The Brotherhood of the Snake (Return of the Ancients Book 2) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler Page B

as he leapt up to wag his tail in greeting.
    I frowned.
    Ajax obviously knew it wasn’t me or he’d never be wagging and acting so giddy.
    The mirror went dark.
    It only took a moment before the full horror of it hit me. “You can just get rid of me any time you want, and they’d never know!” I gasped.
    “Why bother?” Jareth chortled, enjoying my reaction. “If I were to expend my light impersonating another, I’d certainly pick someone far more interesting than you .”
    “Have a care, Jareth,” Rafael warned coolly.
    But I wasn’t about to let their squabbling distract me this time.
    “How did he do that?” I demanded to know. If they could shape-shift, they could be anybody, take anyone’s place at any time, and I’d never know the difference.
    I eyed them both with a growing sense of alarm. How did I even know they were who they were now, or if they really were themselves at all?
    “The Fae can control their sense of Light and use it for such things as shape-shifting when necessary,” Rafael offered in a pacifying tone apparently meant to calm me down.
    But I wasn’t interested in being calmed. “And those sparks you shoot out of your fingers?” I asked, growing even more agitated.
    Those sparks were a lot more powerful than I’d realized.
    “Prana sparks?” Rafael inclined his head. “They’re also the Fae sense of Light. Humans possess this sense as well, but as a race, you’ve yet to discover that you have it.”
    “Huh?” I blinked in surprise at that statement. I’d never shot sparks of light out of my fingers.
    “Prana sparks are gained through balance, forming the stuff which humans call ‘magic’,” he explained patiently, “Some humans have begun to sense this. There are references to the sense of Light throughout your culture. Some have seen it and named it ‘auras’. Others use it and call it ‘sixth sense’, though their mastery of it is crude at best. The sense of Light is capable of so much more. We can heal, communicate, phase-shift, and change shape through the mastery of its vibrations.”
    He was losing me. I shook my head. “Are you trying to convince me that humans possess the ability to shape-shift and bop around the planet at will?”
    “Perhaps one day, if you awaken to your potential.” Rafael smiled a little.
    I eyed him skeptically and blurted, “How do I know you’re even you anymore? If anyone can look like anyone, I could be talking to Marquis !”
    In my unguarded moment, I let his name roll off my tongue with as much distaste as I truly felt for him.
    Rafael didn’t miss it. He winced.
    Jareth chuckled.
    “You would know.” Rafael shook his head. His voice sounded a little stilted. “Your sense of Light—also known as intuition in your world—would tell you something was wrong.”
    I scowled, not entirely certain I trusted my intuition to that extent. After all, on Earth we’re pretty much trained to ignore it in favor of facts. Still, I added, “Then if what you say is true, Al will certainly know it isn’t me. I think his intuition is pretty good.”
    “Undoubtedly!” Rafael nodded once in agreement.
    I stared at him, assuming he’d promise me that I’d be home soon, but he didn’t. My mood darkened. “Well, at least Brock will be stuck taking my math test,” I grumbled. “Maybe he can finish school for me.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of letting that happen,” Jareth inserted, his lip lifting into a devious grin. “I wouldn’t let you fall behind in your studies. In fact, I’d even tutor you here, Sydney. I could use the entertainment.”
    I sent him a dark look, and I was preparing to direct my best glower at him when I recalled the image of him standing in the desert with a single tear trickling down his cheek. Apparently, there was more to Jareth than met the eye.
    As Rafael returned to his mirror, Jareth followed him and as they began another heated discussion I leaned my pounding head back onto the couch and closed my