Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (95 page)

He stopped talking, his hands forming fists at his side. Jacob watched as a drop of blood fell to the floor. Keitus resumed walking. “My research suggested I’d be able to unlock your gifts and assume complete control over you once you’d reached the age of maturity. A simple touch was all that was required. But your parents ruined that opportunity by introducing foreign agents to your blood. That attempt to heal you has proven a challenge to overcome.” He scowled at Jacob. “I’m forced to resort to other . . . methods. More persuasive, you might call them.”

“Why are you telling me all this? Aren’t I the enemy?” Jacob hesitated before going on. “I’m just going to tell them everything you’ve told me. You know that, right?”

Keitus paused, looking away. Then suddenly he turned and towered over Jacob. He grabbed Jacob’s shoulders and squeezed very tightly, making him gasp as fingernails pierced his skin. An intense expression of greed crossed the Lorkon’s face and he pushed Jacob against the stone wall.

“Join me. Help me unlock the secrets of the universe. Your life will improve greatly. Anything you want, you’ll have. We can rule together.”

“Secrets of the universe?” Then the other part of what Keitus had said entered Jacob’s mind. He snorted. “Dude, look. I’m not Luke and you aren’t Darth Vader. I’m not going to ‘
join
’ you.” Jacob smiled. Usually it was Matt who had the quick tongue.

Confusion clouded Keitus’s face. “What are you talking about?”

Jacob sighed in exhaustion. “Never mind. Okay, I want to go home. Can we just say we had the conversation, you asked me to come with you, I said no, and call it good?”

Keitus released his hold on Jacob and growled, the color in the air around him changing to bright—very bright—red. He raised his fist to attack, slamming it into the wall near Jacob’s head instead. Rock and bits of mortar fell to the floor.

He took a deep breath, speaking through clenched teeth. “I
created
you so we could work
together
. Do I need to repeat myself? I’ll give you
everything
you want.”

Jacob’s mouth popped open. Did Keitus actually think he could convince him? “You can’t give me friendship. Or love. Or happiness.”

Keitus held his breath, then released it slowly. “Is it happiness you want? I can give it to you. I can provide anything.”

“I don’t want counterfeit happiness. I want the real thing.” Jacob stepped out from under Keitus’s arm. “And I can’t live my life in dishonesty. You’re a living lie. You think you’re happy, but it’s obvious you aren’t.”

“I—”

“I can see emotions. The truth is coloring the air around you.”

Keitus frowned, hesitating for several seconds, then he pushed Jacob to the wall, pinning him there. “You
will
help me. You’ll die if you don’t.”

Jacob tried to look brave, even though he definitely didn’t feel that way. “If I die, that means you’ll never get what you want.”

The Lorkon swung Jacob around, dragging him back down the hall and into the room where the other Lorkon waited. “I’ve tried to reason with you,” he said as he stormed. “You are an impertinent, insolent brat.” He motioned to the other Lorkon. “We’ll do things the old-fashioned way.”

One of the Lorkon laughed gleefully, his excitement evident in the colors around him. He strode to a curtain and pulled out a chair with chains and leather straps attached to it. Another Lorkon dragged a table to the center of the room. It was covered with sharp instruments.

Panic hit Jacob. He wasn’t an idiot—he knew right away what they intended to do.

“Wait, wait, wait! Okay, I’ll do whatever you want!”

Keitus threw him to the ground. “I know that voice—you’re lying. You’re going to try to find a way out of here.” He motioned to the other Lorkon. “Strap him in the chair.”

“No!” Jacob said, ignoring the pain in his hip where he’d hit the floor. “I promise! I’ll help!”

Spittle built up at the corner of Keitus’s mouth. “I can only tolerate being the
good guy
for so long, Jacob.” His sneer grew broader. “See into the past. Seek out and find the Key of Ayunli.”

“Okay, I’ll try!” Jacob took a deep breath. “But I only just started learning this ability.”

