I cringed at his use of my Nodyran name. He had no right.
"Alleana, then."
Were my thoughts that transparent? Then he'd know the use of my nickname was reserved for people who loved me.
For a moment, Jor seemed at a loss for words and shook his head in visible exasperation. "There are things in Sairon history that I don't really understand, but are a part of who we are."
Aha! "So I was right. You Sairons are not who we thought you were."
"That's not what I said." Jor sighed. "Everyone has secrets."
I'm sure my eyes blazed, no doubt matching the coppery flashes of the ring encircling my head. "Secrets? You told me Sairons didn't have any."
"Secrets wasn't really the word I meant to use. There are things so ancient, so much a part of our very essence that revealing them would be like laying open our souls."
"Dramatic much?"
"It's the truth." He peered into the shadowy entrance of the cavern.
I raised my gaze, noting how the sun rose higher in the sky with each passing moment. I couldn't help but compare that bright orange light to the growing darkness of my thoughts. My surroundings shouldn't look so normal. The clangar shouldn't be flying so high overhead, headed to the river for a morning swim as if nothing had happened. The algoran shouldn't be singing so sweetly in the distance.
Jor took a step toward the cave, motioning for me to follow. "Come on."
I shook my head and didn't move.
"What are you scared of? You were so certain of what you sensed when you intruded on our sacred ceremony. If you really think your parents are here, you should want to come inside with me to save them."
My blood seemed to be slush, spreading a chill to my arms and legs and making me shiver. Words stuck somewhere in the vicinity of my throat, but I couldn't force them out. Summoning every last ounce of courage I possessed, I mentally accepted Jor's invitation. No way was he going to hear my voice tremble.
Jor turned to walk into the cavern. I gulped, squared my shoulders, and followed. I was willingly entering the mouth of the monster, and that was probably his plan.
Two steps inside, I stopped so abruptly I nearly tripped. An image filled my head—an image of Jor’s expression when he created his evil inside this very cavern. Had he lured me here to fulfill some wicked plan? Did he want to destroy the Ionians’ last chance for survival on Balmythra?
Well, I wouldn't be led that easily. As inconspicuously as possible, I got my bearings and scanned the cavern for quick escape routes. The vast interior stretched before me, illuminated by an eerie fluorescent glow every time my ring flashed. Graceful rock formations served as seating and made the area perfect for a Sairon ceremony. In the very center of the room yawned the abyss. Colorful stalactites and stalagmites grew around the cavern rim and occasionally framed what appeared to be an opening in the cave wall.
Exits? I wondered.
Jor stopped and glanced back, a questioning look on his face. Events of the last few days abruptly flashed through my mind. I saw him as he was the moment he baited me into the coffin back on Nodyra. I relived his subsequent attack that night outside Badpringle's. And, quite unexpectedly, I thought of the moment he drew back from me in the laundry shed, when I instinctively reached out to him. Though I still shivered from some kind of internal chill, my face burned when I thought of his refusal to help.
Walking slowly into the cave proper, I felt a blast of oppressive air that seemed to rise from the huge abyss. I steeled myself against it, all the while blinking to focus in the gloom. An unexpected emotion welled up inside me. Fury. Intense fury. A bolt of pure energy burst from my mind, directed at Jor’s back. He jumped nimbly aside and spun round to face me, landing awkwardly on some loose rocks that flew over the edge of the vast pool of blackness. I never heard them hit bottom.
Jor balanced himself, his eyes slits of fury. "That was a coward’s attack."
"Whatever it takes to save my people." My voice sounded strangely gruff to me.
"I can get help in an instant."
"Not before I’ve warned each and every Ionian about you. You forget my nexus abilities, which go way past your skill at sharing feelings with a few homies. When my people find me missing, they’ll know the truth."
The last thing I expected was Jor’s tight smile. Hatred for him launched another burst of energy.
He sidestepped it again. "Have you forgotten why we're here? Do you sense your parents now?"
I instantly sent out thought tendrils that expanded ever outward, searching numerous crevices and passageways, yet shying away from that fathomless abyss in the center. Where were they?
"Well?"
The heavy atmosphere stole my breath. I tried to stay focused, something I could only do if I kept my cool. I had to forget my parents for the moment and establish the nexus before Jor got the upper hand. He'd probably already summoned the Sairons to his rescue. I knew I had little time before my enemies arrived. With effort, I opened my mind outward seeking the nexus connection.
I heard voices softly murmuring, but couldn't make out what they said. Somehow I knew that sound had nothing to do with the Ionians I'd called on.
Jor’s sudden movement distracted me. Stones rattled under his feet again, a sound that echoed in the empty cavern. Watching him move cautiously along the rim of the black pool, his wary gaze glued to me, I wished for a better weapon—something I could actually hold in my hands.
The image of a Dagonel gun popped into my head. I felt a rush of excitement so strong that my knees wobbled. I imagined my fingers gripping the cold, hard steel and pulling the trigger. All the while, the murmuring grew louder in my head, making a nexus impossible. Caught up in the pleasure of holding my imaginary weapon, I didn't even care.
Jor startled visibly and stumbled again. His wide eyes locked onto something on my body. I dropped my gaze to find out what and saw that a slithering blackness was moving upward to envelop me. I instantly thought of the shadows that had consumed Raine and Skye, Kenny, John and Matt.
"Fight it, Leah!"
Horrified, I raised my eyes to meet Jor's.
He never blinked. "Remember who you are."
The voices now clamored in my mind, so loud that they drowned out rational thought. Alien ideas and feelings took charge. I tried to resist; I couldn't.
"You're the Guardian!" Jor yelled. "We need you. I need you."
He opened his mind to me, revealing memories I could tell were precious to him. Those memories triggered my own—a different view of the same events. Me trailing my brother and Jor. Rocc impatiently ordering me home. Jor overriding him. Five-year-old me falling into the rushing waters of Meandros. Jor's coming to my rescue and then running all the way to Vannarius with me safe in his arms. At that moment I knew that Rocc was right to trust him. He'd really only taken my memories to keep me safe.
My hero. My Jor. Clearheaded and with new eyes, I saw Jor's anguish. My open mind felt his surge of fear for my life, not his. At that instant the murmur inside my head became a single deafening voice.
Kill. Him.
Never.
I couldn't. I wouldn't.
But I did. A third burst of energy caught Jor square in the chest. He sucked in a shocked breath, teetered for a moment on the brink of the abyss, and then tumbled out of sight into its inky depths.