The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4) (7 page)

Everyone seemed safe.

For now.

Expelling a long breath through my nose, I turned to check on Jerry only to run straight into the wispy-mustached Marquis.

“Sydney,” he gasped. “I need your help.”

At my side, Ajax curled his lip in a silent snarl. He was tense, ready to pounce as I stood rooted to the spot, staring at Marquis slumped against the wall opposite of my bed.

Marquis looked horrible. His face was white, even his lips, and his hands trembled as he dabbed at the sweat pouring down his face.

“I need your help, Sydney,” he repeated in a shaky voice. “I’m trying to break free of them. The Lizard People.”

I blinked, recalling the cords of light somehow stretching from the Second Dimension to both Earth and Avalon to possess various victims, controlling them like puppets. But how did I know it wasn’t a trick? In any case, I didn’t see how I could help.

“How can I help?” I asked, not in the promise that I would do it, but more because I didn’t really see what he expected me to do. I didn’t know how to sever the cords.

Apparently, he took it the first way, as an unspoken promise. Heaving a sigh, he smiled. But it was a shade too quickly and it heightened my suspicions at once.

“I knew you would come with me,” he babbled in such an over-friendly way that anyone could see it was a façade. “We must hurry. Rafael is waiting.” He checked himself. His face darkened with rage and his eyes morphed into reptilian slits.

So much for trying to break Lizard control. Obviously, his lizard side had read my suspicions forming in the Second Dimension.

“You lie!” he accused in a low, menacing voice.

As he reached out to grab me, Ajax leapt, baring his teeth. But Marquis had already raised his trion to his lips and with a single word, the Doberman collapsed into an unconscious heap on the floor.

“What are you
doing
?” I shouted.

But I was too late, too.

Marquis moved with lightning speed and before I’d scarcely gotten the words out of my mouth, his fingers closed around my throat. I fought like a madwoman, kicking, twisting, and biting. More than once, Marquis swore, signaling I’d succeeded in my goal.

He kept trying to hold my head down. It took several tries before he succeeded in clamping his hand over my forehead. At once, I experienced the odd sensation of being sucked inside out, like someone had shoved a vacuum cleaner inside me and turned it on.

From the corner of my eye, I saw I was no longer in my room.

I froze. I hadn’t been aware of shifting. I stood there, with Marquis twisting my arm behind my back.

I was in a white room with no windows, doors, or openings of any kind.

Slowly, I turned around.

It was then that I saw it wasn’t Marquis behind me at all.

It was a huge, dark-scaled, oily lizard balanced on his hind feet to stand like a man.

The white floor suddenly rose to greet me and my world went black.

Chapter Four – The White Room

I sat up groggily and looked around, completely disoriented. It took me several moments to remember Marquis had somehow dragged me here. Well, I guess it wasn’t Marquis. More like the lizard that possessed him. But then, he’d possessed Marquis for so long, I suppose he truly
was
the real Marquis, after all.

I winced. My head was pounding and I was completely alone, still in the door-less, windowless room with the ceiling, walls, and floor made of some kind of white shiny plastic.

Wondering where I was and how long I’d been unconscious, I rose to my feet.

A deeper inspection of the walls revealed there was no obvious way out. And no doors magically zipped open like they did in Avalon.

I was stuck.

Slowly, I returned to sit down in the very center of the room and for a time, entertained the idea that I was in some kind of Fae prison. Not for very long, though. The facts didn’t really fit. I knew I hadn’t shifted. I’d experienced some sort of vacuum effect.

And I’d seen a
real
Lizard Person, just as I had in the Hall of Mirrors when the Man in the Top Hat had forced them to leave Earth so long ago.

I swallowed.

I didn’t like admitting that because it just
might
mean that I was in the Second Dimension after all. And that meant I didn’t have a clue how to get home. Or if it was even possible.

I got up to examine the walls again, placing my ear against the smooth surface at random intervals. I held my breath and listened, but the there was only silence. Fighting a rising panic, I began to pace nervously and shoved my hands into my sweatshirt.

My fingers collided with the mini Lysol can and slid over the metal hand mirror. It calmed me immediately.

