Chapter Twenty-Two
They pulled up in front of the house and hurried out of the car. Teresa had told Kelly about the golden waves of wellbeing she’d felt pulsing from the stone. Kelly hadn’tactuallybeen so excited she’d wrestled her purse off her and pulled the stone out right there in the airport, but the thought had crossed her mind. More surprising, Teresa had thrown her arms around Kelly and given her a rib-crushing squeeze. It was probably just the adrenaline hangover after breaking the law, but it still made Kelly feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
They let themselves into the house and called out, finding the others gathered in the living room. Evangeline was sitting on the sofa, her face pale. Her mother sat beside her, her features working through expressions of anger, puzzlement and pain. It must have been torture for Alexandra to be locked inside herself all these years, unable to fight free of the effects of the cursed opal. And they’d not only be able to free her, but spare her whole family the pain of seeing her like this, a shadow of her former self. Gabriel sat in an easy chair, angled away so she couldn’t quite see his face. Kelly couldn’t wait to see his reaction when they showed him the stone.
Teresa handed Kelly her purse, and she reached inside, her fingers closing over the cool facets of the stone. At once a golden glow seeped into her fingertips and began to flow through her veins like warm honey. It was a feeling that everything in the world was all right.
She pulled the citrine out of the purse, holding it up and allowing the light to play in the sparkles in its heart.
She smiled. “We did it. Now we can—”
“Not so fast.” Marvin stepped from a doorway, his lips twisted in a malevolent smile. He was holding the Dragonsblood Ruby. He tossed it in the air and caught it again, and Kelly winced. His empath powers must be very weak indeed for him to treat such a powerful stone with that kind of disrespect. She could feel the low vibrations of anger emanating from the stone from here.
But weak or not, she knew he was going to try to use the stone – and with only shaky control, the stone could very well end up usinghim.
He smirked at Kelly, misinterpreting the horror on her face. “I’m really going to enjoy this,” he said. “You don’t like it, do you? Knowing one of the most powerful gems in the world is right in this room, and you’re not the one it’s attuned to.”
“Marvin—” she began, with no idea what she was going to say to talk him out of his crazy plan. But then a rumbling growl from Gabriel made her turn, and panic clutched her heart.
Gabriel was covered in scales, as rich and ruby-red as the Dragonsblood. The air around him shimmered with heat, the wallpaper behind his chair slowly scorching and blackening. Smoke curled from his nostrils with every labored breath. He turned his head and stared right through Kelly, as though she wasn’t there.
“Gabriel?” she stammered.
Marvin laughed. It was a nasty, gleeful sound, and Kelly had a sudden image of a little boy burning ants with a magnifying glass. “Pandora, Mr. Maplethorpe,” he called, “you can come in now.”
Pandora sashayed through the door, her pretty face distorted by a spiteful sneer. Mr. Maplethorpe followed. He was sweating, but he looked determined, and he was holding a gun to Winthrop’s temple.
Winthrop looked furious. There was an ugly gash on his scalp – Kelly thought Mr. Maplethorpe had probably hit him from behind with the butt of the gun.
“I must apologize for this, Miss Henderson, Miss Teresa,” Winthrop said. “Thegentlemen” – he said the word with an inflection that coming from him sounded worse than any curse word – “took me by surprise.”
“You’re bleeding!” Teresa cried, and she tried to rush forward, but Kelly grabbed her arm and held her back.
Pandora gave a tinkling laugh, then she focused her gaze on Kelly, smiling spitefully. “I can’t wait to see Gabriel burn you alive. That’s why I had Evangeline call and lure him here – because I want to see him kill you. You nearly ruined everything for us.”
Kelly looked from Pandora to Marvin, who was rolling the Dragonsblood from hand to hand like he was playing with a giant marble. “You knew about the Dragonsblood all along,” she said. “That’s why you rigged it so you’d be the Fair Maiden.”
Pandora clapped her hands. “Oh, well done,” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, we found out about the Dragonsblood when Marvin contacted us and struck a deal. We figured if I married Gabriel, I could find a way to gain access to the stone. Marvin would move into the castle with us, use the Dragonsblood’s powers, and share in the wealth – we’d control the Kingsleys, and through them all their money.”
“How did you even know about the ruby’s abilities to control dragons?” Kelly asked Marvin, desperately trying to stall. For what, she wasn’t sure.
“You think that you’re the only smart one.” The leer on Marvin’s face made him positively hideous. “I’ve been doing research on power gems for years, looking for one that would give me some advantage. I heard rumors about what the Dragonsblood could do. Then I went to Italy and found some original documentation about the Dragonsblood, hundreds of years old, describing its powers.”
Teresa grabbed Kelly. “Oh God, I feel sick,” she gasped.
“Teresa, do you really think—”
Kelly had been about to snap that now was not the time to make the situation all about her, but when she looked at Teresa, she was rubbing her wrist and casting her eyes sideways at Alexandra. “I think I’m going to faint,” she wailed theatrically.
Kelly glanced at Alexandra.Oh.She wasn’t wearing copper bracelets or anklets anymore…and Marvin and the Maplethorpes didn’t seem to have noticed. Alexandra’s flickering eyes briefly met Kelly’s. Or did they?
Kelly concentrated with all of her might, reaching into Alexandra’s mind, where darkness swirled and clutched. She pulled the power of the citrine from the jewel and poured it into Alexandra, burning away the darkness. Alexandra made a choking noise, and her eyes opened wide. She stared at Kelly with a startled look and then her gaze slowly swept the room, taking everything in.
Gabriel rose to his feet, his movements unnaturally smooth, like a puppet pulled by its strings. His beautiful eyes were glowing crimson and without recognition. His clothes were smoldering in patches with the heat from his skin. He walked towards Kelly and Teresa, and stopped a few feet away. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, his broad chest expanding.
Kelly clutched the Sunrise Citrine so hard her fingers hurt, and yelled, “Now!”
Alexandra leaped in front of Kelly and Teresa, scales cascading over her skin like falling dominoes. Her wings burst from her back and she spread them wide, shielding the sisters. She roared with pain as Gabriel blasted her with dragonfire, but she held her ground.
