Grip of the Shadow Plague

Kendra tried not to think about Tammy lying in the bed of the truck. She felt bad for Gavin riding back there with the corpse. She refused to think of Neil, brave and quiet, whose reward for a heroic rescue was to be slowly devoured by strange cave balloons. Kendra had spoken little all morning, and did not deviate from her pattern during the drive. She felt stretched. Her eyes itched. Danger had kept her on edge all night. Now that the peril had passed, her fatigue became harder to ignore.

Rosa, Hal, and Mara came out of the hacienda as the truck pulled to a stop. Hal sauntered forward, glancing in the bed of the truck as the others got out.

"Tammy?" Hal asked, his attention on the bundled corpse.

Dougan nodded.

"No Jeep," Hal remarked. "I take it Neil ran into trouble."

"Chokepods," Dougan reported.

Hal nodded, averting his eyes. Biting her knuckles, Rosa choked back sobs. She leaned against Mara, who kept a stoic expression, her dark eyes hard. Witnessing their grief made Kendra teary.

"He went inside the vault," Hal said, a statement with an implied question.

"We ran into serious trouble on the mesa," Warren explained. "Neil was a real hero. None of us would have made it to the cave without him. Weathering the night outside the vault would have meant certain doom, so he and Kendra entered with us."

"I reckon you saw he was a skinwalker," Hal said.

"He became a chestnut stallion and ferried us to safety," Gavin said.

"Did you find what you were after?" Hal asked. Dougan hefted the chalice, which was still wrapped in his poncho. "We’ll leave you in peace as soon as we can schedule a flight."

"We’ll radio Stu," Hal offered. "He can hop on the Internet and book your flights. You must have endured quite a night." He laid a hand on the side of the truck. "Go on inside; I’ll take care of the young lady."

Kendra followed Warren into the hacienda, avoiding eye contact with Rosa and Mara. What must they think of them? Strangers who came to their preserve, dragged one of their friends onto a dangerous mesa to recover some artifact, and returned bearing news of his death, without so much as a body to bury.

"You okay?" Warren asked.

Kendra could not imagine that he actually wanted the truth. She nodded instead.

"You did great," Warren said. "That was a nightmare. Get some rest, all right? Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks," Kendra said, entering her room and closing the door. After pulling off her boots and socks, she dove onto her bed, buried her face in the pillow, and cried. Her tears and muffled sobs helped purge the fear and sorrow of the previous night. Soon exhaustion overcame her, and Kendra sank into a dreamless sleep.

Rosy light glowed through her window when Kendra awoke. She wiped crust from her eyelids and smacked her lips. Her mouth tasted dry and stale. Sitting up, she felt woozy and had a slight headache. Irregular sleep patterns had never agreed with her.

Someone had left a glass of water on her nightstand. Kendra sipped from the glass, grateful to wash away the unpleasant taste in her mouth. She padded across the floor, went out into the hall, and walked to the kitchen. Mara looked up. She had been wiping the table.

"You must be hungry," Mara said in her husky voice.

"Sort of," Kendra replied. "I’m so sorry about Neil."

"He knew the risks," she said evenly. "Would you prefer something light? Soup and toast?"

"Don’t fuss over me. I’ll grab a bite later. Have you seen Warren?"

"He’s in the courtyard."

Kendra hurried down a corridor, the tiles cool against her bare feet, and stepped out into the courtyard. Although the sun was setting, the pebbles of the gravel pathway remained warm, crunching underfoot and prickling her soles. Several fairies buzzed in the air. Warren stood on a tiled path beside a flowering cactus, hands clasped behind his back. He turned and smiled at Kendra. "You woke up."

"I’ll probably be awake all night."

"Maybe not. I bet you’re more fatigued than you realize. We have a flight booked tomorrow at eleven in the morning."

"Great."

He walked toward her. "I’ve been thinking. Without divulging all we know, I want to warn Dougan about the Sphinx, just tell him enough to get him paying attention." "Okay."

"We don’t want to notify the Sphinx that we’re onto him, but I think we can also err by keeping our suspicions too private. I was waiting for you. I want you there to corroborate the story. Don’t tell him more than I do. Does that sound foolish?"

Kendra thought about it for a moment. "Telling anyone is a risk, but I think we need somebody like Dougan keeping an eye on him."

"I agree. As a Lieutenant of the Knights of the Dawn, Dougan is very well connected, and I can think of no other high-ranking Knight who strikes me as more trustworthy." He led her back inside the house. They walked to a closed door and knocked.

"Come in," Dougan invited.

They entered a tidy bedroom not unlike Kendra’s. Dougan sat at a desk writing in a notebook.

"We need to talk," Warren said.

"Sure." Dougan gestured at his bed. He was sitting on the only chair. Kendra and Warren sat down on the mattress.

"These are uncertain times," Warren began. "I need to run something by you. Kendra is here to verify my words. You recall when I grilled you about the identity of the Captain."

"Right," Dougan said, his tone hinting not to ask again.

"We ended up discussing the Sphinx. Whatever his relation to the Knights of the Dawn, at the very least, he has long been one of our more trusted collaborators. As a Lieutenant, you’re close to the Captain, so there is something I want you to know. You’re aware that Fablehaven is one of the five secret preserves."

"Yes."

"Are you aware that the Sphinx removed the artifact hidden at Fablehaven earlier this summer?"

Dougan stared at him silently, lips slightly puckered. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"Then I doubt you heard he also took with him a prisoner who had been confined in the most secure cell on the property? A detainee who had been there ever since the preserve was founded? An anonymous captive with an infamous reputation."

Dougan cleared his throat. "I was unaware."

"There were some shifty circumstances surrounding the whole event," Warren said. "Nothing to prove the Sphinx is a traitor. But given the high stakes, together with the nature of our current mission, I want to be sure the Sphinx is not the only person aware that the Fablehaven artifact was removed, if you take my meaning."