The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) (22 page)

I looked up into his unwavering gray eyes and
silently tried to tell him that I loved him. I wanted him to know
that. Just in case.

His eyes softened as he placed his hands over
my chest, and as I watched, his fingers began to glow. After a few
moments, sparks shot out of his hand to form into a ball of pure
white light that expanded to cover us both.

The first thing I noticed was the pain in my
arms and legs. It was like the ants you feel when you first move
after your limbs fall asleep. Only multiply it by one hundred.
Thankfully, the sensation didn’t last long.

Afterwards, each breath suddenly became
easier. And then the bubble disappeared with a slight pop, and I
sat up on my own to suck in huge gulps of precious air.

I’d come perilously close to dying, and now
with my sudden new lease on life, the only thing I wanted to do was
to hug Rafael and tell him that I loved him.

But the instant I saw his bloodstained shirt,
I panicked.

“You’re hurt,” I gasped.

I was surprised how weak my voice sounded,
and my fingers shook as I reached out to touch his arm.

“It’s nothing,” he responded tiredly,
catching my fingers in his hand and bringing them to his lips. “It
will take some time for your strength to return. Your body is still
healing. Rest here while I tend to Ajax.”

Brushing my cheek with a light fingertip, he
moved to the dark blur of fur lying still on the floor a short
distance away.

I gulped.

It was Ajax.

I tried to get up, but I was still too weak
to actually stand. So I settled for crawling.

As I made my way over to them, Rafael lifted
the Doberman in his arms. Again, the bubble of light formed around
them, but by the time I’d actually reached them, the bubble was
beginning to fade away.

Relief flooded through me as Ajax wriggled to
his feet.

I didn’t care what that dog thought, I just
lunged at him and hugged him as tightly as I could.

To my delight, Ajax didn’t object. He sniffed
me carefully in return, as if to be sure that I was unharmed, and
then satisfied, he turned for a similar inspection of Rafael.

Rafael just patted him tiredly on the
head.

“Can’t you heal yourself?” I asked, wobbling
towards him.

I was worried. He was too pale.

An expression crossed Rafael’s face, one that
I couldn’t interpret, and then he said, “It was the iron that was
deadly, not this small wound.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, and he must
have seen it because he smiled, and pulling me close, he wrapped me
in a comforting embrace. I pressed my face against his chest,
unable to believe that he was really still there, and that we were
safe.

For the moment, anyway.

And then recalling that the Queens had taken
away his light, I drew back with a frown. “How did you heal us? I
thought they took your light—” I began.

He silenced me with a gentle finger on my
lips. And then tilting his head to one side, he rose swiftly to his
feet as several Fae Protectors appeared, dressed in full body armor
and wearing the white cloaks of the Light Queen.

But they weren’t friendly. Their trions were
already drawn and trained upon us.

“Your Queen expects you in the Hall of
Judgment,” they announced curtly. “At once!”

Holding out his hands, Rafael simply said, “I
am ready.”

The Protectors eyes flickered to me. “The
human comes, too,” they replied.

At that, Rafael’s eyes widened in alarm even
as he nodded calmly.

And then bending down and grabbing my arm
under the pretense of helping me to stand, he murmured urgently in
my ear, “Dream, Sydney. Think of other things. Do not let the
Queens into your mind. They won’t understand what we’ve learned
here. They will react only out of fear.”

I nodded numbly, wondering what he was trying
to hide and if I was actually strong enough to hide anything,
anyway.

And then I thought of the man in the top
hat.

He’d told me that I was strong, but not yet
strong enough. Was that what he had meant?

Already beginning to freak out, I leaned
heavily against Rafael. I was still weak and could barely
stand.

But the Protectors didn’t appear to even
notice. Surrounding us, they touched our arms and shifted us to
Avalon.

I was beginning to recognize the feel of
shifting to Avalon was different from shifting from place to place
on Earth. Shifting to Avalon was like freefalling in an intense
volcanic heat.

Thankfully, the sensation lasted only about
three seconds.