Perhaps I could contact Rafael and he could help me escape.

Apprehensive, I glanced around for any signs of lizards or other creatures as I returned to once again sit down cross-legged on the floor. Hunching over, I slipped the hand mirror out of my pocket and peeked into it. I was careful to hide it. I didn’t want any lizards rushing in to yank my only source of communication away.

For a moment, I studied my reflection. I still looked pretty haggard but the dark circles under my eyes had disappeared. Apparently, I’d slept a while. I wondered how long.

A scraping sound made me jump. And it underlined the fact that I was most likely being observed. I didn’t have much time. Hurriedly, I focused on the mirror, trying to zone out like I’d done before. The closest thing I can describe it to is the kind of state you have to achieve in order to see those
Magic Eye
pictures, somehow focusing and un-focusing at the same time. I stared into the mirror, letting my heart fill with my feelings for Rafael and hoping that somehow he’d get the message.

I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

I really don’t know if anything appeared in the mirror or not. I was too busy gaping at the swirling images forming around me. A golden feather, floating up from the floor. A shimmering cloud of pixie dust twinkling like Fourth of July sparklers.

And a door.

I didn’t hesitate.

I knew who was behind it.

Jumping to my feet, I dashed forward, grabbing the door knob to wrench it open and as the white room plunged into darkness behind me, I fell through the doorway, straight into the Fae Command Center.

And straight into Rafael’s arms where he stood in the center of the room, surrounded by various glowing crystals. An expression of pure shock suffused his handsome face, and then shedding his controlled persona, he lifted me off my feet and wrapping me in his arms, whirled me around a few times before crushing me close to his chest.

“Where have you been, Sydney?” he choked, his voice cracking with emotion.

He was hugging me so hard it was kind of hard to talk. Smiling, I placed my hands on his broad chest and pushed back a little—just enough to breathe easier—and then promptly buried my nose into his chest. He smelled nice.

For a few long, blissful moments, I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed being there, listening to the steady beating of his heart beneath my ear. He didn’t seem inclined to talk, either. He waited, until with the greatest reluctance, I finally asked, “How long have I been gone?”

“Almost two days,” he murmured, his lips brushing the tip of my ear.

I blinked and straightened. “Two
days?
” I repeated as my jaw dropped open.

It dropped even further when my astonished gaze really focused on him. He wasn’t wearing any eyeliner. I’d never seen him without
any
makeup. Stubble dotted his firm jawline. His shirt was wrinkled.

The pain in his gray eyes ran deep as he said, “We couldn’t find you anywhere on Avalon or Earth. Not one sign. Not even a single ray of light. What happened? We thought you were … dead.”

Dead? “Al—” I began.

“I had Brock cover for you,” he replied, quickly heading off my concern about Al and Betty. “I had to find you, Sydney. I wasn’t going to give up.”

I smiled and burrowed my nose into his shoulder once again even as I wondered if Al had fallen for Brock’s version of Sydney this time. But I didn’t think about it long. Rafael was still talking.

“Ajax told us about Marquis,” he informed, sliding his hand down the length of my arm to thread his fingers through mine. “He said when he woke up, you were gone. I even asked Jerry what had happened. He …” He paused, his voice trailing away.

I searched Rafael’s face. “What did Jerry say?” I asked, curious.

He hesitated a moment, and then answered with a slightly mystified shrug, “He just said you were closer to where you were supposed to be.”

I frowned. It was a strange answer. But then, Jerry had most likely been asleep the entire time and he was a mouse, after all.

A movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention and I glanced over to see Raven standing close by, her cold gaze riveted upon my hand locked in Rafael’s. She lifted her eyes. The expression in them left no doubt that she wanted to claw me to death.

There were a few other Fae in the Command Center, but they were a bit distracted. Their attention was split between me and a particularly large glowing orange crystal near the stairs.

“Where were you?” Rafael asked again, pulling me a little closer as if to make sure I was really there.

I turned back to face him. Where
had
I been? Had I really been to the Second Dimension? I suppressed a shudder and laid my head against his shoulder. I could feel his muscles tighten beneath my cheek.

