Kingdom of Darkness (Kingdom Journals Book 2) Read online

  “Someone is happy,” Frida commented as we sat down to eat dinner. “Could it have something to do with new team assignments?”

  “And I only have to see Dr. Antos every other day.” I popped a grape into my mouth.

  “Well, look at Miss Well Adjusted.” She leaned into me and whispered in my ear. “I wouldn’t say anything to Jude. He’s been with Dr. Antos like two hours a day since Tuesday.”

  “What do you mean? Did something happen? Is he okay? I didn’t even notice. He’s seemed good every time I saw him.” I scanned the room, searching for him.

  “You didn’t hear what happened Monday? I don’t know if he’s okay. All I know is he had double sessions every day” Frida said.

  Seeing him enter the mess tent, I studied his face for any hint that something was off. His gaze met mine, and he smiled and waved. My face flamed from being caught staring, but I continued to watch as he went to the line and got his tray.

  “He looks okay, right?” I asked Frida.

  “So, who’s interested in Jude now?”

  “He’s a nice guy. I don’t want him to be hurting.”

  “Well, just ask him,” Frida shrugged.

  “I’m not asking. It’s none of my business. I wouldn’t even know if it weren’t for you.”

  “Okay, well I’ll ask him.”

  “Ask him what?” Jude took the seat beside me.

  “Miss Pretty Pants is worried about you after I told her you were spending hours a day with Dr. Antos.”

  “No, everything’s good. See?” He held up his wrists. “I don’t even need the bracelets anymore.”

  Then, I was even more intrigued. “How’s that?”

  “Just worked through some stuff.” He shrugged and pointed at Frida. “So, spying on me, eh?”

  “Got to keep tabs on my peeps, especially after what happened with George Monday.”

  “What happened with George?” I looked between them.

  “Do you not hear anything?” Frida asked.

  “It was nothing.” Jude’s voice fell an octave, and his eyes cut to his plate.

  “I’ve been in Siberia, obviously. What’s going on?”

  Frida put her hands to her hips. “Well—”

  “Frida.” Jude cut her off.

  “Fine, I’ll let you tell her if you want.”

  My mind raced back through the week to Monday, and then I remembered their whole tent had taken the evening off. George missed cook duty that night, leaving the four of us to grill chicken breasts, make bread, and roast vegetables. But he never mentioned why. Figuring whatever had happened, Jude would tell me if and when he wanted, I refocused on finishing the meal.

  The next day when they switched team assignments, I was happy Jude was included in my group. I knew I shouldn’t have been. There was really no point in furthering my connection with him when we only had seven days left of camp. But after my week alone, I craved his company.

  “I can’t believe you haven’t cornered me to find out how I am bracelet free or what happened with George,” Jude commented the time we were alone Monday.

  “I didn’t think it was any of my business.”

  “You and Frida are polar opposites. It has more to do with you than anybody.”

  My thoughts reeled. “How’s that possible?”

  “Come on.” He held out his hand.

  “We’re going to get in trouble.” I hesitated, looking back at the group.

  “Trust me.” His eyes pierced into mine.

  “Okay.” I took his outstretched hand.

  We walked around the face of the cliff and up towards the summit. At the top, he leaned against a rock. “I have something to show you.” He set his pack on the ground. “Watch.”

  Pointing at a rock, he closed his eyes. “Watch the rock.”

  “What am I supposed—” Then, the boulder rose a foot off the ground. I looked at Jude. His eyes were open, and a smile spread across his face.

  “Are you paying attention to the rock?”

  When I switched my focus back to the boulder, it was three feet off the ground, swirling in the air. I bent down, and the wind from the stone’s rotation blew loose hairs across my face. Magic is real, I thought. Hunter and Alena are actual people, and they’re trying to find me. I’m a child of light. They need me to complete the trinity. I looked to Jude. He’s acting with Theron and Thanatos. Maybe Dr. Antos is too. You have to get away from Jude!

