Hayley asked. "Is he involved?"

"I don't know. We thought that maybe he's connected somehow to Kesi's guardian, but who knows. I know you guys haven't accepted the soul connection Zuri said we share with the princesses, but I believe her. I know I'm connected to Kesi. But if Kenda is connected to her guardian I think I would have felt something change inside of me. But nothing happened. So I want to see Zuri. And she needs to see Kenda. Explain why he's dreaming about Chimera now."

"I'm not completely sold on this whole soul connection thing," Sydney agreed. "I haven't even stopped taking my meds. I did both last night, by the way. Meds and Zuri's lavender oil. I just don't believe I have any understanding of what's been happening to us for the last, oh I don't know, twenty some odd years. If you want to see Zuri, then we see Zuri."

"I'd like to know why Kenda is dreaming about Chimera, too," Hayley said. "It has to mean he's involved somehow."

"So when do you want to go?" Sydney asked.

"Kenda said he'd only be an hour or so at work. I thought we could let Zuri know we'd be coming; then head out after he gets home."

"Okay," Hayley said. "I'll call Zuri. You call Kenda and find out how much longer he's gonna be at work."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

That wasn't exactly how things had turned out. Kenda ended up having to work an extra hour, but promised he'd get to Zuri's as soon as he could. So they'd gone on without him.