Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy (7 page)

“Get him in the
water quickly,” Shae said.

I tried to look
at her but could see nothing. I felt hands carrying me, but I couldn’t see
whose hands they were.

“We can heal
him,” Rockne said next. “There’s still time.”

“If he gets any
closer to death, he’ll leach one of us,” Shae said.

Leach? What did
that mean?

Suddenly, I
realized I was in great pain. The pain was a burning throb throughout my body,
and I hadn’t noticed it when I first woke up. I heard a noise, so strange among
the other voices, and the people carrying me hurried.

“Faster!”
Astrid screamed. “Can’t you hear how much pain he’s in?”

That sound was
me? The scream sounded so inhuman. What happened to me? I couldn’t remember.

“What happened
to him?” Champagne asked in her sultry voice, though now it sounded worried.

“He was
attacked by Tack,” Rockne said. “Tack was being possessed by Nalke.”

“What happened
to Tack?” Shae asked.

“I killed him,”
Rockne said bluntly. “But not before he killed the Belles down the street.”

We stopped
moving and I felt myself being lowered into warm, bubbling water. If I’d been
in pain before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. I knew I was
screaming at that point because water filled my mouth. I felt like I was
drowning.

When I finally opened my
eyes, I was in a bed. It was the same bed I woke up in after the party. I sat
up and winced at the fantastically awful pain throughout my entire body. Even
my fingernails hurt. My skin felt really sensitive; I saw scars on my chest and
arms. I couldn't remember how I got them.

Getting up from the bed was
so difficult I almost gave up. I somehow made it to the door and down the
stairs. Rockne and Shae were sitting on the couch, talking to each other. They
stopped when they noticed me standing there.

“Dr. Debelko,” Rockne
greeted.

“I feel like I need a
doctor,” I said.

He laughed. “You were in a
bad way this morning. We barely got to you in time.”

“What happened?”

Shae answered. “Tack
attacked you, trying to get to Astrid. You tried to protect her and he threw
you around a bit.”

“He threw you through a
window,” Rockne elaborated.

“That explains the scars,” I
said.

“Those will fade in time,”
Rockne said.

I jumped suddenly, which did
not feel good. “Where's Astrid? Is she okay?”

Shae smiled. “She's fine,
thanks to you.”

“We took care of Tack, as
well," Rockne added sadly. “I couldn't save him. And the Belles are gone,
as well as their nurse. Nalke was ruthless.”

“I’m sorry I never got to
meet them.” I suddenly remembered something. “Shae, I heard you say something
about me leaching off you guys, or something like that. What did you mean?”

She shrugged. “I don't
recall saying that. Maybe you imagined that.”

“Maybe I did,” I said,
though I knew I hadn't.

Even though Rockne tried to
assure me it wasn
’
t
my fault, I blamed myself for what happened to Tack. If I hadn
’
t forgotten my necklace
Nalke wouldn
’
t
have been able to follow me to the island. Two days later and that thing never
left my neck.

The soreness faded more
everyday until it was nothing but a bad memory. I was a lot more observant at
work, worrying another creature would sneak past me. I still couldn
’
t believe what Rockne
’
s spell did to Tack; he
clearly didn
’
t
play around when it came to protecting the island.

Cormac came along one night,
and I was happy to see him. If any more creatures tried sneaking in, the giant
could step on them for me. I let him in since Astrid wasn
’
t there to greet him like
last time. I waved at him as he lumbered by, and he returned it.

I hadn
’
t seen Astrid since the
night of the attack. I figured Rockne was keeping a tight leash on her, so to
speak. I didn
’
t
blame him.

As I sat there, staring at
the monitors, I thought of Aneela and what she told me at the bookstore. Until
recently, I wouldn
’
t
have believed anything bad spoken about Rockne. How could he create such a
horrible spell? Would the spell have affected me too if I hadn
’
t met him on the rail my
first day? What other spells did he have around the island?

A tremor brought me back
from my dark thoughts. I looked at the monitors, wondering if Cormac was
leaving. I did see a giant, but it wasn
’
t coming from the Village; it was coming from the
mountains.

It was a lot bigger than
Cormac, at least eleven feet tall or more.

I stepped out of the
gatehouse and watched it approach. This one wasn
’
t as normal-looking as Cormac, who could pass for a really
tall teen. This one had dry, cracked skin, a large head and arms so long the
hands dragged against the ground.

And it was wearing only a
loin cloth.

“
Can I help you?
”
I asked him.

The giant stopped suddenly
and looked down at me. It grumbled something I couldn
’
t understand.