The next thing I knew, we were standing in a
long hallway of white marble with a huge vaulted ceiling. One end
opened out into a courtyard filled with trees, voices, and the
sound of running water. The other end of the hall was consumed by
two monstrously tall doors, at least forty feet tall, with a single
dark-haired Fae clad in golden armor standing guard in front of
them.

The dark-haired Fae graced us with a critical
frown. “You may not appear before the Queens in such a disheveled
state,” he snapped.

“Do you know to whom you speak?” one of the
Protectors barked.

He stepped aside, revealing Rafael.

The dark-haired Fae’s eyes widened in
recognition.

Bowing his head, he quickly murmured,
‘Forgive me, my lord. But even
you
may not appear before the
Queens in such a manner. I pray you … heal yourself first.”

Again, one of the Protectors answered on
Rafael’s behalf, “He may not. His light has been bound by the
Queens themselves.”

I scowled, knowing that wasn’t true. And I
thought it strange that the Protectors defended Rafael with such
vigor when moments ago, they’d basically arrested him. The more I
spent time in it, the more I found Fae society complex and
confusing.

“The Queens have ordered the Prince Rafael
and his companion to appear in the Hall of Judgment at once,” the
Protector was saying.

As the dark-haired Fae hesitated, Rafael
strode forward.

Apparently, he was tired of waiting.

“Let us pass,” he said quietly. “At
once.”

The dark-haired guard’s resistance melted,
and with a salute, he stood aside.

As the huge doors began to swing open, we
moved forward, and Rafael caught my hand in a brief clasp of
reassurance.

I squeezed his fingers back.

And then I stepped into the hall, and the
sound of silver trumpets cut the air.

The Hall of Judgment was an intimidating
place. Every door and window was at least forty feet tall, and the
entire place was made of black and white marble, in what I figured
was some kind of symbolism representing the Dark and the Light Fae.
And when I saw the queens at the far end—the Light Queen sitting on
a white throne, and the Dark Queen on a black—I knew I was
right.

They even confirmed it.

“Yes. The black and white marble represents
the equality of the Fae, both Dark and Light,” their twin voices
rang in my head as we approached. “One cannot exist without the
other.”

Hearing them in my head made me freak out.
Rafael had warned me not to let them into my head. He’d told me to
dream, but how could I dream under such circumstances?

I settled for a distraction instead.

Quickly, I thought of my Pikachu tulpa. But
after a few seconds, I realized that a tulpa wouldn’t help me
here—after all, the second dimension was inaccessible to the Fae—so
I decided to focus on singing the Pokémon theme song in my head
instead.

Gotta catch them all, Gotta catch them all,
Pokémon!

“My Queens,” Rafael nodded in respect.

I did the same, bowing my head deeply even as
I started mentally singing the Pokémon theme song from the
beginning.
I want to be the very best …

The queens ignored Rafael. Their piercing
gazes focused on me.

“What are you trying to hide, Sydney?” Their
voices shattered my focus.

I gasped. Desperately, I sang the next line.
Like no one ever was...

The Queens stared at me in outright
suspicion.

To catch them is my real quest.
I
couldn’t remember the next line. So I just mumbled to myself:
Pokémon! Gotta catch them all, Pokémon!

With a tick in his jaw, Rafael stepped in
front of me. “Why have you brought me here, my Queens? What cause
do you have to summon me to the Hall of Judgment?” His tone was
confrontational, and he all but gritted his teeth.

Immediately, the queens shifted their
attention upon him instead. “You have betrayed us,” they forged
ahead to accuse in unison. “Your orders were to shadow Melody, gain
her trust, and reveal her plans. Instead, our private mirrors have
shown that this very day, you willingly became her enemy. You have
betrayed your orders and are guilty of a crime.”

“Melody is your enemy, not I,” Rafael replied
tightly. “How can you judge me so easily? I’ve proven my loyalty to
you time and again.” He paused and then added in a clear voice,
“Because of me, you’ve had insight into the Inner Circle for
years.”

