The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) (24 page)

And then taking Ajax with him, he
shifted.

I shook my head as if to clear it. With all
of the Fae popping in and out, the room had filled with a
substantial amount of mist.

And then Jareth locked his hands behind his
back, and striding my way, sank tiredly onto the couch next to me.
“It’s becoming impossible to hate Rafael anymore,” he admitted,
shaking his head with begrudging respect.

I just sighed.

But Jareth wasn’t in the mood to be
silent.

“Of late, I seem to understand the
Brotherhood better than Avalon,” he said, his tone turning darker.
“Perhaps I really
am
one of them.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” I
disagreed, even though I knew what he meant. So I added, “You can
dream just as well as I can, Jareth. Create your own place to
belong.”

I picked up his arm and put it around my
neck. We both knew it wasn't romantic. And we just sat that way for
a time before Jareth started feeling chatty once again.

“If my Blue Thread is as fragile as Rafael’s,
then I’m going to fail, Sydney,” he confessed in a resigned
tone.

His ominous words struck terror through my
soul even as it made me wonder what my own choice be.

We sat in companionable silence after that,
each lost in our own thoughts, and then a short time later, Rafael
returned.

“It’s best to get Sydney home now,” he said
the instant he reappeared. “When Melody discovers what I’ve done,
she’ll be out for revenge. I’d rather not have Sydney in Avalon
when that happens.” And then frowning at Jareth, he added, “Or you,
either, for that matter.”

To my surprise, Jareth only nodded. “Then
I’ll meet you on Earth in ten minutes,” he said. “There’s something
I must do first.”

Rafael locked gazes with him and then said,
“Ten minutes. No longer!”

Jareth didn’t waste a second. He shifted and
was gone, leaving only the telltale cloud of mist.

And then Rafael was moving away through a new
doorway opening up in the wall.

Not wanting to be alone, I ran after him.

I found myself standing in his bedroom, and
in spite of the horrific events of the day, or maybe perhaps
because of them, I felt a sudden moment of awkwardness at the
intimacy of the place.

I watched Rafael cross his room to the far
wall. Giving it a gentle tap, he stood back as a small opening
appeared to reveal a white tray holding a single gray cube. Picking
the cube up, he dropped it onto the floor and slowly and
methodically, ground it under his heel until it was a little pile
of gray dust.

“That cube held everything the Queens had
wished to know,” he explained quietly. “All that I’ve learned. But
now, such knowledge is better left forgotten.”

I looked at the gray dust curiously.

And then I suddenly wanted Rafael to hug me.
Kiss me, even. I scowled, wondering at the awkward timing of such
thoughts. After the day’s events, how could I possibly think of
such things? Scowling deeper, I tried to collect myself.

But then I noticed him watching, looking down
at me from under long, dark lashes. And for the briefest of
moments, a half-smile played on his lips.

Opening my mouth, I said the first thing on
my mind. “I’m sorry. Sorry about everything. All of it, from your
having Marquis as a father, to the way it’s all played out. It must
have been a miserable childhood.” I knew I was starting to ramble,
but it was oh so hard to stop once I was on a roll. “And Melody.
Having to deal with both her and Marquis this entire time must have
been hard. I mean, I’m just really sorry you had to go through all
that. It must have sucked to have had to deal with it all.” I
winced, knowing I’d repeated myself foolishly so I tried to wrap it
up. “So, I’m sorry. I know it must hurt, this whole thing with
Marquis and all…”

Finally, I managed to zip my lips.

One of Rafael’s brows danced upwards as he
sent me a speculative look, but he replied easily enough, “Marquis
was never much of a father anyway. He was always aloof,
untouchable.” He was quiet a moment and then added, “He’s nothing
like Al.”

I felt a wave of sympathy. Moving to join
him, I reached out to place my hand softly on his arm. And this
time, I managed to find words for what I truly felt. “I’m really
sorry that you met me. It’s my fault that you ended up with such
horrible choices.”

I felt his muscles tense under my
fingers.

“I’m not sorry I met you,” he said, lowering
his voice. “There truly was no choice in this for me. How could I
let you and Jareth come to harm?”

