Jaden (St. Sebastians Quartet #1) (19 page)

What if she could just go back into town, forgot about all this, and just enjoy getting to know Kenda?

But even as she had the thought she knew it would never work. The dreams wouldn't stop. The attacks from Prodigy wouldn't stop. The only thing that would stop them was getting Kesi out of her head once and for all.

She stopped walking. Something was wrong. Where had the others gone?

She turned in a circle, then spotted them. They were at the bottom of the hill, near the maze. Hayley looked up at her, so Jaden waved, but Hayley didn't wave back.

"Hey Hayley," Jaden said, starting down the hill, but Hayley acted like she didn't see Jaden.

Jaden's steps got faster. They were ahead of her, but something was wrong. She stopped in her tracks when she realized something else. The clear day was gone. Now a heavy fog hung in the air. But since when? She hadn't even seen a fog move in.

She closed the distance between herself and her friends, her heart pounding harder. When she couldn't take the strain any longer she called out to them again.

"Hayley!" she shouted. But Hayley didn't respond.

"Bria! Sydney!"

She was gesticulating wildly, but nobody looked at her. Not even when she was inches from them and shouting their names at the top of her lungs.

"You're in my world now."

If she'd thought she'd been afraid before, that fear was nothing compared to the fear she felt now.

She didn't have to turn to face the speaker to know who it was.

She pinched the inside of her arm. It hurt. She was awake. But how?

"And they can't save you."

Slowly, she turned.

Prodigy stood before her. Dressed in his usual white, with a velvet cape flipped over his shoulders, his long blond hair blowing in the wind. The picture he made there, with the old mansion behind him, was beautiful. How could such evil be housed inside such beauty?

"My mother used to wonder the same thing," Prodigy said.

"You can read my mind?"

"I can. Not that I have to. I already know everything about you."

She swallowed. "About me, maybe. But not about Kesi. And it's Kesi you need. How do you even know if killing me will hurt her?"

"Her spirit is inside of you. Sure, there's a chance that if I kill you, her spirit will drift free of you at the moment of your death." He shrugged. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"I'm not." She ran. She ran to the only place she could think to hide. The maze.

She could hear Prodigy laugh behind her. She even thought she could hear his footfalls as he chased her. She entered the maze at a full run. Almost immediately, she was scratched by the branches that jutted out into the path. But she ignored this. She had to get away from him. The ground was pocked, with sprouts of grass growing up sporadically, making the path uneven and difficult to traverse, but she didn't stop. When she came to a section where she had to decide whether to go left or right, she went right.

"You can't escape me," Prodigy said.

If that were true, she thought, he would have killed her already. He could have killed her when she was a baby, but he hadn't. There had to be a reason why.

And then she knew. She knew why Zuri never left the mansion, she knew why tragedy struck every family who lived here. This was no regular house, and the land it was on was not normal. This, she thought, this was Midworld. That's why it felt so wrong, why being on the property felt so wrong. And the maze was the center of it all. And she knew that in this place, in this world between worlds, she was in trouble. As long as she was in her own world, Prodigy couldn't touch her. That's why Zuri had chosen to send the princesses to earth. Prodigy's magic didn't work in her world. He was powerless. But in Midworld, if Zuri had power, so did Prodigy. St. Sebastians was close enough to increase the power he had over her. Over all of them. Why had he focused only on her?

She made a left and ran a few feet, then made a right. Her arms and legs were badly scratched, but she didn't care. She had to get away.

"I grow tired of your games," Prodigy was saying.

And she was getting tired of running. She was out of breath already. But then, she saw something up ahead. A statue. Tall and regal. It had to be at least ten feet tall. It towered over the bushes and it carried with it a large sword.

She started toward it at a jog, quickly changing to a run. She ran to it and nearly fell down beside it.

It was the statue of a man, a king in crown, wearing armor. There was a look of determination on his face.

"Maliki Bakari Adelaja," she said in a hush.

"Stupid woman, Zuri."

Jaden turned to face Prodigy. And she knew this was it. The last moments of her life.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kenda ran outside to the girls. They were looking left and right, their eyes wide and fearful. That was the first thing he noticed. The next thing he noticed was Jaden wasn't with them. Where had she gone?

"She's gone!" Bria was shouting.

"Where'd she go?" Kenda demanded as soon as he'd reached them.

Hayley turned to him. "I don't know. It's like she just evaporated. One minute she was there, the next she was gone."

"The maze," Zuri said.

Kenda didn't need to hear anything else. He ran. Behind him he could hear Zuri telling the others they couldn't follow. "It has to be Kenda," she said.

"The hell with that," someone, probably Tyler, said.

But Kenda thought Zuri was right. He had to do this alone. He was connected to Kesi's guardian.

"Trust him," was the last thing he heard Zuri say, then he was in the maze.

He didn't know how he'd find her. If she'd evaporated—and he couldn't believe he was even thinking this—she wasn't even in this world anymore. But he'd pulled her out of the pool. Maybe he could pull her back into this world, too.

He moved at a jog, unsure where to go. He was being scratched to hell by the branches, but he could barely feel the pain of it. All he could think about was Jaden and how he wasn't ready to lose her. He'd just met her; he couldn't lose her so fast. He wouldn't lose her.

He came to the first turn. He stood there, losing precious seconds. Go the wrong way and he could lose Jaden forever.

He stood for another few moments, then suddenly needed to go right. He couldn't explain the sensation that had come over him, but he trusted it.

He went right at a jog, slowing only slightly at the next turn. He knew which way he needed to go. He just knew.

He sped up until he was running. At every turn he knew where to go, as though someone were leading him to her. And he could feel himself getting closer to Jaden. Could sense her and her fear.

