The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) (12 page)

“What’s going on?” I asked, nodding back at the mall. “You aren’t really one of them, are you?”

There was a haunted look in his eyes as he replied, “I’ve always been part of the Inner Circle, Sydney. Since childhood.”

“But you aren’t bad,” I insisted. “You keep saving me. Protecting me.”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t?” His gray eyes were alive with feeling.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

He guided me across the parking lot to his Bentley. In silence, we got into the car, and I watched him pull out onto the street and effortlessly navigate through the Christmas rush. His jaw was firm, his eyes riveting whenever they strayed across mine, but for the most part he kept his gaze focused on the road.

He didn’t speak until he’d pulled into Al and Betty’s driveway. Leaning against the steering wheel, he said in a low voice, “Fate isn’t something you can fool, Sydney. I should have known that.”

I could barely make out his stricken expression in the dark. Abruptly, he abruptly struck his fist against the window.

“And in spite of the fact that you’re making this even harder, I have only myself to blame for this whole situation,” he said with a wince. “I’ve already failed.”

“Making it harder?” I repeated, my brows lifting in surprise.

“Your message this morning,” he said, lowering his voice.

I frowned in confusion. “Asking you to leave me alone? What are you talking about?”

He stiffened and then gave me a long steady look. “Leave you alone?” Nodding sharply, he waved at the house. “You’re home now. You can leave.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. I wasn’t about to leave. “What—”

“Go, Sydney,” he said abruptly. Closing his eyes, he whispered, “Please, just go.”

Each syllable was cold and felt like a dagger through my heart.

Suddenly hurt, I reacted by doing just as he suggested. I kicked the door open and jumped out. And as soon as the car door slammed shut, he tore out of the driveway, zoomed down the street, and was gone.

“Psycho!” I scowled.

Grabbing my phone, I dug up our conversation from that morning and read it again.

My heart stopped.

I’d meant to type “Leave me alone”. Autocorrect had changed it to “Love me alone”.

Stunned, my eyes locked onto his reply.

Of course!
Of course, he would love me alone.

I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, the implications were horrendous.

It had all been hypothetical before, but now I
really
internalized just what it would truly mean if Rafael were to love me.

It meant that he would suffer. He’d carry an unbearable burden the rest of his life, the knowledge that he was responsible for destroying the Tree of Life.

I couldn’t let him love me. I loved him too much to hurt him in that way.

I wanted to cry, but tears refused to come.

“Are you coming in, kiddo?” Al’s voice asked in the darkness by the garage.

“I’m scared, Al,” I said, rooted to the spot. My voice was shaky.

I heard his footsteps crunching down the driveway towards me. “What’s happened—” he began.

But I lunged at him and hugging him tightly, buried my face in his solid, warm shoulder. “I think I’ve done something really wrong,” I said, my voice wobbling. “I think I made Rafael fall in love with me.”

Al patted me on the head. “No one can
make
someone fall in love, kiddo,” he said. “If he’s in love with you, it’s his own choice.”

“But he can’t,” I whispered, horror-stricken.

“Why not?” he asked. “You’ve got feelings for that kid, too. It’s plain on your face every time you look at him.”

I didn’t know how to tell him, so I settled for saying, “It can’t end well. I can’t let it happen.”

“Real love won’t be denied, Sydney,” Al said with a laugh. “You can pretend you don’t feel it, but that won’t make it go away. That’s one of the ways you know it’s real.”

I lifted my chin stubbornly. “We’ll see about that,” I said.

“Sure thing,” he said, reaching over to pat me on the head again. “Why don’t you help me take in the trash since you’re out here?”

We didn’t say anything else as we dragged the trashcans back to the garage, and feeling miserable, I slipped into a comfortable pair of sweats and an oversized T-shirt and went directly to bed.

It was a horrible night.

I couldn’t sleep. I’d never felt more depressed in my life.

I tossed and turned, feeling absolutely hideous inside.

At some point, I fell asleep, because all I recalled was being startled awake with a jerk and a sudden sense of falling.

For a moment, I stayed as I was, eyes closed, flat on my back.

But then I knew I wasn’t alone.

