Kingdom of Darkness (Kingdom Journals Book 2) Read online

  For as much as I wanted to shed my bracelet and see if I could contact them, I knew Dr. Antos would be able to sense my magic. It would put them in jeopardy if he had further access to any clues of their whereabouts. I just had to convince Mother to let me go to Sardinia. Maybe I’d fake a relapse, not even tell her about the witch stuff. I turned over the options in my head. I didn’t want to lie to her. If she were aware that my dad was a witch, and she’d kept me in the dark this long, would she fight me embracing my magic? Or would she let me make my own choice?

  Maybe I’d test whether she knew about Dad. If she did, it meant she’d been hiding the truth from me all along. If she didn’t, then I would continue Dad’s ruse. I guessed I should contact him. What if he didn’t know he was a witch? That idea seemed impossible. He hadn’t been there for me. He had failed me by not fighting for my choice to embrace my powers.

  I fell asleep and dreamed of Jude, Mom, Dad, Tyler, Dr. Antos, Alena, Hunter, Theron, and Sonia. The characters intermixed in my mind. I must’ve been thinking I’d miss my mom because I woke with tears in my eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Ruth asked as I sat up.

  “Just had a bad dream.”

  “Do you want to talk about last night?”

  “No, I don’t want to ever hear Jude’s name again.” I shoved off my sleeping bag and pulled on my outerwear.

  I kept up my ruse by stomping out of the tent and to the bathhouse, then the mess tent for breakfast, and finally to study hall. Dr. Antos called me to his office after lunch.

  “The staff informed me there was an incident between you and Jude. I talked with Jude this morning.”

  “You did? What did he say?”

  “That you told him about your visions, the prophecy, the sword.”

  “He didn’t believe me, even though he’s a witch like me.”

  “Half witch, yes. But you realize your hallucinations were just that, fabrications of your mind, right?”

  “How can that be if they held some truth?”

  “Maybe your father’s knowledge flowed through you, and your mind weaved it into a tale. A witch’s visions can be that way.”

  “Okay, I’m confused. First you said they were visions, then hallucinations, and then visions again.”

  “I believe they may have been a mix of the two. I would be interested to meet your father. But we should discuss Jude’s actions. You reported he tried to kiss you?”

  “Yes.”

  “He reports that you threw yourself at him.”

  “What? No! I don’t know. I was so emotional with him not believing me I’m not even sure what happened now.” I tried to conjure the memory of some sad incident, and I thought of my cat, Sammy, and his death. As I pictured the cat in Mom’s arms, tears formed in my eyes. “Why wouldn’t he believe me? I was going to tell you I wanted to come to Sardinia, but I don’t know if I can with things between Jude and me being so weird.”

  “You can’t base your future as a witch on a boy. Perhaps we should have a joint session. I can explain your issues, and you two could come to an understanding.”

  “I guess.” I swiped a tear from my cheek. “I think I need to talk to my dad. He never told me anything about magic or witches. I’m not even sure he practices his magic or if my mom knows about all this.”

  “I believe it would be wise to talk with your father. I’m going to fetch Jude and give you some time to call him. Here,” he held up his phone, “use this device.”

  Turning the phone over and over in my hand, I tried to figure out how I would start the conversation with Dad. I dialed the number and his familiar voice chimed in after the third ring.

  “Hi, this is Grady Thornton, leave a name and number after the tone.”

  “Dad,” I said into the device, “this is Camille. I need to talk to you. You can call on this number. Thanks. I love you.”

  Summoning all my courage, I dialed Mom’s number. She answered right away. “Camille, is everything okay?”

  “Yes, Mom, I’m fine, but I need to talk to you about Dad.”

  “Have you heard from him? I haven’t been able to contact him. I’ve been trying since last week. I thought he should know about your boating incident.”

  “No, I just left a message. It’s not like Dad not to return a call.”

  “It’s not. I tried his assistant, and he hadn’t heard from your dad in over a week.”

