The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) (13 page)

Jareth easily followed my thoughts. He scowled. “No, I haven’t discovered what she’s doing to me or how she’s doing it,” he answered my unspoken question. “She’s not easy to spy on. And what you did was exceedingly dangerous. Don’t do it again. She wouldn’t think twice about killing you, despite Rafael.”

Suddenly unable to sit, I sprang to my feet. “Why are we just sitting here?” I asked, wringing my hands. “We should be out fighting or investigating or something.”

Jareth snorted. “I
am
investigating,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Why else do you think I’m here?” Pointing to the ceiling where the tulpa had first appeared, he said, “This is where it came in and that is where it left.” He nodded at the window.

I just watched him as he moved about my room for a time, and then my thoughts wandered to what he’d said about me having invited the tulpa.

The emotions of losing Rafael had been powerful. Had those been the invitation? Emotions?

I wondered in what ways the tulpa might respond to other types of emotions. Perhaps it was possible there were emotions which could be used to
fight
them. I was thinking of what they might be when Jareth suddenly whirled upon me.

“What are you thinking, Sydney?” he gasped, startled. “Tell me!”

I blinked, surprised.

His hands flew to his temples, and he fell to his knees. The color of his skin had gone deathly white.

“What is it?” I gulped, rushing to his side. “Are you ok?”

He collapsed completely.

Ajax leapt to stand guard over him, a mass of rigid muscle as Galahad took flight and began to circle the perimeter of the room.

But I didn’t really have much time to panic because Jareth’s dark lashes fluttered, and he looked up at me in confusion.

“What happened?” he asked in a weak voice.

“I don’t know,” I answered in a shocked voice.

I glanced around for any sign of the tulpa, but there was none.

Galahad then fluttered back to the curtain rod and began to preen his feathers, and Ajax jumped onto the bed, laid his head down on his paws, and stared out the window.

Apparently, they no longer sensed a threat.

Jareth sat up, wiping his face with his forearm. “You were doing something, Sydney. Weren’t you?” he panted, wincing as if in pain. “The Brotherhood… the Brother…”

His skin began to turn white again.

It was almost as if they were controlling him somehow, torturing him to prevent him from hearing what I had to say.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I lied quickly.

His frown deepened, but the color in his face began to return.

I wouldn’t let myself think about it. I couldn’t. Not until I could figure out how to prevent the Brotherhood from reading my thoughts.

An idea sprang across my mind.

The chicken coop.

Al had lined the inside of the shed with chicken coop wire. It was the perfect Faraday cage, all ready to try!

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, yanking Jareth’s hand.

He was clearly rattled. He didn’t resist as I pulled him out of my room. Ajax and Galahad followed closely behind.

The bubble Jareth had created traveled with us. Rushing through the family room, I pushed Jareth out the backdoor and across the yard towards the chickens. Unlatching the door to the coop, I shoved Jareth inside and then closed the door firmly behind us. The bubble brightened a little to illuminate the interior. I could see the chickens still asleep in their nests and in the rafters.

Galahad flew around the coop several times before settling in the corner and giving me a baleful glare. I didn’t understand what the look was for. He seemed to hate me just on principle.

Crossing my fingers and hoping my idea would work, I hissed uncertainly, “Jareth? Do you want to know what I was thinking?”

I searched his face.

He didn’t flinch. In fact, he was looking more like himself by the moment.

Lifting his nostrils, he glanced around. “What are we doing out here?” he asked, suddenly irritated. A look of confusion crossed his face, and he patted his sleeves before looking at me in astonishment. “How did I get out here? It’s nasty.”

“You walked,” I said, gaining confidence in my Faraday cage theory. “You turned deathly white, asked me what I was thinking, and then started acting strange.”

“Thinking?” He was clearly puzzled. His lip lifted into an arrogant sneer. “Why would I care what
you
were thinking?”

I folded my arms and tapped my fingers thoughtfully. I must have been on the right track. Otherwise, the Brotherhood would never have done whatever it was they had done to Jareth.

And for the first time, I felt a real honest-to-goodness thrill of hope. Maybe it meant I could destroy the evil tulpa after all. Destroy it with a simple emotion!

