Daniel Taylor and the Scepter of Power (7 page)

James opened the cupboard door and took out a granola bar wrapped in silver foil. “I can go to any place I can visualize. That’s how I could visit you so often, despite living in Canada and traveling all around the world.” He tore off the foil and bit into his snack. It was a PowerBar, the kind athletes ate. “But teleportation requires a great deal of energy. I can’t do it several times in a row.”

They all settled down on the floor around him, huddling close together.

“The amulet’s protective circle isn’t very large,” James explained.

Daniel sat between his father and his mother, and Marla was crouching opposite him, leaning on Mike’s leg. She was staring at James, wide-eyed. Now that she was inside the magical circle, she could see him properly.

“Marla, I’m so happy that you’re alive!” James took her hand. His eyes were shining. “I thought for so long that they had killed you.”

Marla continued to stare at him without saying a word.

“You look just like your mother.” James pulled Marla to him and hugged her. At first, Marla’s body was stiff in his embrace, but then she put her arms around James and closed her eyes.

James ran a hand down her back. Marla’s sweater was literally in shreds! Daniel’s breath caught in his throat.

“Who did this to you?” James asked as he let Marla go. She returned to her place by Mike.

“Metistakles,” she whispered.

“Metistakles …” James frowned. “Your mother told me about him and the other members of the Council. I won’t let them harm you again. None of them!”

“I won’t, either,” Mike said, hugging Marla to him.

A smile flitted across her lips.

Marla and Blondie — Daniel could scarcely believe it. But at least it meant that Mike wasn’t interested in Vanessa.

James turned to Mike. “Who are you?”

“I’m Michael Standon, Vanessa’s dancing partner. We were just coming out of the dance studio when the demon grabbed her!”

“Vanessa went with you to the year-end ball?” Daniel suddenly reverted to his old, unfounded jealousy of Mike. He was receiving vibrations from Blondie that he didn’t like. “I had forbidden her to go anywhere!”

“You know Vanessa.” Mike looked very contrite.

Daniel growled and leaned over to Marla. “I can’t stand your boyfriend for some reason,” he whispered to her, as he was still unable to speak to her telepathically. “Something about him bothers me.” Of course, Mike had heard what he had said, and he frowned.

“Mike’s a watcher,” Marla said quietly to Daniel, but everyone heard her, and a murmur went through the room.

A watcher? Dad was one, too, but he didn’t give off the same … strange vibrations. It must have something to do with his feelings of jealousy.

“A watcher?” James examined Mike closely. “What grade?”

“Third,” Mike muttered through clenched teeth.

Daniel felt a little schadenfreude. Third had to be the lowest grade — it was written on Mike’s face.

James raised his voice. “Then you can’t come with us! You’ll stay here with Marla.”

Marla’s eyes widened. “But …”

“Don’t argue!” James cried out. “I thought once that I had lost you. I can’t bear it another time.”

Her mouth snapped shut. Daniel knew that James’ words had no chance of convincing her.

“Unfortunately, we have no time for lengthy conversations. We have to get to Vanessa.” James turned to Daniel. “Can you take us to the underworld?”

Marla cleared her throat. “I’ll do that. The high lords are looking for Silvan. They might be able to sense him opening a portal.”

“Good. You can bring us there and show us the way, and then come immediately back up here.”

James looked at Anne and hugged her. “You’ll be safe here. You’ll find everything you need in the cabin. There’s a car outside the front door. It’s three miles to the nearest town. Just in case …”

“Bring our boy back, promise me that,” Anne whispered. “And goddamn you if you don’t come back yourself.”

Daniel turned his back as the two shared a goodbye kiss. His mother cried, and his father struggled to control his emotions.

Suddenly, his mother grabbed him in her arms and whispered in his ear, “And you take care of your father, okay?”

Daniel kissed her on the cheek. “I will, Mom.” James would be a sitting duck among the demons, now that he was no longer wearing the amulet. And the high lords wanted him at any cost. They must never know where the scepter was hidden! Daniel suddenly realized the implications of their mission. James was risking everything to save Vanessa. They had to succeed! Unfortunately, it all seemed doomed to fail. How could they defeat the Council? There were only two of them, and dangerous creatures were lurking down there, just waiting for the opportunity to get their hands on James!

His mother didn’t want to let him go, but Daniel twisted out of her grip. She looked as forlorn as he felt. His heart tightened. How had he ever believed that he could become a real demon? He was far too weak, far too human. The high lords had seen that right away.

Daniel turned to Marla, who was standing close to Mike, and quickly wiped away a tear. “Where would Metistakles take Vanessa?” Maybe they could just sneak in and bring Vanessa back through a portal.

“Probably the great hall.”

Daniel balled his hands into fists. “Damn, then there’s also Antheus, Obron, and Xandros to deal with.”

His sister sighed. “We have no chance.” Marla knew it, Daniel knew it, and so did James. It was a suicide mission! But without Vanessa, Daniel didn’t want to live — he’d rather die fighting. He’d give everything to rescue his girl from hell. Everything!

“Perhaps we can split them up somehow.” The mere thought that Vanessa was down there right now was enough to send him into a panic.

Marla shook her head. “Xandros alone is as powerful as the other three put together, and he almost never leaves the hall.”

Daniel pondered. Who could they turn into allies? “What about Sirina? Would she be on our side?”

Marla snorted. “Forget it. She’d only help us if there were something in it for her. Something big.”

Suddenly Mike spoke up. “I can help you. I should go with you!”

Marla turned to face Blondie. “No way! You haven’t got a chance in hell against the high lords.”

“I have a weapon at home. If you take me over there quickly, I’ll come with you.”

“A weapon?” James raised an eyebrow. “We’ll need everything possible to fight the demons.”

