Eventually, I realize I’m going to need some sleep. Without it, I won’t be able to handle what’s to come. The thought of sleeping in Sequoia’s bed doesn’t feel right to me, but I also don’t want to lie down on her couch, the spot where I removed her looks and altered her mind so that she can be protected.
I’m more than a little nervous as I try to close my eyes, having opted to sleep on a rug. It’s not the most comfortable bed in the world, but it matches my mood—a bit prickly and on edge.
But eventually, sleep has her way with me, and I dream we’re running out of water. There’s not enough for everyone to drink, and somehow, I’m a witch, not a fairy, and I make it rain. Everyone is so excited, except Sophie. She’s the first to realize that the rain is acidic, and she starts to scream as the acidic water touches her. Everyone else melts away, disappearing into vapors, but Sophie remains there, screaming until I wake with a gasp.
Tears are streaming down my face as they had Sophie's in that terrible nightmare, and I don't have to see a dream interpreter to know what the dream means. I feel guilty for hurting Sophie, for being the reason she's locked up. Her screams… The only other times I've heard Sophie scream has been when I talked her over the edge to do something daring, and then she would shriek with delight. The screams in the dream had been pure agony and terror.
Has she screamed in the prison? Do they punish inmates who don’t comply? If I know Sophie, she would comply… until she can think of a way to better her situation. How could she possibly better her position in the prison? She can’t. Not without help.
And that’s where I come in.
From the clothes I removed from Sequoia, I find no nametag, nothing at all that marks her as a guard. She has similar clothes in her closet—tan pants and a soft green shorts. The pants she had been wearing covered her ankles, but the ones in her closet all hit mid-calf. Did I change my height to the wrong length? Quickly, I race to bring up the dirty pair to compare. No, I hadn’t erred. These are just shorter.
With a shrug, I put on the shorter pants and then put on the ankle bracelet made of vine on both feet. Her shoes… I mutter a curse, but then breathe a sigh of relief. Of course I removed them to get off her pants, but they had somehow been shoved under the couch.
Finally, I’m all ready. Looking at myself in the mirror, I try to smile. I don’t look like myself at all. I’m Sequoia Magicbloom through and through.
Except for my eyes. They’re too full of worry.
Closing my eyes, I channel my twin and focus, breathing in and out, meditating. A rush of excitement floods me, and when I open my eyes, they’re sparkling. Better, I think.
This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.
It’s far past time for me to break into Magical Prison.
As I fly toward the border of Roseshield Grove, I hum to myself what I hope is a similar enough tune to the one I heard Sequoia hum. She did hum at some point, right? Or am I losing my mind? I can’t be certain, and fear tries to have a stranglehold on me, but I beat it down.
A fairy I’ve only seen from afar approaches me with a wide smile. I almost start to furrow my brow in confusion before I realize he might know Sequoia.
“Good morning,” he says a bit too chipper for the early morning hour.
“Good morning.”
"Running a little late, aren't you, this morning?"
“No.”
He lifts his bushy eyebrows. “You aren’t joining the others for breakfast?”
“Not today,” I say breezily. “I have to see one of the other guards about an inmate before my shift starts.”
“Oh, right. Of course. You really like that job?”
“I do.”
“Then why haven’t you put in a word for me yet?” he demands.
My heart starts to race. I don’t even remember his name!
On a hunch and a wing of a prayer, I say, “You know why.”
He scowls, mumbling under his breath. “Guess you better go then.”
“I will see you around.”
“Yeah, bye, Sequoia.”
It takes me a moment to return his farewell. I wince as I fly off. I have to be able to respond to that name immediately next time!
Magical Prison looms large before me, feeling so much higher up than ten stories. I gulp as I trail behind the male phoenix on our way in. The moment I pass above the landscape’s transition from grass to that circle of stones and no vegetation, I wince, afraid my glamor would fade, but it doesn’t. My magic remains. First hurdle down, but this might not even have been a hurdle. The real test will be when I enter the door into the prison. Even from here, I can feel the power emanating from the walls. I can’t quite detect what the spells are supposed to do. Keep out magic? Prevent those behind bars from using magic? Protection? Why would the prison need to be protected? Well, if it comes to a war among the magical beings, I suppose it would be terrible for all of the prisoners to escape to add to the chaos.
Am I paranoid or what? Why would there be war among the paranormal beings and creatures?
But then again, aren’t I waging a one-fairy war against those who think like Jaidos? Maybe it’s not such a far-fetched theory after all.
Shaking my thoughts away, I speed up and almost bump into the phoenix. We haven’t reached the door yet, and he turns around as if he’s just realized I’m here. His wings are gorgeous, red-orange. His hooked nose is decidedly bird-like.
“Sequoia, how are you?”
“I’ve had better nights’ sleep,” I admit.
“Another nightmare?”
I blink a few times. What nightmare has been plaguing Sequoia? A pang of guilt settles in my chest, and I rub it. Sequoia's life has been completely disrupted by what I'm doing. The best I can do is to get Sophie out as quickly as possible, so Sequoia can be given her body and life back. In the meantime, I can't do anything that will risk getting her fired.
“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” I murmur.
He nods, sympathy in his fiery eyes. “Just remember that what happened wasn’t your fault. You did what you had to do.”