A blanket of fear and depression settled over me, so strong I could hardly open my eyes.

And then I saw it.

Close to the ceiling, hovering over Jerry’s cage, with its long, black, snake-like appendages, was the mutant tulpa, reaching out for me.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t. My body was paralyzed. I could only watch as the tulpa’s black feelers insidiously stretched out in all directions. Several black, oily coils protruded from what seemed to be its head, and as one of its black legs touched the top of Jerry’s cage, the tulpa instinctively jerked back as if it had been burnt.

And then it moved.

It began to slink my way, its long spindly legs reaching out for me. It was a hideous thing to see and even worse to feel. The full weight of the fear it exuded overwhelmed me, physically pushing me down into the bed. Immediately, I wanted to give up. I didn’t see the point of fighting. It would just be easier to let the fear consume me and to let it turn me into itself.

Jerry’s wheel squeaked.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the tiny mouse sitting on his haunches. His little black eyes, always so wise, were riveted upon mine.

And somehow, that was enough. Enough for me to desperately start recalling Jareth’s numbers.

Slowly.

One by one.

It was torturous. I could hardly breathe. I was so consumed with all-encompassing fear that I could scarcely remember the next number in the sequence. But I focused my gaze on Jerry’s pink little nose and ignored the mutant tulpa as it began to descend from the ceiling.

The tulpa was only inches away from me when I remembered the last number.

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. If Jareth didn’t come, I didn’t want to see the tulpa as it ate me.

But Jareth
did
come.

Instantly.

One moment, I was lying on the bed, preparing to be assimilated, and the next I heard Jareth swearing, and then he’d shifted me away. Suddenly, the heavy weight of fear was gone, and I could breathe again.

I heard Ajax barking loudly. If you could call his vicious combination of snarling, growling, and roaring that. It jolted me out of my lethargic state.

Opening my eyes, I shot upright, bumping my forehead directly into Jareth’s nose, but he hardly seemed to notice.

Savoring the ability to simply breathe again, I glanced around, recognizing at once that I was sitting on the floor in Rafael’s living room.

Ajax was staring out of the window in the direction of Al and Betty’s house. He was on the alert; every muscle in his lean body was rigid as he savagely screamed at the top of his lungs.

Over our heads, Jareth’s white pigeon, Galahad, was flying in circles and making noises I didn’t know pigeons could make. A chilling sort of squawking shriek.

Jareth rose from my side, and his eyes focused to something on the other side of the living room.

“Who told
you
to come?” he asked acidly.

Scrambling to my feet, I whirled to see Rafael step into the room.

He was pale, and his face was filled with concern. Ignoring Jareth, he was at my side in an instant, pulling me to his chest in a comforting embrace.

I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop myself from holding onto him tightly. I was just glad he was there. It felt so right to be cradled in his arms. The touch of his skin was warm and comforting, and for a time, I didn’t care about anything but staying there.

He kissed me lightly on the top of the head and stepped away. 

He turned on Jareth then. And he wasn’t pleased.

“They almost succeeded,” he said in clipped tones. “You’re not keeping a close enough eye on this!” He struck his fist against the wall.

“What?” Jareth asked, astounded. “How can you—”

But Rafael ignored him and turned back to me. Gently cupping my chin in his hand, he forced my eyes to look into his. “Your fear is only making them stronger. You must learn to control it, Sydney. You have to.”

I just stared at him, unable to see how I’d ever be able to control
anything
when utterly terrified.

His expression softened. “Take Ajax with you. Please.”

I managed a nod.

His hand dropped, and his eyes slid from mine back to Jareth. “They let that tulpa loose again, and they’ll make another move soon,” he warned. “They know their time is running out.”

“I’ve heard. It’s all they chatter about,” Jareth replied, folding his arms and appraising Rafael with a wary eye. “They keep talking about the portal. Do you know where it is?”

Rafael’s jaw clenched. “I had hoped
you
would know.”

They stared at each other, untrusting.

Rafael tilted his head to the side. “Melody is coming. Leave. At once.”

Jareth didn’t need to be told twice. But he did mutter, “It’s uncanny how you know that, especially since the Queens banished your light.”

