Forged in Stone (9 page)

“Why do you manage to make everything sound dirty?”

She laughed. “I don’t mean to.”

“‘I will show you mine if you show me yours?’ Play teacher? Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“That would require getting my mind off of you.”

“You have no clean thoughts about me?”

“Do you have clean ones about me?”

“Yes, but with dirty ones mixed in.” I waggled an eyebrow.

“Were you serious about me borrowing your car?”

“Yes. I’ll leave the keys out for you.”

“Where will you be when I wake up?”

“I might sleep in.” I had no plans to. I had no plans to sleep at all, but I did not want to tell her that.

“I’ll take care of your car.”

“I know you will.” I turned off the light as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs. I closed and locked the attic door before following her.

“Why did you lock it?”

“To keep you out,” I teased.

“I mean it. Half the rooms in this house are locked. Like the one right there.” She pointed at the door across from where she slept.

“That is where they keep the dead bodies, didn’t you notice the smell?”

She pushed my arm, and I used it as an excuse to pull her into my arms. I kept my lips mere inches from hers.

“Easy there. We are limiting the physical contact.”

“Limiting, not avoiding it completely.”

“What’s in there? For real?” She stepped out of my embrace. “And why is there a light on? I swear it wasn’t on when I passed by it a few minutes ago.”

“It’s an office. It’s locked because there are a lot of personal mementos in there, but I didn’t notice the light earlier either.” A sense of dread washed over me. “Why don’t you go on to sleep?” I didn’t like the light suddenly turning on, but I tried to stay calm. No matter what was going on, I wanted Ainsley safely out of the way.

“No. I’m wide awake.”

“Ok, then how about you wait in your room anyway?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m waiting right here.”

I nodded. This was not an argument I was going to win. I went through the keys, selecting the one I thought went to the office door.

Ainsley waited at my side as I tried the lock. I guessed right the first time. I pushed open the door.

“What happened in here?” Ainsley peered into the completely ransacked room.

“Nothing good.” I stepped over piles of scattered papers and turned over drawers on my way to the windows. One was slightly ajar. “Change of plans.”

“What do you mean?”

I bent down and sorted through a pile of watercolor photos. They depicted scenes from a place that very few had seen. But it wasn’t the pictures that caught my eye, it was a piece of parchment with two words written on it. Ainsley Bales. Before turning it over I knew what I would find. The unmistakable
M
was there. I closed my fist around the parchment.

“What do you mean, James? What’s changed?”

At the sound of my name I moved to standing. “You need to pack a bag. We leave tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“Someone has been here. I have to warn Charlotte and Liam, and I will not leave you here. Whoever did this may return.”

“I can stay somewhere else.”

“I am sorry, Ainsley, but somewhere else will not cut it.”

“You can’t tell me what to do. Remember?”

I opened my fist. “I can, and I will.”

He eyed widened as she took in the parchment in my hand. “That’s my name.”

“Exactly. Whoever was here knows you. And these are not the kind of people who are going to give up easily.”

“But how would anyone know about me? From the contract I signed?”

“I need to know everything. How you found out about this house sitting set up. Everything.”

“
T
ell you everything
?” I repeated his words, still dumbstruck that my name was on a piece of fancy paper in a room that had been locked since I’d moved in. Logically someone could have written it before my arrival, but why on a small sheet of fancy paper?

“Tell me how you found out about this place. How this rent free thing fell into your lap.” His serious face let me know he wasn’t teasing me about living rent free this time.

“A former professor, my advisor, asked me if I needed a place to stay after graduation. He is a friend of the owner’s, and they were looking for someone to live in the house while they were out of the country.”

“Who is the professor, and why did he ask you? It seems like a strange thing to ask a former student.” He shifted his weight.

“Professor Morgan, and I used to house sit for him when he went away. I’d feed his cats and stuff. He knew I was responsible and wouldn’t destroy a house I guess. He also knew I was going through a hard time with the break up, so maybe he was trying to help me keep my head in the game. He has always been very supportive.”

“In theory that makes sense, but I don’t like that your name was in here.”

“Could the owners have left it? Maybe after Professor Morgan gave them my name?”

James shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?” I didn’t like how quickly he dismissed the idea.

“Because Stan and Emma don’t have access to this kind of parchment.”

“How do you know?” I put a hand on my hip. If he wanted me to listen to him, he was going to have to start sharing more information.

He flipped over the paper. “Because of this.”

I peered at the
M
embossed on the back of the paper. “What does that M mean? Is it some kind of crest?”

“Yes. Exactly.” James stared at the M as though he expected it to tell him something.

“What does it stand for?” I touched the raised crest.

“Mendel.”

“Who or what is that?” The word meant nothing to me.

“My family.”

“So someone in your family left it?”

“Not exactly.” He finally tore his eyes from the paper. “More like a supporter of my father.”

“Wasn’t your father hated by everyone?”

“Not by his men. He had many loyal followers.”

