The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (29 page)

Sara eased the skull back onto the table as if it were radioactive.

“
I
’
ve spent all night trying to communicate with him,
”
Faith added.
“
Something
’
s keeping him from talking to me.
I can only catch bits and pieces.
He
’
s here right now.
”

“
Did he bring up the amulet?
”
Sara cast a suspicious look around as if the ghost would appear from thin air, though she knew better.

“
I haven
’
t used Old Norse since college.
I
’
m trying.
He said something about the moon, the next full moon.
He mentioned a sword, but I can
’
t make out what.
”
Faith sighed.
“
We have to stay on Hvitmar until I figure this out.
”

“
The next full moon isn
’
t for three weeks.
If Becky knows about the amulet, others must know.
If whoever wants it is like us and can use the amulet—if someone today pushed that scaffold down on Cameron—we are all in serious trouble,
”
Sara said.

“
I don
’
t like it any better than you do.
I don
’
t make the rules.
At this point, I don
’
t even
know
the rules.
”

Biting her lip, Sara thought of Ian
’
s father.
“
I—I think I
’
d better tell you something.
”
In halting words, feeling guilty for betraying Ian
’
s confidence, she related his father
’
s murder to Faith.

When she finished, her sister sat still as a marble obelisk.
Sara watched her go through the same succession of emotions that she
’
d had.
Shock.
Horror.
A twisted sense of kinship that there were others out there with proven supernatural abilities...and the worry that not all of them might be good souls.

Finally, Faith pursed her lips and picked up the belt buckle from her table.
“
I trust Hakon.
I think he may be able to help us.
I
’
m going to keep trying to speak to him.
”

“
Alone?
”

“
We haven
’
t got time to argue about it, have we?
Besides, he won
’
t hurt me.
I don
’
t know why I know that, but I know that.
”
Sara gave a doubtful murmur, but Faith cut her off.
“
He won
’
t leave tonight.
If anyone comes, he
’
ll warn me.
”

Sara paced the tent, realizing Ian had been right in his warning.
“
If Becky tried stealing the amulet tonight, what
’
s to stop her from sneaking into my tent again over three weeks?
Your tent?
”
She felt the color leave her cheeks.
“
Ian
’
s tent.
”

Faith
’
s gaze went sharp and alert.
“
Out the back.
”

Worried now, Sara launched herself at the back wall of the tent and pulled up the stakes that pinned the canvas to the tent floor.
With a last look at Faith, she slipped out.

She shapeshifted into the wolf and ran full-tilt up the slope of the island.
As she came within sight of his camp, she slowed to a trot and then a cautious walk, approaching it from the back.

Ian
’
s scent drifted toward her on the cool air.
She pricked her ears forward and sniffed again, but no hint of other company reached her.
She rounded the corner of the tent.
Lantern light glowed from within.

When she reached the door, she released her hold on the shapeshift.
The shape of the tent blurred, then took on the more indistinct lines of human night vision, and the change completed.
“
Ian?
”

“
Come in.
”

She did so, and found him sitting on his cot cleaning a rifle.
Sara pulled up a chair and sank into it with her heart thumping.
“
You should leave.
”

He lowered the rifle to his lap.
“
Are you kidding?
”

“
Take the boat tonight and go to Unst.
Call a ferry, I don
’
t care.
You don
’
t have to stay here.
This isn
’
t your problem.
”

“
Let me tell you why it is my problem.
I
’
ve had recurring nightmares since I got here about something happening to you, about how I
’
m supposed to protect you from God knows what or who, and they
’
re only getting worse.
You know who I see in these damned nightmares, who tells me this stuff?
Your father.
”

She blanched.
Her mouth fell open, and she struggled for something to say.
Nothing came.

Ian went back to cleaning his rifle.
“
He died in an office, right?
There was a wooden desk, and a brass lamp, and a big silver picture frame on the bookshelf with your family in it?
Leather books?
Stuff in display cases?
An old map of Shetland on the wall?
”

His words hit her like a spray of bullets.
She cringed in the chair.
“
Stop, stop!
How are you seeing all this?
”

“
Tell me again how it isn
’
t my problem.
”

She hugged herself and whispered,
“
He never comes to me or Faith.
”

“
I guess I
’
m just lucky.
”

Wounded, she stared at him.