A moment later, Jareth and I were standing back in my room, along with Ajax and Galahad.

Jerry was sitting in his wheel, giving himself a bath. He looked up when we arrived. I ran to his cage and rested my cheek against it, glad the little mouse was safe.

Holding his hand up for silence, Jareth lifted his trion, and a spark of light shot out to form an expanding bubble that eventually encompassed the entire room.

“There,” he said with a nod of satisfaction. “It’s safe to talk now. No one can hear us.”

I licked my dry lips. I didn’t like being back in my room. I scanned the ceiling for signs of the evil tulpa as Ajax began to sniff the area, and Galahad flew to perch on the curtain rod.

Suddenly, Jareth turned on me and ordered, “Say something, Sydney. It’s scary when you’re quiet.”

I swallowed. Finally, in a hollow voice, scarce above a whisper, I said, “I’ll never be able to sleep in here again.”

Never.

That tulpa had tried to kill me twice in that room.

Jareth’s gaze swept the ceiling. “It isn’t the room, Sydney,” he replied. “It’s you. It’ll find you anywhere.”

That response was the worst I could‘ve imagined. I dug my nails into my palms to keep myself from screaming out in terror.

“What were you doing?” he asked. “Whatever it was, it was practically an invitation.”

“I was just sleeping …” I began. My voice trailed off as I recalled the overwhelming depression I’d felt before falling asleep. The loss of having to walk away from Rafael. And the pain of having to hurt him so that
he would
walk away.

Jareth’s dark eyes widened, and I knew he was half-reading my mind.

Gripping my arm, he led me to sit at the foot of the bed and then sat down next to me. “You know, it won’t work, Sydney,” he commented conversationally. “You can’t fool fate.”

I didn’t feel like having this talk, so I stole a page from Rafael’s book and just switched subjects.

“How do we stop this thing from coming back?” I asked, suppressing a shudder. Grabbing my pillow, I hugged it to my stomach for comfort.

Jareth just looked at me grimly. “I don’t really know, Sydney. I’m not sure it
can
be stopped.”

I scowled at him. He hadn’t said one hopeful thing
yet
.

Jerry’s wheel squeaked, and we both glanced up at the sudden sound. But it wasn’t the tiny gray mouse that caught my attention.

It was Galahad.

The pigeon had descended from the curtain rod to perch on top of Jerry’s cage. His head was twisted to one side, and his eyes were glued upon the mouse.

“What is it, Galahad?” Jareth asked curiously.

The bird ruffled its feathers and then sailed over to lightly land on Jareth’s shoulder.

Jareth frowned and whistled under his breath.

“What is it?” I asked uneasily. I’d always found Galahad to be a little creepy.

“Jerry’s not an ordinary mouse,” Jareth murmured, advancing upon the cage.

I leapt to my feet and rushed to his defense. “He’s not evil.”

“Psht.” Jareth made a disgusted sound at me. “That’s obvious. But he’s not normal. Galahad says he’s old—older than time.”

I frowned and turned to look into Jerry’s wise black eyes. It was odd. I’d felt that he was ancient and wise myself often enough.

But then Jareth shrugged. “Galahad’s been wrong before,” he said.

Galahad apparently understood that because he reached over and nipped Jareth’s ear. Jareth responded with a dark look and flicked the bird’s beak with his finger.

A little edgy, I returned to sit cross-legged on the bed. “What’s this portal you were talking about with …” I let my voice trail away. I couldn’t even say Rafael’s name. It was too painful.

Jareth frowned, but he did answer. “It’s the only thing the Brotherhood talks about. Continually. They’re coming, Sydney. This portal will let them come from the second dimension back to Earth.”

I shuddered. “Then we’ve got to destroy it!”

Jareth expelled a long breath. “No kidding. What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” He looked at Ajax still sniffing around the room and added softly, “And it looks like Rafael has been trying to do it, too.”

I glanced up at him. “You’re saying Rafael is on our side for sure, then?” I asked.

Jareth grimaced. “Oh, he’s definitely walking his own path, apart from the Inner Circle,” he admitted somewhat reluctantly. “A path Melody’s not pleased with.”

At the mention of Melody’s name, I recalled the video on my phone.