  “Something is wrong, Mom. Do you know Dad’s history?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like family heritage?” I hedged.

  “His family is Irish, you know that. Why does it matter?”

  “Is Tyler there? Can I talk to him?”

  “Sure, hold on.”

  After a few seconds, I heard Tyler’s voice. “Camille, we’re worried about Dad.”

  “Yeah, me too. I wish you guys had told me over the weekend.”

  “We didn’t want to worry you.”

  “He’s my dad.”

  “Okay, I know, sorry.”

  “Did Dad talk to you about any special family heritage ever?”

  “No.” There were a few seconds silence. “Wait, the only thing he ever said was something about a Thornton curse, the overwhelming feeling that he had to keep moving. Just his wandering bug, nothing more.”

  I figured Sonia and Thanatos removed Dad from the picture. They knew if they took me, he would come for me. He had probably already been captured. I prayed they’d taken him to Sardinia too.

  “Well, I have more bad news. I had a relapse. This bracelet isn’t working. I had another hallucination. Dr. Antos has a facility in Italy. He’s had a lot of success with it.” As the words spilled out, I prayed all of this was included on his website. But, I assumed he would have made sure the public information would be congruent with any scenario.

  “Oh, Camille, that sucks. But that seems extreme. Mom really misses you. It’s almost Thanksgiving.”

  “I know, but I can’t live like this.” I sniffed to mimic crying.

  “Okay, well, I’ll let you tell Mom.”

  “Thanks Tyler, take care. And take care of Mom.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” If I’d been there in person, perhaps I would have told Tyler about his potential powers. But I had to figure out what had happened to Dad, in addition to figuring out if the sword was in Sardinia.

  “Camille.” Mom’s voice came through the device.

  Sighing, I relayed to her the same story I’d told Tyler. “Camille, I don’t know about this. What of the expense?”

  I thought fast. “He has a grant.”

  “Camille, the meds were working. I want you home. You need to finish school.”

  “Mom, you’ve been following my grades. They’re better than they’ve ever been. You need to let me make this decision. I’m almost an adult. I need to take control of my life. I can’t live on the meds forever. I won’t.” My speech grew in intensity. Most of what I’d told her was true. If they’d taken Dad, she and Tyler could be in danger too. I needed to have them out of the picture. “I’ll be home by Christmas, okay?”

  “Can’t I see you before you go?”

  “I don’t know the arrangements yet. I’ll figure it out and call you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay, sweetie, take care.”

  “You too. I love you.” Tears formed in my eyes as I ended the call. I hated lying, and I missed her. But I needed to figure out where Dad was and if I could complete the trinity.

  There was a rap on the tent wall. “You finished?” Dr. Antos asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jude followed the psychiatrist into the tent, and I bit the inside of my cheek so I didn’t smile at him. Instead I kept my eyes on my hands. “Here’s your phone.”

  “Did you talk to your father?”

  “He didn’t pick up, so I left a message. I assume he can call me back on that number?”

  “Yes, I will get you if he returns the call. So,” he folded
his hands and sat down beside Jude, “we have some work to do.”

  “I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry, Camille. You’re a really nice girl. That story was just too much for me.”

  I steeled my jaw and looked at him. “I shouldn’t have shared that with you. My brain doesn’t work right. Dr. Antos thinks it’s some kind of vision mixed with a dream-like hallucination. It’s hard for me to know what’s real.”

  “So, you guys are good?” Dr. Antos looked between us.

  “I’m not sure we’re going to be close friends anymore,” I told them.

  “That’s fine. We just need an amiable relationship if we’re going to be training together. Are we understood?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  “Yes,” Jude affirmed.

  Dr. Antos reviewed the travel plans. As we would fly out of Reykjavik, he indicated he would accompany me home to pack some different clothes, giving me a little time to see Mom and Tyler.

  “And this is free?” I asked when he finished. “How can you afford travel and lodging for all the potential witches?”