"Son of a bitch," he said, running faster. As he ran, something peculiar happened. The crystalline day began to get hazy. The sun dimmed and soon he was running through fog. Under normal circumstances this would have scared the crap out of him, but today, he took this as a good sign. He was getting closer.

When he saw the top of the statue of the king, he knew that's where he needed to go. The closer he got, the more the world around him flickered and changed. Two figures flickered on and off in front of him. One was a tall, blond male, the other was Jaden.

He was closer now. Fifty feet. Forty. Thirty. Then twenty.

Prodigy turned on him. The handsome face he'd seen in the forest had twisted. His eyes went yellow, his skin had paled until it was pure white. The thing before him wasn't a man. Not anymore. It was a monster. And it had the woman he loved.

*****

"No!" Prodigy shouted.

Jaden saw Kenda coming toward them. Running toward them. He didn't hesitate. Didn't stop to debate if this was a smart thing to do. He just ran.

Prodigy's rage at Kenda's appearance scared Jaden. What would he do to Kenda? Prodigy shouted and the world shook. She stumbled back a step, but managed to stay upright.

"No!" Prodigy said again. This time his voice was quiet and controlled.

Kenda stopped, mere feet from Jaden.

"Yes." Zuri appeared behind Kenda. She seemed to drift toward them. Her smile seemed a bit premature, if you asked Jaden. "You've lost," Zuri said. "Even against a four-year-old child, you've lost."

"You've been helping them the whole time," Prodigy accused.

"Of course. They're under my protection."

"It's not over yet."

"It is for them." Zuri's eyes fixed on Jaden. "Come here, child."

Jaden looked from Zuri to Prodigy. "You want me to walk by him?"

"It's over for you," Zuri said, still smiling. "You've found them, princess and guardian."

Jaden looked at the statue, then at the ground. "They're here? Their bodies are here? On your property?"

Zuri nodded.

"All this time? Why didn't you just tell us."

"That's not how it works. Now come to me."

"No!" Prodigy shouted. "No!"

The ground shook. Thunder cracked so loud it sounded like heaven itself was breaking apart.

Again, Jaden looked at Prodigy. There was nothing within her that wanted to walk past that man.

Kenda started forward, his hand held toward her. "Come to me, Jaden. I believe Zuri. He can't hurt you. Not anymore."

"No!" Jaden shouted. "He'll kill you."

"He won't," Kenda said. "He would have by now if he was going to."

Kenda came toward her, arm outstretched. When he neared Prodigy, her heart slammed in her chest. She wouldn't, couldn't let him risk himself alone. So she rushed forward. Their hands touched, then held tight. In that moment lightning flashed through the sky. She and Kenda were whipped back into the bushes. The sky darkened and the wind howled. Somehow Zuri and Prodigy remained standing.

Then something amazing happened. A little girl appeared beside Zuri, her long hair tied in pigtails. While Jaden watched, she took Zuri's hand. And then miraculously, the little girl grew. Her body lengthened, her face matured. In seconds, the little girl in pigtails had transformed into a beautiful woman. Her hair was loose and whipping in the wind. And she stared at Prodigy, cold hatred in her eyes.

Then Jaden noticed the woman wasn't alone. A man was beside her, holding her other hand. He loomed above the woman and witch, dressed in green. His lips were set in a firm line. He stared ahead at Prodigy. "You lose," Kesi's guardian said.

"No!" Prodigy yelled.

His fists flailed in the air and he shouted curses into the air. Then, at the next crack of lightning, Prodigy was gone. So were Kesi and the guardian. Zuri alone remained standing before the statue, her cheeks wet with tears.

Jaden looked at Kenda, then back at Zuri. "Is it over?"

Zuri nodded. "Your part is over, Jaden. You did good. But there are still three princesses to be found."

Jaden rolled into Kenda's embrace, tears streaming from her eyes.

He held her close, murmuring into her ear. "I'll never let you go," he said, over and over again.

And she believed him.

EPILOGUE

Jaden stood in Kenda's kitchen, looking out the window at the deck beyond where her friends were gathered. They were speaking in excited voices. Nico was running the grill, while Chris, Tyler, and Kenda drank beer and gave Nico suggestions on how better to cook the burgers.

For the first time in her life, Jaden felt peace. True peace. She had never felt the presence of Kesi in her mind, but now that the girl was gone, Jaden felt lighter. More free than she'd ever felt. And it was all because she'd taken a chance and come to St. Sebastians. She'd taken a leap of faith. Bless Aunt Edna for going to Europe for the summer and bless her for letting Jaden house sit for the months she'd be gone. It had changed her entire life. But the job wasn't done. Not entirely. Zuri's lavender oil concoction had helped Hayley and Bria to sleep without dreams, but they still saw Prodigy in the waking world. They had to stop him once and for all. Who would he focus on next?

"I needed this," Hayley said. She came into the kitchen, followed by Bria and Sydney. "Just one day to forget before we get back into it."

"Maybe he's really gone," Bria said.

Jaden shook her head. "He's not. I'm sure he's deciding who he's coming for next."

"We're coming for him," Sydney said.

"That's right." Hayley gave Sydney a light punch on the shoulder. "And God help him."

"Too bad the rest of the princesses weren't in the same spot," Bria said.

"Maybe they are." Jaden went to the fridge and got out a cold bottle of soda.

"But we all went to the statue. Nothing happened."

"You don't have your guardians. Nothing is gonna happen without them. Even after Kenda had the dream, nothing happened until we were both in the maze. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't followed me in."

"So in order to end this we need to find boyfriends and have hot, sweaty sex," Sydney said. "I think I can live with that."