Regret flashed across his features.
“
Sara, you don
’
t want to see him.
Not like this.
”
He looked back down, wiping the small parts of the rifle and piecing them back together.
“
Anyway, I
’
m not leaving.
Not unless you do.
Don
’
t ask me why he picked me, because I don
’
t know.
”

“
We can
’
t leave.
Faith and I found something out about this amulet.
It
’
s connected somehow with a druid ceremony that manipulated the ley lines.
The order that used it...
We think they were like us.
”

Ian looked up.
“
Like you?
With the floating objects and shapeshifting?
”

“
Yes.
Except this druid order, if they really were a druid order, was able to control the ley lines and use their power.
Faith said it would be like having possession of an atomic bomb.
”

“
And you want me to leave without you?
”

“
We found a skull at the dig, from a Viking who killed one of the druids.
”
Her body screamed for motion.
She lunged upright to pace back and forth.
“
Faith read the skull, and she found his ghost, and he wants us to stay here.
Something about the next full moon and a sword, and he
’
s guarding her, and I came up here to see you because I
’
m worried that something is going to happen to you—
”

Ian set his rifle aside and stood up.
He caught her in his arms.
“
Now you know how I feel.
Don
’
t you think I
’
d go out of my mind with worry if I left?
”

She shook her head violently.
“
I don
’
t want you staying here because of some dream—
”

“
It
’
s not just about that!
Are you blind?
I—
”

She gaped.
Had he just meant to say...?

Ian looked away, but not before she saw the torment in his eyes.
He circled like an angry wolf, twice around the tent, then he gripped her shoulders and gave her an angry shake.
“
I
’
ve wanted you almost from the minute you got here, and I can
’
t even explain why.
Then I find out what you are, and I have no idea what I
’
m doing, feeling the way I am, because
my father
was killed by one of you—
”
He broke off and lunged away, raking both hands through his hair.

Old pain tore through her, suddenly fresh again.
“
Freaks?
Is that what you were going to say?
”

He glanced back, then away, hunching his shoulders.
“
I didn
’
t mean...
”

“
No, you did!
”
She shot across the tent to stare him down toe-to-toe.
“
Say it.
Get it out.
I want to hear you say it!
”

He gave her a desperate look.
“
You have no idea what this is like.
I was ten years old, and I saw my father murdered, by a man who—who could—
”

“
Do what I do?
Telekinesis?
Shapeshifting?
Mind-reading?
”
She flung the words at him, seething when he flinched.
“
Do I look like a murderer, Ian?
Does having this power make me a monster?
”
She shuddered.
“
I didn
’
t ask for it.
”

He sighed explosively.
“
Jesus, Sara.
You don
’
t...
I can
’
t...
”
He turned his back on her.
“
I
’
ve been making myself crazy ever since I got here, knowing what you are.
”

“
Then why did you come?
You can
’
t stand what I am unless it helps you with your goddamned research, is that it?
Is that all this was?
You
’
re using me?
And to think I came up here to warn you.
”
She wheeled toward the tent door.

He spun back and caught her by the wrist.
Writhing with ferocity, she tried yanking it away, but he held fast.

His expression shifted; she saw him fighting with himself. The pulse pounded in his throat. “Don’t go.”

Chapter Eleven

Sara glanced at the door, hovering like a wild creature on the razor edge of fight or flight.
Idiot,
he cursed himself.
You’ve screwed this all up from the first second you opened your mouth.
The hurt in her eyes knifed him.

Once more she moved to leave, and his entire being railed against it.
He lunged forward and kissed her.

She gave a muffled sob and pounded his chest with both fists. Her cry resounded in every nerve of his body and tore at him. She tried to wrench away. When he didn’t release her, she hid her face in his shirt and gave another thin cry, thumping his chest again. He held her hard against him.