The voices of two men filled my ears. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but at least it sounded like a human language. We’re definitely on Earth, like Caleb said. But where? I supposed I’d have to wait for Caleb to return.
Although I didn’t have a watch, it felt like Caleb had kept his promise to return within fifteen minutes. He crept behind the bushes and dropped down next to me. He had a bulging plastic bag in his hand. He removed the contents one by one, placing some items on my lap, some on his own.
“How did you—?”
“Some early visitors to the market,” was all the explanation he offered.
“So you pickpocketed them,” I muttered. He nodded. I guessed it wasn’t difficult for vampires to pickpocket, given their superhuman speed and agility.
By the time he was finished, I was holding in my lap a ripe papaya, a liter of water, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a stiff cotton night gown. On his lap was a clear plastic bag filled with fresh fish, a black wallet and another black plastic bag.
He began tearing into the fish, draining all the blood and throwing the rest of it into the bushes. He must have been hungry. I attacked my bottle of water with similar urgency, swallowing half a liter in less than a minute. Then I turned to the papaya.
I wasn’t sure how to open it without making a mess of it. I looked at Caleb.
“Could you?”
He extended a claw and sliced the fruit into quarters. I began chewing into the sweet flesh hungrily and I had finished the whole thing in a few minutes. I eyed the toothbrush and the night gown.
“Now what?” I asked once he’d finished his fish blood.
He stood up and brushed himself down. Opening the wallet, he pulled out a wad of cash and began counting it.
I stared at the currency. “We’re in—”
“Brazil. On the borders of a city called Manaus.”
Brazil. Well, at least that explained the rainforest. The opening of the gate was in the heart of the Amazon.
Caleb’s eyes roamed my body.
“Put that dress on over your clothes,” he said.
I stared down at my clothes. He had a point. I looked like I’d just walked off the set of a slasher movie. I pulled the dress over my head and did my best to tie back my hair so it didn’t look quite so alarming.
I looked at Caleb. He hardly looked presentable. Shirtless, his chest was covered in bloodstains and grime from rushing through the jungle for hours. His hair was a tangled mess and his pants were ripped too. He was in just as bad a state as me.
“And what about you?”
He reached for the unopened black plastic bag and pulled out a pair of shorts and a crisp black shirt. He walked to a cluster of trees nearby and disappeared behind them. When he returned, he was fully dressed in the new clothes.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s go.” He gripped my arm and pulled me forward.
“Wait.” I tugged on him, pulling him back. “Bend down.”
He raised a brow but did as I’d requested. His head now level with my chest, I ran my fingers through his thick dark hair, attempting to tame it, picking out pieces of leaves and branches. I almost screamed as a small red spider scurried across my finger, burying itself closer to Caleb’s scalp. I picked up a stick from the ground and, fishing through his hair to find the creature again, I managed to brush it away.
“Caleb,” I whispered, my insides churning, “can you check my hair for spiders?”
He stood up and pulled my head toward him, his strong fingers tugging roughly on my long hair as he sifted through it.
“No spiders. Okay? We need to go.”
“Okay,” I said in relief.
I slipped my hand in his and, picking up the toothbrush and toothpaste, we left the tree-lined enclosure and walked onto the main road. I was glad that the dress was long enough to cover my feet because I wore no shoes.
Caleb led me directly across the quiet road and headed into the market area. We walked along a line of buildings until we reached a tall one with a sign above a double-doored entrance.
Hostel Amazonas.
Caleb wrapped an arm round my waist and held me close as we ascended the steps and entered into the lobby. There was a small reception desk in one corner where an elderly woman sat reading a paper. She looked up at us through her spectacles as we arrived at the desk.
Caleb picked up a leaflet from the counter and paged through it. He looked up at the woman.
“A private room, please.”
“Sala privada? Para dois?” the woman asked, holding up two fingers.
Caleb nodded and placed a few notes down on the counter.
She took the cash and counted it. “Uma noite,” she muttered. She handed us a key and pointed to the number engraved on it. “Vinte.”
Caleb took it from her and pulled me away from the reception desk, up the staircase in the center of the room. We walked up two flights of stairs and found Room 20.
He opened the door and locked it immediately after we’d entered. I found myself standing in a narrow room. It looked much like a basic motel room—a small double bed, a faded chair, an old telephone and an ensuite bathroom. It was basic, but looked clean enough. Most of all, I was thankful to see mosquito nets fixed to the window and also over the bed.
The door clicked as Caleb locked it. He walked about the room, drawing the curtains shut and plunging the room into darkness. He reached for the switch on the wall and flicked on the fluorescent lighting. Then he finally turned to face me. We stood in silence, just staring at each other. It was the first time since our reunion that we’d had time to just look at each other, undistracted by danger. And now it felt awkward. I broke eye contact with him and walked toward the bathroom.
“I need a shower,” I muttered.
I locked myself in the small bathroom and undressed. I placed my torn clothes in the bin in the corner of the room and stepped into the shower.