“You can’t really expect me to leave with you.”

“I must insist. You are not safe here.”

“There is no reason any of your father’s friends would know about me. Somehow Stan got that paper. There’s no other explanation.”

“That is an impossibility. And I don’t know how they found out about you. Maybe it was my fault.” His face darkened. “And if that is the case that I am eternally sorry, but it doesn’t change the fact that you must come.”

“It changes everything. It means staying with you puts me in more danger.” I took a step back.

“You think staying away will help you? It will do nothing. If they discovered you through me they know I care. You staying away changes nothing. And it may not relate to me at all. There may be more to why you were asked to care for this house. I don’t understand it yet, but I will.” His hand clenched into a fist. I knew it wasn’t anger toward me, but for the first time since our initial meeting I felt a shiver of fear. James was strong. He wasn’t someone I wanted to be on the bad side of.

“Even if I agree to leave Charleston, and I’m not saying I will, where would we go? You can’t think returning to your hometown is going to help the situation.”

“We need to get to the castle. There is a reason someone was in that office, and I need to get word to Charlotte.”

“Castle?” This was news to me. Where was his hometown anyway? “And call her. That’s a lot faster than driving.”

“Yes. A castle. I grew up there and will show you, but I cannot call her.”

“You have a phone now, remember?” At least he’d claimed to have one.

“Phones don’t work in Bellgard.”

“You’re crazy.” I edged toward the doorway again.

“No, but what I am about to do is.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you are coming with me. You can do it willingly or not. I cannot allow you to come to harm.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” I wanted the words to be true, but standing there in my pajamas as he discussed taking me with him no matter what made it hard to feel safe.

“No. I would not hurt you for the life of me, but I will take you with me by any means possible.”

“Not yet. I’m calling Professor Morgan. Maybe you are right. Maybe someone else knew I was here or something.”

“If you are going to do it, do it quickly.” He stared out the now closed window.

I ran into my room and grabbed my phone. I still had the professor listed as a contact from sending him pet updates. I pressed send. The phone rang and rang before it went to voicemail.

I hung up. What kind of message would I leave?
Hi, it’s Ainsley. Did you send out a hit on me?
“Maybe this is all a prank. Someone playing a trick.”

“On Mendel parchment? You think your friends happened upon it? The embossed crest is impossible to come by in your world. It must be applied by hand.”

“In my world?” And then he went and sounded crazier.

“Pack a bag if you want to bring anything, and I suggest you do. We may be there awhile.”

I shook my head. “I’m going home instead.”

“Home?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Yes. To my mom’s place.” My stomach churned at the thought of facing my step-sister again.

“In Chapel Hill?”

“Yes…” Clearly he didn’t have a memory problem.

“No. You cannot do that. There is a gate in Durham.”

“What?”

“In Duke Gardens. Forget it.”

“I know there are gates in Duke Gardens and lots of other places, but what does that matter?” I should have been running, but instead I was standing there listening to him. James put me in some sort of trance—walking away from him seemed impossible.

“Get your bag.”

I blinked a few times. I had to snap out of it. Just because James was attractive and seemed genuinely nice did not mean I could trust him. Instincts could be wrong. I’d learned that the hard way. “You are going to need more proof than a little piece of paper to convince me to go anywhere with you. You sound crazy.”

“Also, I suggest you put on jeans and a coat.”

“James, are you even listening to me?” Did he really expect me to follow him blindly? I wasn’t that naive.

“It is you who fails to listen.” He rushed past me into my room. He pulled a duffel bag from the closet.

“What are you doing?” I watched with my mouth hanging open as he stuffed clothes into the bag.

“Packing for you since you are being so bullheaded.” He walked out of the room. I chased after him down the hall to the bathroom. He tossed in my toiletries.

“Stop!”

“No.” He turned to me. “Do you value your freedom? Your life?”

“Of course.” I crossed my arms.

He put his hands on my shoulders. “Then come with me now. You will likely lose one or both if you do not.”

“If I’m dead I don’t need my freedom.”

“Now is not the time for these games, Ainsley. We need to go.” He threw the bag over his shoulder. “I will wait right here. Get changed.”

“I’ll get changed, but not to come with you.”

He said nothing, so I hurried back to my room. Getting out of pajamas was a smart idea. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but anything would run smoother if I were dressed.

I walked out of my room and right into James’ chest.

He returned his hands to my shoulders. “Why are you fighting me on this?”

“Besides the fact that you are crazy?” Might as well lay it out there.

“So that is the real issue?”

“You think you are from another world. That’s beyond crazy.”

His face lightened. “What if I could prove to you I’m not crazy without taking you anywhere?”

“How?” I put a hand on my hip.

“Go into the backyard with me. To the garden.”

“Why, so you can bury my body?” I didn’t really believe he would hurt me, but he was freaking me out.

“We have been over this before. If I wanted to kill you would I really do it outside?”

