The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) (7 page)

Emotion flashed across his face as he held
onto my wrist in a viselike grip. “I’d rather not have to keep
rescuing you. They want you, you know.”

I knew I should play my cards right. Here was
a chance to get real information. But at the moment, I just stared
hotly into his angry but handsome face and focused solely on my
feelings of betrayal.

“I thought you were nice,” I said, my voice
raw with emotion.

Rafael let go of my wrist at once. “Maybe you
aren’t seeing what you should, Sydney,” he replied softly.

The tone of his voice alone threatened to
melt my resistance, and I could see secrets hidden in the depths of
his gray eyes. But I wasn’t sure I could really trust my judgment
at the moment.

“And how do I know that what I should see
isn’t just what I
want
to see?” I asked, locking gazes with
him.

“What is it that you want to see?” he asked
me then.

Suddenly, the conversation took an entirely
different turn. Or I should say, situation. We quit talking
altogether and just stared into each other’s eyes.

How could he be bad? I just couldn’t believe
it. His actions just now were anything
but
bad. And as
leader of the Inner Circle, he may have said some things, but he’d
saved me twice so far. And no one had seriously been hurt. Not yet,
anyway.

And then his face was only several inches
away from mine, and I could feel his breath on my lips.

"I should remain as I am, neither friend nor
foe,” Rafael whispered. There was a deep, enduring sadness in his
face.

“Why?” I asked desperately. “Why can’t you be
my friend?”

He moved even closer. “Is that what you want?
For me to be your … friend?”

And then his lips touched mine. Lightly, at
first. But at the first touch, I forgot everything else.

Cupping the back of my head with his hand, he
gently kissed my bottom lip. Instinctively, my mouth parted, and
our tongues touched. It was so intimate. Tender.

I held still, enthralled, and savoring each
moment.

And as his kiss deepened, a tremor of
excitement rippled through me. It was the kind of excitement that I
knew could quickly spin out of control. The kind of excitement that
could turn into a passionate hunger.

The kind of excitement that I could only want
to share with him.

And then he abruptly pulled away.

“This can go no further,” he said quietly,
his face hardening into a mask.

Feeling rejected all at once, I reacted by
jumping out of his car.

But he was out in a flash and headed me off
before I could take more than a few steps in the fresh snow.

I scowled at him.

“You shouldn’t be walking around right now,
Sydney,” Rafael warned. “You’re in more danger than you
realize.”

“And whose fault is that?” My scowl deepened
in response.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” he
asked arrogantly, raising a mocking brow.

That infuriated me even more. “You’re trying
to blame me for taking the tulpa in the first place?” I poked him
in the chest. “Weren’t you guys the ones who were supposed to
protect us? You know, prevent those things from even
coming
to Earth?”

“And is it our fault that you humans insist
on harming yourselves, thereby attracting the Brotherhood to begin
with?” he asked without missing a beat.

My mouth dropped open. “I’ve never seen this
side of you before,” I said, wagging my finger at him. I couldn’t
really say anything else because there was a sort of logic to what
he was saying, even if I didn’t like to hear it. I settled for
snapping at him. “I’m sure the Fae aren’t perfect either!” And with
that, I turned on my heel and prepared to go.

Rafael caught my shoulder to stop me.
Annoyed, I shrugged him off. But he didn’t let me get far. In calm,
deliberate movements, he grabbed my hand and spun me around. And
pressing me close to his chest, he brought my face within an inch
or two of his.

“I’m sorry, Sydney,” he whispered in my ear.
“It’s been a trying day. I seem to have no patience of late.”

I held out, thinking about giving him the
cold-shoulder treatment. But that only lasted about two seconds. I
didn’t seem to have any resistance when it came to Rafael.

“Why did you do all of that?” I asked in a
hoarse voice. “Are you really one of them?”

His grim eyes narrowed the tiniest bit.
“Nothing good will come of you knowing me,” he said through
clenched teeth.

“I don’t believe that.” I frowned, shaking my
head. “I don’t want to believe that you’re on the same side as the
Mesmers. I can’t believe you’re one of them.”