Keitus growled in anger and Jacob rolled to the side, trying to dodge the Lorkon’s foot. He didn’t go far enough, and the tip of Keitus’s boot struck him in the side. Jacob gasped at the sharp pain.

“Find it. Now!”

Jacob held his arms over his ribs. He couldn’t help the tears that streamed down his face. He coughed, dragging himself to his knees, holding a hand up in a gesture of surrender.

“Finally,” Keitus said. “We’re getting somewhere.”

Jacob dragged in a breath. “I . . . I need time. Takes time.”

Keitus motioned to the table that had the food on it. “Make yourself at home. We’ll wait.”

Jacob pulled himself to the table and got into the chair. His body still tense, he massaged his forehead, trying to get the headache to leave. How was he supposed to concentrate well enough to see into the past? And why did they want the Key of Ayunli, anyway? Wouldn’t the Key of Kilenya be enough? Then it dawned on Jacob—Keitus wanted
him
for the Key of Kilenya. It only worked when
he
used it.

He took a deep breath. “If you want this key, I’m going to need information. When was the last time it was seen? Who had it? How many years ago?”

Keitus motioned to one of the Lorkon, who pulled a roll of parchment from his robes.

The Lorkon glanced over the parchment. “It has been four hundred years since it was carried from the castle by a hooded man.” He looked up. “That is all we know.”

Jacob’s heart fell, disappointment flooding through him. “That doesn’t give me
anything
.” He put his face in his hands. “It’s going to take forever to get to a spot four hundred years in the past!”

Keitus leaned forward in his chair. “Then you’d better start, hadn’t you?”

“You need to understand something,” Jacob said. “Doing this is very dangerous, and I have to build up my endurance. Azuriah told me it could kill me.”

“I’m losing my patience with you, Danilo.” Keitus glared at him, the bright red and green of his eyes boring into Jacob’s. “
Get started!
”

Jacob nodded. He couldn’t afford to make Keitus any angrier than he already was. No telling what the Lorkon would do. Jacob put his elbows on the table in front of him, resting his head in his hands, then focused on the wall in front of him, concentrating on the time period he wanted to See.

Suddenly, everything around him broke into commotion as his reality shifted. He tried to grasp onto something—anything—that would give him a clue to the whereabouts of the Key of Ayunli. He strained into the past—further and further away from the current time. The pain in his chest amplified with each hundred years he scanned until he felt his body would explode.

Finally, he caught a brief glimpse of the hooded man. Then, it was as if the curtains had fallen on Jacob’s vision, and he slammed back to the current time.

He opened his eyes and gasped. He must have flopped out of his chair. Keitus held him up by the collar of his shirt.

“Did you find it?”

Jacob shook his head.

In disgust, Keitus dropped him and walked back to the throne, his cloak swirling behind him. “Then keep going.”

Jacob gasped for breath, his bones aching from all the times he’d been flung to the ground. He used the chair to pull himself up again, then sat, wishing now more than ever that he was at home. Why hadn’t he gone through the door
before
everyone else?

Nearly whimpering, he tried Time-Seeing again. The pain in his chest began as he glared ahead and he focused on it, willing it to spread to his entire body. Slowly, the intensity crawled from his heart and to his lungs, then it finally made that familiar pop as it pulsated over him.

A thousand flashes. Jacob felt his body being pulled in every direction. It took him what seemed forever to grasp on to the image of the hooded man. He finally did, but nothing else worked. His ears roared, he felt a constant sensation of vertigo—as if he were about to fall off a cliff—and his eyes burned.

Whipping around, Jacob flew back to the present time. He found himself on the floor once more and tasted bile in his mouth. Keitus had risen from the throne, his hand reaching toward Jacob, an intense expression on his face.

“Success? Did you see where it is?”

Jacob shook his head. “Only the man. He’s holding a small leather package. It all happened too long ago. I have to build up to it. It could take days—weeks, even.”

