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AURELIA
“Someone help!” I yelled as we ran into the infirmary.
Grey cradled Freya’s tiny body close as we ran. It would have been touching if I wasn’t so scared for the sprite.
A healer peeked out of a room with wide eyes and beckoned us forward. “We don’t have the right healing for sprites, sir.”
“We need Magna,” I said.
Where was she? She always seemed to pop up whenever we needed her.
“She should be in my office, I think,” Grey said and turned back to the elevator.
“I’ll go get her.” I raced to the elevator and stabbed at the button.
Freya was my friend, and this was the second time she’d been hurt because of me. I would make Malcolm pay before this was all over.
The doors opened on the top floor, and I rushed down the hall to Grey’s office. The door flew open at my approach and Asher stood there his arms crossed over his chest.
“What’s happened?” he asked.
“I need Magna. Freya is in bad shape.” I brushed passed him.
“You got her back?” Asher followed me into the office.
I scanned the faces in the office but there was no sign of her.
“We did but she isn’t doing good. Where is Magna?”
Fenrick stepped forward and placed a hand on my arm. “Calm down, princess. Take me to her, I can help.”
“You can?” I asked hopefully.
“I have healing abilities just like I imagine you will once you practice.” Fenrick patted my arm.
“I already have some.” I didn’t have time for him to placate me, I spun on my heel and ran down the hall. Rushed steps followed behind me as I stopped at the elevator and jabbed my finger into the button.
Asher stepped next to me. “We’ll get her fixed up, Aurelia.”
“How can you be so sure? You didn’t see her,” I said with tears stinging the backs of my eyes.
“She’s the strongest little sprite I’ve ever seen. She will make it through this.” Asher grinned.
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside. I pushed the button repeatedly for the floor of the infirmary.
Shuffling my feet, I stood there waiting impatiently for the damn doors to open.
The doors opened and I moved to rush out but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I glanced up at the numbers and huffed.
Wrong floor. Shit.
“Aurelia, what’s wrong?” Magna asked, stepping into the elevator.
I collapsed into the other woman’s arms with a sob, grateful we found her. Freya needed her desperately.
She patted my back as the elevator doors closed behind her.
“It’s Freya!” I cried.
“We will do all we can,” Magna soothed.
The elevator doors opened on the correct floor, and I straightened my shoulders. I swiped at the tears on my cheeks and strode from the elevator into the sterile hall.
Father nodded his head to a door at the end and I dragged Magna to it. I knocked on the door before pushing it open, too impatient to care about manners right then.
Grey’s face softened when he saw me, and he opened his arms for me to step into his strength. Magna rushed to Freya, her hands glowing green.
I rested my head on Grey’s chest praying to whatever gods were listening that the tiny sprite would be okay.
“We are no good to her here.” Grey squeezed me tightly. “We need to find that book before the elders do.”
I nodded. He was right. Magna could handle healing Freya and she would be good as new soon.
Grey led me from the room with an arm around my shoulder, my father and Asher following behind.
I was in a daze the whole elevator ride hoping Magna would be able to heal poor Freya. Her tiny, broken body would haunt me much like when Fiona was injured at Malcolm’s house of horrors.
We walked into the office. Zeke and Dan were sitting in the chairs in front of the desk. Someone must have cleaned Grey’s office because everything was back in its place.
I couldn’t even bring myself to blush about what had happened there the night before.
Zeke smirked but quickly dropped it at the expression on my face.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Malcolm and Ronaldo were at the wards with Freya.” Grey sighed.
“The elders know where to find us now. They probably wanted to talk to me alone because I would have traded myself for Freya. I’ve done it before.” I ran a hand down my face.
“All we can do now is look for the real book and hope Magna can heal her.” Grey squeezed me tighter to him, and led me to the chair behind the desk.
He sat in the chair and pulled me down in his lap possessively. I reached for the book and pulled it into my arms before opening it.
Grey rested his chin on my shoulder reading the book with me. Where the hell did child me hide the damn book? Would I even be able to find it without my memories?
“I don’t know if this is even going to have the answers we need.” I shook my head.
“Why not?” Grey asked, kissing my cheek.
“I went to a lot of trouble to make sure no one could find it. I even blocked my own memories to accomplish it. Magna easily broke the spell on it so others could see what it said.”
“So, you think you need to unlock your memories?” Grey asked. “That didn’t go so well the last time.”
“I went through that block like a freight train, and I still didn’t retrieve everything,” I agreed.
“Maybe there’s an answer you need in the book.” Grey squeezed me.
I glanced back down at the words. How did I write in such a beautiful curling script at such a young age? How was it even possible.