He went very still. “If I seem that evil to
you …” he began in a thick voice and then paused a moment before
adding, “That is a bit upsetting.”

“I knew it,” I said, holding onto the
implication in relief. “I knew you weren’t really bad! Are you
spying?”

His eyes lingered on me longer than
necessary, and the muscle of his jaw visibly tightened. “You should
really be getting home,” he replied, switching subjects.

I knew that meant I had gotten too close to
the truth.

“I’ll give you a ride home,” he continued as
he grabbed my arm and escorted me back to the Bentley.

Settled safely inside, I waited for him to
join me, and he’d barely turned the key when there was a rap on my
car window.

Jumping, I looked up to see Jareth peering
in.

Rafael zipped my window down. “I’m not in the
mood to deal with you right now, Jareth.” He checked himself with
difficulty. “Be gone.”

“Tempting,” Jareth said, crossing his arms
and planting his feet wide apart. “But I don’t trust you anymore.
I’ll not let you take Sydney without a fight.

“Don’t tempt me,” Rafael said, his voice
suddenly turning fierce. “You know I can get barbaric.”

Jareth merely shifted his stance, looking
more formidable by the moment.

And then Rafael froze. Tilting his head to
one side, he glanced up at Jareth. “I need your help,” he said
suddenly.

Jareth looked at him in surprise and assumed
a surly expression. “You have nerve.”

Rafael merely shrugged. “Perhaps. But now, I
simply need your help.” Getting out of the car, he tossed the keys
over the top to Jareth.

Jareth caught them with a deft twist of his
wrist.

“Take the Bentley,” Rafael said, leaning down
to lock gazes with me. “It’ll help you outrun the Mesmers. They’re
coming.”

And then without even waiting for a response,
Rafael spun on his heel and disappeared into the night.

Jareth didn’t need to be told twice.
Apparently, he knew that Rafael was speaking the truth. Slamming
the car into gear, he jammed his foot on the gas pedal, and we flew
into the street.

I was too apprehensive to speak and spent my
time searching the dark shadows of the night flying by us for any
sign of glowing Mesmer eyes.

But I didn’t see anything.

And soon enough, we were pulling into Al and
Betty’s driveway.

“How can this place be safe?” I asked,
casting a skeptical eye over the brightly painted blue house. “They
got in before.”

“They can’t now,” Jareth said with an
arrogant shrug. “Not without killing me first. And they so
desperately want me alive right now.”

“Really?” I blinked in surprise.

He snorted at me and opened his mouth to make
some sarcastic comment when his gaze strayed to the cup holder. “Do
you see that, Sydney?” His eyes widened in disbelief, and he
grabbed my hand.

I looked at the cup holder. “It looks like a
normal cup holder—” I began.

Waving me impatiently aside, he reached into
it, pulled out a black protection rune, and held it up.

I stared at it a moment. It was shiny and
new, and it looked just like the one he’d given me. “I don’t get
it,” I said.

Jareth’s expression was impenetrable. “It’s
the rune I gave Rafael. He still trusts me. It’s still
working.”

It was thought-provoking, but I wasn’t
exactly sure what it meant. I was on the fence where Rafael was
concerned.

Flipping the rune in his fingers, Jareth
tucked it away and then looked over at me. “You’re safe here. Get
out. Run along now. I’ve got some business.”

Scowling at him, I got out.

He was already moving the car before I closed
the door, and then pulling away, he zoomed down the street. He
didn’t look back, but he must have known I was watching him because
he waved a lazy hand out of the window.

My scowl deepened. “You’re such a brat,” I
muttered as I watched him go. And then feeling alone, I stepped
into the house.

I met Al and Betty in the kitchen, bundling
into their coats. Apparently, they’d been invited to a Christmas
party and asked me if I cared to join them.

“No, thanks,” I said. I wasn’t really in the
mood.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok by yourself?”
Betty asked in concern.

“Of course!” I replied. After all, I’d been
by myself for most of my entire life. And then I spied Tigger
snoring in front of the refrigerator. “And I’m not really by
myself,” I said, hooking my thumb in the bloodhound’s
direction.

