Looking for Lucy Jo (15 page)

‘No, no…’ murmured Kim.

‘Please be calm,’ said Aria softly, as her niece exchanged looks with Emma.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Sonia.

‘You… you…’

Aria stepped forward to place a hand on Kim’s arm, but the woman turned, stumbling, and ran into the house, searching for Archie.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Eleanor as she approached them with a walking stick in one hand and a glass of port in the other. ‘Oh hello, you must be Aria, Luis’ sister. It’s lovely to finally meet you. I’ve heard much about you.’

Aria smiled warmly and waited for Eleanor to put her drink down on a nearby table before returning to shake her hand.

‘Likewise. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eleanor.’

Emma and Sonia both stood silently, trying to figure out what was going on with Kim, when suddenly Archie appeared in the doorway. His face like thunder, he slowly approached the women. With every step, the earth beneath his feet seemed to shudder until the whole building shook.

‘Archie,’ Eleanor shouted. ‘You must stop this at once.’

But he had angry eyes only for Aria. ‘You,’ he boomed, pointing to her.

The whole party had stopped, not a single person looked elsewhere.

‘Please, I can explain,’ Aria said, shielding her face from him.

‘Explain? Explain what?’ Eleanor asked. ‘Archie, please stop, you’re going to destroy the house. Kim, please tell him to stop.’

Kim approached him from behind and gently put her hand on his arm, whispering something into his ear.

Immediately the ground stopped shaking and he just stood, staring, accusing Aria of something that nobody else seemed to have a clue about. ‘This woman is married to my father.’

There were gasps of horror; people fled indoors assuming that the Skulls were close by, but Aria held up her arms and tried to calm everyone down. ‘Please, you have nothing to fear,’ she said.

Luis stood beside her and nodded. ‘It’s true, you have nothing to fear. This is my sister. She is one of you. She is a Watcher. Please, just listen to what she has to say.’

Hearing the words come from Luis’ lips made what he was saying easier for them to accept, so they stood silently, waiting to hear what she had to say.

‘I am Aria, I am a Watcher, like most of you. And Archie speaks the truth. I am married to Sthenelaus.’

‘Good God, Aria, what on Earth were you thinking?’ Eleanor said, her knees buckling. Declan rushed to her side and helped her into a chair. ‘Continue,’ she demanded.

‘Several years ago, whilst I was studying abroad, I met a wonderful man, who was also a Watcher. We fell in love instantly, and spent the most wonderful year travelling around the world. When we returned, he had to go back to London to sort out his affairs. Our plan was for him to move here, where we would marry and have a family of our own,’ she stopped and smiled before continuing. ‘But something happened. Something that put an end to our dream.’

‘What? What happened?’ asked Lana.

‘He was taken.’

‘Taken? By whom?’ asked Eleanor.

‘By Sthenelaus.’

More gasps filled the air.

‘Do you believe her?’ Kim whispered to Emma, who slowly nodded.

‘Look at her face, the truth is written all over it. This woman has been hurting for a very long time.’

Kimberly looked a little ashamed and nodded.

‘So you married him? Why? Why would you do that?’ Lana almost shrieked.

Aria rubbed her forehead. ‘It was the only way in, the only way I could find out the truth.’

‘But why didn’t you come to me, Aria?’ Eleanor asked. ‘That’s why we’re here.’

But Aria shook her head. ‘No. I needed to get as close as possible to him. I needed him to trust me. It wasn’t just for my John, it was for everyone else who has ever suffered at the hands of the Sophokles family.’ She stopped, her eyes searching Archie’s. ‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t know the truth about you either, Archie, until I discovered that he had forced you to kidnap that poor little girl.’

‘But why didn’t you tell us then? You could have helped us?’ Patrick interjected, pointing at her. ‘You could have avoided all this pain.’

‘I’m sorry, truly I am, but I didn’t know about it until she had already been taken. It was only when I discovered Kimberly’s past that I decided that I must tell you, which is why I came here today. Kimberly, I’m sorry I frightened you. If I’d known the truth about you earlier—if I’d known that you had entered the family for the same reasons I had—things would have been different. I hope you can forgive me.’

