The Inner Circle, Book 3 of the Glass Wall ( A YA Urban Fantasy Romance ) (28 page)

But he just gave a belligerent snort. And
then an expression of defeat crossed his face, and his eyes took on
a particularly wounded look.

“Am I a dark minion of the underworld?” he
asked hoarsely.

I shrugged. “Only if you want to be.”

My cynical response had an unintended
consequence.

“Do I want to be?” he asked, covering his
face with his hands.

For the briefest of moments, I swore I saw
scales beneath his fingers. But when he dropped his hands, there
was nothing there. I brushed it off as my imagination.

“Do I
want
to be?” he repeated with
pain in his voice.

I felt a rush of sympathy. “While I think
you’re obnoxious and a total jerk sometimes, you’re not evil,” I
told him as I grabbed his arm. “What happened to bring all of this
on?”

As he often did, he ignored what he didn’t
want to answer.

Instead, he held out his hand, and a moment
later, one of his protection runes appeared in his palm.

“Why do these even work?” he asked me in a
tortured tone. “They shouldn’t, you know. Protection Runes have
never
worked against the Mesmers.”

I was starting to get genuinely worried now.
“You know, it doesn’t really matter, does it? I’m just glad they
work now.” And then I was struck by a sudden thought. “Hey, maybe
they can be used against Melody.”

That apparently jolted him out of his pity
party. “Melody?” He frowned. “What’s Melody have to do with
this?”

Pulling my cellphone out of my pocket, I
waggled it in front of his face. “You know, the video.”

He looked at me in extreme irritation. “I
really don’t understand you humans sometimes,” he scoffed. “What
video are you talking about? I swear you have the attention of a
gnat, Sydney.”

I narrowed my eyes. Did he really not
remember? He sure looked like he didn’t.

It was disturbing.

We were going to have to find Melody
double-quick and stop whatever she was doing to him. But I didn’t
see the point of discussing it further. There was no point in
stressing Jareth out even more.

“You need some food,” I said.

He didn’t even object as I yanked him to the
front of the coffee shop.

Pushing him down into one of the comfortable
chairs, I ordered, “You just sit here and rest, and I’ll get you
something to eat.”

I was all ready for him to whine and
complain, but to my surprise, he simply laid his head in his arms
wearily and gave a heavy groan.

Keeping a close eye on him, I hurried to the
pastry case and got a blueberry muffin. But when I returned to set
the plate on the table, he lifted his head and tossed me an
arrogant look of disdain.

“Quit feeling sorry for yourself,” I said,
heading him off. “We’ve all got problems, you know. You don’t get
it any worse than the rest of us.”

“Oh, are you part lizard?” he snidely asked
under his breath.

“You’re acting like a big baby,” I
retorted.

He just scowled at me. So, I left him alone
and returned back to work.

Most likely, Melody had tortured him
again.

She had to be stopped soon. It was getting
very serious. And then I wondered if she might have unwitting
allies back in Avalon that were helping to hide her. Maybe there
was a way to reveal her evilness via some kind of Fae alert system.
She couldn’t be a fugitive for very long if every good Fae citizen
was on the lookout for her.

As I started wiping the toddler nose-smudges
and fingerprints off the front of the pastry case, I was struck by
a wacky idea.

Maybe I could send out an alert myself.

I had the video of Melody on my
cellphone.

On Earth, we’d coordinate with police, put up
fliers, hold a press conference, and post the evidence online for
the world to see.

But I wondered how it worked in Avalon.

What did a Fae press conference look like?
Judging by their Mission Control Centers, press conferences
probably involved a lot of soft chiming music, mirrors, and glowing
crystals.

I wondered what Rafael would say about my
idea, but I instinctively knew he’d tell me not to do it, just out
of fear for my safety alone. Messing around with Melody could
definitely be lethal, that was for sure.

For the next hour, I continued to clean
tables as the customers came and went, but I couldn’t shake the
idea of catching Melody by broadcasting some kind of
Avalon’s
Most Wanted
.

Finally, on my lunch break, I decided I
couldn’t resist a little experiment.

