CHAPTER EIGHT

 

The next morning, Gabriel, Brent, and Piper headed for Beachy Cove Falls. But halfway down the street, Gabriel stopped, his stomach twisting in knots. He wondered if the potion he’d given his parents had really worked. He needed to know for himself.

“Guys, hang on. I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Dude,” Brent called, as Gabriel sped into a jog in the direction of his house. “What now?”

“Just be a sec,” he called over his shoulder.

Gabriel rang the doorbell to his house and scraped at imaginary dirt on the white paint of the doorframe. If the potion didn’t work, his mother would wonder why Gabriel was ringing the doorbell instead of coming inside like usual. They never locked the door. Just when he was digging up some lame excuse he could give, his mom pulled open the door.

Seconds seemed like hours as Gabriel’s heart formed a lump in his throat. He waited for it. Some sign of recognition.

But it didn’t come.

“Hi, there,” she said with a smile. “You the new newspaper boy? I heard Tyler was sick.” Gabriel’s stomach sank. She didn’t know him. A mixture of weird feelings squirmed through him. He was definitely happy the potion worked. He didn’t want his parents to be worried about him taking off or anything, but at the same time it was creepy to have your mom totally not recognize you. And as much as Gabriel knew it was right to have given his parents the memory potion, seeing the empty look in his mother’s eyes when she looked at him stabbed a hole straight through his heart.

He squeezed his hands together behind his back. “Um, no,” he said, backing away and nearly stumbling over the steps. “I—ah, rang the wrong doorbell. Sorry, ma’am.”

He turned around and bolted all the way back to Brent and Piper.

“Bathroom break?” Piper asked, grinning as he skidded up beside them.

Gabriel shrugged. “Something like that.” He didn’t feel like talking. Instead, he trudged to the falls behind Brent and Piper and concentrated on the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees and the skittering of critters through the brush. When they reached Beachy Cove Falls, Prince Oliver, Dane, and Tahlita waited for them by the edge of the rushing river. All the ice had melted since the last time Gabriel and his friends were there. The familiar crashing of the waterfalls onto the riverbed below drew Gabriel in. He stared across the river, letting the spray of water mist his face. The smell of earth and spring air filled his nose.

It both relaxed and scared him. It relaxed him because he’d hung out there so many times with his friends, and being there felt familiar. It freaked him out because the last time they hiked up there, Cedric and Piper had fallen in. Then they had all been sucked down into the water and pulled through the portal into Valta. As if that wasn’t bad enough, at the time Valta was on the verge of imploding.

Brent dropped a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Yo, you okay?”

Gabriel thought about telling Brent about his uneasiness, but he would’ve felt stupid. Seriously, they had taken on so much the first time they’d been in Valta, you’d think he’d be all brave and fearless. Not. Yeah, he’d gotten over his stupid fear of the dark, but taking on Duke Malgor and his death mongers again—or some other kidnapper unknowns? It still freaked him out. “Yeah, I’m good,” Gabriel said.

“Well now.” Dane sidestepped a moss-covered rock and approached them. “You ready to be empowered, Gabriel?”

Gabriel nodded and twisted his hands behind his back. He hoped whatever power he was gonna get was something awesome. “Yeah, I’m ready. How do we do this?”

Dane picked up a large rock, held it over Gabriel’s head, and closed his eyes without a word. The sky suddenly clouded over, turning everything gray. Thunder rumbled loudly and ripped through the air.

Gabriel swallowed hard. “Is everything okay?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “Is this, um, normal?”

Piper tugged up the hood on her jacket and tied the strings tight as the rain pelted down. Her honey-brown eyes peered out, full of alarm.

Prince Oliver stood beside Dane looking as regal as ever. Even when his wavy-blond hair dripped water down his face, the prince didn’t move, just kept his focus on Gabriel.

Gabriel tilted his head back, staring up at the rock in Dane’s hand. The stone hovered inches from Gabriel’s face. His heart hammered. The rain poured down harder—sideways sheets of rain that soaked his face, making him squint. The rock and the blackened sky blurred into one.

A huge spray of light lit up the sky. A deafening crack of thunder burst out.

A bolt of lightning shot through the sky, right toward Dane. It struck the rock and exploded with a loud crack. Gabriel slammed his eyes shut as shattering shards of rock sprinkled over his face.

Piper screamed. Gabriel opened his eyes, shaking away the dirt. Brent lunged toward Gabriel, but Prince Oliver held him back.

Gabriel coughed and hacked, brushing more debris from his face.

“What the—” Gabriel said, but quickly clamped his mouth shut. The rain stopped like someone had shut off a tap. The clouds zipped by in the sky like a movie set on fast forward, then the sun shone down again.

Silence.

“Gabe!” Piper squealed, finding her voice. She rushed over. “Are you okay?” She brushed dirt from his shoulders and turned her glare on Dane. “Estás loco!” she screamed. “You could have hurt him!”

