Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (43 page)

“Yeah, it does,” Akeno said. “All three of them.”

Sweet Pea jabbed him in the ribs. “Leaving none for you, eh?”

The two Makalos grinned at each other, and Jacob and Matt laughed. The adults looked as if they were enjoying the conversation—probably relieved “the boys” were getting along so well.

Sweet Pea stretched, popping his back. “If it hadn’t been for those stupid wolves attacking me, I would’ve gone with you, Jacob, instead of Akeno.”

“Not instead of,” Ebony said. “But yes, you would have gone too.”

“Really?” Jacob asked. He couldn’t imagine how different things might have been if Sweet Pea had accompanied them. He probably would have hit on Aloren from day one.

Brojan finally gave the go-ahead for Jacob to get Gallus.

“Akeno, you want to come with me?”

“I . . . I’ll be really slow,” he paused, “but . . . if that doesn’t bother you . . .”

“‘Course not—I want you there. Plus, I’ve got the Key, so speed doesn’t even matter.”

Akeno got up from his seat, a large grin spreading across his face. “Let me get my top hat.”

Jacob smiled. He’d forgotten Akeno liked wearing top hats. It was still weird to him how much the people here knew of his world—even if they were several generations off, in some cases—where styles were concerned.

Akeno returned, plopping the worn hat on his head, and Jacob put the Key through the lock and pulled the door open, entering Gallus’s store with a jingle of bells.

There were only two customers in the store, and they jumped when the door opened. Jacob was surprised at how dark it was inside. He looked around—the windows had been covered.

The people ignored Jacob, moving away from him when he asked where Gallus was.

“What’s going on here?” Akeno whispered. “Why’s it so dark?”

The customers left, and footsteps sounded above. A moment later, Gallus came down the stairs in the corner of the room. He paused when he saw Jacob and Akeno, myriad emotions flitting across his face before he had the chance to mask them.

Jacob immediately understood why, and he felt like his heart had stopped.

Aloren should be with Jacob. She was stuck in Maivoryl City because of Jacob. Akeno was alive because Jacob had chosen to leave Aloren behind. Grief, guilt, anger, and frustration hit Jacob square in the chest, nearly knocking the breath from him.
It’s not my fault!
he felt like screaming. Gallus was sure to argue, though—Jacob shouldn’t have left Aloren behind when he went to get the Key, no matter her arguments. He shouldn’t have left her in Eachan’s care. He shouldn’t have even allowed her to enter Maivoryl City. And what was he doing
here
, not trying to get her out of the city? Why was he wasting time, waiting for the potion to be made?

Akeno nudged Jacob. Gallus was staring at him—it appeared he’d chosen a polite expression to cover his emotions. Jacob took a step forward.

“Um . . .”

“I see you’re in . . . good health, Jacob.” The black man paused, fidgeting with his apron. “And Akeno—how’s your leg? Kenji told me about what happened in the Lorkon castle.”

“It’s healing. Slowly.”

Jacob knew he should apologize, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, especially in front of Akeno. What would he say? “I’m sorry I left the girl you think of as your own daughter in a city full of dangerous, disfigured people who interact with the vilest species in the universe so I could save the life of someone you’d only met once.” Somehow it didn’t seem adequate. Jacob sighed inwardly. Apologies almost never sufficed for the act they were excusing—at least, not to him. It would’ve been better if the act had never been committed.

“Good, good. Canush?” Gallus offered them the jar of sweets and Jacob and Akeno each took one.

A long silence.

“Uh . . .” Jacob cleared his throat. “Kenji and Brojan sent me to get you.”

“Yes, I see.” Gallus took off his apron, hanging it on a hook behind him. “Let me close shop.” He wandered off, mumbling, and Jacob thought the black man said something about how he’d expected Kenji to come, or Brojan at least.

Jacob blew out a breath of air. “Wow. He’s upset with me.”

Akeno bit his lip, looking worried. “I know. I can tell. Jacob, I’m so sorry I let the Lorkon grab me. If that hadn’t happened, we’d have been able to get Aloren out.”

