The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2) (22 page)

She stood there, tall, slim, and with laughter wrinkling her upturned nose. But at times, when she was alone, her tongue forked and her skin shimmered black with scales.

A series of images floated around her, images of the Fae designing and constructing the Glass Wall. She oversaw every detail of its creation, walking as the Queen of the Fae but all the while holding inside her the dark, grinning lizard.

There was a big hoopla when the wall was finished. She stood at the base of it, giving speeches of how the Fae were now thoroughly protecting humanity and how the wall was sacred, never to be destroyed.

But the Glass Wall had scarcely been finished before creeping cords of light tunneled through the pillar again, and even as Morgan Le Fae stood there, rousing the masses with the glory of their cause, the cords of light began spreading to Earth to take possession of humans, beginning with the kings and queens of Europe. As time accelerated, they appeared to control many government officials and more than one Wall Street banker.

I gasped as the realization struck me.

The Glass Wall had been built
by
the lizard people.

Morgan Le Fae had built it so that they could infiltrate Earth.

It was hard to fathom.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jareth running his hand over his face, reminding me that only a short time ago those very same black scales had appeared on
his
skin.

Was he possessed by a lizard, too?

Marquis hadn’t seemed to think so.

What did it all mean?

The mirror went dark, and a new scene appeared.

A slender, light-haired male Fae was walking down a darkened corridor. I couldn’t quite make out his face, but he seemed strikingly familiar.

Suddenly, a white-cloaked form stepped out of the shadows to plunge what looked like a needle into the back of his neck. And as the male collapsed unconscious to the floor, the mirror zoomed to focus on a particularly distinctive golden-eyed snake ring circling his finger, and the white-cloaked figure stepped away.

The cloak fell back a little, revealing a slender, distinctly female hand.

The scene changed, focusing on the cloaked figure, this time in the desert, trapping rattlesnakes and mangy coyotes. The figure appeared to be hauling them off to some kind of lab to run experiments on them.

Again, the mirror flickered, this time showing the mysteriously cloaked form plunging the needle into new victims: humans, Fae, snakes, and even armadillos.

More time passed, and the mirror zoomed in on the figure moving undetected through Fae towers until it finally stopped to hover over a sleeping Fae female with dark hair. After hurriedly pressing a needle against her arm, the white-cloaked form returned to the lab in the desert and continued experimenting on caged creatures that I began to recognize.

The chupacabra.

I caught my breath.

A Fae had created the chupacabras?

I didn’t see any cord of light attached to this Fae, whoever it was. It didn’t make sense.

The Fae female with the dark hair appeared on the mirror again.

She was smiling, resting her hand protectively over an unborn child. Clearly, she was excited about an impending birth, as all of the Dark Fae. Parties were planned, songs written, and special garments made.

The mirror then showed that the day had arrived. And the Dark Fae gathered around to hear the joyous news that, indeed, the new Fae mother and her newborn son slept peacefully together. The Dark Fae danced outside her tower till the dawn of the two moons.

But then the white-cloaked form appeared again, standing over the sleeping mother and her infant, and suddenly, the image faded. But when the scene returned, the mother slept fitfully, distressed and alone.

Meanwhile, images appeared in rapid succession, images of the white-cloaked form and the crying baby boy together in the lab. And terrible, horrific experiments were done upon the child that my tears fell freely when I saw them. As we watched, the baby grew older.

Finally, the mirror concentrated on the boy, now a dark-haired toddler being dressed in white clothing. And he was left by the white-cloaked form before the doors of some kind of Fae training academy. 
As he was carried inside, the scene began to look startlingly familiar. The toddler crawled to stand at the end of a long line of children practicing martial arts, and we all gasped.

It was the scene that had played over and over again on Rafael’s mirror.

The baby who’d been taken from his mother by the evil, white-cloaked form was Jareth!

My mouth dropped open.

Jareth’s face drained of all color.

A new image appeared on the mirror, and my mouth opened even wider.

It was me.