“For the greater good—” I began.

“No,” Rafael disagreed, shaking his head.
“There
are
those strong enough to live with the consequences
of making such decisions, but I’m not one of them. I couldn’t live
knowing that I’d sacrificed you and Jareth to appease the fear of
the Queens. A fear they have no business feeling in the first
place. They are better than that.”

I heaved a sigh. “But it was a mistake all
the same,” I said.

And then I felt his breath on my cheek. It
reminded me of the dream that I’d had, of him kissing me as I
slept. And then I suddenly knew that it hadn’t been a dream. He’d
had the ability to shift all along.

Bending his head so his mouth was level to my
ear, he whispered, "You’ll never be a mistake, Sydney. And I don’t
care if Fate itself tells me so.”

I stared at him.

He stared back at me steadily. “I would do it
all again, little green-eyed pixie.”

Gently, he tilted my face up towards his, and
then leaning down, he kissed me lightly on the forehead.

I just closed my eyes.

And then grasping my hand, he pulled me into
his massive closet and led me to the small wooden chest that I’d
seen before on the day he’d given me Cor’s pen.

Lifting the lid, he drew out a
familiar-looking crystal cylinder. It took me a moment to recall
that before it had held a golden feather as bright as pure
sunlight. But the feather that had been alive before was now a
dull, shriveled wisp.

Rafael’s shoulders dropped. “Then it’s as I
feared,” he said with a sad expression. “The Queen of the Light
truly no longer trusts me.”

He stood there a moment before reaching for
another chest to rummage through its contents.

As I waited, I eyed the crystal, remembering
the Light Queen’s words in the coffee shop.
Only those who have
gained my complete trust may see and keep my Light.
She’d given
me a feather as well that day. It seemed years ago. I looked at my
hand where the feather was supposed to be. I still couldn’t see it.
Maybe because it really wasn’t there.

And then, for the briefest of moments, I saw
it. A bright curl of vibrant, glowing golden light hovering over my
hand. But before I could even gasp, it winked away.

I scowled.

What did it mean? Did it mean that the Light
Queen still had faith in me? Hadn’t she just wanted me dead?

I jerked in surprise as Rafael’s hand fell
heavily on my shoulder. “Let’s go, Sydney,” he said.

I barely had time to nod before we’d shifted
back to Earth.

Once again, I was standing in Rafael’s cold
living room. The rays of the early morning sun filtered in through
the window.

I shivered.

“What now?” I asked, my voice sounding
unnaturally loud in the empty room.

“I will not give up,” Rafael vowed. “I will
do what must be done to protect humanity and the Fae.”

“We’ll do it together,” I said, looping my
arm through his.

He stepped closer and leaned his chin on the
top of my head. “You’re quite brave, little pixie,” he said,
wrapping his arms tightly around me.

I laid my head back against his muscular
chest, and we stayed that way, taking silent comfort in each
other’s presence.

And then I suddenly recalled the Queens’
words. “What did I do to the Hall of Mirrors?” I asked. “Did I
break them?”

“I don’t truly know,” he answered. “But
they’ve gone silent.”

“How can a mirror go silent?” I asked.

But my question was lost as Jareth appeared
in a poof of mist. Brushing his sleeves, he rolled his eyes and
said, “You certainly do know how to rile everyone up, Rafael. Exile
yourself to Earth? Cor’s heir, a pureblood, walking away from his
homeland to live with humans?”

“Exile?” I asked, slipping out of Rafael’s
arms to face him.

“I’ve no reason to return there for good—”
Rafael began.

But then a familiar voice interrupted us
all.

“And where is ‘there’?” Al asked. Still
wearing his Faraday baseball cap, he stepped out from behind the
kitchen door. “Do you boys want to share just exactly what planet
you’re from?”

My mouth
dropped open as Al walked towards us, and my mind raced through a
variety of explanations in search of a plausible one that he just
might believe.

But I couldn’t think of a single one.

Al really was just too sharp. He was holding
his Neighborhood Watch flashlight in one hand and his cellphone in
the other. When only silence greeted his request, he held up his
phone and flipped it around for all to see.