“No, don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault.”

Akeno didn’t respond, but Jacob could tell he was upset.

After several moments, Gallus returned. He placed bars in front of the covered windows, then locked the door in three different places, a grim expression on his face.

Finally, he motioned Jacob to the door.

“Kenji’s house,” Jacob said, marveling when the locks undid themselves as he opened the door. He waved the tall man through. “We’ll come in a minute.” He didn’t want to be there for the reunion between Gallus and the Makalo adults. If anything, his presence would subdue Gallus’s joy.

Jacob watched the locks re-fasten themselves before turning to Akeno. “I don’t know how to make things better.” He ran his hand through his hair. “He’s going to hate me for the rest of my life, especially if something bad happens to Aloren. Oh, why won’t your parents let me go get her?”

Akeno shook his head. “Jacob, I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am. I . . . don’t know what’s going to happen, or even if having more people on the rescue team will help. My parents seem to understand more than we do, though.”

“But I’ve seen what’s in the city—you too! I’m familiar with what I’d be up against. I
know
I’d be able to get her!”

Akeno didn’t respond, and Jacob slid down against the door.

Finally, the Makalo said, “You’re a good person. I waited my whole life to meet you—all of us did—”

Jacob’s expression must have stopped Akeno. “What?” the Makalo asked.

“You waited your whole life to meet me?”

“Yeah. Didn’t we already tell you that? You’re special, Jacob. We always knew you would be.”

“Special? Well, I do have that ability to find weakness in things. But how’d you all know?”

Akeno shook his head. “It’s not my place to fill you in on all the details.”

Jacob didn’t know if he believed that or not, but he wasn’t in the mood to press Akeno for more answers.

“We waited forever to meet you, but I didn’t know who you’d be. It’s such a relief to know that all of this is in the hands of someone who genuinely cares for other people.”

Jacob smiled at Akeno, gratitude for his friend swelling within him. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

Akeno returned the smile. “Wanna see the scar? It’s changed colors again.” He lowered himself to the floor and lit his finger to give more light to the gloomy store, then lifted his pant leg. The pink scar had changed to an ugly yellow smudge which wrapped around Akeno’s shin to his calf. It was about the size of a handprint.

“Pretty impressive.”

Akeno laughed. “Kaiya says it’s gross. Don’t blame her—we’re not sure if it’ll ever go away.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while, then Jacob stood, helping Akeno up. “We should get back. They’re probably ready for us.”

“You can’t imagine how difficult the last few days have been,” Gallus said.

Everyone was squashed around Kenji’s table. Matt, Jaegar, and Akeno had been mostly silent—the discussion didn’t directly affect them.

“As soon as . . .” Gallus paused. “Well, we guess it was as soon as Jacob escaped through the Fat Lady’s door, the Lorkon stationed guards in all the cities. We’re under surveillance and curfews have been placed. They seem to know Jacob had found help in one of the cities, and I’m sure they know it was Macaria.”

“Aloren’s not being held in the castle, is she?” Jacob blurted, forgetting that Gallus had been ignoring him for the past twenty minutes. He’d tried to give the man space, but he couldn’t help it this time—he needed more information.

Gallus didn’t look directly at Jacob, but more at a spot over his head. “I’m not sure. I don’t have any details.” He then stared at his cup. “What I wanted to tell you,” he motioned to Kenji, “was that I saw someone walking around the lake on the other side of the scented air. And there’s no way they would be there, unless they’re from Maivoryl.”

“How’d you see them?” Jacob asked. “Macaria is really far away from Maivoryl City.”

“With a lens—it’s like a telescope in your world.”

Ebony frowned. “And you’re sure it wasn’t a Lorkon you saw?”

“Positive. Absolutely positive. Nowhere near tall enough.”

“They didn’t come from Ashay Hills?” She asked.