I was trapped in a life-sized Coke bottle, screaming and shouting while banging on the sides trying to break free. Suddenly, the bottle shattered.

The mirrors went black, and the floor began to vibrate.

It took us all a little too long to realize what was happening.

Rafael was the first one to figure it out.

“We’ve been discovered!” he shouted, whirling me around to face him. “Where’s your tether, Sydney?”

But I couldn’t move. I felt as if I was made of lead, and I realized I had no control over my body. 
I couldn’t even lift a finger.

Panic flooded through me. Around me the mirrors flickered and began to shake.

“They’re almost here!” Rafael gave up on me and instead whirled to slap Jareth across the face. “Wake up, Jareth! We need your tether and we need it now!”

Jareth blinked, stepping back.

In slow, lethargic movements, he fumbled for the tether, nearly dropping it.

Growling in frustration, Rafael snatched it from his fingers. Looping the two ends together, he slipped his arm around my waist and reached for Jareth.

Several things happened at once.

First, the door burst open, revealing at least a dozen Protectors with trions trained straight at us.

Second, the mirrors flashed into life, showing two images at once. One of Jareth writhing in pain as dark scales consumed every inch of his flesh and another of a white-clad Rafael standing in the Hall of Mirrors, as a white-cloaked figure placed an elaborately decorated Venetian mask over his face, a mask emblazoned with the symbol that I’d seen on the Fae woman’s hand: the elaborate Celtic circle with a more simple one inside it.

And third, I caught a glimpse of Rafael’s fingers clenched over Jareth’s wrist just as he slid his hand through the tether.

And then everything went dark.

Chapter Twelve – Home Again, Home Again

I felt completely weightless, like I was floating in space.

I couldn’t feel Rafael or Jareth, but I somehow knew they were there.

Time didn’t seem to exist. It could have been only a few seconds, or it could have been hours before I was rolling on the ground in a tangle of arms and legs and muffled curses.

It was dark, wet, and cold.

It took my eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness surrounding me, allowing me to perceive the dim outline of monolithic stones rising around me, huge shapes illuminated by the anemic light of the moon.

I squinted in confusion.

Those stones looked familiar, but then I noticed I was getting sopping wet, and I discovered we’d landed in a pile of half-melted snow.

Next to me, Jareth sprawled on his stomach with his head buried in his arms. “Tethers make me so sick,” he groaned to no one in particular.

Hope flooded through me. “Did we make it?” I asked, shaking his arm excitedly.

He didn’t even lift his head. “You’re here, aren’t you?” he snapped waspishly in reply.

I was thrilled. We’d made it back to Earth!

Suddenly, Rafael towered over me, reaching down to offer me a hand and lifting me easily to my feet.

Giddy that we were safe, I threw my arms around his neck. “We made it back!” I said, knowing I was grinning like a fool.

Even in the low light, I could see amusement in his eyes. “Yes, little pixie.” He laughed a little in my ear. “You’ve returned safely home. You should know that I’ll always see you safe.”

I just stood there, hugging him, a
nd then I realized that I was
hugging
him.

But I really didn’t care, and I definitely didn’t want to stop.

I stayed where I was, staring up into his enigmatic gray eyes outlined with outlandish make-up and thinking that he was not only incredibly handsome, he was also incredibly trustworthy as well. He’d brought me back to Earth.

Actually, now that I thought about it, he was pretty incredible all around.

And he’d kissed me. Or—I mentally amended with a grimace—he’d started to kiss me.

But that reminded me of his apology afterwards. He’d clearly regretted it. With a pang of disappointment, I wondered what it would be like to really kiss him with no regrets attached.

And then I realized that I’d just been standing there, staring at him with my hands locked behind his neck.

Surprised at myself, I stepped back, but he caught my wrist.

He didn’t say a word, but his dark lashes lowered, and his brow gave a humorous twist. Leaning forward, he tucked my hair behind my ear and then slowly traced my jawline with his thumb before dropping his hand.

A wistful regret crept into his tone as he whispered, “I’ll always protect you, Sydney. Destiny can never stop me from being your friend.”