Keitus growled in anger and jumped to the table, flinging it on its side. Food scattered across the floor. “Get it! Now!” He hovered over Jacob, his arm back, ready to strike. “I’m in no mood to wait!”

“I know, but Keitus—”

“You foolish, naive, useless boy!” Keitus stormed from the room, calling over his shoulder. “Return him to his cell. He’ll practice there.”

Chapter 16. Slime and Muck

W
ith a nod from one of the Lorkon, the Molg nearest Jacob picked him up and carried him through the fortress. One Lorkon trailed behind.

“Put him down,” the Lorkon said when they got to the cell.

The Molg flung Jacob onto the cot. Jacob bounced off and cracked his knee on the stone floor. He called out in pain, and the Lorkon grabbed the Molg by the throat.

“I didn’t say for you to throw him!”

The Molg grunted in response and the Lorkon and Molg left, slamming the door behind them. Jacob heard the Lorkon give muffled orders to the Molg, having the beast stand guard near Jacob’s door.

He got up and wiped off the floor slime as best he could. He couldn’t wait to get home and to a shower. He bit his lip in fear, wondering what would happen if he never got out. No—he couldn’t think that way. He had to remain positive.

Jacob lay on the cot gingerly, trying not to cause himself any extra pain. This just wasn’t fair. He shut his eyes tightly. Crying wasn’t going to happen, no matter how exhausted he was and no matter how much he hurt.

It seemed like everything bad in the world happened to him. In
both
worlds. Getting kidnapped. Not making varsity. Nearly being turned into a Lorkon. And Aloren dating
Kevin
, of all people. Sure, he’d had plenty of time to adjust to it. But that did little to make him feel better, especially now, in his current predicament.

He sat up. Enough self-pity. He needed to concentrate on how to get out of the room.

Starting near the door, Jacob felt his way around the walls again, going up as high as possible, pulling his cot around the room to stand on so he could inspect every possible inch, dealing with the slime on his hands.

Nothing.

He searched the entire floor with no luck. The ceiling was a couple of inches too high. But he couldn’t skip it—he had to do everything possible.

An idea popped into his head. He flipped the cot up against the wall, then climbed the underside like a ladder. He smiled—that was perfect.

It took an hour at least to feel every bit of the stone above him. But just like the walls and floor, there wasn’t even a fraction of an inch that emitted heat. How was it possible that the Shiengols had constructed this place so incredibly well?

Jacob righted the cot and sat on it, fully discouraged now. Early rapped on the window and he scooted the cot under the glass to be near her. He waved, giving her a little smile. She sat on the window sill and waved back. It was good to have her company, even if talking to each other wasn’t possible.

He sighed, turning his mind back to the dilemma at hand—escaping. It was obvious to him now that he couldn’t mold his way out of the room. Maybe he’d be able to bribe the Molgs?

But when a Molg brought him dinner, the expression on the beast’s face told him he’d have more luck convincing the fortress to open itself up for him than he would getting the creature on his side.

The sun set while Jacob watched, face pressed against the window. Hours had passed since Keitus had him locked up again.

A while after the last rays of light had disappeared, Jacob finally lay down. The pain and exhaustion from the day caught up to him, and he fell asleep.

Sunlight through the window woke him the next morning and Jacob jerked up, looking around in panic. It took a couple of moments before he remembered where he was and what had happened.

He fell back onto the cot, sighing in frustration. He hated being in such complete solitude. Yes, he knew others had experienced worse—being stuck in rooms that were so small they couldn’t stand or fully lay out, and bathroom facilities lowered through the ceiling by way of a bucket. ‘Course, the bucket idea wasn’t new to him. He sent a withering glance to his own bucket in the corner of the room.

Jacob ran his hand through his hair, almost immediately wishing he hadn’t. He desperately needed a shower. And breakfast. His stomach growled. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before someone brought him something to eat. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, feeling grateful for yet another thing—good food that hadn’t been poisoned.