I bit my lip and looked around apprehensively, half expecting the coop to be torn down around us by the Mesmers.

But nothing happened.

Jareth was watching me, his brows furrowed into a frown.

Clearly, he was seeing something of my thoughts, but I wasn’t about to share anything voluntarily with him. Not until I figured out what was wrong with him.

“What have you discovered, Sydney?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“I can’t tell you,” I replied honestly. “Not until we figure out how you’re connected and why you’re fainting … and things.” I didn’t want to mention Melody’s needle.

He hesitated. I thought he was going to protest. But then he just shrugged and replied gamely enough, “All right. What’s next?”

I stared at him. What
was
next? I didn’t have a clue.

And then I thought of Reese. I don’t know why. I suppose it was because Melody had used her as a cover, living with her as an ancient decrepit aunt for a while.

“As soon as it’s light, you’re going to take me somewhere,” I said. Melody had been messing with Jareth for quite some time. Maybe she’d inadvertently left some clues behind. I didn’t know if it was a good idea, but it felt right to try
something
rather than to just wait around for the Brotherhood to make their next move.

Jareth lifted an irritated brow. “And we’re just going to stand out here in this filthy chicken coop until then?” he asked crossly.

“Glad you’re feeling better.” I scowled in response.

I supposed we’d have to take our chances outside the Faraday cage eventually, might as well be now. In any case, I’d made a monumental discovery that I felt optimistic about, although I couldn’t share it yet.

“Let’s go,” I said, unlatching the door.

With a mock salute, Jareth stalked after me.

I trudged across the yard in the darkness. The bubble followed us, blanketing our movements. It was around 3:00 A.M. Not knowing what else to do, I escorted Jareth into the family room and sat down on the couch.

Ajax was glued to my side, and I was glad he was there. A little timidly, I reached down and ran my fingers along his spine, feeling his soft, silky fur.

To my utter astonishment, he leaned over and rested his chin on my knee. It was for a brief moment only, but long enough to make my mouth drop open.

“We’ve several hours still before dawn,” Jareth grunted through a large yawn. Settling into Al’s easy chair, he clasped his hands behind his neck and propped his foot up on the coffee table as Galahad flew to perch on the back of the chair.

“We can plan,” I suggested. “Maybe I should get my notebook.”

But my words were met only by silence, and when I glanced over, I saw that Jareth had fallen asleep.

I just stared at him, astonished. How could he possibly sleep after all that had happened? I was tempted to wake him up when I thought maybe he wasn’t feeling well and needed to recover from whatever the Brotherhood had done to him.

I sat on the couch for a while, just watching the hands revolve around the clock and listening to the ticking sound it made. Would I ever get another uninterrupted, blissful night of sleep again?

Since we were no longer in the Faraday cage, I knew I shouldn’t let myself plan anything, but it was hard. I found it was difficult to control my thoughts. In an attempt to distract myself, I flipped on the TV and continually changed the channel.

It seemed like days before the sun rose, but what a difference it made when it finally did. As the first rays streamed through the window, the terror of the night was somehow dispelled, and I found myself filled with a lot of hope and a strong sense of purpose.

Moving over to Jareth, I gave his chair a little shove with my foot.

“Wake up,” I said.

He didn’t budge, but Galahad, perched on one foot, opened a single eye.

“Sorry, Galahad,” I muttered. I kicked the chair harder and repeated, “Wake up!”

With a loud groan, Jareth sat up. “What is it?” he grunted crossly.

Behind me, Grace let out a little squeal.

I spun around, afraid she’d seen Jareth’s bubble of light, but it had disappeared.

“What’re you doing here, Jareth?” she asked, bringing her phone up to snap his picture.

Jareth sent her a sour look. “Don’t you have enough pictures by now?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said with a laugh and snapped another one.

“Jareth needs to take me somewhere,” I said, heading towards the kitchen. “But let’s grab a quick bite first.”

Running around in the middle of the night had made me hungry.

A little bleary-eyed, Jareth stumbled after me. “What am I, your personal chauffer?” he asked with a petulant grumble as he entered the kitchen.

