The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4) (15 page)

I closed my eyes, heaving a sigh of relief that at least Ajax was going to be ok.

I heard Rafael murmuring and Al was moving closer to the table.

I followed.

The vein on Rafael’s temple pulsed as his long, elegant fingers flew deftly over Tigger’s body. Tigger’s wounds had been healed, at least on the outside. His fur was as shiny and glossy as I’d ever seen it, but he was breathing in shallow, jerky motions. His eyes were open.

“It’s only for a few minutes,” Rafael whispered then.

My mouth dropped open and I glanced at Rafael in silent question. The sadness in his gray eyes confirmed my fear.

Tigger wasn’t going to make it.

“It’s ok, buddy,” Al said, his voice pulsing with emotion as he leaned down to kiss the top of the bloodhound’s furry head. “You’ve done your duty, soldier. You can go.”

Rafael and Brock stepped back.

As if in a dream, I reached over and grabbed Tigger’s paw but more for my own comfort than his. He only had eyes for Al, eyes that looked up at the big man with pure worship.

With a soft groan, Tigger breathed his last. His big, brown liquid eyes closed forever and his soul slipped away.

I gulped, in complete shock.

All I could think about was the fact that Tigger had just saved my life.

Actually, by destroying Blondie’s Earthly body he’d saved all of our lives.

And if I made the right Blue-Threaded choice, Tigger just might have saved the entire planet.

And in that moment, the thing that hurt the most was the realization that the world would never know that they’d just been rescued from an eternity of fear by the most unlikeliest of heroes: an aged, tubby brindle bloodhound with a heart of gold and an insatiable taste for hot dogs.

Al stood there, silent and with his head bowed.

Unable to really believe that Tigger had truly gone, I bent down and kissed his big, black nose. I half expected the tip of his tail to wag, accompanied by a loud, wheezing bark of a request for a hotdog. But he didn’t move. His soft melting eyes really had closed forever. I didn’t think I’d ever meet another dog with his sweet, trusting nature ever again. I was really going to miss him.

“I’m never going to be able to walk into the kitchen and look at the refrigerator again without thinking of him,” I said in a wavering voice.

Al’s sharp blue eyes zoomed to mine and even though his eyes were bright with tears, he smiled. “That isn’t really a bad thing now, is it, kiddo?” he asked. “There’s no better way to honor the fallen than to keep them alive in our hearts and cry for them now and then.”

I just nodded. I had to be careful. I was close to losing it completely.

I stepped back.

Around me, the Fae Protectors worked to restore the kitchen, shifting the Mesmers bodies away and removing all evidence of what had just taken place.

I watched Ajax approach the table where Tigger lay, looking as if he just happened to be peacefully snoozing there. The Doberman sniffed him a moment and then pinned his ears flat against his skull before moving on to sniff me carefully as if reassuring himself that I was unharmed. Looking into his dark almond-shaped eyes filled with concern, I didn’t care what he thought. I dropped to the floor next to him and hugged him as hard as I could.

Rafael reached down to collect me into his strong arms and hold me in a close embrace. I pressed my face against his chest and ground my teeth tightly together, determined not to cry.

Jareth moved to stand next to Al. With his dark eyes dropping to Tigger’s inert form, he said, “I wish I could have come sooner. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Tigger lived a happy life and got to say goodbye. That’s a life perfectly lived,” Al replied and then he clasped Jareth’s shoulder in a warm gesture. “And I’m glad to see you looking hale and hearty, kid. You had me worried for a bit.”

It took me a moment to recall that Al had last seen Jareth lying on the floor, thinking along with the rest of us that he’d died as well.

They began talking in low voices, but I moved away.

The kitchen now looked like it always had, giving no hint of the events that had taken place. I wondered if I would ever be able to relax in it again.

I heard the rumble of Betty’s truck.

Smacking their arms diagonally across their chests, the Fae Protectors filed in front of Tigger, giving him a respectful salute of farewell. The last one vanished just seconds before Betty and Grace bustled through the front door.

“What happened?” Betty asked, waving the clouds of mist aside as she dumped a bag of groceries onto the countertop.

“Weird,” Grace mumbled.

But catching sight of our faces, they both pulled up short, alarmed.

