Balmythra

Chapter Sixteen

  Know Your Enemy

  We reached our temporary hotel around seven a.m. All of the poPs spilled out the front door and down the steps.

  "You won’t believe what Mandaus and Rocc have been telling us." Kenny's broad grin matched the sparkle in his eyes. "This is some place."

  "Some place, all right." Ashley had clearly gained another impression. "As in the arm pit of the world. And would you look at these tacky clothes they gave me?" She showed us her loose-fitting white pants and her wrap top, which was belted at the waist. "Is `I brake for Jet Li' tattooed on my forehead or something?"

  "I think you look kind of cool." John loved anything to do with martial arts. He stared at his own similar clothing with obvious delight.

  "You would." Ashley's attention moved beyond Matt and Leah. At once her frown vanished, and a deceptively sweet smile lit her face.

  Jor, I guessed, automatically glancing over my shoulder. I saw that he wasn't the only inspiration for Ashley's abrupt change of heart. Lucianis now stood nearby, too.

  I noted how Ashley's gaze swept the guys from head to toe and back again. I recognized the new light in her eyes. How typical, I thought, impatient with my flirty friend. "So you're saying you'd rather be back at Pringle's, watching Mad Matilda swing her shovel?"

  The other kids, who'd crowded around them chattering and laughing, suddenly hushed. All eyes focused on me, uncharacteristically snapping at Ashley yet again.

  Instantly regretful, I told them that Matt and I needed something to drink. "You guys can explore, but don't go too far, okay?"

  I got hesitant nods in reply and felt even worse about my temper. It didn't help that Rocc and Tirafalen eyed me anxiously from behind the group of kids, but Rocc very quickly took over the situation, much to my relief. "Tir and I would love to show all of you around. Just follow me."

  I immediately sent Rocc a quick mental hug of thanks. Grabbing Matt's hand, I dragged him up the marble steps and into the building. A glance back told me that Jor hadn't followed.

  Relieved, I ducked into the first empty room I came to and shut the door. I saw a long table and deep maroon pillows that told me it was some kind of meeting room. That worked for me. Matt and I definitely needed a moment. I knew he held back a torrent of questions. Thankful for his patience, I automatically sent out another mental hug of gratitude before remembering that Matt couldn't feel them the way Rocc could.

  But his immediate flush seemed to say otherwise. I noted that he seemed very young. I, on the other hand, felt older than Mad Matilda, who was ancient. That thought made me smile in spite of my bad mood.

  "Glad to see those pearly whites," Matt said. "I was beginning to think your sense of humor was gone for good."

  "Sorry." I plopped down on one of the pillows and propped my elbows on the ornate wooden table. "I don't mean to be such a Grinch."

  He sat across from me. "You're not a Grinch."

  "Then what am I?"

  "A girl trying to figure things out."

  I rolled my eyes. "You got that right, and I'm thinking that when the poPs get back, we should all get together and talk about what happened to each one of them yesterday after you and I left. There are things I need to know."

  "Such as?"

  "Why did Matilda attack Rocc? She was her normal awful self that morning, true, but going after a strange teenager and with a shovel, no less.... That's a bit drastic, even for her. And then Kenny—" I hesitated, catching sight of the teen in question through a window. He stood talking to Petria, clearly a whole lot happier than he'd been huddled in the shadows of Pringle's.

  "What about him?"

  "He said something when we found him that I know is important, but can't seem to remember." I turned away from the window and pressed my fingertips to my temples. "I just have so many questions swirling around in my head right now, not to mention a zillion memories that don't belong to me. And then there are the missing from Winviral, the weird stuff from the cave, and my parents' cries for help." That memory, definitely my own, brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them back self-consciously, even as I wondered about my cart wheeling emotions. "It's really freaking me out, you know?"

  He nodded sympathetically.

  "And I'm feeling particularly guilty about the twins. They could've killed you, Matt." I shook my head in dismay and swiped impatiently at a stray tear. "I should've realized they were evil the minute they moved into Pringle's."

  Matt snorted. "Now that's just plain stupid. You didn't even know you had mental powers until Jor and Rocc showed up."

  "True, and the girls did seem just like the rest of us..."

  "Abandoned, neglected, forgotten, and completely miserable?"

  "Yeah." I sighed. "Oh, Matt. Do you think I'm crazy for thinking that once I understand more about what happened at Pringle's, I might be able to figure out what’s happening here?"

  "No. We need those missing puzzle pieces, and I'm thinking that a little more information about Jor and his fellow Sairons would be a plus, too, starting with what went on in the cave. I didn't see much and heard less, but you seem to know exactly what happened even though you didn't go in as far as I did." His probing gaze told me he'd love to hear a blow-by-blow account of everything I'd seen and sensed.

  But I wasn't up to one. "Later, okay? I really need to hole up somewhere alone for about an hour so I can meditate."

  "Come again?"

  "Meditate. I need to meditate."

  "That’s what I thought you said." He stared at me with something like amazement or maybe even awe.

  "It’s a Guardian thing, okay?"

  "Hey, no problem." He got right to his feet, but I could tell he didn't like the idea of leaving me.

  "Look, Matt, I've got to get a handle on what's happening to me. Without my mom to guide me on this, I'm like a computer with sucky software."

  "Then I'll let you reboot." With a nod and a wave, he left.

  A second later, I was alone in the room, which felt too large and open for proper concentration. Rising, I followed Matt out the door and gazed around. Balmythrans bustled through the hall and in and out of adjacent rooms, except for one. Instinctively, I walked to it and found just what I needed: a tiny enclosure furnished with candles, incense, and more deep pillows. I entered and shut the door behind me before sitting on one.