  “There aren’t great numbers of you. My coven is quite large. We have vast holdings. Our members support each other. My practice is successful and I’m a best-selling author. Many of us do quite well.”

  Dr. Antos wrapped up our session and sent us to our next activity.

  “Your dad is MIA?” Jude whispered to me as we left Dr. Antos’s tent.

  “Yes. Mom said she’d been trying to reach him for week.”

  “Mine is too. Strange.”

  “I think they took our dads so they couldn’t rescue us.”

  “We can’t appear too friendly.”

  “I know. I hate it.”

  “Tonight, when it’s dark, we’ll meet behind the bathhouse.”

  “Okay.” I pointed my nose in the air and turned the other way, acting as if I could care less about him or the conversation.

  Over the next few days, I worked hard at appearing calm. Inside, a ball of fear had taken up residence. There were so many unknowns. I prepared Jude the best I could with all my knowledge, and I gave him the paper copy of my journal entries I’d kept on my hallucinations.

  “I’m not sure I’m as much vampire as this Alena is,” he admitted the night before our journey to Italy.

  “Maybe you’re only a quarter. But if we can be initiated into a coven, then we’ll have access to a full witch’s magic.”

  “You would join their coven?” he asked.

  “To get my full powers, yes.”

  “We need to figure out all the rules. We don’t want to be stuck losing our powers if we turn against a coven to side with Alena and Hunter.”

  “Agreed.”

  My extra session with Dr. Antos was a good cover for the relapse story I gave Frida. She seemed so excited that we would be able to see each other after camp it saddened me to disappoint her. Plus, she’d been a good friend, and I would miss her.

  I sat beside her on the bus back to Reykjavik. It felt bittersweet as the pretend disagreement between Jude and me had broken up our three-musketeer vibe. She hugged me once she’d gathered her luggage.

  “Call me when you get back.”

  “I will.” I gave her a squeeze.

  She stepped back to face Jude “Okay, I expect you to be on your best behavior from now on. That is my friend.”

  “Got it.” He pulled his cap over his ears.

  Once all the campers left with their families, Dr. Antos had a car take us to my house.

  Tyler and Mom helped me repack my things in my room.

  “Are you sure you’re not doing this just to get out of school and hang out with that guy?” Tyler kidded me.

  “This is serious,” Mom reprimanded him. “Camille, I don’t want you to go.” She rubbed her hand down my back. “I’m not comfortable with not being able to contact your dad.”

  “Didn’t you file a report?”

  “Yes, his assistant did in Egypt, where they last saw him. But I don’t think the Egyptian police care about a missing American.”

  “Well, file a report with the CIA, State Department, or something.”

  “I guess we could do that.” She rubbed her hands together and paced my room.

  “Why are you still wearing the bracelet if it doesn’t work?” Tyler pointed at my arm.

  I spun it on my wrist. “It helps some; it’s just not one hundred percent.”

  “Did you have the same hallucinations as before?” he asked.

  “No. But the ringing and the buzzing in my head returned. Sardinia is supposed to be one of the healthiest places on Earth.”

  “And somewhere we couldn’t afford to live,” Mom added.

  “Mom.” I wrapped my arms around her. You’ve done everything in your power to make sure I grew up healthy and happy. I’m old enough to take responsibility for that now. I’m going to be okay.”

  “I know. This just seems so extreme.” She grabbed a tissue and blotted the tears from her cheeks. “And I’m going to miss you.”

  “I’ll come home for Christmas,” I told them, although I had no clue what waited for me in Italy.

  Mom wrapped her arms around me. “I’m going to say goodbye now. I can’t walk you out.”

  “I love you.” I squeezed her hard.

  “I love you too, beautiful girl.”

  “I’ll call or text every day.”

  “At least we’ll have more communication than at the camp.” She released me and blotted her eyes. “Okay, bye, sweetie.” She pulled me into her arms again.

  “I’ll carry your bags out.” Tyler hoisted my backpack to his shoulder.

