CHAPTER SEVEN

 

After the heart-slamming imagery misted away like wisps of fog in the wind, Gabriel realized that at some point he had sunk to his knees. He pressed his palms onto the cool blades of grass and swallowed hard, trying to steady his hands. What he’d just seen, and the idea of the Solarians, freaked him out more than when he’d fallen down a well when he was a little kid—if that was even possible.

“Now you all know what happened,” Prince Oliver whispered.

Gabriel gazed at his friends, then Dane and Tahlita. He knew they had seen the vision, too. Piper’s face was the color of paper, and Brent looked at Gabriel like he’d just heard the worst news of his life.

Tahlita stood, her eyes wide open, then she narrowed them in thought. “Was that Valta you showed us?”

“Yes,” Dane said. “It’s beautiful there, love.”

“Seems dangerous to me,” she said, gazing off.

Prince Oliver pressed a hand against a thick tree trunk. “It’s not always like that, Tahlita, I can assure you. And Valta is where you belong. I know of this too, and I have nothing to gain by lying to you about this fact.”

“Then why do I forget?” she asked the prince before turning her stare on Dane. “And why did you forget me here?”

Dane grimaced. “I never forgot you. Not for one day. I have been looking for you since you left, I swear it. It tortures my heart to know you were lost in this world … if I could—”

Tahlita raised a hand, silencing Dane.

Wow. She silenced Dane. That girl really has special powers.

Tahlita marched up to the prince. “This memory potion thing? I’ll try it. If I’m really from this place you just showed us, then I want to at least know more about it, get my memories back. It doesn’t mean I want to go anywhere though,” she said, throwing Dane a look before she held a flattened palm up to Prince Oliver. “Can I have some … please?”

The prince nodded, and handed her the red elixir. Dane smiled which was a total miracle. She gulped it down in one mouthful.

While the prince spoke in private with Dane, Piper sat beside Tahlita on the front steps. Gabriel and Brent stayed close by on the grass.

“You feel anything yet?” Piper asked Tahlita. “Remember anything? Anything at all?”

Tahlita shook her head, looking stunned.

“You sure?” Piper pressed.

“Maybe you should give her a few minutes,” Brent suggested.

“Every minute counts when, you know, the empress and the princess are kidnapped,” Piper snapped.

“Chill already,” Brent said. “I’m just saying that rushing her won’t get her to remember any faster. And what if that stuff doesn’t work? The prince said he’d try.”

“You chill,” Piper said. “I’m only trying to help, too.”

Gabriel watched as Tahlita rolled her eyes, then tilted her head and stared at Dane. Gabriel glanced over at the prince and Dane, still in a deep discussion, and then back at Tahlita. She kept her gaze locked on Dane and began gnawing a thumbnail.

“Shoes … ” Tahlita mumbled after a moment, dazed.

Piper and Brent stopped arguing and turned their attention on her.

“Shoes?” Gabriel asked, lifting his brows.

She nodded. “I remember my red shoes,” she said in a hushed voice. “They broke … and he fixed them.” Tahlita pinched her brows together and rubbed the sides of her head like she had the worst headache ever.

“You mean Dane?” Gabriel asked. “Dane fixed them?”

“Figures a girl’s first memory would have something to do with shoes,” Brent said with a laugh.

“Shh!” Piper scolded, then turned her focus on Tahlita. “Anything else? Do you remember Valta?”

Tahlita shrugged and shook her head again.

Desperate to get Tahlita to remember something other than shoes, Gabriel tugged out the titanium necklace with Andimian’s image in the center that the empress had given him. He approached Tahlita with it. The blue stones representing Andimian’s eyes shone like pools of water. “What about this? Look familiar?”

Tahlita reached out and ran a finger around the circular edge of the emblem. Suddenly, she yanked her hand away with a gasp and clasped her fingers over her mouth.

“What?” Piper asked, jumping to her feet. “Did you get a memory?”

Tahlita stood slowly. “No, no. It’s nothing. Never mind,” she said, her face pale. She inched backward toward her front door.

Dane and Prince Oliver rushed over.

“Tahlita?” Dane said. “Are you okay, darling?”

