The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (26 page)

“
What about Waverly?
You never answered my question, earlier.
”

Ian again.
She gritted her teeth.
“
Which question?
Am I attracted to him, or what
’
s he got on me that makes me want to be his friend?
”

Flintrop shrugged.
“
Forget I asked.
”

“
Forgotten.
”
The boat drew close to the dock, and she cut the motor.

He stuffed the rest of the tart into his mouth, then jumped onto the dock to tie up the mooring lines.
They secured the boat and pulled the cover on.
As they gathered the supplies to return to camp, he said,
“
You just...
I
’
ve been around you off and on for years, and I
’
ve never seen you so...animated.
”

She didn
’
t know what to say to that.
Had she been so withdrawn before that even Flintrop could notice the difference?
Was
there a difference?

Oh, yes.

“
I
’
m just asking about him because I
’
m worried about you,
”
added Flintrop.

God, he was like a gnat in her ear.
She snatched her backpack from the floor of the boat.
“
Quit worrying.
I
’
m able to take care of myself and whatever
‘
animations
’
I might have.
”

They started the hike back to the dig, passing once again by Ian’s tent on the way. She scanned his camp, but it appeared he’d gone climbing. She looked away and caught Flintrop watching her. Pursing her lips, she hurried ahead of him.

She couldn
’
t wait until cover of darkness that night, when she
’
d be able to steal away to the inlet.
And, she hoped, to Ian
’
s arms, because Flintrop was totally right.
She
’
d never wanted anyone like this.

****

Faith sat reading in her tent, making notes in her new journal, and chewing meditatively on her pen cap.
After the last journal disappeared, she
’
d gotten into the habit of keeping this one in her possession at all times.
Rolling the pen cap between her teeth, she turned the page and continued her new entry.

Excavated the skull found in the fissure today.
We haven
’
t dated it, but I assume it
’
s Norse due to its proximity to the house ruin.
I haven
’
t touched it, but I get a strange feeling about it.
Maybe I
’
m just creeped out lately.

We also found a silver belt buckle.
It
’
s exciting to find our first artifacts.
Too bad Sara went to Unst today.

She
’
s been happier than I
’
ve ever seen her, here in Shetland.
Probably equal parts respect for Dad
’
s legacy, and the presence of Ian Waverly.
He
’
s been good for her.

Now the bad news: Flintrop showed up to help with the project.
Can
’
t say I am happy, but Flintrop supported us in the decision to stay and finish digging despite tremor activity.
Wish there were a way to get his funding without having to work with him.

Sara interrupted Faith’s account by dropping a bag into her lap. Faith jumped and shot her sister a glare.

“Open it,” Sara demanded, looking grim.

Faith pulled the book from its bag.
“
A children
’
s book?
”

“
Take a closer look.
”
Her sister sat on the cot.

Faith did so.
Her gaze landed on the lady
’
s necklace.
“
What the...?
”

“
I just finished looking at it.
Basically, it reads like your usual bedtime story.
A jealous evil wizard puts a curse on a princess, and her prince has to rescue her.
Which, unlike your usual bedtime story, he doesn
’
t.
”

“
Huh?
”

Sara sat forward and rested her hands on her knees.
“
The wizard curses her into an eternal sleep, and the prince who
’
s supposed to rescue her loses the battle against the wizard.
The wizard gets mad and curses the prince, too.
Prince and princess spend the rest of forever as a standing stone split down the middle, always together but never touching.
Kind of romantic, in a tragic sort of way.
”

“
What does the necklace have to do with it?
”
Faith wondered, flipping through the book.

“
The necklace is what he uses to curse them.
”

Faith went through the pages again, pursing her lips.
She stared at the cartoony necklace.
“
Okay, just for a minute, let
’
s assume this is the amulet in the story.
Since the wizard had it, my guess would be that
’
s the druid from my vision.
The prince in the story would have to be the man who killed the druid and stole the amulet.
I don
’
t get where the girl comes in.
”

“
And you
’
re the emotional one,
”
scoffed her sister.
“
Obviously, the guy in your vision killed the druid over the girl.
”

Faith frowned in thought.
“
God, this is familiar.
Why
is this so familiar?
”

“I don’t know. I thought the same—” Sara ground to a halt, and they gaped at each other. Faith knew her sister had reached the same conclusion as she had.