“
I
’
m sorry?
”

The giant repeated. I
understood it even less than last time. This made the giant mad. I tried to
calm it down, but that only made it worse. I held up my hands, trying to halt
it as it walked toward the gate again.

“
Stop!
”
I yelled.

I barely got out of the way
in time as the giant tried to step on me. I jumped into the gatehouse, slid the
door closed and grabbed the phone to call Ernie.

The giant
’
s foot crashed through the
ceiling and crushed the desk. The giant pulled its foot from the hole and
kicked the gate arms as it strolled into the Village. I pulled out my cell
phone and called Ernie. He was there five minutes later.

The residents were awake
now. Cormac and the giant walked up the hill shortly after Ernie arrived. The
giant was pulling Cormac by his ear.

“
Oh, boy,
”
Ernie whispered.
“
It
’
s Cormac
’
s dad. He
’
s never come into the
Village before.
”

“
Why is he so mad?
”
I asked.

“
I have no idea.
”

The ground trembled and the
windows rattled as the giants left.

“Rewan
!
”
Ernie called to Cormac
’
s dad.
“
Is there a problem I can
help with?
”

The giant stopped, turned
and spoke in that language again. Ernie nodded.

“
I
’
m sorry to hear that,
”
Ernie said.
“
I
’
m confident Cormac meant no
harm. Aneela can be troublesome sometimes, but no one takes her seriously.
”

Rewan
said something else.

“
Oh, I
’
m sure that
’
s not true. Your son is more
responsible than that.
”

Rewan
sighed and continued
dragging his son away.

“
What happened?
”
I asked.

Ernie sighed as well.
“Rewan
claims his son is getting
involved in things he shouldn
’
t.
”

“
What did he say about
Aneela?
”

“
Have you met her?
”

I nodded.

“
Well, apparently, Cormac has
been seen talking to her, and she
’
s a little...loopy. Rumor has it she
’
s trying to get Rockne
thrown off the island.
”

For some reason, that
shocked me.
“
I
know she doesn
’
t
like him, but throwing him off the island? And what does Cormac have to do with
that?
”

“
He
’
s Aneela
’
s spy. Allegedly.
”

“
Then why does Rockne still
let him come in?
”

“
Because he doesn
’
t believe the rumors. And
Astrid adores Cormac.
”

“
And Rockne adores Astrid.
”

“
You got it.
”
Ernie winked.

“
Do you think it
’
s possible for Rockne to get
kicked off the island?
”
I asked.

“
Not a chance. He
’
s been here so long, and he
’
s won the favor of the
majority of the island natives. Booting him off would go against the popular
vote. And...
”

“
And I would guess a lot of
people would be afraid to anger him, considering what he
’
s capable of?
”
I guessed.

Ernie looked uneasy.
“
I suppose that
’
s possible. Well, I think
the rest of your night should be easy. I
’
m going to head back home. Call if there
’
s more trouble.
”

I watched Ernie leave,
thinking over everything he told me. Why did Aneela hate Rockne so much? I just
couldn
’
t see
it. I had to talk to her.

On my next day off I
traveled to Dargo Plaza, thanks to Helen, who drove me there in her car. I
couldn
’
t
imagine riding through the waves on a cart. She dropped me off at the palace
and chose to do some shopping. We decided to meet up in an hour.

I walked in and was greeted
by a large staircase. A smaller staircase led down, to a basement-like level. I
didn
’
t know
which way to go, so I went up. I asked a guard where I could find Aneela. Helen
had told me she worked here, but not where. I had a hard time wondering why a
princess would work at all, let alone in her own palace.

The guard told me she was
downstairs, doing paperwork. I thanked him and hopped down the grand stairs,
into the basement level. I walked into a room lined with plastic windows. There
were employees sitting at the counters, talking with customers. There were at
least twenty people here. I grabbed a ticket from a dispenser. It had the
number fifty-four on it. I looked to the red number display on a wall and saw
number fifty being served.

I sighed and waited. I saw
Aneela straight ahead, talking with a pudgy woman about her paperwork. I
’
d been to a courthouse on
the mainland when renewing my truck
’
s registration, and this place was just like that.

When my number popped up on
the display, I was ushered forward by an old, grumpy-looking man on the right.
“
I
’
ll just wait for her,
”
I said to him, pointing to
Aneela. He shrugged and took the person behind me.

Aneela noticed me and
frowned. I didn
’
t
care if she wasn
’
t
happy to see me, because I wasn
’
t happy to see her either. I just wanted answers.