They left a few minutes after that, promising
to be home in a couple of hours.

And then I heard Al’s truck leaving, and I
was alone … in a quiet house.

A too quiet house.

The only sounds were Tigger’s heavy breathing
mingled with the ticking of the kitchen clock.

In less than five minutes, I regretted my
decision.

It’s only a few hours before they’re back,
Sydney
, I told myself.
And you can call Jareth if there’s a
problem.

Not that he’d come
, I amended
sarcastically.

Time slowed to a crawl.

I turned all the lights on in the house and
moved to the family room to watch TV, trying to pretend I wasn’t
nervous. But after a few minutes, I decided it wasn’t worth lying
to myself. And dashing to my room, I dove under the covers and
clutched Jareth’s protection rune tightly in my hands.

Somehow, that felt safer.

I passed the time thinking of Rafael, trying
not to think of his kiss. After all, he was probably a jerk. But
that really didn’t do anything to stop me from reliving the moment
again and again, all the while grinning like a fool.

I guess the stress finally caught up with me.
Gradually, I got drowsier and eventually fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up
groggily and unable to shake the vague, disquieting feeling that
something was in the room with me.

For a brief moment, I could have sworn that I
saw the mutant tulpa in the corner of the room near the ceiling.
But by the time I’d focused my eyes, the shadowy image had
disappeared, leaving me to doubt my sanity.

I shuddered involuntarily.

Darting out of my room, I headed straight for
the kitchen.

It was late. Everyone should have been home
by now. But by the time I began to freak out on all the possible
things that could have happened to them, I saw the light blinking
on the answering machine.

The first message was from Grace saying
they’d decided to watch a double-feature. The second message was
from Al and Betty, saying they’d be late.

Relieved that they were safe, I checked the
locks on the windows and doors. And then since we were out of
hotdogs, I had to physically lug Tigger from the kitchen into my
bedroom. It took a lot of effort. He kept falling asleep along the
way. But finally, I had him installed in my room.

After giving me a gentle lick on the hand, he
curled up with a contented sigh and promptly fell asleep.

I felt better with him next to me.

Jerry was awake, sitting in the corner of the
cage. I gave him a few seeds and stared into his little black eyes.
He looked so old and wise. He never failed to make me feel
loved.

A little calmer now, I returned to my bed,
but still awake and wide-eyed.

I stayed that way for some time, but again, I
must have drifted off at some point, because I woke up to the sound
of Tigger barking.

Instinctively, I thought of Jareth’s
numbers.

This time, about two seconds later, Jareth
appeared with his trion at the ready.

“What is it?” he asked, scanning the
room.

I glanced around. I didn’t see anything.
Jareth’s rune was cool in my pocket.

Tucking his trion away with a little flip, he
looked down at me. “You look a little … unhinged.”

“Tigger barked a warning,” I explained,
clearing my throat a bit uneasily. “Do you think it was the
Mesmers?”

Arching a cynical brow, he leaned over and
prodded Tigger with his foot.

Tigger snored in response.

“The only reason that hound ever barks is for
food,” he said with a dry chuckle. “He’s probably dreaming of
hotdogs.”

And then he moved to peer out of the window
and frowned.

As his scowl deepened, I asked him with
growing panic, “What is it? Are they here?”

When he didn’t answer, I crept up behind him
and looked out myself.

I didn’t see anything.

“He’s out there,” Jareth said softly.

“He?” I asked, a shiver running down my
spine.

“Rafael,” he said the name reluctantly.

I squinted into the darkness, but I only saw
the outline of the tall fir trees against the dark wintry sky. But
then remembering Al’s night-vision goggles, I ran to the kitchen
drawer and dug them out.

I returned to find Jareth standing right
where I’d left him with his arms folded, glaring out of the window.
Adjusting the night-vision goggles, I peeked over his shoulder.

I didn’t see Rafael. But then I saw Ajax,
staring straight at me from the edge of the greenbelt. I nearly
dropped the goggles.

Soon I saw Rafael’s tall form moving behind
him.