“Yes,” I answered. “But I’ll tell you where we’re going after you get in the car.”

He didn’t seem to mind. Tying his dark hair into a simple ponytail, he sat down heavily at the kitchen table and gave an overly loud yawn.

“Cereal?” I asked, jiggling the box of generic cornflakes in his face.

He didn’t say anything. He just watched as I poured a bowl for him and then stared at it. Galahad hopped down from his shoulder and perched on the edge of the bowl. The bird pecked at a few of the flakes before abruptly fluttering away.

Apparently, neither of them cared for cornflakes.

I ate mine, watching amused as Grace continued to take pictures of Jareth.

He sent her a frown of warning, and then a growl. But she ignored him. Humming a happy song, she snapped away.

After a while though, Jareth’s brows crooked up, and he sent her an even darker glare.

I could tell that he’d had enough, but before I could stop him, he flipped his trion through his fingers and whispered something unintelligible.

I gasped.

They both looked at me in surprise.

But then Grace’s jaw dropped. Clutching the phone in her hand, she stared at it in shock. Peering over at her phone, I could see her techy-pet was eating all of her photos one by one and leaving little piles of digital poo on the screen.

“Your pet must have a virus,” Jareth said dryly, looking quite pleased.

“Huh?” Grace asked, whipping her chin up to look at him.

I frowned at Jareth. He was getting sloppy. He couldn’t even see her screen from where he was sitting.

He just smirked and picking up a coin, began his infernal flipping.

“Let’s go, Jareth,” I said, shoving my arms into the sleeves of my jacket.

He followed me without a word, and Grace just watched us go, obviously still in shock over her phone.

I waited until he’d started the Bentley before announcing where we were heading. “We’re going to see Reese.” I’d looked up her address in the school directory.

“Reese?” he repeated in astonishment, hanging his arms over the steering wheel. “Why?”

“Just go,” I said, not wanting to explain too much.

But he figured it out anyway. “Melody isn’t one to leave behind crumbs,” he scoffed.

I watched him closely. He didn’t show any sign of turning pale or fainting.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” He scowled.

I just shrugged. Apparently, the Brotherhood wasn’t interested in this conversation. “She
might
have left a clue,” I said. “She
was
ill, almost dying, right? She might have gotten sloppy. You guys aren’t perfect, you know.”

He didn’t answer. He just sent me a dark look. But he backed the car out of the driveway and headed towards Sammamish, the town where Reese lived.

We were silent the entire trip and soon enough, we were pulling up the tree-lined driveway of Reese’s house. It was a huge brick house with an entrance tall enough for an elephant to walk through.

Jareth drove up to the front, and then turning off the engine, settled back into the seat comfortably. Folding his arms, he closed his eyes as if preparing for a long nap.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, punching him on the shoulder.

“What do you think?” He cocked an irritated brow my way. “You kept me up all night. I need my sleep.”

“Oh no!” I scowled at him. “You’re coming in with me.”

He just snorted and stubbornly closed his eyes.

I glared at him, but when he deliberately began to snore, I got out of the car and slammed the door shut as hard as I could. Rubbing my own sleep-deprived eyes, I stomped up the sidewalk and around a group of manicured shrubs to ring the monstrous doorbell.

To my relief, Reese herself answered the door. As usual, she looked as if she’d stepped straight out of a fashion magazine. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders in a perfect wave.

“Sydney?” Her mouth formed a round ‘O’ as her nostrils flared in disgust. “What are
you
doing here?” Her words couldn’t have sounded more contemptuous.

“Can I just ask a few quick questions about your aunt?” I began, getting directly to the point.

I winced. It sounded strange. I hadn’t planned it this way. I’d figured Jareth would just work his charm, and she’d blurt out everything that we needed to know. But that plan didn’t work with Jareth snoring in the car.

She stood there, pretending to think, and then with a smirk she practically spat, “Are you drunk? I have better things to do.” With an exaggerated eye roll, she began to close the door

“A pity,” Jareth said, stepping out from behind the manicured shrubs. “My tortured soul could use a bit of friendly company.”