There was no hot water but it wasn’t needed. I was glad to have the cold water spilling down my back after the heat of the jungle. I half expected to find another leech on me but, thankfully, I didn’t. I stared at the floor of the shower, amazed at how much dirt was flowing off me.
I soaped myself from top to bottom and washed my hair with the cheap shampoo that had been left on a ledge. I stepped out, dried myself and changed back into the night dress. I wrapped my hair in the small towel, forming a turban, and, after procrastinating a minute longer, stepped back out into the room.
Caleb sat in a chair in the corner of the room, staring down at the leaflet he’d taken from reception. I approached slowly, and soon realized that he was looking at a map. He stood up as I approached and left me alone in the room to take a shower himself. I waited in silence for him, listening to the running water, looking at the map while I waited.
When he finally opened the door, wearing his shorts, his chest bare again, his hair dripping wet, he stopped in the center of the room and looked down at me seriously.
There were so many questions bombarding my mind. I wasn’t sure he was ready for them. Hell, I wasn’t sure I was ready.
“What now?” I asked.
“We stay in this room for a few hours. Get some rest. And then we move on again. This is one of the nearest towns to that gate. It’s not safe to stay here.”
“But go where?”
“You need to return to The Shade.”
I bit my lip.
“Caleb, what were you doing there, on that strange island? And why did you save me again?” He walked over to the window, his back turned to me. “I thought you weren’t willing to risk putting anything else on the line for me… for us?”
His back heaved, his muscles rippling beneath his skin.
“I wasn’t.”
“Then?”
He paused. Then cleared his throat. “We don’t have much time here. We should be using it for rest rather than talk.”
“You can’t keep me in the dark any longer. I can’t sleep un
til I know what’s going on.”
He threw me a glance, eyeing my bare arms.
“Get under the mosquito net first.”
I climbed onto the bed and tucked in the net all around me. I sat cross-legged in the center of the mattress looking at him as he resumed his seat in the chair.
“Firstly, I don’t know what that warlock, Rhys, wanted with you. Secondly, I was there because I was paying a visit to that island with Annora.”
“What is that island? Why did Rhys take me there, of all places?”
He hesitated. His lips parted then closed.
“It’s best you don’t know what lies on that island. Just know that it’s not pretty. I don’t know what they had planned for you or why he stole you away.”
“What will happen now? Will Rhys come after us?”
“Oh, yes. You can count on it. That’s why we can’t stay here for more than a few hours.”
“What will he do to you, if he—if they—find out you’ve betrayed them? And what will you do now?”
Caleb wet his lower lip, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed. “There’s nothing I can do.”
I’d seen enough of the witches to know that Caleb wouldn’t be spared for such a betrayal.
“Why did you do this for me?” I pressed.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It was probably another mistake.”
“Yet you did it still, with barely a moment’s hesitation.”
“I did,” he said, staring blankly at the opposite wall.
I thought back to the night Mona had burst into our apartment, claiming that she had a sense that my parents were under a spell. I’d found it strange at the time. But now suspicion was beginning to enter my mind. “Caleb, did you warn Mona about my parents?”
His silence was all the answer I needed.
I couldn’t restrain myself. I untucked the mosquito next and ran over to him, kneeling down and taking his hands in mine.
“Caleb, you can come back with me. I know Mona will vouch for you. And you returning me a second time… it simply can’t be a coincidence. With both myself and Mona standing up for you, there’s no way my parents can refuse. They’ll just be too relieved to see me again. Why don’t you come with me?”
Her refused to look me in the eye.
“If you don’t,” I said, my voice shaking, “you’ll die. You have no choice. Even if you manage to escape Rhys, you only have seven days. Come to The Shade and Mona will be able to rid you of the bond. You can live with us.”
Excitement and passion coursed through my body. I reached up to touch his shoulder and finally his eyes fixed on mine.
He stood up, drawing me up with him. He picked me up in his arms and laid me on the bed. Tucking me back under the mosquito net, he remained outside of it, gazing at me.
“Rest now, Rose. We’ll talk about this when you wake up.”
I reached a hand up to the net, wanting to touch him again, reassure him that it would work out all right, if he’d just come back with us.
But I agreed to his request.
I lay down on the stiff pillow, exhaustion beginning to claim me again. My eyes didn’t leave Caleb’s still form in the corner of the room until they fell shut.
As I drifted off, I imagined him coming back with me to The Shade. I pictured our arrival at the Port. We’d go straight to my parents. Mona would help me explain that it had all been a misunderstanding. Because Caleb was a good man. A man who deserved more than the life he’d been dealt.
Much more.
Chapter 36: Caleb
I moved my chair closer to her once she’d fallen asleep. I wanted to take in her beauty, the gentle flush in her cheeks, the way her lips parted slightly as she breathed.
So much had happened in such a short time, truth be told, I was still in a daze myself.