“
What are you doing here?
”
she asked when I approached
her window.
“
You
can
’
t be
applying for anything because you don
’
t live on the island. Or did Rockne illegally invite you
too? He doesn
’
t
have that power; he has to go through my dad first.
”

“
No, I don
’
t live here,
”
I said, annoyed at her
continued jabs at Rockne.
“
I
am here to talk to you about him, though. Rockne, I mean.
”

She leaned back in her
chair, studying me.
“
Really?
Why now?
”

“
I
’
m just interested. He seems
like a nice guy, and I
’
m
having a hard time believing what you told me.
”

“
That
’
s how he works,
”
she said.
“
He earns your trust before
twisting the knife.
”

I waved that away.
“
Whatever. Can we talk?
”

She looked at the rest of
the room behind me. There was only one other customer left, and two other
windows open.
“
Charlie,
going on a break.
”

“
Going on a break,
”
the grumpy old co-worker
repeated absently.

Aneela closed her window and
met me by the entrance to the room. We went outside and walked along the cliff
that lay just behind the palace. The waves didn’t come anywhere near us,
luckily.

“
What do you want to know?
”
she asked me.

“
Why don
’
t you trust Rockne?
”

“
Because he
’
s a devil,
”
she replied casually.

“
Okay.... Do you have any
proof, or, you know, anything at all?
”

She shook her head, like she
was suffering a fool.
“
You
just don
’
t know
him. He put a spell around this whole island to keep outsiders away.
”

“
I know that,
”
I said.

“
Did you know the spell kills
the outsiders if they don
’
t
leave immediately?
”

“
Yes. It happened a few days
ago.
”

Her eyes grew wide.
“
Really? We weren
’
t told anything about this.
See? He
’
s
keeping secrets from us.
”

“
Maybe your dad knows but
didn
’
t tell
you. Ever think of that?
”

“
My dad tells me everything;
I
’
m next in
line to inherit this island.
”

I looked at the palace.
“
Then why do you work here?
It seems like a normal job for normal people.
”

“
I
’
m normal,
”
she said, a little
offended.

“
Sorry. You know what I mean.
It doesn
’
t seem
like the job a princess would take.
”

“
That
’
s part of the reason I like
it.
”

“
Please don
’
t tell me it keeps you
grounded
—“

“
It keeps me grounded,
”
she said at almost the same
time I
’
d
started my sentence. We looked at each other and then laughed.

“
Back to Rockne,
”
I said.
“
Why do you hate him so much?
”

“
I just get a bad feeling
when I
’
m around
him. My mother did too before she died.
”

“
I
’
m sorry to hear that,
”
I said, because I didn
’
t know what to say. I
’
ve heard most people who
’
ve lost someone don
’
t like to hear
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Thanks,
”
Aneela said. She sounded
genuine.
“
My
suspicions got stronger after she died.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Because I think Rockne
killed her.
”

I had to take a moment to
process this.
“
What
makes you think that?
”

“
She was investigating him. She
didn
’
t trust
him or that Village. She didn
’
t
like the fact he
’
d
brought trouble with him and locked it away on some part of her island.
”

“
Do you know why he created
the Village?
”
I
asked. I wasn
’
t
sure I would tell her if she didn
’
t.

“
Yes. He
’
s hiding from some demon
named Nalke.
”

“
There you go, then. Why
would a demon hide from another demon.
”

“
I didn
’
t call Rockne a demon, I
called him a devil.
”

“
What
’
s the difference?
”

“
I think of demons as some
mindless drones, whereas devils are cunning.
”

“
Okay....
”

“
Don
’
t patronize me,
”
she said, suddenly angry.
“
You haven
’
t known him as long as we
have. He
’
s up
to something. I think he wants to replace my father as ruler of Dargo.
”

“
You have nothing to base
that on but your feelings.
”

She shook her head,
fool-suffering again.
“
Do
you ever ask yourself why he would hire humans to guard an entire village full
of creatures like himself?
”

“
A few times, yes.
”

“
If the entire island decided
to rebel and storm the place, do you think you could stop them?
”

“
No.
”

“
Then why are you here? Think
about that.
”

She turned to leave, but I
stopped her.
“
Do
you know why I was hired?
”

“
No, but I doubt it
’
s to do the job you think.
”

Suddenly, a flock of birds
flew at her and she lost her footing and slipped over the edge of the cliff. I caught
her hand just before she could fall to her death. When I pulled her up, I
noticed my nose was bleeding again.

She wiped the blood away.
“Did I hit you?” she asked, breathless.

“No. My nose bleeds when I’m
really scared. I think it’s the reason my mom always babied me when I lived
with her.”

“I hope you don’t get scared
often. Otherwise, you’ll die from blood loss.” She walked back toward the
palace, grinning.