Kim stepped forward, eyeing her. ‘Do you know what happened to your John?’

Tears filled Aria’s eyes and she shook her head. ‘So far I have been unable to uncover the truth.’

‘Then together we must do just that,’ Archie whispered, pulling Kim towards him and holding out a hand to Aria.

She stepped forward and took it. He squeezed her fingers and smiled as a huge, collective sigh of relief seemed to be released from all around.

oOo

‘How can a brother and sister look so different from each other?’ Lana asked as she carefully combed her wet hair in front of the mirror.

Emma approached her and placed her head on her sister’s shoulder and pulled a face.

‘We’re twins—you’re black and I’m white. Need I say more?’

Lana laughed, tapping her on the head with her comb. ‘You know what I mean. Luis is like, well, really quite ugly, in a sense, and Aria is just well, probably one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. He’s really dark, erm—everything—and she’s all pale skinned, silvery hair and light eyes. It’s just weird.’

‘They’re Watchers, sis. Just like us,’ she said, dropping onto her bed and picking up her book.

‘Yeah, I guess. Don’t you think it’s weird, though?’

‘What? The fact that they look different? Not really.’

‘No, I mean this whole weird connection thing. You know, the fact that Kim started going out with Archie so she could get revenge on his dad. And Aria actually marrying his dad so she could find out what happened to her real fiancé. And then the fact that Aria is Luis’ sister, who lives in Portugal. I mean, it just seems so, oh, I don’t know… just weird.’

‘It’s a small world we live in,’ Emma murmured.

‘Hm? Yeah, I guess so. Especially a small supernatural world. What’s that six connections thingy?’

‘Huh?’

‘You know - the six degrees of separation?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Maybe it’s got something to do with that?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Are you even listening?’

‘Uhuh.’

‘Whatever.’

A knock on the door startled Lana, who dropped her comb on the floor. ‘Come in,’ she shouted as she stooped to pick it up.

‘Lana? Emma?’

‘Hey, Lucy Jo, what are you doing in here? I thought you’d gone to bed ages ago?’ Emma asked, putting her book down and tapping the side of the bed beside her.

‘I couldn’t sleep. I asked Dad if I could come sleep in your room and he said it was okay. Is it okay?’

‘Of course it is. Dad actually let you out of his sight?’

A chuckle could be heard on the other side of the door before the sound of footsteps walking away echoed down the corridor.

Lucy Jo raised her eyebrows and smiled.

‘I guess that answers my question,’ Emma grinned before pulling her sister close and holding her tight.

‘Hey, sis,’ Lana said, throwing herself on the bed next to them. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘I’m alright. Are you?’

Lana grinned. ‘Of course I am. I am now, anyway. Now that we’ve got you back safe.’

‘I missed you. Both of you,’ snivelled the little girl, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

‘Ewww, Lucy Jo. That’s something Greg would do,’ Lana winced with a grin.

The little girl grinned and shook her head. ‘I don’t mind anymore.’

‘Don’t mind what?’ asked Emma.

‘Being like Greg.’

‘What do you mean?’ Emma smiled.

‘Before, I didn’t want to be like him at all, but then I realised how much I missed him, so I figured I wouldn’t mind, you know, being like him.’

‘Lucy Jo, that’s the sweetest thing. Maybe you should tell him.’

Lucy Jo shook her head. ‘No way.’

The girls laughed.

‘But I wish I could be like you even more,’ Lucy Jo continued. “With all those special powers. Do you think I might get them when I’m older?’

Sharing a glance, Emma squeezed her again and shook her head. ‘Believe me, Lucy Jo. You are very special as you are, you don’t need anything extra to make you even more special, because that just wouldn’t be possible.’

Content with her answer, the little girl climbed under the covers. ‘I want you to sleep on this side of me, Emma, and you to sleep on this side, Lana,’ she said, patting both sides of the bed.

‘I’m just glad the beds are huge in this place,’ Lana laughed. ‘Okay, I’ll be right there. I just need to finish doing my hair. You wouldn’t want to sleep next to me with wet hair now, would you? Oh I nearly forgot,’ she said, opening her top drawer. ‘I have something of yours.’

