The Inner Circle (Return of the Ancients Book 3) (21 page)

But the instant I saw his bloodstained shirt, I panicked.

“You’re hurt,” I gasped.

I was surprised how weak my voice sounded, and my fingers shook as I reached out to touch his arm.

“It’s nothing,” he responded tiredly, catching my fingers in his hand and bringing them to his lips. “It will take some time for your strength to return. Your body is still healing. Rest here while I tend to Ajax.”

Brushing my cheek with a light fingertip, he moved to the dark blur of fur lying still on the floor a short distance away.

I gulped.

It was Ajax.

I tried to get up, but I was still too weak to actually stand. So I settled for crawling.

As I made my way over to them, Rafael lifted the Doberman in his arms. Again, the bubble of light formed around them, but by the time I’d actually reached them, the bubble was beginning to fade away.

Relief flooded through me as Ajax wriggled to his feet.

I didn’t care what that dog thought, I just lunged at him and hugged him as tightly as I could.

To my delight, Ajax didn’t object. He sniffed me carefully in return, as if to be sure that I was unharmed, and then satisfied, he turned for a similar inspection of Rafael.

Rafael just patted him tiredly on the head.

“Can’t you heal yourself?” I asked, wobbling towards him.

I was worried. He was too pale.

An expression crossed Rafael’s face, one that I couldn’t interpret, and then he said, “It was the iron that was deadly, not this small wound.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, and he must have seen it because he smiled, and pulling me close, he wrapped me in a comforting embrace. I pressed my face against his chest, unable to believe that he was really still there, and that we were safe.

For the moment, anyway.

Recalling that the Queens had taken away his light, I drew back with a frown. “How did you heal us? I thought they took your light—” I began.

He silenced me with a gentle finger on my lips. Tilting his head to one side, he rose swiftly to his feet as several Fae Protectors appeared, dressed in full body armor and wearing the white cloaks of the Light Queen.

But they weren’t friendly. Their trions were already drawn and trained upon us.

“Your Queen expects you in the Hall of Judgment,” they announced curtly. “At once!”

Holding out his hands, Rafael simply said, “I am ready.”

The Protectors eyes flickered to me. “The human comes, too,” they replied.

At that, Rafael’s eyes widened in alarm even as he nodded calmly.

Bending down and grabbing my arm under the pretense of helping me to stand, he murmured urgently in my ear, “Dream, Sydney. Think of other things. Do not let the Queens into your mind. They won’t understand what we’ve learned here. They will react only out of fear.”

I nodded numbly, wondering what he was trying to hide and if I was actually strong enough to hide anything, anyway.

I thought of the man in the top hat.

He’d told me that I was strong, but not yet strong enough. Was that what he had meant?

Already beginning to freak out, I leaned heavily against Rafael. I was still weak and could barely stand.

But the Protectors didn’t appear to even notice. Surrounding us, they touched our arms and shifted us to Avalon.

I was beginning to recognize the feel of shifting to Avalon was different from shifting from place to place on Earth. Shifting to Avalon was like freefalling in an intense volcanic heat.

Thankfully, the sensation lasted only about three seconds.

The next thing I knew, we were standing in a long hallway of white marble with a huge vaulted ceiling. One end opened out into a courtyard filled with trees, voices, and the sound of running water. The other end of the hall was consumed by two monstrously tall doors, at least forty feet tall, with a single dark-haired Fae clad in golden armor standing guard in front of them.

The dark-haired Fae graced us with a critical frown. “You may not appear before the Queens in such a disheveled state,” he snapped.

“Do you know to whom you speak?” one of the Protectors barked.

He stepped aside, revealing Rafael.

The dark-haired Fae’s eyes widened in recognition.

Bowing his head, he quickly murmured, ‘Forgive me, my lord. But even
you
may not appear before the Queens in such a manner. I pray you … heal yourself first.”

Again, one of the Protectors answered on Rafael’s behalf, “He may not. His light has been bound by the Queens themselves.”

I scowled, knowing that wasn’t true. And I thought it strange that the Protectors defended Rafael with such vigor when moments ago, they’d basically arrested him. The more I spent time in it, the more I found Fae society complex and confusing.