  Taking a few sideways steps, I positioned myself on the opposite side of the rock.

  “You aren’t going to say anything?” Jude fixed his gaze on me, and the rock fell to the ground with a thud.

  Act like you’re clueless, I told myself. “How are you doing that?” Thinking fast, I drew my mace from the side pocket of my backpack and pointed it at him.

  “Whoa! No need for weaponry.” He extended his hand out to me but didn’t move. “It’s magic. My bracelet fell off after a shower. When George started mouthing off, I wished the heater would crush him and then felt this hum in my brain. The buzzing sound amplified until the furnace fell over and rolled towards George. Without anyone touching it, the heater just turned and went straight to him. Dr. Antos said he held these camps not only to help teens but to look for people like me. Because we’re often misdiagnosed. He’s been helping me strengthen my magic.”

  “Really? That’s your story?”

  “Yeah.” One eyebrow cocked up. “What other story would I have? For someone who just witnessed that magic is real, you’re acting strange. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m telling you this because I thought maybe you had powers too, that we could figure this out together.”

  “And you never met Dr. Antos before searching out this camp?” I took several steps backwards, trying to get distance between us. If I got back to the others, he wouldn’t be able to use his magic on me.

  “No, why would I?” Jude stepped towards me. “Did you know magic was real? That someone could be a witch? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “My hallucinations were about witches.” I continued to back away from him. “I’m pretty sure if witches are real, there’s a price on my head, so you can just stay where you are, or I’ll mace you.”

  “I’m not going to hurt you. Price on our head? What are you talking about?”

  Wondering how I would know whether he told the truth or not, I held my ground. Checking behind me every few steps, I backed to the turn in the trail, trying to get in view of the others.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. Don’t you want to know if you have powers too? Dr. Antos has a retreat for people like us in Sardinia, Italy. I’m going there after this camp to figure out who my coven is. I thought you could come too.”

  My mind reeled. Dr. Antos and Jude had schemed to lure me into a trap for Theron and Thanatos. If Dr. Antos was a witch, he could kidnap me anytime. I wasn’t safe at the camp. But why hadn’t he? He wanted me to come of my own volition. That way my parents wouldn’t stage a search. My next thought was of my dad. Why hadn’t he trained me? He had to be the source of my magic. Maybe he hadn’t told Mom. Or maybe he had, and she refused to believe or let me be trained. What had Alena said about her powers? At eighteen you would lose them if you didn’t join a coven. Perhaps Mother had decided to wait it out.

  I refocused on Jude. “I know how being a witch works. And I’m guessing you do too. This is all a ruse, right? Have me fall for you? Have you discover your magic and snare me under the guise of awakening mine?”

  “Snare you? What are you talking about? Is this about the price on your head? I have nothing to do with anything like that. I’m telling the truth. Please, believe me.” His eyes pleaded with me, and I wanted to believe him. I wished he were the good guy who saved my friend from drowning. But he could very well be part of a scam.

  “Why do you want me to come to Sardinia?”

  “Because I like you, and I feel like we have this connection, even before I knew about the magic thing. I felt drawn to you from the firs
t day we met.”

  Shutting my eyes, I blinked hard. I needed to focus on getting back to the group. His words were already melting my resolve.

  “How can I prove it to you?”

  “I don’t know.” The statement came out much louder than I planned. “You can’t show me your thoughts because you could paint any picture you want me to see. There’s no way for me to know if you’re telling the truth.”

  “I can give you my phone. It has all the pictures of my friends in L.A., my texts with them and my family. I can give you my school transcripts, anything. I’m not part of some elaborate plan to abduct you.”

  “What if you are and don’t know it?”

  “Then we’d be in it together and fight our way out. I…” He raked his hand over his head, gripping his cap. “Ever since the thing in the ocean, I’ve felt this strong pull towards you. Like I want to be near you all the time. I feel like I’m supposed to be protecting you somehow. When you told me to save Frida, I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave you. That’s what I was thinking the whole time I was underwater searching for her, but I still did it because you told me to. I feel this overwhelming urge to do what you want me to.”