Gabriel understood that she had called Dane ‘crazy’ in her native Spanish. Gabriel had heard Piper say that many times when she was freaked about something.

Piper widened her eyes when she looked back at Gabriel, then lifted a strand of his hair. She flipped her head around to Dane again. “What did you do to him? Now he has a bright streak of blond in his brown hair!”

“Dude!” Brent said, coming to take a closer look at Gabriel’s apparent neon-blond patch.

Gabriel ruffled his hair, then brushed Piper away. “I’m fine.” He didn’t like the idea of looking like some punk rocker, but he was more curious about what else had changed about him. Where was the new power he’d supposedly received? He definitely didn’t feel different.

Gabriel looked around to see if his eyesight or hearing was enhanced like the empress had empowered him with the last time. Nope. Nothing. Maybe whatever Dane did hadn’t worked.

Tahlita smirked, shifting out from under her mostly dry spot under a tree.

“What are you smiling about?” Brent asked her, looking annoyed.

She shrugged. “It’s kinda nice being the one who’s in the know for once.” She marched up to Gabriel with a scowl, then pulled her hand back like she was about to slap him across the face. “Stop me!” she screamed at Gabriel, eyes flaring in a dare.

“Tahlita!” Prince Oliver shouted, but it was too late. Her hand swung through the air with momentum.

Every nerve in Gabriel’s body tingled, electrified. Before he barely had the thought in his head to stop her, he’d already ducked his head and avoided her flinging hand. He grabbed it, and twisted her around, landing her in a headlock—all as quick as lightning.

Piper’s jaw dropped open.

Brent laughed. “You moved so fast, your body was like a blur, dude.”

Gabriel released Tahlita. “I knew you could do it,” she said with a smirk, stepping away. “I just wanted you to know.”

Gabriel grinned. “That was so sick. What—what am I?”

Dane’s eyes beamed from behind his bifocals. He puffed his chest out, looking proud of himself. “You, boy, have superhuman agility and speed—like lightning.”

“Are you serious?” Gabriel asked.

“He’s serious,” Prince Oliver said.

“That’s definitely cool and everything,” Piper said. “But you didn’t need to be so dramatic about it. Those rocks could’ve gotten into his eyes, you know. What if you blinded him?”

“Oh, Piper,” drawled Dane. “So wary, aren’t you?”

“Whatever,” she said. “The empress was way calmer about it all when she gave us powers. A little rhyme and wind and stuff, and bam it was done.” She folded her arms over her chest. “You? You’re all fire and brimstone.”

Dane twisted his lips and snickered. “Do I look like a fairy princess to you? Last I checked, I don’t cough out rose petals and sparkly dust,” he scoffed. “If you don’t like the way I do things, you’re welcome to go home.”

Gabriel tugged Piper’s arm back before his fiery friend said something she’d regret. He needed Piper to come to Valta with them, and she needed powers to go on the quest. “Relax, Piper. I’m okay, I swear.”

Dane narrowed his eyes on Piper. Even then his eyes looked like they were bulging from behind his thick lenses.

Piper squinted back at Dane. At first Gabriel thought she was giving Dane attitude, but when she pressed her fingers against her temples and winced, he knew something was up.

“What are you doing?” Gabriel asked Dane, frowning.

“Dane?” Prince Oliver stepped forward.

Piper fell to her knees with a loud yelp. “Stop it!” she cried, her face screwed up in pain.

Prince Oliver took two more long strides until he reached Dane. “Cease this at once. This was not part of the plan!”

Piper rolled around on the ground, grasping her hands around her head screaming in agony.

Gabriel and Brent dropped to either side of Piper.

“Knock it off,” Gabriel yelled.

Just as Prince Oliver drew his sword, a huge pool of water suddenly drew together from the river and hurled through the air. It landed on Dane with a splash of such force that his glasses knocked to the ground.

He choked for air. “What in all of Valta!” he shouted, shoving his soaked, black hair away from his face.

“Sorry, father,” Tahlita said. “But Piper is my—friend.”

Dane grunted, then sighed. Holding his hands palm-up, he said, “I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

“Ya think?” Brent snapped, giving Dane a dirty look. Brent and Gabriel helped Piper to her feet.

“She shouldn’t have questioned me,” Dane said with scorn. “All the same, what I did to her is called a brain blast.” He picked up his glasses, wiped them off on his shirt, then slipped them back on. He looked at Piper. “You now have that power, young lady. Just think about inflicting pain on someone and it’ll be like a giant worm invaded their brain. It will incapacitate them.” When his statement was met with silence, he said, “You’re welcome.”

“You are not to hurt them,” Prince Oliver said sternly, putting his sword away. “Do not make me your enemy once again.”

Dane nodded.

Piper stood and grunted as she passed Dane. She hugged Tahlita. “Thanks. I know that must have been hard going against your father.”