“The Queens have ordered the Prince Rafael and his companion to appear in the Hall of Judgment at once,” the Protector was saying.

As the dark-haired Fae hesitated, Rafael strode forward.

Apparently, he was tired of waiting.

“Let us pass,” he said quietly. “At once.”

The dark-haired guard’s resistance melted, and with a salute, he stood aside.

As the huge doors began to swing open, we moved forward, and Rafael caught my hand in a brief clasp of reassurance.

I squeezed his fingers back as we 
stepped into the hall, and the sound of silver trumpets cut the air.

The Hall of Judgment was an intimidating place. Every door and window was at least forty feet tall, and the entire place was made of black and white marble, in what I figured was some kind of symbolism representing the Dark and the Light Fae. And when I saw the queens at the far end—the Light Queen sitting on a white throne, and the Dark Queen on a black—I knew I was right.

They even confirmed it.

“Yes. The black and white marble represents the equality of the Fae, both Dark and Light,” their twin voices rang in my head as we approached. “One cannot exist without the other.”

Hearing them in my head made me freak out. Rafael had warned me not to let them into my head. He’d told me to dream, but how could I dream under such circumstances?

I settled for a distraction instead.

Quickly, I thought of my Pikachu tulpa. But after a few seconds, I realized that a tulpa wouldn’t help me here—after all, the second dimension was inaccessible to the Fae—so I decided to focus on singing the Pokémon theme song in my head instead.

Gotta catch them all, Gotta catch them all, Pokémon!

“My Queens,” Rafael nodded in respect.

I did the same, bowing my head deeply even as I started mentally singing the Pokémon theme song from the beginning.
I want to be the very best …

The queens ignored Rafael. Their piercing gazes focused on me.

“What are you trying to hide, Sydney?” Their voices shattered my focus.

I gasped. Desperately, I sang the next line.
Like no one ever was...

The Queens stared at me in outright suspicion.

To catch them is my real quest.
I couldn’t remember the next line. So I just mumbled to myself:
Pokémon! Gotta catch them all, Pokémon!

With a tick in his jaw, Rafael stepped in front of me. “Why have you brought me here, my Queens? What cause do you have to summon me to the Hall of Judgment?” His tone was confrontational, and he all but gritted his teeth.

Immediately, the queens shifted their attention upon him instead. “You have betrayed us,” they forged ahead to accuse in unison. “Your orders were to shadow Melody, gain her trust, and reveal her plans. Instead, our private mirrors have shown that this very day, you willingly became her enemy. You have betrayed your orders and are guilty of a crime.”

“Melody is your enemy, not I,” Rafael replied tightly. “How can you judge me so easily? I’ve proven my loyalty to you time and again.” He paused and then added in a clear voice, “Because of me, you’ve had insight into the Inner Circle for years.”

A few gasps echoed around the hall at that, but I was too distracted to look around to see who was so surprised. I’d just been given the proof that Rafael
had
been a spy all along.

I felt horrible for ever having doubting him.

“Have you withheld information?” The Queen of Light stood slowly, smoothing her white silks about her hips and running a hand over her blonde curls which glistened with a myriad of seed pearls. “Or have you been using the Inner Circle for your own purposes, Rafael?”

“Ask what you really wish to know!” Rafael demanded in a strong, clear voice.

The two Queens tensed.

He waited for a few moments, but when they said nothing, his lips thinned in disdain. “I’ve never sought the throne,” he continued. “You both have entered my mind. You know this to be true.”

“At one time, we were able to,” the queens agreed, but then they both frowned. “But now you no longer allow us into your mind. You hide. Who knows what secrets you hold now?”

The Queen of the Dark rose in a swirl of black velvet, and her eyes flashed dangerously as she said, “Upon meeting the human, you changed. We were warned from the beginning that you would betray us all, should you become involved with the human. It is coming to pass.”

Both of their eyes focused on me.

“Humans are more dangerous than we thought,” they hissed together. “The sacred mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors have been silent since Sydney peered into them.”

The gasps in the hall were louder this time, and I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see the place filled with many Fae, dark and light. All eyes had zeroed in on me.