The fairy tale book.

Faith sprang out of her chair and searched through the trunk at the end of her cot.
She retrieved the disheveled copy of
Fairy Tales of Western Europe
, the book they
’
d discovered in their father
’
s safe box.
She
’
d borrowed it from Sara to look for clues, and they had found it was the same book he
’
d read to them during their childhood bedtimes.

Frowning, Faith searched the book, then stopped short when she reached a damaged page.
The top part of the page where a story title and illustration should have been was missing, torn out by a careless prior owner before the used book had even come to the Markham family.

She skimmed the story.
“
I think this is it.
It mentions a wizard and a divided standing stone, but the necklace isn
’
t in it.
It just talks about the wizard calling a serpent demon.
”
She met her sister
’
s gaze and laid the book on her cot.
“
There
’
s our serpent ceremony.
”

“
Research from children
’
s stories,
”
Sara rumbled, toying with the amulet
’
s leather cord.
“
What kind of wild goose chase was Dad leading us on?
”

“
Old stories and legends usually have some kind of metaphorical meaning, some basis in fact.
Magic the way they would have seen it back then—
”

“
—could be what we
’
re able to do now,
”
interrupted her sister, looking startled.
Her eyes turned green, and she floated the copy of
Fairy Tales
into the air.
“
Do you think the wizard—druid—was one of us?
”

Faith recoiled.
“
I think we
’
re in big trouble.
You
’
d better take that thing back to a jeweler and have it dismantled.
If someone like us is looking for that thing, I don
’
t think I want him to find it.
Especially if he knows how to use it.
”

Sara let the book come to rest on the blankets of Faith
’
s cot again, and blinked her eyes back to hazel.
“
Did
Beardsley
give you anything on this?
”

“
No, but ley lines are nothing to kid around with.
There
’
s a lot of power in them, especially with the collective conscious of every ghost walking them.
You saw what happened to me.
I couldn
’
t handle it.
”

Sara grabbed Faith
’
s arm.
“
What if this druid could?
What could he do with it?
”

Horrified, Faith started imagining all sorts of things that could have linked the amulet to as much blood as she’d sensed on reading it. “Anything. If he could harness the power, if he wanted to do damage...anything. It would be the psychic equivalent of an atom bomb.” She shook her head. “But it could kill someone, trying to control that kind of power alone. You’d have to be incredibly powerful.”

“
Or a whole druid order working together?
”
Sara suggested.

A chill seeped into Faith
’
s bones.
“
I don
’
t like this.
”

A commotion outside the tent interrupted Sara
’
s reply.
Voices rose in alarm.
They rushed outside in the direction of the sound.

A knot of crew surrounded a figure lying prone on the ground.
Faith heard Lambertson
’
s voice booming above the others, ordering them to lift.
“
What happened?
”
She bullied her way into the circle.
Then she saw for herself.

Cameron lay pinned underneath a section of fallen scaffold.
He groaned in agony, pushing at the heavy rigging and gasping for breath.
Lamb and the rest of the crew struggled to haul it off the young man
’
s chest.
Horrified, Faith sprang to help.

Sara jumped in beside her and crouched down over Cameron.
“
Hang on, Cam,
”
she murmured.
Faith knew that her sister had called on her telekinesis, and her eyes changed, when Cameron
’
s eyes sprang wide.
Sara bent a shoulder to the scaffold and glared at it, pushing and using her power at the same time.

Faith jammed her shoulder against the bars and hauled upward with the others.
The bulky steelwork dug into her body, resisting her efforts.
With tacit understanding, she waited until Sara blasted it with another wave of telekinesis and gave a simultaneous heave, shouting for the others to do the same.
It rose a few grudging inches.
“
Get him out, get him out!
”

Luis and Dustin grabbed the young man by the shoulders and dragged him out from under the scaffold.
Cameron gave a broken shout of pain.
When he was clear, the crew let the steelwork slam back onto the ground.

“
Dustin, the stretcher.
Luis, my first-aid kit.
Hurry!
”
Lamb shouted.

Faith saw them tear away in the direction of Lambertson
’
s tent.
She bent over Cameron, assessing the damage.
The young man
’
s ribs were crushed in on one side.
Bile rose in her throat.
All this from a scaffold that shouldn
’
t have been that heavy to start with?