I stood up. I wanted to know what he thought his brother needed him for so badly—if GASP and the other sentries were in danger, then I wanted to know about it.
“Zerus?” I shook him gently. “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”
The sentry opened his eyes, staring up at me. In the glow of the fire I could just make out the tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Human?” he rasped, clutching hold of my arm with a bony but tight grip.
I tried to shake him off, half-afraid of the intense look in his eyes.
“Yeah, it’s just me,” I whispered.
“My brother—my brother calls to me. He wants to be free. He’s in so much pain—so much pain…A poor fool, misguided, as always.” He shook his head, wiping away the tears.
“Is he in danger?” I asked quickly.
“He is dying.”
“Tejus is dying?” I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down.
Zerus let go of my hand abruptly.
“Tejus is dying?” he repeated, horrified.
“What? No—that’s what you said,” I replied in exasperation.
“No,” he whispered, understanding dawning on him, “no. I talk of Jenus. It is he who needs my help—he who is so lost.”
I sighed with relief. Tejus wasn’t exactly my favorite person in the world, but I was glad he was safe—it probably meant the rest of GASP was too. As soon as the relief passed, I went back to questioning the sentry.
“You’re communicating with Jenus?” I asked, wanting to be absolutely clear on the facts before I woke the others.
“I do not know how,” Zerus replied quietly, “but he calls to me—through my mind. He whispers that he wants forgiveness, that he chose the wrong path. That he loves me.”
At the mention of ‘whispering’ my ears pricked up—it reminded me too much of the entity, and its soft, cruel voice. Was the entity using Zerus as a weapon too?
“Does he ask you to do anything specifically?”
“He asks me to free him,” the sentry replied. “That is all. But I do not know how—I only see images that he sends me, of dark shadows by the sea, and a great fortress rising up through the ground.”
“Okay,” I replied slowly, “I think we need to get you to Tejus. Your brother needs to know all this. The fact that you can communicate with Jenus is important. It might be able to help them somehow—I don’t know.”
The sentry sat up, his panic residing.
“I would like to see Tejus,” he agreed. “Maybe he can help Jenus?”
“Err…maybe,” I replied.
Field and Fly had told us what had happened to Jenus when they’d returned from delivering the energy-infused powers—how the entity had taken possession of his body in much the same way he had with Benedict. As Jenus had most likely been a willing subject, I doubted very much that he could now be saved.
“Anyway,” I added quickly, “either way you should definitely see Tejus. I’ll get one of the jinn or Hawks to take you back to Memenion’s palace—is that okay?”
The sentry nodded.
I hurried to wake up Benedict and the others, while mentally kicking myself. Why hadn’t we asked him earlier which brother he was mumbling about? If Jenus really was communicating with his brother it meant that somehow his consciousness must be surviving the possession—just like Benedict’s had.
It meant we still had hope.
Hazel
I knocked quietly on Ruby’s door. I thought she might be asleep, but she immediately pulled it open, a worried frown creasing her forehead. Of course she wouldn’t be asleep. She was waiting for news like I was.
“Nothing,” I said, before she could ask.
She nodded, sighing.
“How are you holding up?” she asked, gesturing for me to come in.
“Okay. It’s just been a while, and we haven’t heard anything…” I trailed off. There was no point in speculating. Maybe it was a good thing—maybe they’d found a way to lock the portal, which was why they were taking so long.
“I keep thinking that if there was good news they would have sent Jeriad or Lethe back,” she commented, flopping down on the bed. I joined her, curling up against the headboard.
“Maybe, maybe not—it’s a small team. My grandpa probably needs every one of them,” I replied. I just wished that he hadn’t needed Tejus.
I smiled suddenly, remembering the other reason I’d come to find her.
“I also heard rumors that you might have some news for me?” I asked, poking her with an outstretched toe.
She sat up, her face aghast.
“Oh, God—Hazel, I’m so sorry—I wanted you to be the first to know…but with everything happening…” She flung her hands up in the air, then quickly shoved one of them in front of my face.