Tahlita gave a quick nod. She opened her mouth, closed it, and bit her lip. “Father … I—I was pushed through a portal by Duke Malgor into Harmony.” She looked as stunned by her own revelation as everyone else. “He dragged me to the portal, then just before shoving me through, he hit my head.” Her voice broke and a lone tear spilled down her cheek. “He—he whispered something harshly in my ear just before he hit me over the head, but I can’t remember what.”

Dane uttered a curse. “Duke Malgor did this to you?” He reached a hand out to Tahlita. She didn’t take it, but she didn’t push it away either.

Gabriel’s face burned over the thought of what Malgor did to her. But at least Tahlita was remembering something other than red shoes. That was progress.

And Tahlita called Dane “father”!

Dane placed his hand on her arm, looking at her with sad eyes. “Malgor will pay for this.”

“Why would he do that to you?” Brent asked.

“Seriously,” Piper said. “Does Malgor need a reason? He’s just evil.”

“True,” Brent said. “But still, he might have had his own reason, even if it was a dumb one.”

“You’re okay, Tahlita,” Piper told her with a smile. “He can’t hurt you now.”

“Try not to worry,” Prince Oliver said. “Your memories will come back a bit at a time. But in the morning we must all go back to Valta.” He turned his attention on Dane, who now cradled a sobbing Tahlita in his arms. Gabriel didn’t like to see her cry, but he had to admit, he was totally relieved her memories were coming back. He just wished they were better ones.

“I trust you will hold to your end of the bargain and give these children the special powers we discussed a minute ago?” Prince Oliver asked.

Great.

Dane and Prince Oliver had already decided on what powers Dane would give them. Gabriel hoped he’d be able to choose one himself this time. Something epic like flying would really rule.

“Of course,” Dane whispered, patting Tahlita’s head. “I want to help now more than ever. If Duke Malgor hurt my daughter and caused all of this, I never want him to escape.”

Prince Oliver handed out the memory potion meant to make their parents forget them until they could get back home.

Gabriel popped the stopper on the vial and inspected the red liquid with little gold flecks swirling in it. He took a whiff. It smelled pretty good—something like flowers mixed with cinnamon. Gabriel figured it had been made to smell good so that it’d be easier to trick people into drinking the stuff.

But then, a sickening thought hit Gabriel. What if they could never get back home this time? Gabriel realized that if that happened, their parents would never even look for them. It’d be like they never existed. Since there wasn’t any plan for Tahlita to come back, that was a good thing for her and her adoptive parents. But it wasn’t such a good thing for Gabriel and his friends. Along with that sickening thought, guilt rushed over him for planning to do the memory zapping on his parents.

Gabriel tried to put on a brave face, struggling to ignore the twisting, gyrating mess otherwise known as his stomach. Making their parents forget them seemed wrong. They’d only gotten home from a mind-bending adventure a few weeks ago. To make their parents forget them and head back into another unknown situation seemed scary. But making them worry seemed worse. Gabriel corked the vial and sunk it deep into his jeans pocket.

Gabriel looked across First Street at his house. Whoever kidnapped the empress and princess threatened to kill them both if Malgor wasn’t returned in three days. They needed to help no matter what. But setting that maniac free seemed almost as wacky as Malgor was. Seriously, Duke Malgor had almost destroyed all of Valta the last time they had been there. Add to that fact that he had cast a nasty spell on the prince and created a virus that turned anyone infected into a half-lion, half-wolf beast. They had barely managed to fix all that crap last time. Who knew what mess Malgor would cause if he was set free? No, somehow, they had to get the empress and princess back without releasing Malgor the monster back into Valta.

But who were these people that had kidnapped the empress and princess—the Solarians? Did they have special powers like Zeverons? And what was with the locust curse? The idea of that sent a chill rushing down his spine. He gripped his fingers around his emblem. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing the necklace could give him courage.

Prince Oliver cleared his throat, bringing Gabriel back to the land of the living. The prince squared his shoulders, slipped one hand between the buttons of his vest, and rested the other on the hilt of his sword. “Give the potion to your parents in the morning, then let’s all meet at the waterfalls. There you will receive your special powers.” Prince Oliver’s voice grew quieter, huskier. “I thank you for agreeing to help.” His eyes drifted over each of them. “Empress Malina and Princess Evangeline thank you as well. And Valta waits.”