It was depressing.

And for the first time, I began feeling a little ticked off at destiny. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

And then Rafael moved away to crouch next to Jareth still huddled in the snow.

“Are you ill?” Rafael asked him, raising a concerned brow.

Jareth stirred, and a low moan escaped his lips. “I’m fine,” he practically growled. Slowly, he lifted his head to study our surroundings. “Stonehenge?”

That distracted me from my inner monologue. Giving everything a closer look, I realized that we were actually at Stonehenge.

I eyed the huge stones forming a ring about us and caught my breath in wonder. I really don’t know why I was so shocked. I’d just been to Avalon. Why should popping up in England faze me at all?

“We’re lucky it was night here,” Jareth grumbled. “Otherwise, it’d be hard to explain our unexpected arrival.”

In my mind’s eye, I could see the faces of the startled tourists as we burst into existence out of thin air. What would have they said if we’d told them the truth that Stonehenge was really a big fairy ring, a portal to Avalon?

But that strangely made me think of Al, and I suddenly wanted to be home.

And then I had a new question. “How are we getting back home?” I asked. “Will we be caught if we shift?”

“There aren’t any traps set
on
Earth yet,” Rafael answered, pushing himself up from Jareth’s side in one agile movement. “Once we leave the vicinity of this portal, we can shift back easily enough.” Reaching down, he grasped Jareth’s arm and half-lifted him to his feet.

“I’m fine!” Jareth cursed angrily under his breath, but then he swayed and would have fallen if Rafael hadn’t caught him.

“Clearly you are
not
fine!” Rafael drew his brows in a firm line.

“And just what are you implying, oh pure-blooded prince?” Jareth spat rudely, ungratefully shoving Rafael back to stand defiantly on his own. “Do you think the Inner Circle …” he began, but then he choked and passing his hand in front of his face, abruptly fell silent.

I didn’t know exactly what he was thinking, but I knew it had to do with the strange things we’d seen in the Hall of Mirrors.

If it was true, then he was the result of horrible experiments.

There was a strained silence.

I looked at Jareth, standing tall and bold beside Rafael, still striking and darkly charismatic in his own way. I’d always thought him obnoxious, but there was a vulnerable air about him now. He was clearly affected by what the mirror had depicted; from the early separation from his Dark Fae mother, to the torture done to him by the white-cloaked figure, to the strange image of him morphing and writhing in pain at the end.

Suddenly, I felt sorry for him, but I didn’t know what to say.

And then Rafael broke the silence. “I can’t fathom what the mirrors chose to reveal. But this isn’t the place to discuss it. We should return at once.”

“Then let’s get out of here,” Jareth grunted, brushing past him brusquely. “I’ve never liked this place.”

Rafael lifted a curious brow and watched him go before turning to me to hold out a hand. “Shall we?”

I stepped forward in the snow, uncertain if he was just gesturing politely, or if I should really take his hand.

He made the decision for me.

Capturing my fingers in his, he moved forward, pulling me along. His fingers were warm and much longer than mine.

I just followed him in the dark, glad he was there and knowing that I’d rather have him in my life as a friend than not at all.

I had to laugh at myself a little.

Only just last week, I’d have never believed I could even be an iota depressed over the fact that destiny would deny me a romantic love.

It was amazing how much things could really change in a single week.

And then we were past the stones and stooping under an opening in the fence surrounding them. I could hear the bleating of sheep in the distance. And then I stumbled a little, realizing that I was on the verge of exhaustion.

I was going to crash soon.

I could only run on adrenaline for so long.

I wanted nothing more than to sleep in my own bed, but that reminded me that Brock was there, sleeping in my place, pretending to be me.

I wondered if Jerry somehow knew that the Sydney in the room was really an imposter. For some reason, I wanted him to know. I wanted someone to miss me. I didn’t like to think I could be replaced that easily.

And then Rafael stopped, bringing me back to the present with a gentle squeeze of my hand. A frown marred his brow. “Jareth already shifted. He didn’t wait. Are you ready?”