  After lighting the candles, I didn't budge for a long, long time, but sat quietly while my thoughts wandered where they would. First thing, I reoriented myself to time—Sunday morning—and place—Saironalis. Both seemed unbelievable. Was it only yesterday that I'd found out what I was?

  I knew that the instincts of my ancestors, apparently encoded in my very DNA, would eventually restore my equilibrium and provide solutions, but accessing them wasn't that easy for someone who hadn't practiced. Trying to control the influx of memories was the hardest part. My hard drive was almost full.

  But I somehow managed to defrag and feeling a little better, I finally got up and walked outside some time later. A midmorning sun blinded me for a second, and I wished for someone—anyone—to brainstorm with. Matt, for all his good intentions, couldn't really help at this point, and while Jor might actually be able to, I no longer trusted him.

  Maybe tomorrow, I thought, hopeful that my innate Guardian instincts would kick in big time and I'd be able to sort through the steady download of information.

  Matt appeared at my elbow. "So...any breakthroughs?"

  "No. I'm still dazed and confused."

  He grinned. "I told Ashley, John, and Kenny that you needed them."

  "Maybe Rocc can watch the little ones while we talk."

  "I don't know. He looks whipped."

  I tensed and located my brother, who sat on a bench in the shade of a bagowan tree. Tirafalen handed him a drink of some kind. He was exhausted, I realized with a stab of guilt. And no wonder. He'd been mostly dead mere hours ago.

  "Don't even go there," said Matt as if he could read my thoughts. "I'l
l ask Petria, instead. She's here now and has really hit it off with Ginzy. It'll only be for a little while, after all."

  "Okay." I looked for the girl in question and easily found her. I saw she'd changed into low-riding jeans and a colorful halter top. Petria's hair, coal black and shiny, hung long and loose. And that smile. It lit up her face. No wonder Kenny couldn't take his eyes off her. While Matt arranged babysitting, I searched for Jor. I didn't see him anywhere, which was good. I didn't want him inadvertently picking up on my current state of confusion while I focused on other things.

  In seconds, Matt turned the younger poPs over to a willing Petria and brought the older ones to where I waited, near a flower garden a little ways from the bustling street. Red, yellow, blue and purple blooms of all shapes and sizes provided gay contrast to my dark worries.

  "Go for it," Matt said.

  I immediately turned to Kenny. "Tell me again what you and John saw when you got to the shed."

  "Well, we expected to find you and Matt doing this—" He puckered up and made a loud smooching sound. Ashley shot me a hard look. John snickered.

  I ignored both reactions, which wasn't easy with Ashley glaring so suspiciously at me. "Go on."

  "But when we got in there, we found Rocc instead. Then everything happened at once. I saw a flash of color, the air wiggled like a mirage, and Mad Matty stepped out of nowhere to swing that shovel."

  I tensed. "Are you saying she was already inside the shed?"

  Kenny nodded firmly. "Yes. Behind Rocc."

  "But she wasn't." Matt's frown revealed his confusion. "The Xephyr Stream was the mirage you saw, Kenny. And that flash of color was undoubtedly us, jumping into it. If she was in the shed before that, we'd have seen her."

  "Yeah." I thought of how we'd walked into the building and found Rocc and Jor already there. And since there was only one door, Matilda couldn't have slipped in later, when we weren't paying attention. Jor would certainly have sensed her presence, even if Rocc didn’t.

  Is it possible that Matilda was Dagonel, too? That would certainly account for her sudden appearance in the shed...assuming Dagonel knew how to psifly, that is, and I had no problem believing they did. But could they do it in Wexton?

  "This is just so confusing." I wished I could ask Jor exactly what he'd sensed while there. After all, he'd known immediately that Raine and Skye were Dagonel, hadn't he? But then, he'd had more experience with them.

  I remembered what Kenny said when I found him at Pringle's, words that troubled me still. I rounded on him. "When I found you in the boys' dorm, you said something about seeing things...?"

  He wouldn't look at me. "I was scared out of my mind, Leah. I’d just seen someone murdered. At least, that’s what I thought at the time."

  I reached out to touch his shoulder. "I know that. But you said something about shadows...."

  Kenny's gaze swept the whole group before he spoke. I guessed he thought they'd question his sanity. But they all leaned forward, apparently hanging on every word they heard.

  "It was like the walls were alive or something. I saw shadows crawling all over them, shadows that didn’t belong to anyone. I mean, John and the others were lying on the beds, out cold, but these things still moved around the room. Creeped me out, you know?" He shuddered. "I guess that sounds crazy–-"

  "Not to me," I told him. "I saw them too."

  Matt turned to look me in the eye. "But I was right beside you the whole time. How come I didn’t see them?"

  I shook my head. "I'm guessing those shadows have something to do with the Dagonel. Listen, you guys, isn't it just a little too coincidental that Matilda fell off the deep end after two Dagonel—I mean Raine and Skye, of course—and a whole host of slippery shadows infested the place?"

  The others exchanged speculative looks and solemn nods.

  "And what about her popping up in the shed?" I considered each poP in turn. "I think that we’re going to have to go back to Pringle's to investigate." My gaze locked with Matt's. "I’ll need you."

  He nodded. I turned to Kenny.

  "When flowers fart!" he told me before I could say a word to him.

  "I'll take that as a 'no.'" I waited for another volunteer. No one else uttered a word. I sensed their fear as well, but I had to go back to Pringle's.

  Answers waited there, and I needed to know my enemy.