  I shook my head. “That sounds exactly like something a psychopath villain would say.”

  “How can I prove I’m telling the truth?” He stopped his advance and threw his backpack to the ground.

  “How did you save Frida?”

  “I saw the light on her jacket. I told you that.”

  “Cut yourself.”

  “What?”

  “Cut yourself to show me you can’t heal?”

  “Are you crazy? What do you think I am?”

  “I think you’re half vampire. That’s how you’re so fast, why you need to eat natural foods, and how you saved Frida.”

  “A vampire?”

  “Really? You’re going to believe in witches and not vampires. Have you ever gotten sick? When is your birthday?”

  “March twenty first. Why would that matter?”

  “Cut yourself.” I challenged him as my brain processed that he was born on the spring equinox.

  “Fine.” He put one knee to the ground and picked up a rock. “I heal fast anyway, always have. This isn’t going to prove anything.” He held the stone to his exposed arm. “You have first aid supplies, right?”

  “You don’t?”

  “Some of us aren’t paranoid. How did that mace get past inspection?”

  “I hid it in my camera bag.”

  “Case in point.” He turned the rock over so the sharp side hung above his skin. “I’ll probably get some nasty infection from this.”

  “Wait.”

  “Thank God.”

  “You should rinse it off first.” I opened my water bottle and poured water over the stone.

  “Well, thanks for that. I thought you were going to change your mind. A psycho would cut himself you know.”

  “Just do it.”

  He pressed the rock into his forearm until he broke the skin. Blood poured from the wound. “Happy now? Not a vampire.”

  “Let me see.” I gripped his arm, inspecting the cut. It looked like what you would expect from a cut. “But you said you healed fast. Here.” I poured water over the scrape, swabbed it with antibiotic cream, and put a bandage on it.

  “Thank you for that, I guess.”

  “You’re mad at me?”

  “I just pictured this going down a little differently. I guess you’re allowed a little freak out.”

  “How would a normal person react to seeing a levitating rock? By freaking out.”

  “But you’re accusing me of trying to kidnap you.”

  “Maybe Dr. Antos set this up, and you’re just a pawn.”

  “How could he have lined us both up like that? I started having this problem two months ago.”

  “In L.A.?”

  “That’s where I said I lived. Won’t you just take off your bracelet and try some magic? Maybe we could protect you from Dr. Antos if he’s the bad guy.”

  “Last time I took off the bracelet, I ended up with a migraine.” I paced away from him and back.

  “But you were with Dr. Antos, a powerful witch.”

  “So, maybe he did that to me on purpose so I wouldn’t take off the bracelet and my friends couldn’t find me.”

  “You have friends looking for you too?”

  “Never mind.” I slid my bracelet off, but nothing happened. “Perform some magic.”

  “Okay.” Jude closed his eyes, and a breeze picked up.

  A low hum grew in my head. “Is that you?”

  “I’m controlling the wind.”

  “Stop,” I told him. The wind died, the hum with it.

  Closing my eyes, I pictured the small rock beside my shoe. The buzzing in my head grew, but I tried to push through. The noise stopped. I opened my eyes to see the stone floating in front of me.

  “See.” Jude jumped back when the rock fell to the ground. “You’re a witch.”

  “Half witch, it’s not the same.”

  “Well, who is the smarty pants now?”

  “There you are.” Allen appeared from around the bend. “We’ve been looking all over. It’s time to head back.”

  Thinking I couldn’t have asked for better timing, I slid my hand in my bracelet, shouldered my pack, and fell in behind him on the trail. Joining the others, I found Ruth, assuming Jude wouldn’t talk to me if I were with someone else. I needed to figure out what to do. Did I confront Dr. Antos? What if Jude told him about our incident? I’d be trapped for sure. No, I had to find out if Jude was telling the truth. As we neared the camp, I slowed to fall in step with him.

