Zodia and his Guardian could understand. Kes flicked a glare at me and told me and Xavier to follow him.
He didn’t like whatever Aries had said.
Kes led us into the castle where we were met by another Guardian, an elderly woman with the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. She placed a hand on my cheek and her voice trembled the word, “Bella” I blushed ten shades of pink because I was pretty sure she’d said I was pretty.
Xavier took in the castle’s foyer, the tall ceiling, the dark stone, the hall that stretched farther than should be possible. “This place is insane,” he noted absently.
Kes led us into a large room with plenty of seats. Double plush couches, chairs. Kes pretended to strike a flint and light a fire, but I saw him flick his finger and watched the hearth roar to life, fire wrapping around the wood stacked in the grate. The hide of an enormous grizzly bear was spread on the floor. I avoided its head, watching the firelight glint over the animal’s long, glossy teeth and glassy marble eyes, walking around to sit on one of the couches.
Xavier started to follow me but Kes stopped him. “I think it’s best if you sit opposite her,” he said bluntly.
Xavier stiffened, but nodded. “Sure, okay.” He shot me a look of confusion.
I swallowed, knowing I couldn’t explain the situation to Xavier. He wouldn’t betray me on purpose, but what if he accidentally blabbed something to someone he shouldn’t? What if Pisces shed her scales and sought him out for information, or sent someone to torture it out of him?
“Why are you here?” Xavier asked frankly. “Like, in here, in the castle. And why are you in Aries’s lands?”
“It’s complicated,” I breathed. Kes gave me a subtle shake of his head, confirming I wasn’t supposed to tell him. “All I know is that Kes and I are staying here for a little while. My mom is a Libra, but my dad is a Taurus like me.”
He placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “My dad is a Scorpio, my mom is a Sagittarius, and my little sister is a Gemini.”
The thought of Gemini’s double heads made me shiver.
“I’m sure they’re fine. I mean, we are,” he continued. “This is just so crazy. You got the message on your phone, right?”
I nodded.
“Then people started disappearing. The whole school panicked when that started. James and Brody were walking with me. We were heading to James’s truck so we could leave school, and the keys were in his hand when he disappeared. They just dropped to the ground where he’d been walking. That’s when Brody and I started running home. He disappeared just outside the school gates. By the time I got to my house, no one was left. No one on the streets. No one in cars. I hid out for hours until I appeared here, in the middle of nowhere. It looks like Utah or Montana or something, but I have no idea where we even are. Do you?”
“I don’t.” Honestly, I didn’t care. Wherever this was, it wasn’t home. That was all that mattered.
“Hey…” he began, “you seem to know Aries really well. What’s up with you and him?”
“He’s a friend.”
“Since when?” he asked, flipping his hair the way he did when he was trying to impress a girl. I mean, he did have nice hair. Sort of reminiscent of Bieber’s early days, to be honest. And while he was nice looking, he wasn’t beautiful.
I silently cursed Aries for making every other male on the planet – including this one, whom I’d thought was hot enough before a certain Zodia awoke – seem… disappointing.
“Since they woke up, I guess.”
Kes crossed his arms, tipping his chin to another Guardian hovering at the door. “Aries would like to extend an invitation for you to join us for dinner, Xavier.”
My skin prickled. Why would he do that? He couldn’t hide how he felt about Xavier a little while ago.
“Sure,” he replied warily.
“Larken, you have things to attend,” Kes said cryptically.
Xavier’s thoughts were written all over his face. He wanted to know what things I possibly had to attend, as well as a slew of other questions, ones he’d asked and I didn’t answer, and ones he hadn’t even thought of yet. I had no answers for him. I stood and walked him to the door.
“What time should I come back?” he asked.
“I’ll come get you,” Kes offered. He pulled the front