I turned the page and gasped, my mind spinning with memories.
I ran through the forest outside the castle giggling wildly as someone chased me.
“Princess, don’t run from me. How am I supposed to protect you if you’re constantly running way.” Fenrick’s panicked voice made me giggle more and I ran faster.
“You’re supposed to catch me, silly.” I ran into the hollow of a tree and hid as he passed.
I giggled again as I ran the other direction, away from Fenrick. He was stuffy and never wanted to let me play.
I ran into the stables and hid in one of the stalls with Buttercup. I backed into the corner of the stall and plastered myself in a corner, so Fenrick couldn’t find me.
Voices filled the space and I strained to listen. It wasn’t Fenrick. Malcolm was talking to someone quietly. “You know what will happen if we do this,” he said to someone I couldn’t see.
“You must. She is too dangerous to be here. If she knew what she is capable of, she could overthrow everything we have built here. Our plans for both realms could be ruined,” the man whispered.
I didn’t recognize his voice, but it sounded familiar.
“The king will hunt me down if I do this.” Malcolm growled.
“Then dump the girl in the first major city. She won’t be able to take care of herself. Maybe she’ll die, and it will save us the trouble of having to kill her later.”
Who were they talking about? Why would they want to kill a girl? It didn’t make any sense.
Heavy footsteps came into the stables and I peeked out through the slats. Malcolm and the man were gone. Fenrick stood on the other side of the stall, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn’t think it would be good for them to see me when they were plotting someone’s death. Who were they going to kill, and why would Daddy hunt him down for it?
I peeked out of the stall and Fenrick frowned when he saw the expression on my face.
“What is it, Princess?” he asked.
“How did you find me?” I stomped my foot.
He crouched in front of me with a frown. “This is one of your favorite places to hide. Of course, I found you here.”
I shook my head to clear the memory. Everyone in the room was staring at me with matching frowns on their faces. Grey gripped my chin and turned me to face him.
“What happened? I called your name several times,” he said.
“I remembered something. I was running from Fenrick and hid in the stables. Malcolm was talking to someone. I’m pretty sure it was Ronaldo.” I grimaced.
“You never told me about that.” Fenrick crossed his arms over his chest.
“That’s not the point.” I waved him off. “Is it possible that I made it back through the portal as a child and hid the book there?”
“That doesn’t make any sense though.” Grey shook his head. “Why would you come back? You were cold and alone in most of the visions you have seen.”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling the other book has something to do with it.” I rubbed at my temples.
Why was that memory attached to this book? It has to be important, but how?
“What did Malcolm say?” Fenrick growled.
“They were talking about my abduction and inevitable death.” I shook my head.
“While you hid in a stall,” Fenrick said softly.
I nodded. There wasn’t much more to say. As a child, I hadn’t known who they had been talking about but after what happened in my life, they were definitely talking about killing me.
“Malcolm tried to play me into thinking he was protecting me from the Council, but since I overheard that conversation, I already knew he was lying. So why did I go with him in the first place?”
The more I knew, the less I understood. Every time I learned something, I just had more questions.
I turned my attention back to the book, running my fingers along the swooping letters.
Fenrick cleared his throat. “Maybe we should check the stables.”
“I need to know for sure,” I said, not looking up from the book. “It doesn’t make sense why I would go and then come back, especially when I remembered the life I had there.”
“Keep reading.” Grey nudged me. “You might remember more.”
I glanced back down at the book, reading the words, but no new memories came to me. Turning the page, I frowned.
“It’s some kind of map?” I asked, showing Grey.
Grey shook his head. “I can’t see it.”
“What? Magna already took the enchantment off the book.” I peered down at the hand-drawn map in the book with a frown.
“Maybe this is a different enchantment. Magna might not know about it.” Grey frowned.
Fenrick stood and walked over, staring at the book in my lap but shook his head as well.
“I don’t see anything either,” Fenrick grumbled.
“Is it a map to the book?” I frowned.
I turned the book sideways, but couldn’t figure out what it was a map of at all. “We need Magna, but I don’t want to disturb her while she’s working on Freya.”
“In the meantime, can you draw it so we can see it?” Grey asked.
“Maybe, I don’t know. I was a child when I drew this. I didn’t even know I could draw.” I set the book back on the desk.
“You were always drawing me pictures.” Father grinned.
Grey opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a stack of papers and a pencil and set them on the desk next to the book.
I really hoped I could do this. It could be the only way to go forward to stop the elders.
They had plans for both realms, and I shuddered to think what those plans would mean for the rest of us.