Betty’s face crumpled and Grace put her knuckles to her mouth. Her big brown eyes were wide.

I escaped, unable to handle any more sadness. I really didn’t want to lose control and cry. I didn’t want to feel it. It just hurt too much.

I headed for my bedroom, and Ajax followed, watchful and protective.

I reached down and let my fingers glide over his soft velvety fur. “Take it easy, buddy,” I whispered, my eyes misting with emotion. “You almost died back there. You should be resting.”

He held still under my hand, and then closing his eyes, nuzzled my fingers in a soft embrace before assuming a protective stance once again. He kept pace with me as I walked, his shoulder plastered against my knee and with his lip drawn back enough to show half of his teeth.

It made me feel safe.

Reaching my door, I opened it a crack, but then Ajax pushed past me to knock it back against the wall and charge inside. After a moment, he relaxed and glanced back at me, silently informing me it was safe to enter.

I did, though a bit uneasily.

“What makes dogs so brave and loyal?” I asked him as I came up to his side. I ran my hand over the top of his head.

He just sat there.

I looked around at my room then. There was nothing unusual or out of place. Except the fact that Jerry was awake. He stood on his hind feet in the middle of his cage, his little black eyes zeroed in on mine.

“I’m glad the Mesmers can’t hurt you,” I said, coming up to kiss the top of his cage. “You’re safe in there.”

He just stood there, looking at me. It was a little weird, so I opened the cage and scooped him out. Cradling him close, I kissed his pink twitching nose and stuffed him into my sweatshirt pocket. He’d been used to spending a lot of time there in the past. And right now, I wanted to be with those I loved.

A movement through my bedroom window caught my attention and I stepped closer to peer outside.

Al and Rafael were carrying Tigger to the edge of the yard with Grace and Betty following. Jareth walked behind them, shovel in hand. They laid Tigger softly in the grass and then Betty and Grace leaned their heads lovingly on Al’s shoulders as they all stood back to watch Jareth dig the grave. I guessed that Rafael couldn’t really help much, since the shovel was made of iron.

My throat closed. I just couldn’t join them. I wondered if Al was going to hate me for not being there, but I was so devastated I couldn’t make my feet move. I simply stood there, observing them through the window, feeling worse by the moment.

It was like watching the saddest movie that I’d ever seen. They kissed Tigger the last time and then lowered him in his final resting place. Finally, they finished. One-by-one, they filed away to return to the house, leaving Al to stand there alone with his head bowed.

I stood in my bedroom window, filled with sorrow and still refusing to let myself cry.

It was almost dark before Al turned on his heel and headed towards the garage.

By the time he stepped through the back door, I was standing there, waiting for him, unable to recall how I’d gotten there so fast.

“I’m sorry, Al,” I said in a flat voice. “I couldn’t … be there.”

Al gave me a one-armed hug and I knew he understood. I mean, I could tell he
truly
understood.

“Each of us grieves in our own way, Sydney,” he said. There were still tears in his eyes. It made my heart break. “One way isn’t better than the other. They’re just different, that’s all.”

I swallowed.

And then Jareth and Rafael were there, joining us.

“What happened, Sydney?” Rafael asked quietly, coming to my side to loop my fingers through his. “I was caught in a trap and transported back to Avalon with Jareth. We couldn’t escape until Blondie’s control was broken.”

I caught my breath, suddenly remembering what Blondie had said.

“The portal,” I gasped, surprised that I’d actually forgotten it until now. “Blondie was there. He’d created the portal in the kitchen. I ran into it. He was getting ready to open it so they could come in.”

“The
kitchen
?” they all repeated at once.

Numbly, I shook my head and repeated the entire sequence of events. In the middle of it, Rafael waved his hand and a few Protectors from the Fae Command Center appeared. After listening for a few moments, they disappeared with Jareth into the kitchen to investigate.

Al just stood there the entire time with his arms folded and two lines carved between his eyebrows.

“We’ll find it, Sydney,” Rafael reassured me when I’d finished. “You’re looking exhausted. You should rest.”

“I’m gonna give Jack a call,” Al said then with a long low whistle. “We’ve got work to do. They’re not going to open this portal, not on my watch. I’m sure Jack will have a few ideas of how we can locate the thing.”