  Mom stood in the hall, and I waved to her before walking out the front door behind Dr. Antos and Jude. The tears I’d been holding back started to form as we neared the vehicle.

  After stowing my gear, Tyler spun to face me. “Come back soon, okay?”

  With tears pouring down my cheeks, I could barely speak. “Don’t tell Mom I was crying.”

  “I won’t. I love you. Get better, okay?” He hugged me.

  “I will.”

  I backed away, turned, and slipped into the back seat of the car before I lost my resolve.

  “Ready?” Dr. Antos asked.

  Squaring my shoulders, I nodded. “Yes.” I kept my eyes aimed at the headrest in front of me as we passed my house, fearing a new onslaught of tears. Jude’s jacket lay between us, and he slid his hand underneath it, fitting his fingers around mine.

  Thinking of him hardened my resolve to see this through. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t be sitting in the car, traveling to certain entrapment in an evil witch’s lair. I reminded myself they just wanted Alena, Hunter, and me, and perhaps one of us would be enough. I was saving Alena and Hunter in a sense. Perhaps Jude and I could do more, help them find the sword.

  We made our way to a hangar at the airport and boarded a private jet. Inside there were several partitioned rooms, and Dr. Antos led us to the back of the plane.

  “Sorry, there are only two seats in this area. I have work to do in the next room. The flight is eight hours. With the time change, we land about six in the morning Italy time. The stewards will bring you anything you need.” He spun and exited our compartment, closing the door behind him.

  I FEEL LIKE WE’VE BEEN IMPRISONED ALREADY. I typed into my phone and sent the message to Jude.

  AT LEAST WE’RE TOGETHER. I’VE BEEN WORKING ON MY HEARING SO I’LL KNOW WHEN SOMEONE IS COMING. He grasped my hand.

  “Okay,” I whispered, grateful I wasn’t in this alone.

  “We should try to get as much rest as possible.” He let my hand drop and crossed his arms over his chest.

  The compartment door opened, and a steward holding two trays walked in. “I have your dinner. There is about twenty minutes till takeoff. I’ll come for your plates just before then.”

  “Thank you,” I said, wondering if the plane’s staff was all witches.

  As we finished our me
als, Dr. Antos entered the cabin. “I hope you two aren’t too uncomfortable back here. I figured you would just be sleeping. The rest of the plane is filled, so there weren’t many options.”

  Jude cleared his throat. “We’ve come to an agreement to be civil to one another.”

  “Well, that’s good. You should sleep. I’ll see you when we land. Make sure your bracelets stay on until we get to the compound tomorrow.”

  As he left, the steward appeared, reviewed the safety instructions, and removed our trays. We took turns in the restroom before the plane backed up and taxied to the runway. I liked that once under the blankets we could move the armrests between us and hold hands. Head on his shoulder, I fell into a light slumber. When I woke, I realized my head had fallen to his chest. I listened as his heartbeat echoed through his warm skin. The rhythm reverberated in my ears, and it seemed like the best sound I’d ever heard.

  “Camille.” I woke to him nudging me off his arm.

  Stretching, I lifted the shade of the window beside me. The rising sun reflected off the water as the plane descended towards the island.

  “Ha, I see you’re awake. We land in twenty minutes.” Dr. Antos retreated as fast as he appeared.

  “Can he get any weirder?” Jude whispered.

  “He doesn’t have to act like a concerned psychotherapist anymore.”

  “No, now he’s a witch trainer extraordinaire.” Jude rolled his eyes.

  “You’ve got to act like you hang on his every word.”

  “Don’t worry, I will. What’s your plan?”

  “Same, I guess. I’m kind of winging this.”

  “Do you think the sword is here?” He leaned over and peered out the window.

  “I have no clue.”

  “I thought it would be warmer,” Jude exclaimed as we exited the plane.

  Dr. Antos buttoned his black wool coat. “Temperatures in winter aren’t that different from Iceland. But we do enjoy a few more hours of sunlight.”

  “You couldn’t have taken us some place closer to the equator?”