“I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “I just woke up in a white room and I couldn’t find a way out. I had the hand mirror …” My voice trailed away as I realized that it was gone. Somehow, I’d lost it.

“The mirror?” Rafael’s brows jerked upwards in surprise.

“I … guess I lost it,” I said, clearing my throat.

He was looking down at me with a half-smile on his lips. “You used the mirror to get back?” he asked. “You’re a dangerously quick study, little human.”

The Fae by the stairs—even Raven—looked suitably impressed, but I was too confused to enjoy it much. “I don’t get it,” I said with a frown.

But any explanation I might have gotten was lost as all of the crystals around us lit up like neon lights, and almost immediately, feather-masked Fae popped into view to ring us, all dressed in white robes. Each of them bore an intricate Celtic circle prominently emblazoned on their clothing, masks, and even hands.

There was no doubt who they were. They were the high-ranking members of the Inner Circle. The other Fae in the room—with the exception of Raven—confirmed it with gasps and three-fingered salutes and then immediately shifted away. But whether they left out of respect or fear, I couldn’t tell.

Rafael stood where he was, appearing confident and in command, but under my fingers, I could feel his muscles tense.

After the mist cleared, one of the white-robed figures swept off her mask and stepped forward, her movements elegant like a dancer. It was Zelphie. Rafael’s mother.

Rafael eyed her curiously.

Zelphie pursed her lips, as if considering her words she finally announced in dulcet tones, “I’m here … to save you, Rafael. Look at you…” She stared at his disheveled state in some kind of horror. “You need help.”

Rafael raised an elegantly shaped brow.

Clearly, when a Fae didn’t dress up and put on makeup, it was a sign in Avalon that they needed an intervention of some kind. I have to admit, in spite of the situation, I thought it a little amusing, especially when the rest of the Inner Circle members merely nodded.

But my amusement didn’t last long.

One of the masked forms moved to join Zelphie and my throat constricted.

Instinct told me that it was Melody. Waving a graceful hand in front of her mask to make it disappear with a distinct pop, her blue eyes raked over me slowly—and with obvious distaste—before shifting to Rafael.

Rafael didn’t hesitate. “Where is Jareth?” he asked, his tone was barely civil.

For the briefest of moments, her eyes flashed, but her tone was benevolent in reply. “Safe, my dear mentee. You misunderstand so much, Rafael. I’ve only been trying to save you. I came back here. Now. To help
you
.”

If I wasn’t so scared of her, I would have rolled my eyes. Did she really think he’d believe that? After she’d ordered Jareth to kill him in the coffee shop?

Rafael’s face turned unreadable. “Then explain, Melody, what you’re saving me from,” he suggested politely.

Her eyes flicked in my direction and her ruby red lips curved in distaste. She and Raven apparently shared the same opinion of me. They weren’t my biggest fans.

But Melody didn’t come out and say it directly. Instead, she announced, “The time of purification has arrived. I have set it in motion, my dear Prince. It has begun. And I would not lose you to the destruction that is coming to Earth, Rafael. Come back to Avalon with me now, before it’s too late.”

Rafael lifted an alarmed brow. “What madness is this?”

Training his eyes over Melody’s head, his gaze focused to read her fate lines, and I guess what he saw there horrified him.

“What have you
done
, Melody?” he gasped. “Are you mad? How can you be so blinded by hatred?”

It was too much for Raven. Joining Melody, she spat, “
You
are the one who is blind, Rafael. Thanks to that human, you no longer think clearly.”

Her shrill tone made me wince and her furious gaze turned outright livid as Rafael anchored his arm firmly about my shoulders.

“You let jealousy color your judgment, Raven,” he told her in reply, but then with a frown shadowing his face, he turned back to Melody to urge, “Stop this, before it goes too far.”

Melody gave a disturbed maniacal laugh of the classic villain kind. And when I heard her next words, I felt like I was trapped in some kind of horror movie.

“Do not feel pity for them, Rafael,” she said, not even bothering to keep the contempt out of her voice. “Humans are vermin. But I have created a weapon, a weapon to free Avalon from both Earth and the Second Dimension, free us from our chains. At long last, they will be destroyed. Come back with me to Avalon before it is too late!”