Gallus shook his head. “The mountains are impassible, which is the reason the royal castle was built there in the first place. They could only have come from Maivoryl itself. We already know the everlasting potion the Lorkon placed between Maivoryl City and Ridgewood traps people, and the residents of Ridgewood won’t let others pass. The Lorkon must have allowed a few people to leave.”

Jacob got chills when he thought of the scented air. It became an invisible prison for people who hadn’t taken one of the Fat Lady’s potions.

“So, what do you propose we do with this information?” Kenji asked.

Gallus shrugged. “I was hoping we’d all be able to figure that out.”

“We go get Aloren. Before anything else weird happens,” Jacob said. “Never mind the Fat Lady’s potion.”

Kenji shook his head. “Not a chance. That potion is necessary. You also need more than two people. Imagine if you met up with a Bald Henry, but couldn’t get through a door on time.”

“We didn’t see any Bald Henries there last time.”

“But you also didn’t see Bald Henries when you went to Aldo’s cabin, either. They’re invisible. And maybe they
were
in the city, but being held back.”

“Regardless,” Brojan said, cutting off Jacob’s reply, “there are too many things that could go wrong. There are several more species here, Jacob, besides Molgs, Sindons, Dusts, and Bald Henries. If the Lorkon brought Fire Pulsers to Maivoryl, there’s no way you’d get out alive.”

Jacob tugged on his hair in frustration, squeezing his eyes shut. He allowed his negative emotions to boil over. “You told me that sometimes the best thing to do is sit and wait for the right time. Well, sometimes the best thing to do is act quickly and strike while it’s hot! I
can’t
wait for the potion to be made! It’s eating me up!”

“I’m with him,” Sweet Pea said. “We gotta get her out of there.”

“But not without help from other people,” Kenji said firmly.

The expression on Gallus’s face made it look like he was experiencing an internal war—Jacob could only imagine what was going on in the black man’s mind. He was probably on Jacob’s side where rescuing Aloren was concerned. But, being an adult, he’d support Kenji.

Ebony covered her husband’s hand with her own, meeting eyes with him—trying to calm him down, probably. She turned to Gallus. “Did you notice where the person went?”

“Probably into the scented air, but I have no proof of that.”

“Why were you watching Maivoryl City, anyway?” Sweet Pea asked Gallus.

“We’ve been keeping our eyes open for any activity whatsoever. I’m not the only one who’s noticed things happening. Holg, actually, was the first to see a person wandering around on that side of Sonda Lake. We’ve been watching as much as we can since then.”

“When did you see the person?” Kenji asked.

“This morning.”

Ebony brought drinks to everyone. “This brings us back to our original question. What do we do with this information?”

All eyes turned to Brojan, who’d been silent for a while. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering. The silence was awkward, but Jacob didn’t dare break it.

The patriarch finally looked at the adult Makalos. “We need to focus on getting those people out of the scented air,” he said. “As many of them as possible. The point is, they can’t stay trapped there forever. We’ll need them in the coming months as we try to rid the land of the Lorkon.”

Kenji nodded. “This will be a great thing for Jacob to focus on while waiting for the Malono potion.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. The Makalos sure loved scheduling his life.

Brojan acknowledged Kenji’s comment, then continued. “We’ll first pull those who are dressed the shabbiest. The people who’ve escaped from Maivoryl won’t have had access to nice clothing in recent years.” He looked to Jacob for confirmation.

“Yeah—their clothes were rags, basically.”

“Now, then,” Brojan said. “Jacob, I know how passionate you feel about getting Aloren back, but even without a potion, you are not ready. How much training do you have in fighting? And those electronic games you play do not count.”

“Uh . . .” Jacob felt a blush crossing his cheeks. He’d not thought of this. “None.”

“There you have it,” Brojan said. “Sweet Pea, you will commence training Jacob in hand-to-hand combat, and anything else we request.”

Sweet Pea nodded, his eyes glinting. “I’ll have him ready in a week!”

Kenji laughed. “Hardly.”

“What? You doubt my abilities? Just you wait and see.” Sweet Pea jabbed Jacob in the side. “How much of that detainment facility can you skip?”