  “You’re talking to me now?”

  “Can I have your word that you won’t tell Dr. Antos about today?”

  “He told me not tell anyone anyway, especially you. He wanted you to come to it on your own, or something like that. If he’s a threat, I’ll protect you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re getting mixed up in. Just don’t tell Dr. Antos.”

  “I won’t. I swear.”

  “Thanks.” I increased my stride, leaving him behind. Then I stopped and turned back to him. “How old are you? What year were you born?”

  “Nineteen ninety-nine. Why?”

  “Nothing.” I hurried ahead to catch up with Ruth.

  “You and Jude fighting?” she asked.

  “Yes.” I guessed it wasn’t far from the truth.

  Back at camp, I had an hour of free time to ponder the conundrum. I didn’t know if I should trust Jude. I wanted to, but what if he were playing the part, trying to reel me in? And what of Dr. Antos? What did I say to him? Nothing? Could Jude and I help Hunter and Alena get the sword back? If Dr. Antos took us to Thanatos and Theron there may be a chance of retrieving it. The wild card seemed to be Sonia. Perhaps my dad would be willing to help. He’d always told me if I was in trouble and needed his help, he’d find me.

  When it was time for my session with Dr. Antos, I made my way to his tent, spinning the bracelet on my arm.

  “You seem deep in thought,” he commented as I sat in front of him, rubbing my fingers over the black beads.

  I sucked in a huge breath. “I want to talk about my long-term outlook. Do I have to wear this thing forever?”

  “It’s hard to say, and it’s partially up to you. I’m working on a theory that this sort of thing may be hormonally related, and as you mature, it works itself out. If you’d be willing to be one of my subjects and test that theory, I would appreciate keeping in touch over the next five years.”

  “Jude mentioned further treatment options after the camp.”

  “He did, did he? What exactly did he say?”

  “He said you had a retreat in Italy.”

  “I offered it to him because he seems especially troubled. His parents are adrift, and he wanted some additional support.”

  “Do you think I need something like that?”

  “D
o you think you do?”

  My heartbeat thudded in my chest as I created a story. “Something happened in the shower the other day I couldn’t explain. I’d taken my bracelet off like always and got under the stream. I wished it was warmer, and this humming sound grew in my ears. Then the water turned warm, and the humming sound stopped.”

  “I instructed you never to take off the bracelet. I thought we were clear.”

  “I know. It just wears on me after a while.”

  “When did this happen? Why didn’t you come to me right away?”

  “Saturday. I figured it was the humming from not having my bracelet on, but I still didn’t get the connection between the water temperature and the succession of the sound in my head. It could have been random that the water got warmer. Then I tried it yesterday, and it happened again.”

  “Well, this certainly is a development.” He looked down to his locked hands and circled his thumbs around each other. “Your father travels a lot, correct?”

  “Yes, he and my mother are divorced.”

  “And your mother doesn’t have any history of”—he cleared his throat—“mental illness?”

  “No.”

  “Okay.” He leaned forward. “Take off your bracelet.”

  “Do you think I will experience the migraine again?”

  “If you’ve taken your bracelets off without the migraine occurring, I doubt it will this time.”

  I took off the string of black beads and placed them beside my leg.

  “Okay, focus on something you want. Try to levitate it to you,” Dr. Antos instructed.

  “You’re kidding, right.” I played the part.

  “No. You may have abilities.”

  “What abilities? Does Jude have abilities?”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss other patients. And to be clear, you’re not allowed to discuss this with anyone, including Jude.”

  Focusing on the pen on his desk, I closed my eyes. The buzzing sensation in my head increased and then dissipated.

  “Open your eyes.”

  I looked up to see the pen in front of my face. Holding out my palm, I let it fall to my fingers.

  “It seems you are a half witch, young lady. Like me”—he stretched out his arm and took off a black beaded bracelet—“you can do magic.”