“That’s my mantra,” I blurt out.
The phoenix smiles. “It has to be, doesn’t it?” he agrees. “Not many like this job, but we do what we need to. We help to keep the magical world safe.”
“Do you ever think about the others?”
"What others?" His reddish-brown eyebrows knit with concern.
“The humans. Their world. Their safety.”
He shrugs. “They have their police, their rulers, their prisons. It’s on them to keep their people safe.”
I nod. “Of course,” I murmur, hoping that my prying about humans to see if he might know anything isn’t too out of character.
“You and your bleeding heart, Sequoia.” He chuckles. “You are too much. I would’ve thought that working here for so many years would’ve made you a bit harder.”
I shrug. “It hasn’t seemed like I’ve been here long at all.”
As in, I haven’t even been inside yet. It’s a very fine line I’m walking. I can’t lie at all, but so far, I’m managing okay.
“Maybe we should head inside,” I suggest.
He laughs. “Eager to get started?”
“More like wanting to get it done and over with.”
The phoenix wiggles his hooked nose and nods a few times. “Yes, yeah.”
He places his hand on the door handle. It glows blue, and then it opens for him. Oh. Does it have some kind of magical sensor? Or does it detect handprints? Because I am going to be screwed. I don’t think my glamor is going to be strong enough to fool that.
The phoenix—whose name I still don't know—flies on ahead and goes inside. The door remains open, and I gulp.
Do or die time.
“You coming?” he calls, glancing over his shoulder.
“Yes.”
I reinforce my glamor, giving it a magical jolt, and I force myself to fly inside. My eyes close, and I wait for the phoenix to shout, to rouse the other guards, to oust the imposter.
But there’s nothing.
Silence.
I open my eyes. He gives me a tiny grin.
“That nightmare did a number on you, didn’t it?” he asks softly.
“You could say that,” I murmur.
“Illumine,” a sharp voice says, and I glance over the phoenix’s shoulder to see the angel guard I noticed before, the tall, willowy one. Her gold-tipped translucent wings flutter as she marches over to us.
“Portia,” the phoenix says, undisturbed by her tone.
"You're late." Her gaze shifts to me. "Both of you. Head to your posts and do a headcount. Now!"
Illumine flies off immediately, but I hesitate. Wonderful. My glamor’s working perfectly, but I can’t transplant or transfer Sequoia’s memories to me. I have no idea what floor Sequoia is working on. Can you imagine my coming this far only to fail because I never found a way to learn which floor I’m on?
I blink a few times, trying to think about what to do.
Portia narrows her wholly white eyes at me, looking ready to murder me, which, coming from an angel, is absolutely terrifying.
“Come on, Sequoia,” a deep voice says.
I glance over to the left to see a hugely muscular man with a bull's head walking over to me. A minotaur.
“Let’s get to work,” he says easily.
“Of course.” I land on my feet and walk beside him over to the stairs. Maybe he’ll take pity on me and tell me when to stop climbing.
But what if he is on a lower floor than mine?
“You think today will be a good day?” he asks.
“I hope so,” I murmur.
He laughs, the sound deep, rumbling from his massive chest. Only his head is a bull, but the rest of him is as strong as one. "It's never a good day here, but the work isn't too bad, and the pay is nice. I don't have too many complaints."
“I know what you mean.” I pause. We’ve almost reached the second floor, and I have to try to figure out which floor I’m one. My heart beats wildly as I ask, “How’s it on your floor?”
And then I cringe. What if we’re assigned the same floor? He’ll start to become suspicious, and I just know that angel is already.
But he shrugs. “Not too bad, honestly. Floor six. A lot of the human-like paranormal beings there, but you know that. You used to work there, right?”
I say nothing. I didn’t. Sequoia had, so I’m stuck with my silence.
Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to notice. “The vampires can’t be too much fun. So many of them they occupy the entire second floor. You have to have your hands full with them.”
I grin, smiling so wide my cheeks ache. I could kiss the big minotaur!
“Vampires aren’t my favorite,” I admit.
He laughs again. “We never really talked before,” he says. “I think I like you.”
My smile fades a bit. None of this is going to be easy for me. The rest of the way is only going to get harder. Sequoia’s going to have friends here, and they might ask questions I can’t answer.
And it’s also possible that Sequoia might have enemies here too, and I don’t just mean with the prisoners.
But I’m not going to worry about that now. I know what my job is, and I’m going to do what I can to keep my head down and my wings tight so that no one will notice me. That way, I can stay here as long as I need to until I can find the tunnels Varre Diablos hinted at and smuggle Sophie out of here.
With renewed purpose, I sprint up the rest of the steps to the second floor. The minotaur waves to me and keeps on climbing.
I step onto my floor filled with vampires and breathe a sigh of relief. I’ve done it. I’ve broken into Magical Prison.
Time for the next step in Operation Rescue Sophie.
Figuring out how to break out of here.
The story continues with Breaking Out!
The Magical Prison series is part of my A Mayhem of Magic World Story universe which starts with my Bedlam in Bethlehem series. It’s so much fun to keep expanding this world!
Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed Breaking In! I love to read my reviews. Thank you!
Until next book,
~Nicole