‘You do?’

Lana nodded, turning around to reveal her favourite bracelet.

‘My bracelet!’ Lucy Jo exclaimed. ‘I thought it was gone for good.’

‘No, it’s safe and sound, just like you.’

Lucy Jo smiled as Lana put it on for her, before sliding down until her head rested on the pillow.

‘Emma, please tell me a story while I fall asleep.’

Grinning, Emma proceeded to tell her all about Sleeping Beauty—well, her own version, anyway.

Eleanor and the other Mentors sat talking to Aria until well into the night, eager to find out more about the evil Sthenelaus.

Aria was able to give them more information than they ever thought possible, including his plans to take Lucy Jo and the rest of his family to the back of beyond, in Canada, somewhere.

‘So he never actually mentioned where in Canada he planned on settling down?’ asked Eleanor.

Aria shook her head. ‘For some reason, he was trying to refrain from telling me about Canada.’

‘Do you think he was on to you?’ asked Declan.

‘I don’t think so. I think maybe he wanted to surprise me with it.’

‘So what about the other son, Stan? What happened to him?’

‘You mean… you don’t have him?’

Eleanor slowly shook her head. ‘He disappeared from the bridge the moment Kim jumped. We assumed he ran home to tell his father what had happened.’

Aria shook her head. ‘He made a phone call to Sthenelaus while I was with him, telling him that Archie was dead and that the little girl was gone. That’s all he said.’

‘And then what happened?’ asked Eleanor.

‘Sthenelaus was absolutely furious. He threw things around the office for a while, until his other wife arrived to calm him down.’

‘Hi
s
othe
r
wife? He ha
s
anothe
r
wife?’ Eleanor shook her head.

Aria smirked. ‘Typical evil guy behaviour, right? Yeah, I know. Her name’s Madge, she married him when they were both really young. It was an arranged marriage, but one that suits them both.’

‘Tell us more about this… Madge,’ Eleanor leaned forward eagerly.

‘She’s from a powerful Greek Skulls family herself. She’s probably about as crazy as he is.’

‘How did she take it when he married you?’

‘Honestly? She seemed perfectly fine about it. As if it were normal to have two wives.’

‘Do you, erm, get on with her?’

‘Let’s just say… I have my ways to make people accept me.’

Eleanor raised her eyebrows as Arabella opened the door carrying a large tray with tea for everyone.

‘I can calm people down and, well, mesmerise them, for want of a better word. Thank you, Arabella. That’s very kind.’

‘And you often did this with Sthenelaus?’ Eleanor asked rather quietly.

Aria blushed and looked down. ‘Yes, all the time. But if you’re asking about, well… erm, we were never intimate. I was able to avoid that by using my power.’ She smiled, relief covering her face.

‘I see,’ smiled Eleanor, winking cheekily. ‘Thank goodness. So technically your marriage is null and void, because it was never consummated?’

‘I guess you could say that, but he wouldn’t understand because he doesn’t realise that it wasn’t… consummated.’

‘So as far as he’s concerned, everything is alright between the two of you?’

Aria nodded, taking a sip of her tea.

‘Do you think he suspects anything?’ Eleanor asked.

Aria shook her head.

‘How did you manage to marry him without him knowing who you really are?’ Eleanor asked leaning back in her seat.

Aria looked at her hands. ‘This power of mine is pretty impressive,’ she smiled.

Eleanor nodded. ‘It certainly is. But why didn’t you just use it to ask him what happened to John?’

‘It doesn’t work like that, unfortunately. Otherwise I could have avoided all of this. I can encourage people to do what I want them to do. I can’t always encourage them to speak the truth,’ she looked down. ‘If only I could…’

‘I understand. So where is Sthenelaus now? And where does he think you are?’

‘He has a health problem, which, when he becomes stressed, gets a lot worse. It’s a kind of cough that won’t go away. Madge usually takes him somewhere to soothe him. Well, after destroying the room, it got pretty bad, so he went with her.’

‘Where do they go?’