“If I agree to go into the garden with you, will you leave me alone? I don’t want to stay here. You being crazy aside, I don’t like that the office was broken into.”

“Yes. If you still refuse to believe me, I will let you go home, or wherever it is you want to go, as long as you leave the house.”

“Deal.” I gestured for him to start down the stairs. “You first.”

He nodded before heading down. I followed a few steps behind. He went right out the back door and straight back through to the garden. I was sure it was once a beautiful garden, but it had now fallen into disarray as though no one had attended to it in years. He walked right past an old fountain. Even under the ivy snaking around it and moss covering it, I could still see it was once beautiful. At another time I would have loved to see it running.

I glanced around me. “Ok, we are in the dead garden… anything else I need to see?”

“One second.” He pulled out what appeared to be a key carved entirely out of an iridescent crystal. “One more second.”

He tugged a thick layer of ivy and moss off the back gate to reveal a small keyhole.

“I didn’t think this gate opened.”

“You weren’t supposed to. That is the point.” He inserted the key and opened the wrought-iron gate. “Come look.”

“Fine.” I walked over to where he stood and saw what appeared to be a waterfall made of light. I blinked a few times. “What the heck?” I stepped in, blinking rapidly as I was hit with bright daylight and an absolutely breathtaking garden. I walked in further, desperate to see more of the exquisite garden in front of me. Unlike the overgrown one behind us, this one was in full bloom, it was wild and full of vibrant colors unlike anything I had ever seen before. Yet despite the shocking bright hues and neon colors, the flowers seemed so real. So alive. “This place is unbelievable.” I stepped in further and touched a flower. It was real, as real as anything, yet it couldn’t be. Nothing in nature was that bright even in the most tropical rainforest in the world.

“You have not seen anything yet.”

I turned at the sound of James’ voice, and watched as the gate slammed closed behind us. “What is this place?”

“Home.”

“This is Bellgard?” I glanced around me at the colorful flowers and the trees that seemed to stretch on so far I could have sworn they were touching the vibrant blue sky. “Not much of a fortressed city.”

“No.” He stepped toward me. “Bellgard is my city, but Energo is my world.” He bent down and picked the bright purple flower I’d been admiring. He handed it to me.

I accepted the flower, surprised I could feel it in my hand. “I must be dreaming.”

“This is no dream.”

“I am.” This wasn’t reality. The temperature was at least ten degrees warmer. Instead of shivering, I wanted to remove my coat.

“My horse is not too far off, but we will have to walk to get to him. I left him in the closest village.”

“Your horse?” I raised an eyebrow. “Ok, did you put drugs in that wine?” I walked back to the gate and tried it. It was locked. “Open the gate, James. Open it.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You have already done the hardest thing. You have stepped through the gate. You might as well explore the rest.”

“Yeah… not happening.” Despite my desire to see more, I couldn’t. Either I was losing my mind, or James had already lost his. Neither possibility was a good one.

“But I showed you my world is real. That was the deal. You told me if I proved it to you, you would stop arguing.”

“So you expect me to ride off into the sunset with you on your horse now?” I blinked a few more times. Eventually the colors would return to normal. “This is a trick. We are in a special garden in Charleston with accentuated colors.”

“And the bright light? Was it not just night?”

“I am obviously losing my mind.”

He returned to the gate and opened it.

I stepped through back into the night. “This is insane.”

“It is real. Just as the threat is real.” He held open the gate.

“I should run away right now. I should run and never come back.” The logical side of me was already planning an escape.

“Yet you have not moved.”

“You told me you would make me come whether I wanted to or not.”

“Have I chased you?” His eyes connected with mine.

“What are you doing? Why do I feel like I’ve known you months instead of a day?” I crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t like the sensations he made me feel. I didn’t like the need and desire that seemed to get grow stronger the more time we spent together.

“You do the same to me, which is why I want you to come. I want you safe.” He held out his hand.

I glanced between the dark house and the shimmering wall of light.

He nodded. “I can see you want to.”

“Stop pressuring me.”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“You can’t really be asking me that question. Right now I’m wondering if I’m high or something.”

He smiled slightly. “You are sober.”

“I may never talk to you again after all this.”

“What happened to all those kisses you wanted?” He smiled suggestively.

“That was before you made me hallucinate.”

“You are not hallucinating.” He spoke softly, but the intensity of his eyes reminded me that he was still being serious.

“Then why do the flowers in there look so vibrant? It’s like they are glowing.” I pointed through the gate.

“Colors are different where I come from. As an artist, I would assume you would appreciate it.”

“I never said I was an artist. I study art history.”

“And you don’t create any of your own?”

“I do.” Although I hadn’t worked on a single project for months.

“Then why deny it?”

“I am an idiot.” How was I even considering following James? He was a near stranger, and I had no idea where the gate really led.

“No you are not. Don’t say that about yourself. You are about to experience something new. I can promise it will not be an ordinary trip.”