Rose’s suggestion to return with her to The Shade was indeed my only option—if I was to stay alive, of course. Even then, if I agreed, there was no guarantee that we’d make it back in time. I was still bound by Annora’s seven-day curse. I studied the map and thought about how we could possibly return. We had no passports. Rose clearly had no special phone on her capable of contacting The Shade. We’d have to find a way to get to the other side of the continent quickly, and then steal a boat to travel the rest of the way to The Shade. I had no idea how long that might take us. Any number of things could go wrong. For one thing, I had the sun to contend with during the daytime. We’d have to do the bulk of our traveling at night and during the day stay out of the sun. All the while traveling with Rose—a frail human girl. And all this was actually the least of our worries. We had Rhys on our tail, I was sure of it. I knew he wouldn’t stop until he’d hunted us down. And he was a Channeler, even more powerful than Annora. He might be hurtling through the Amazon rainforest at the speed of light right now, toward us.
Still—detaching myself from the situation—I had to get Rose back to The Shade as quickly as possible. What might happen to me had to be secondary. Of course, if something did happen to me, she wouldn’t survive. She was dependent on me now.
Thinking about the odds we were up against sent my mind reeling. I felt overwhelmed. But I realized there was no point worrying about what might happen. Our circumstances were out of our control. We just had to take things one day at a time and do our best to stay alive.
I picked up the map again and continued to study it, trying to decide what our next move should be. Before we set off anywhere, I needed to steal some sort of protection for myself from the sun. Perhaps a long hooded raincoat. We didn’t have the luxury of only traveling at night. We simply didn’t have that sort of time.
For the next couple of hours, I tried to focus on planning our journey. But thoughts of Annora kept interrupting me. The way I’d left her there, helpless on the ground, so willingly. As though it was just instinct to abandon her for Rose. I wondered what she might be doing now. Whether she might have woken up already, or whether she might still be lying unconscious and alone in that dark tunnel.
As I looked again at Rose, I realized that while I was in her presence, I just didn’t care much. I didn’t know what would become of Annora, but the fact that I was able to leave her so easily spoke volumes. Although I felt guilty for it, Rose eclipsed Annora so completely, it was hard to feel much for her even as she occupied my mind.
Even if Annora hadn’t done all she had, I wondered if Rose might still have eclipsed her. I wondered if trying to fix the witch had been nothing but an attempt to fill the hole Rose had gouged in me. I’d hoped that perhaps if I had Annora back, she’d make me forget the pain I felt in the princess’ absence. Perhaps it had all been a big ruse—none of it done for Annora’s sake, but for my own.
I looked at the old clock on the wall. It was time.
I untucked the mosquito net. But before I woke Rose, I bent down and gave in to the urge that had consumed me the moment I’d laid eyes on her beautiful face again.
To touch her. Breathe her in.
I caressed her soft forehead with my lips. As much as I wanted that moment to last forever, I allowed my kiss to linger only for three seconds. I didn’t want her to realize what I’d done. Because I didn’t want this to be another mistake.
I pulled my mouth away and clutched her shoulders, shaking her awake.
Her green eyes flickered open and she gave me a small smile.
“Caleb.” She reached up, her fingers brushing against my cheek.
I closed my eyes, barely breathing. It took all the restraint I had to not bend down and kiss her again, this time on her flushed lips.
I cleared my throat.
“Rose, it’s time to go. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
Chapter 37: Annora
My brain was on fire as I sat up. My muscles felt like they’d been put through a shredder and restrung beneath my skin. My bones ached. My vision was blurred and my throat parched. I reached out and felt for the wall. I leant against it as I tried to sta
nd. My eyes slowly came into focus. I was in a dimly lit tunnel. I gripped my head. I felt like I might pass out again from the pain. I could barely think straight.
I placed both forefingers on my temple and muttered an incantation. Nothing happened.
Where are my powers?
I’m supposed to be stronger than ever.
Then the last memory I had before the blackout washed over me. I doubled over.
“Caleb,” I gasped.
Pain seared though my chest as I recalled his handsome face, his beautiful brown eyes, the way he’d touched me as Lilith performed the ritual, the way he’d looked at me with concern. As my mind’s eye fixed on this man who’d remained by my side all these years, my heart raced. My head felt light. With Caleb in the center of my heart, breathing life into my soul, it felt like I was walking on air. A sudden warmth rushed through me, shooting from my chest and spreading throughout my body. A sensation that was all-consuming. Earth-shattering. A sensation I’d thought I was no longer capable of experiencing.
What is happening?
Tears welled in my eyes and began to stream down my cheeks. I collapsed on the floor. Sharp rocks cut into my knees, drawing blood. But I could barely feel it. The pain in my chest brought about by Caleb’s absence and the euphoria coursing through my veins overwhelmed me completely.
What have I done to you all these years, my love? How could I have let myself lose you?
My body had never felt so weak, so vulnerable. I didn’t know what had happened to me. And although I was confused as to why I could summon no magic—I was supposed to have been made into a Channeler, I should be even more powerful—the only thing on my mind was Caleb.
My love. My fiancé. I need to find him.
I managed to stand again. I stumbled through the tunnel toward Lilith’s chamber. My hands shaking, I fumbled for the doorknob and swung the door open. “Caleb!” I shouted, casting my eyes around the room.