“Then maybe you can explain this to me?” he
asked with a strange glint in his eye.

The tiny screen flashed as a video began to
play. It was clearly from one of Al’s spy cameras in the front
yard.

At first, it displayed a view of the street.
And then the screen suddenly turned black, and all I could hear was
a snuffling noise. Gradually, the blackness moved away to show a
good view of the inside of Ajax’s nostril. Then he pulled back
enough to reveal his entire nose and finally his face.

For a few seconds, the Doberman stared
directly into the camera.

And then he began to blink. It took me a
second to realize that he was blinking a pattern.

“Morse code,” Al supplied, his expression
inscrutable. “I haven’t heard of too many dogs knowing Morse
code.”

“What did he say?” I gulped.

“
Danger. The Mesmers will attack
soon
,” Al replied.

Jareth snorted. Folding his arms, he leaned
against the wall and drawled, “I suppose you’re not going to
believe that he simply had something in his eyes?”

Rafael lifted a cool brow in Jareth’s
direction. “I believe it’s time,” he suggested calmly.

“I suppose,” Jareth replied with a careless
shrug.

It sounded ominous. “Time for what?” I asked,
flooding with concern.

But Rafael wasn’t listening to me. With a
slight bow of respect, he held out his hand in a welcoming gesture.
“I believe it’s much simpler to just show you, Al.”

Al didn’t hesitate. “Then let’s go,” he
agreed, pulling out his truck keys.

“Keys are not … needed. Allow me,” Rafael
said, touching Al’s arm.

And then they shifted.

I turned on Jareth and asked, “Where did they
go?”

He took the time to yawn first, a great, big
obnoxious yawn. And then he answered, “Avalon.”

I rolled my eyes. “I could figure out that
much on my own,” I snapped.

Jamming his hands in his pockets, Jareth
strolled to the living room window and peered out, rocking back and
forth on his heels. “We’ve always known Al would have a part to
play in this drama. It’s in his fate lines,” he divulged, and then
his voice dropped, and he muttered as if to himself, “This is all
happening so fast.”

He didn’t speak after that, no matter how
hard I pestered him with questions. I finally gave up and settled
for looking for Ajax, but the Doberman was nowhere to be found. And
after a time, when Al and Rafael didn’t return, I began to
nervously pace back and forth.

Again, I asked Jareth where they’d gone
exactly, but he only responded with an irritated grunt.

After a while, I gave up pacing and sat down
on the floor to idly trace figure eights in the dust as Jareth
continued to stare unseeing out the window.

It was sometime later that I looked over at
Jareth and asked, “Why didn’t you come when I called?”

This time, he responded. “You called?” His
brow lifted in surprise.

I searched his face, and finally deciding
that he was sincere, I nodded. “Many times.”

He scowled upon hearing it. “I was doing a
concert …” he began, and then his voice trailed off, and a look of
confusion passed over his face. “Or maybe I was in Avalon. I woke
up in Avalon a short time before hearing Rafael’s mirror
break.”

He didn’t say anymore. He didn’t have to.

I eyed him speculatively, suspicious that
he’d again fallen victim to Melody’s evil designs. “You should wear
a Faraday cap,” I advised.

He just snorted, and I knew better than to
press him.

He turned his back on me after that, and I
knew that I wouldn’t get anything else out of him, so I returned to
drawing figure eights in the dust.

It must have been close to two hours when Al
and Rafael finally winked back into existence.

I leapt to my feet.

Al looked decidedly green, but I knew it
wasn’t only from having shifted the first time.

Rafael eyed him sympathetically.

He’d taken the time to change his clothing,
and he looked as sophisticated and charming as ever with his shirt
stretched tight across his muscular chest in a way that set his
lean body off to perfection.

It was funny. Even in the midst of all this
drama, I found him a distraction.

And then Al took a deep breath. “Right then,
we’ve work to do,” he said. But then he added, “After a few Tums
and a cup of coffee.”

He waggled his eyebrows at me and then headed
out the door and across the street.

We followed.

Everyone else in the blue rambler was still
asleep as we filed into the kitchen. And I started Al’s coffee as
he headed for the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.