‘Turkish baths are usually their first choice, so I’m not sure where that would be over here.’

‘What do you mean by over here? Is he here? In the Algarve?’

Aria nodded. ‘Well, he came here a couple of weeks ago for business, that’s what he told me, anyway. But since Lucy Jo was taken, we’ve actually been staying in Seville.’

‘Seville?’ asked Eleanor, leaning forward.

Aria nodded. ‘He wanted to be close, but not too close, he said.’

‘Exactly how far is Seville from here?’ she asked eagerly.

‘A couple of hours’ drive if you use the motorway.’

‘Can you show us where you’ve been staying?’

‘You mean to go there? But, he’s dangerous Eleanor, you might get hurt,’

‘Aria, you’ve spent, what, a few years living with this man as his wife?’

Aria nodded, blushing.

‘If he’s not expecting us, now is the time to strike. But before we do, tell me more about this illness of his. Declan, please let everyone know that we’re heading to Seville in an hour. I’d take the helicopter, but we need more people to assist. Please organise the cars. Thank you.’

Declan stood up, nodding, draining the last of his tea from his cup before he left the room.

oOo

‘What’s going on?’ yawned Lana, waking at the commotion outside. Getting up and padding over to the door, she opened it, peering out; in the hallway, lots of people were preparing to leave.

‘What is it, Lana?’ asked Emma from beneath the covers.

‘Get up and get dressed. Quickly. Something’s going on and I don’t want to miss it… Eleanor?’ Lana asked, as the young woman ran past the door. ‘What’s happening?’

‘Oh, we didn’t want to wake you. We thought you’d want to spend some time with your family.’

‘Eleanor?’

She sighed and stepped into their room, where Emma was busy tying the laces of her Converse.

‘You should be sleeping,’ Eleanor said, before Lana put her finger to her lips and pointed to Lucy Jo, who was still fast asleep. Eleanor nodded and continued in a whisper. ‘We’re going to Seville. We have reason to believe that Sthenelaus is there.’

‘We’re coming too.’ Lana said instantly.

‘No, Lana, I think you should sit this one out and stay with your family.’

‘No, please, Eleanor, we want to help and you know that my visions can help. Please let us come.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘What’s going on?’ asked a sleepy Patrick, who appeared in the doorway, tying the belt of his dressing gown.

‘Dad, they’re going to try and catch Sthenelaus.’

‘Why didn’t you wake me? Wait for me, I’m coming.’

Eleanor sighed.

‘I was trying to avoid this, Patrick. I think you should stay here.’

Patrick gave Eleanor a look and she backed down immediately, holding up her hands in defeat. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Your girls are trying to come along too. I’ll leave that to your discretion.’

‘Dad, please, we can help. You know we can. You’ve seen how we work. We could help. We’re coming, okay?’ Lana continued.

He just sighed and walked back to his room to change. ‘I’ll be out in a sec. Go get ready.’

oOo

Waking up in the car with drool dribbling down her chin, Lana quickly wiped it away and stole a glance at Barber, to make sure he hadn’t seen. He had and he was smirking. She elbowed him in the side and stuck her tongue out before smiling.

‘Thanks for coming,’ she whispered.

‘I’ll always be here to look out for you, Lana. You should know that by now,’ he whispered back.

Leaning her head against his shoulder, she gazed out at the sky as the sun threatened to show itself to the world. The motorway was monotonous—there was nothing but tarmac for miles ahead—but at least it meant they’d arrive in Seville sooner. Hopefully Sthenelaus would still be there.

Lana shivered at the thought of finally coming face to face with such evil. She’d seen him before, of course, but this time they’d be prepared to take him down, for good.

She had no idea what the plan was, as there had been such a rush to leave Praxos. Audrey had tiptoed into the girls’ room and gently lifted Lucy Jo, carrying her back to her own bedroom, where Greg was sleeping in the spare bed. She placed her little girl next to him and stood watching them both; Lana had hugged her mother then, kissing her on the cheek before they left her under the watchful eye of Theodore, a few other mentors, and most of her classmates. Eleanor had only allowed Lana, Emma, Diarmuid and Barber (who wasn’t technically a Watcher and so he could pretty much do whatever he wanted) to join them.