I swallowed hard and turned back to face the queens.

“You will leave her here with us,” they announced.

I scowled, knowing instinctively that
that
wouldn’t end well for me.

This was verified the next moment as both of their lips parted to form the imperious decree, “She will be destroyed.”

I couldn’t move.
Destroyed
sounded so much worse than
executed
. It felt like they wanted to remove all trace of my existence. I hadn’t thought the queens to be so vicious.

“Do not mete out such rash judgment,” Rafael warned in a reserved tone. “You will not like the consequences, my Queens.”

Again, the Fae in the hall gasped. And these gasps sounded even more horrified than the last.

“It is dangerous to threaten your Queens,” the queens replied, their voices turning to ice.

Meeting their gaze with an icy stare of his own, Rafael smiled a slow, superior smile. “I do not give idle threats. I speak in clear promises,” he replied. “I’ll never allow you to harm Sydney.” He moved to stand next to me, and putting his hand over mine, he gave it another reassuring squeeze.

The queens were not happy with this. In fact, they appeared downright furious. “Do not defy us,” they demanded. “Sydney is too dangerous to live any longer. Prove your loyalty by giving up the human. Give her up to us immediately.”

But Rafael clearly wasn’t one to give in to pressure. “This is the last time I’ll warn you not to push me,” he replied in a calm, even tone.

I found his composure comforting, but I still held his hand tightly all the same.

But the queens would not be dissuaded. “We must insist,” they raised their hands. “Give us the human.”

Rafael’s demeanor began to change. “No!” he thundered.

“Then you have made the wrong choice,” the Light Queen replied.

“No!” he yelled, lifting his chin. “You have!”

“Explain,” the Queen of the Dark ordered with clenched teeth.

“You live in too much fear, and it has clouded your sight,” Rafael answered. “As the rulers of Avalon, you are required to seek the truth, but you are no longer capable of it.” He paused, and then in a voice that rang loudly through the hall, he said, “As Cor’s descendant, I shall stand and become the truth-seeker that Avalon needs in these darkening days!”

This time, the queens gasped along with the rest of the Fae in the hall.

And then there was a wave of scuffling noises that only seemed to be getting louder. Curiously, I glanced over my shoulder to see that most of the Fae in the hall had fallen upon bended knee.

I didn’t quite grasp the significance at first, but when I turned back to the queens and saw their horrorstruck gazes fastened onto Rafael. I figured that he’d somehow undermined the queens’ authority.

Rafael stood tall, imposing, and powerful, and then he grasped my wrist tighter, and turning his back upon the queens, he stepped away as if he were about to leave the hall.

This time, there were only a few shocked gasps, those of the queens combined with a few of their supporters in the crowd.

Only one of the Protectors moved to block our path. Just one.

“Move,” Rafael ordered sharply, waving his hand in a gesture of annoyance.

The Protector hesitated. But after only a moment, he complied.

I glanced back at the queens. They looked as if they might faint, but even so, they clearly weren’t ones to give up easily.

“You and your mirror are bound by our laws,” they threatened. “We will seek the Rafael of the mirror, and we will discover what you have been hiding. You will stay here under the eye of the Protectors.”

“No,” Rafael objected stoically.

“No?” the queens repeated in astonishment. “There’s no recourse for you. We have bound your Light.”

Rafael paused. And turning his head to the side, he gave a grim smile and replied in a contemptuous tone, “The light of a pureblood cannot be bound.”

The queens drew back in shock. I kind of felt sorry for them. It had been one shock after another this entire time. In fact, so many shocks that they’d completely lost interest in invading my mind.

And without warning, Rafael embraced me, and even though he wasn’t supposed to be able to, he shifted.

The next moment, I found myself standing beside the couch and in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in Rafael’s closet.

Letting me go, Rafael made his way to the mirror and pressed his palm against the surface.

His shoulders seemed strangely tense.

The Rafael in the mirror appeared. The mirror Rafael looked nothing like the Rafael standing a few feet away from me. The mirror version was dressed in jeans and the lemon-yellow shirt that I particularly thought attractive. And the mirror version was looking directly at me. He looked pale. Sad. Very sad.