Jareth had slouched back in one of the chairs
and had apparently fallen asleep. I took that as proof of my theory
that Melody had spent the night experimenting on him.

Well, it was about time somebody tried
something
to thwart her.

Selecting a tuna sandwich and a glass of iced
tea for my free meal, I fished out my cellphone and sat down in a
quiet corner, intentionally choosing a place in front of a mirror
that hung behind one of the chairs.

I felt a little foolish, and I almost gave up
before I even started. I think the only reason I continued was that
I didn’t really believe it was going to work.

As Melody’s video began to play, I faced it
towards the mirror and held my breath.

Nothing happened.

Well, almost nothing.

A lady came into the coffee shop with her
five-year-old son. And as his mother ordered coffee, the little boy
spent the entire time watching me, shaking his head from side to
side as if I’d lost my marbles.

I almost quit right there.

But then taking inspiration from Al, I let
the video play out.

When nothing happened, I tapped my fingers
for a bit, slightly disappointed even though I’d expected nothing
would really happen.

But as I tapped, my eyes fell on my Fae
classification bracelet.

In Avalon, I’d seen it glow, just like my
skin had in the mirror last night.

What did it mean?

Lost in thought, I munched on my tuna
sandwich, half daydreaming.

I didn’t notice it at first. But soon I
realized that my bracelet was glowing again. A soft aura of rainbow
colors circled the entire thing.

I didn’t even think about it first.

I just did it.

Bringing my hand up to the mirror, I tapped
my phone and replayed the video.

This time, I got quite a different
response.

The video played, and Melody’s tiny voice
whispered from my cellphone speaker, “
I will succeed with or
without Rafael’s aid. I will see Avalon purified and the vermin of
the Brotherhood and Earth eradicated from existence!”

The words were scarcely finished, when all of
the sudden I saw another Melody in the mirror’s reflection. But it
was a much larger, life-size Melody.

The evil mastermind herself was standing
behind me. And she was livid.

I didn’t stand a chance in the face of such
fury.

But before I could even
think
of
running, a heavy hand fell upon my shoulder and Rafael’s deep voice
said, “I’ll not allow her to harm you, Sydney.”

Relief flooded through me as Fae Protectors
began shifting in all around the coffee shop. Their trions were at
the ready as sparks leapt from their bracelets.

Brock had brought along Al, who, thankfully,
was wearing his Faraday cap.

And as I strangely wondered what Samantha
would say when she came back, more Fae were popping in.

The customers started screaming.

A barista fainted.

And then in midst of the chaos, Marquis
arrived with Blondie.

Blondie looked dreadful. Severe gashes and
bites covered his face and body. He’d lost an entire ear, and his
wounds still looked raw and bleeding.

Apparently, Mesmer bodies didn’t heal very
fast, even with the help of Marquis’ Fae technology.

But it didn’t stop him from mesmerizing.
Opening his mouth, Blondie rumbled the single word of “sleep.”

It was instantaneous. Every human in the
coffee shop went into a catatonic state.

But only the humans.

I barely had time to wonder before I noticed
the intricate chains hanging around the Protectors necks. Dangling
on the end of each necklace was one of Jareth’s protection runes.
Their trions were aimed evenly at Marquis, Melody, and Blondie as
they looked to Rafael for instruction.

“Stop this madness, Melody,” Rafael’s cool
voice cut the air.

“Never,” she shrilled in reply. “Not even you
can stop me now, Rafael.”

Rafael’s gray eyes locked with hers. “I’ve
stopped you many times before,” he said. “This time will be no
different.”

She paused. I figured that meant she was
surprised by what he said, even though she didn’t show any outward
signs of it.

And then Blondie chose that moment to turn
towards Melody and rasp, “We saw the message. Betrayed. You
betrayed us. You seek to
destroy
the Brotherhood.”

It was my turn to be surprised. Apparently,
my video broadcast had been picked up by the Brotherhood as well as
the Fae.

Melody didn’t even try to deny his
accusation.

“Fool,” she spat. “Did you really believe I
would labor all those years to create your Body of Kings?”

At that, Jareth rose to his feet. And keeping
his eyes glued on Melody, he advanced in slow, measured steps.