Lana glanced down at her watch. That had been a couple of hours ago.

‘Are we almost there?’ she asked no-one in particular.

Declan nodded. ‘That’s Seville, over there,’ he pointed. ‘We’ll be there in a few minutes,’ he said, driving in convoy behind Arabella’s car.

‘Do you know what the plan is yet?’ Lana asked, as Emma slowly lifted her contorted neck and rubbed it sleepily.

‘Are we there?’ Emma murmured in a state of semi-sleep.

‘Yeah, almost,’ Lana answered. ‘Here, have a drink,’ she offered her a half-drunk bottle of coke.

Turning her nose up, Emma shook her head. ‘Anyone got any water?’

Diarmuid rifled around in the back and handed her a bottle.

‘Thanks.’

‘It’s very quiet,’ Lana murmured as they drove through little streets lined on either side with pretty old buildings.

‘It’s just after five in the morning, what do you expect?’ replied Declan with a smirk.

‘Oh yeah, I suppose.’

‘There’s a few people about, though.’ Diarmuid said, pointing to a small group who had clearly been drinking.

‘Probably just left a night club or something,’ Declan added.

‘Where are we going, anyway?’ Emma asked as she watched one of the drunken men stumble in the gutter. The other went to help but ended up falling on top of him.

Shaking her head, she looked at Declan, waiting for an answer.

‘Apparently this guy has got some kind of illness, and his only reprieve is at Turkish baths or something like that. Apparently there’s a large one, here in the centre. Aria believes he might be here… he usually has to stay for a day or so for it to make any difference.’

‘His cough,’ said Lana.

‘Huh?’

‘He has a really bad cough. I remember seeing him coughing like nobody’s business in some of the visions. When he has an attack, it’s horrible. It’s like he’s gonna die, or something.’

‘Yeah, wish he would. It would certainly solve a lot of problems, don’t you think?’ Diarmuid added.

‘I don’t know what his illness is, but I don’t know if it’s deadly,’ Declan replied.

‘Well, let’s just hope that he’s having a really bad attack right now and that he’s where we think he is,’ Emma said as they eventually came to a standstill. They watched as the others began climbing out of the cars.

Arabella approached their vehicle. Rolling down his window, Declan leaned out to listen to her. ‘I think we should go in first. Wait here. We’ll come and let you know if he’s there.’

‘Just look for him, Arabella. Don’t go in all guns blazin’, mate.’

‘Don’t worry, we won’t. Be right back.’

Declan sat back, tapping his fingers on the dashboard.

‘Are we really just going to let them go in first? Shouldn’t we go too?’ asked Lana. ‘I don’t want to miss that son of a b—’

‘Lana!’ Emma scolded.

‘Really, Em, it’s like having Mum here,’ Lana moaned.

Barber and Diarmuid exchanged glances with a knowing smile.

‘What?’ Lana exclaimed.

‘Nothing,’ said Barber.

‘You’re just so predictable,’ answered Diarmuid.

Both girls raised their eyebrows but said nothing.

‘Come on, I can’t just sit here,’ Lana attempted to open the door, but Declan turned immediately.

‘Oh no you don’t. Just sit tight and wait.’

‘Please,’ she sighed. ‘Come on, I know you want to go in too. Let’s just go.’

‘Stop it, Lana. We wait. Now sit still and do as you’re told.’

‘Dad’s going in,’ she said as she watched Patrick climb out of one of the other cars and disappear inside. ‘And he’s without backup, Declan. I’m going to help him.’

Declan watched Patrick and shook his head. ‘Okay, okay, let’s go. Just stay behind me. And above all, be careful.’

Grinning, Lana climbed out and let the others out after her. They walked into the building – straight in through the main entrance – without anybody stopping them.

‘Wow, it’s hot in here,’ whispered Emma as they walked down a beautiful Moroccan corridor and out into a covered courtyard. ‘It smells nice, though.’

Aria appeared in one of the doorways to the side. She hushed them and nodded. ‘He’s here.’