“Okay.” Marla nodded, but a strange smile played at her lips. She was cooking something up, Daniel was sure of it.

“If worse comes to worst,” James said to Silvan, “pretend that I’m your prisoner. Make a show for the demons — like you’re still under their influence.”

Marla was walking behind the two men, and she couldn’t help but notice how similar Silvan and his father really were. The same height, the same elegant movements. Father and son … Something tightened in her chest. She would have liked to have had a father who would stand by her; instead, Obron had entrusted her education to Metistakles. If Marla hadn’t found a safe place with Ilaria, she undoubtedly would have wound up as cold and dead inside as any other demon.

Earlier, in the cabin, Marla had been jealous of her brother because he had a proper family and people who loved him. But when James had embraced her, something had happened inside of her: A knot that had always been in her heart had loosened and dissolved. Her hatred of Carpenter had disappeared. What did the humans call that — making peace? Had Marla made her peace with Carpenter because she was about to die? Why did the thought of losing the little she had sting so much?

Ever since she had said goodbye to Mike, Marla’s heart was more alive than ever. In truth, it hadn’t been a proper goodbye; rather, she had simply run away from him. Marla replayed the scene in her mind, again and again:

“Here, this is the weapon!” Mike pressed a silver piece of cloth into Carpenter’s hand.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“A magical glove. It allows you to catch energy spheres and throw them back.”

Just as Carpenter was about to give the glove back to Mike, Marla said, “Could you loan me a sweater?”

Mike nodded and ran back into his bedroom …

Then Marla had opened a portal into the underworld, and the three of them hurried through it. James hadn’t wanted Mike to come along anyway.

Now she had a guilty conscience, because she could see Mike’s disappointed face floating before her eyes — but it was better this way. Mike was safe and wouldn’t have to witness her death. Marla knew that she’d never see him again. Everything was about to change — she felt it from the roots of her hair down to the tips of her toes.

Silvan asked his father, “Why are you coming with me?”

“Look, I would never let my son go alone into the depths of hell. In any case, there’s a life to save.”

“As a watcher, do you feel obligated to help?” her brother wanted to know.

James nodded. “That, too.”

“Listen,” Silvan began, “what’s the deal with this scepter, anyways? Why do the high lords want it so badly, and why do they want you?”

Carpenter explained it to him. He gave a short summary of the artifact’s power and told his son that he was the only one who knew where the scepter was hidden. “And because your blood is contained within the scepter, the high lords want to use you — they probably want you to activate it. It’s unbelievably powerful when awakened by a blood heir.”

Silvan raised his eyebrows. “My blood is inside that thing?”

“Well, the blood of your ancestors.”

“Lower your voices, both of you,” Marla said; they were nearing the quarters of the high lords. Warm, humid air rushed up to meet them. Marla had created a portal into a ventilation passage. At irregular intervals, these ducts automatically opened doors to undeveloped areas in the upper world so that the supply of oxygen in the tunnels could be maintained. There were no torches burning here, so their way was lit only by the magic light of James’ energy staff and Silvan’s glowing blue energy sphere.

A cooler gust of air blew through the passage, and goose bumps crept down Marla’s back. She was afraid. Unimaginably afraid. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could scarcely hear their footsteps echoing eerily off the stone walls. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Marla had only joined this suicide mission because she had been the one to get Vanessa involved — and because her time was running out. Carpenter and Silvan wouldn’t be able to stop her going with them.

Suddenly, she heard a muted thump behind her, followed by a muttered oath: “Damn it.” Carpenter and Silvan had heard it as well, and the two of them spun around, ready to hurl energy spheres at their pursuer.

“Don’t shoot, it’s me!” A figure walked into their dim circle of light. He was holding something black in his hand.

“Mike?” Marla almost had a heart attack. “How did you follow us?”

He looked at her somberly and pushed a black wad of cloth into her hands: a sweater.

“You disappeared through the portal, and it was about to close, but I ran up and just barely got my fingers through before it vanished. Then I was able to pull it back open.”

Marla’s pulse drummed in her temples. Mike couldn’t be here! “How did you do that, if there’s not a spark of magic in you?”

Shrugging, he replied, “I don’t know. Maybe I inherited a few useful watcher genes after all.”

“Apparently so.” Silvan’s father walked over to them. “And now you and Marla can return to the surface.”

“No, I’m going to fight!” Mike reached out a hand. “Give me back my glove.”

“I’ve requisitioned it,” Carpenter said. He was already wearing the silver glove on one hand. “I’m a watcher of higher rank, so you’re duty-bound to obey me.”

“You’re nothing!” Mike hissed. “You’re not even in the Guild anymore! You’re a renegade!”

James took a step back. His eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”

“I know certain things, even though I’m stuck working in the background.” Mike snorted. “You can’t give me orders. I’m coming with you!”

“No, you’re not!” Marla was seething with anger. Every muscle in her body was twitching, and ice-cold sweat was running down her spine. “I sacrificed Vanessa to save your life! So don’t just throw it away!”

“You did what?” Silvan grabbed her by the arm. “Say that again!”

Tears clouded Marla’s vision. It seemed like everything was slipping away from her. “They were going to kill Mike if I didn’t lead them to Vanessa. I didn’t want to, I swear!”

“So you really do love Blondie,” Silvan muttered. Marla could sense his rage. In the dim light, his eyes seemed almost black, and his brow was so furrowed that two deep creases were lining his forehead. His lips were pressed tightly together, and a muscle was twitching in his cheek. How Silvan must hate her right now … She could understand his anger; she had felt the same way about others.

“We have no time to argue,” James said, turning to face Marla. “If we turn right at the next junction, we’ll come to the hall, is that right?”

Marla nodded. She couldn’t speak a word, her teeth were chattering so much. Luckily, she had described the way to them earlier.