A few gasps echoed around the hall at that,
but I was too distracted to look around to see who was so
surprised. I’d just been given the proof that Rafael
had
been a spy all along.

I felt horrible for ever having doubting
him.

“Have you withheld information?” The Queen of
Light stood slowly, smoothing her white silks about her hips and
running a hand over her blonde curls which glistened with a myriad
of seed pearls. “Or have you been using the Inner Circle for your
own purposes, Rafael?”

“Ask what you really wish to know!” Rafael
demanded in a strong, clear voice.

The two Queens tensed.

He waited for a few moments, but when they
said nothing, his lips thinned in disdain. “I’ve never sought the
throne,” he continued. “You both have entered my mind. You know
this to be true.”

“At one time, we were able to,” the queens
agreed, but then they both frowned. “But now you no longer allow us
into your mind. You hide. Who knows what secrets you hold now?”

The Queen of the Dark rose in a swirl of
black velvet, and her eyes flashed dangerously as she said, “Upon
meeting the human, you changed. We were warned from the beginning
that you would betray us all, should you become involved with the
human. It is coming to pass.”

And then both of their eyes focused on
me.

“Humans are more dangerous than we thought,”
they hissed together. “The sacred mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors
have been silent since Sydney peered into them.”

The gasps in the hall were louder this time,
and I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see the place filled
with many Fae, dark and light. All eyes had zeroed in on me.

I swallowed hard and turned back to face the
queens.

“You will leave her here with us,” they
announced.

I scowled, knowing instinctively that
that
wouldn’t end well for me.

This was verified the next moment as both of
their lips parted to form the imperious decree, “She will be
destroyed.”

I couldn’t move.
Destroyed
sounded so
much worse than
executed
. It felt like they wanted to remove
all trace of my existence. I hadn’t thought the queens to be so
vicious.

“Do not mete out such rash judgment,” Rafael
warned in a reserved tone. “You will not like the consequences, my
Queens.”

Again, the Fae in the hall gasped. And these
gasps sounded even more horrified than the last.

“It is dangerous to threaten your Queens,”
the queens replied, their voices turning to ice.

Meeting their gaze with an icy stare of his
own, Rafael smiled a slow, superior smile. “I do not give idle
threats. I speak in clear promises,” he replied. “I’ll never allow
you to harm Sydney.” He moved to stand next to me, and putting his
hand over mine, he gave it another reassuring squeeze.

The queens were not happy with this. In fact,
they appeared downright furious. “Do not defy us,” they demanded.
“Sydney is too dangerous to live any longer. Prove your loyalty by
giving up the human. Give her up to us immediately.”

But Rafael clearly wasn’t one to give in to
pressure. “This is the last time I’ll warn you not to push me,” he
replied in a calm, even tone.

I found his composure comforting, but I still
held his hand tightly all the same.

But the queens would not be dissuaded. “We
must insist,” they raised their hands. “Give us the human.”

And then Rafael’s demeanor began to change.
“No!” he thundered.

“Then you have made the wrong choice,” the
Light Queen replied.

“No!” he yelled, lifting his chin. “You
have!”

“Explain,” the Queen of the Dark ordered with
clenched teeth.

“You live in too much fear, and it has
clouded your sight,” Rafael answered. “As the rulers of Avalon, you
are required to seek the truth, but you are no longer capable of
it.” He paused, and then in a voice that rang loudly through the
hall, he said, “As Cor’s descendant, I shall stand and become the
truth-seeker that Avalon needs in these darkening days!”

This time, the queens gasped along with the
rest of the Fae in the hall.

And then there was a wave of scuffling noises
that only seemed to be getting louder. Curiously, I glanced over my
shoulder to see that most of the Fae in the hall had fallen upon
bended knee.

I didn’t quite grasp the significance at
first, but when I turned back to the queens and saw their
horrorstruck gazes fastened onto Rafael. I figured that he’d
somehow undermined the queens’ authority.

Rafael stood tall, imposing, and powerful,
and then he grasped my wrist tighter, and turning his back upon the
queens, he stepped away as if he were about to leave the hall.