I nodded, feeling the tiniest ray of hope. Maybe things weren’t so dire after all. Taking a deep breath, I followed Al back into the kitchen with Rafael close behind me.

Jareth and the Fae were still there. They’d brought a crystal and had placed it in the center of the kitchen table. It looked more like an artistic centerpiece than some finely-tuned instrument of Fae technology.

I could hear Grace and Betty in the family room watching TV as I sat down at the table, cupping my chin in the palm of my hand.

It didn’t take Al long to get ahold of Jack. And after a brief exchange of information, Al began to pace and just listen to Jack speaking on the other end of the phone.

Apparently, Jack had a lot to say because Al interrupted with only the occasional, “Right. Gotcha.”

Al yanked his Neighborhood Watch notebook out of his pocket and, slapping it down on the table, began to write down a list of equipment.

I leaned forward to squint at the words: an EMF detector, a thermometer, a portable motion sensor, Snapple, and something called a geomagnetometer.

“I’ll catch up with you later then, Jack,” Al said his goodbye, jamming the phone’s off button with his thumb. Turning to Jareth, Rafael, and the two Fae Protectors, he asked, “Did you boys find anything?”

I could tell by their faces that they hadn’t.

“It’s a matter of calibration,” one of the Protectors offered.

“Maybe,” Al said. “Jack thinks we should go the ghost-hunter route.”

They embarked on a huge discussion then. All of them.

The Fae explained they could detect the portal through light and mirrors. I was even more confused at the end of their explanation than I was at the beginning.

Al’s proposal really did seem to make sense in kind of a meandering way. He and Jack wanted to build a huge EMF detection meter to set off an alarm when the electromagnetic fields changed. Jack had apparently augmented the standard EMF detection meters with a few twists of his own—hence the Snapple—that he’d successfully used to find ghosts. At least I understood their proposal a bit more, even though I wasn’t convinced about the ghost part. And the Snapple bottles seemed odd.

As I listened, I dug Jerry out of my pocket and stuck him in one of Betty’s empty lasagna pans. Settling him in with a couple of croutons and a capful of water, I grabbed an empty paper towel roll and began making a bed for him. I was going to keep him near me for a bit. I needed his soft, fuzzy warm support.

The discussion carried on until Al stood up, crossing his arms a little emphatically. “I don’t think you boys are gonna see it if you really can’t access the Second Dimension like you say.”

I looked up then, thinking that was a good point. But from the expression on the Protectors’ faces, it didn’t seem like it mattered.

Rafael caught my gaze and sent me a warm, reassuring smile before answering Al. “It’s a disturbance. They may not be able to access it, but they certainly should be able to detect it.”

“They didn’t before,” Jareth pointed out darkly.

“Now we know what we’re looking for,” one of the Protectors replied. “We won’t miss it again.”

Al pondered that for a moment and then resolutely shook his head. “Well, good luck with that, but I’m going my route,” he said, stubbornly standing his ground. “Jack and I have an idea here that seems worth a bit of time.”

I nodded. Jack and Al had never failed me yet. The Fae obviously didn’t share my sentiments. It made me doubt myself. They were highly advanced. And they already knew how to shift dimensions. Perhaps they were right.

“Then we’ll keep each other updated,” Rafael merely replied with a courteous nod of his chin.

He didn’t fool Al for a second. Al just clapped him on the back and chuckled. “I have no foolish pride, kiddo. If I’m wrong, I’ll admit it, but it can’t hurt to try both now, can it? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve work to do. I need to rustle up some empty Snapple bottles.”

Saying goodbye, Al pocketed his notebook and headed out to his truck.

I watched him go.

“That’s never going to work,” Jareth grumbled, folding his arms.

“Then what is your plan?” Rafael asked, turning on him. “You seem unhappy with both proposals.”

Jareth just shrugged.

“Al means well, but we have access to more advanced technology,” Brock said, sounding a bit pompous. “We can find it faster.”

“Then let’s begin,” Rafael said, reaching for the crystal.

I stared at the crystal a bit skeptically. I was really on the fence this time. Yeah, the Fae were advanced and a ghost detector with Snapple bottles sounded a bit crazy. But then, my heart tugged and I decided I’d follow my gut. All said and done, I guess I couldn’t help but have an extra toe in Al’s camp.