She hugged Piper back, shooting a glance at her father.

“Brent,” Dane called. “Your turn.”

Brent whispered in Gabriel’s ear, “Bro, like I’m seriously not sure I wanna do this.”

“It’s cool now. Prince Oliver told him not to hurt us anymore,” Gabriel said, trying to sound encouraging.

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t seem like the type who listens,” Brent replied before dragging his feet toward Dane.

When he reached Dane, Brent shook, a tiny movement like he was shaking away his fears. “Do it.”

“Roll up your sleeves to the elbows,” Dane instructed.

Brent made a face, but pushed back the sleeves on his blue shirt.

“Now take off your shoes and socks and roll your jeans up to the knees.”

Brent raised both eyebrows. “What?”

Dane quirked a brow that said, “Don’t dare even ask.”

Brent paled, but obeyed.

Dane pulled a clear container of something black from his pocket. After slipping a pair of gloves on, he opened the jar and stuck his fingers deep into the tar-like substance. First he slathered it on Brent’s arms to the elbows.

“It’s cold,” Brent said. “Freezing.”

“Don’t be weak,” Dane said. Then he bent and applied the substance to Brent’s feet and legs all the way up to his knees. “It’s nothing that can kill you.”

“That’s good to know,” Piper hissed. “I might have had to use it on you—”

“Piper … ” Prince Oliver warned. “I know his ways are unconventional, but we need him right now.”

“That’s right.” Dane smirked. “You need me.”

“Um, hello?” Brent said. “It’s about me right now, and my limbs are kinda numb. Can you take this crap off?”

“Just another minute,” Dane said. “It needs to set.”

“Set? You mean it won’t come off?” Brent asked. “Ah!” he hollered, shaking his hands. “Seriously, my hands and legs feel like they have frostbite.”

“Perfect,” Dane said, looking satisfied.

“Perfect?” Gabriel echoed, thinking Dane had definitely crossed the line into insanity.

“Yes,” Dane replied. “That frost bite feeling means it has set.” He nodded toward Brent. “You may go rinse off in the river now.”

Brent hobbled to the river with Gabriel, Piper, and Tahlita’s help. He sat on the bank and sank his feet in the water with a sigh. “The water seriously feels like a hot tub right now.”

“I’m sorry about my father,” Tahlita said as she made water lift in the air and drop on Brent’s hands and arms. No matter how many times she manipulated objects, Gabriel couldn’t seem to get used to it. Flying fruit and water suspended in the air was just freaky.

Tahlita splashed more water on Brent’s hands. “He means well, but he’s angry about everything that happened. And—and well, I guess he’s taking it out on the world.” She glanced away a second and then looked back at them. “I also want to thank you guys for helping me get my memories back—for, you know, not giving up on me. And I’ve some stuff to tell you that I remembered.”

“Ugh. I wish I was a fish right now,” Brent said. “I’d jump in and stay under the water for like an hour until this mud stuff washed off. Maybe then I’d stop feeling like a corpse.”

Piper laughed at Brent’s comment, then hugged Tahlita. “You’re welcome. And I can’t wait to hear what you remembered.”

“Call me Tally. My mother used to call me that.”

“Where is your mother anyway?” Piper asked.

“Guys … ” Brent said, just as he splashed the water with his feet, spraying them all.

“Watch it,” Gabriel said, wiping his face. Except … when Gabriel looked at the water, Brent’s feet weren’t feet anymore. They were … a huge fish tail!

“I’m a freaking girly mermaid?” Brent screeched.

Gabriel could barely hold it together. Even Piper clasped a hand over her mouth behind Brent’s back trying not to laugh.

“It’s called body part substitution,” Dane said, tramping up beside them. “You wished you were a fish just now. Looks like you got your wish … sort of. It works on your limbs only.”

“So I get to be a stupid fish?” Brent moaned, swishing his golden, scaly tail up and down in the water. “For real?”

“Or a sword, a hammer, a knife.” Dane lifted his pointer finger. “You can turn your limbs into weapons if you want. Or what about claws for your feet or an electric saw? You get the idea. You can fight, Brent.” Dane winked, then grew serious. “Now wish your feet back so we can cross the portal and get out of this boring world of yours.” He sighed. “However do you cope with such a mundane life?”

“The portal awaits,” Prince Oliver called loudly from the distance.

When Gabriel looked up, his eyes grew wide. Prince Oliver stood at the base of the falls—except he stood on solid ground. The water under his feet had shifted to the sides, and behind him the falls had parted down the middle.

Gabriel would recognize the scenery through the gaping hole behind the falls anywhere. Tall bushes with multi-colored branches and berries in shades of orange, yellow, and green, spread out in front of soaring mountains. Orange and golden leaves scattered across the ground, fluttering in the breeze. The mountains glistened in an unnaturally bright, golden, and glittery substance, and dragonflies as big as birds whizzed by.

Valta.