“Then for what purpose
did
you create
me, Melody?” His voice snaked through the tension-filled room.

He’d only reached her halfway before Blondie
blocked his path to sniff him with the interest of a predator.
“Your body is destined to be mine,” he said with unblinking black
eyes.

Jareth just sneered outright in return.
“Never will you possess me, I can promise you that,” he swore.
“This body is mine and mine alone.”

Blondie hissed and drew his lips back in
displeasure.

And then Melody spoke. “Yes, Jareth’s
powerful,” she said proudly. “An unforeseen side effect. And he’s a
true Mesmer, as much as you are. You’ll never be able to possess
his body.”

Blondie screamed as all the Fae gasped.

But Jareth was oblivious to everyone but
Melody. “What was the purpose of your experiment? Why did you do
this to me?” He held out his hands in a pleading gesture.

But Melody didn’t answer.

“I’m not one of them,” he told her
desperately. So desperately, it was as if he needed to convince
himself.

At that, Blondie drew back his gargoyle lips
again. “You are one with the Brotherhood,” he rasped. “I’ve seen
your hunger. You can’t deny it.”

As he spoke, I heard the scrabbling sound of
claws against the floor.

Mesmers.

More Mesmers were coming.

And they began to pile into the coffee shop,
materializing from the ceiling.

“Hunger,” they droned in hollow voices.

Jareth paled. “They’re doing something to
me,” he gasped.

“Eat. Taste,” they invited.

I wanted to run over, grab him, and get him
out of there, but I couldn’t move. My body was suddenly too heavy
to move.

Apparently, the Fae Protectors suffered from
the same affliction because though I could see the horror etched
upon their faces at the events unfolding before their eyes, none of
them moved or spoke a single word.

None but Rafael.

Perhaps it was because he was a pureblood,
but somehow, he managed to speak, even though his voice was heavy
and his words slurred. “Don’t give in, Jareth!” Rafael warned in a
gruff voice. His words sounded slurred and his tone heavy.

It was hard to think. My brain felt fuzzy,
and suddenly I knew what it was.

Jareth’s control was wavering.

And if he succumbed to the Mesmers, we’d all
lose the protection of his runes.

He must have followed my thoughts, because he
turned towards me and gasped. “I hear them, Sydney. I hear their
voices, they’re like sirens singing.”

“Don’t listen to them!” I finally managed. My
throat was dry and my voice cracked.

But he wasn’t listening to me. He was looking
at Blondie.

“Join us, Jareth,” Blondie rumbled.
“Together, let us make Earth our playground. You have the blood of
kings. Join us, and you can travel the dimensions. Taste the tulpa.
You know you hunger for it. Even now, we see your desire, your
hunger.”

The mention of the mutant tulpa threatened to
fill me with fear, but I valiantly struggled to ignore it.

The last thing I needed to do was to make
that thing stronger.

In self-defense, I thought of my Pikachu
tulpa.

The response was immediate.

Blondie let out a squeal, much like he had
when Ajax had attacked him, and all at once I could move.

I didn’t hesitate. I lunged at Jareth and
threw my arms around him. “Don’t listen to them, Jareth! Don’t
listen!”

And then somehow, Rafael was moving too,
crying, “No!”

But Jareth’s response wasn’t what I
expected.

Pulling a knife from his belt, he launched it
straight at Rafael, embedding it deeply into the center of his
chest.

With a horrific gasp, Rafael collapsed to the
floor, writhing in pain as Jareth recoiled with a stricken
expression, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just done.

And then I was at Rafael’s side, wrenching
the poisonous knife free.

He was bleeding. And I didn’t know what to do
other than to put pressure on the wound like Al’s survival training
had taught me.

The Fae Protectors around us couldn’t help.
They still seemed to be rooted to the floor.

Rafael managed to lift his head. “Don’t do
this, Jareth. Conquer this. This is your
Blue Thread!
”

I froze in horror as pain crossed Jareth’s
face, a deep raw pain.

And then turning to me, he choked. “I’m going
to fail, Sydney. There’s no hope now for any of us. It’s
impossible
for me to make the right choice.” His eyes were
haunted and tortured.