The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [157]
Rosette’s eyes were wide. ‘Huh?’
‘Questions, Rosette. Can I make it any clearer? We’ve got to get moving. Time’s short and everything’s at stake.’
Rosette straightened her spine. A warm tingling sensation started to course through her body. The feeling she’d had before—as if she was about to faint—was replaced with a hot flash of energy.
‘One question comes to mind.’ She stood up as she spoke. ‘What in the demon pit of souls did you just say?’
‘You’ve got very special DNA, Rosette. You have…’
‘Losing me again, Kreshkali,’ she interrupted. ‘What the spit does DNA stand for?’
‘Deoxyribonucleic acid.’
‘Oh, that just helped me a lot…’
‘You have special proteins in your blood. Think of it as a spell—the spell—only, on Earth, your other world, it’s called technology. It’s linked implicitly to Jarrod.’
‘Jarrod? What’s Jarrod got to do with it?’ Rosette’s face was flushed, her pulse pounding.
‘Rosette, I’ve wanted to tell you.’ Jarrod came striding towards her leading Wren. Drayco followed behind, lead rope in his mouth, the mountain horse in tow.
‘Wanted to tell me what?’
‘I’m not exactly the boy next door.’
‘You aren’t?’ She looked at him, her eyes narrowing. ‘I feel like I’m going mad. What are you people trying to say to me?’
‘Not mad, Rosette. Just uninformed,’ Jarrod said.
‘Then inform me. If you aren’t the boy next door, who then?’
‘He’s not anything you’ve got a word for, Rosette.’
She closed her eyes. Drayco? You’ve been in his mind. What is he?
I told you, Maudi. He’s like no other. The temple cat dropped the lead rope at Rosette’s feet. She picked it up, stroking the mare’s neck.
‘This is a portal,’ Kreshkali pointed her arm towards the waterfall. ‘A door to other places, and you’re right, it is just like the one under Los Loma. It can take us straight to Corsanon, where the split-apart Entity wanders. With any luck, the lost guardian will follow us through and we can reunite the thing. Are you ready?’
‘Am I ready? Are you kidding? I feel like I’m falling apart.’
‘Get a grip, dear. The sooner the better. Trackers are onto us. That storm was no accident.’
‘It wasn’t?’ Rosette looked at Kreshkali, understanding little of what she had said. Then her eyes found Jarrod. The proximity to him sent more waves of adrenaline coursing through her body, a strange mixture of fear and excitement. She thought she might explode. ‘You’re not human?’ she whispered.
‘My body is, and your bloodline and I are linked ceaselessly through time and space—through the portals and the corridors to the many-worlds.’
‘My bloodline…’ She took a step back. ‘Have you always known this about me?’
‘That’s the surprising thing. I haven’t. Must be your Gaelean half.’ He touched her hand. ‘Come. I’ll explain more on the way.’
They followed Kreshkali, skirting the lagoon until Rosette stopped, pulling Jarrod to a halt with her. ‘What about me?’
He cocked his head to the side. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
She searched his face. ‘You don’t, do you…Never mind.’ She clucked to the mountain horse and moved on. Drayco, do you know where we’re going?
As long as there are no boats and no oceans, I don’t care.
I wish I could say there won’t be, but how else are we going to get off this island?
Portals, I suspect.
Rosette let out her breath. ‘The shipwreck was no accident, you say. What was it?’
‘The storm was natural enough, a blessing really,’ Kreshkali said.
‘A blessing? I doubt the rest of the passengers and crew think so.’
‘There was a witch-tracker on board, Rosette, scanning for your signature. When you released the spell to calm the seas, they had you. The spell backfired to save your life.’
‘You talk like the spell itself was sentient.’
‘Everything is sentient, Rosette. No exceptions.’
She held the mare back, letting Drayco lead. The trail was narrowing, crowded on both sides by dense palm fronds and flowering hibiscus.
‘I brought it on myself? All those people…’
‘What you did saved them,’ Jarrod said as they wound their way to the back of the waterfall. ‘If the trackers