by Cara Wylde
I slid a post-it over to her. This one had only one name on it. Yolanda Aleksiev. Lorna cocked an eyebrow.
“Who is she?”
“My cousin. She’s also the dream jumper who can help us find my mom and then find Morningstar.”
“Why are you telling me this? Why aren’t we all in the cavern, talking about it?”
“I want to keep this between us. For now. Corri went to see her. She’s just a kid. Eleven. Her father disappeared and her mother died in an accident a year ago. She lives at an orphanage.”
Lorna smirked. “Convenient.”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. No one to take care of her, no one to protect her and tell her a distant relative who suddenly remembered her could be a bad guy in disguise…”
“I’m not a bad guy! The fuck is wrong with you? What do you think I want to do to her?”
“Turn her…”
I shook my head. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Turn her into you. Abandoned by her father, her mother dead… You see yourself in her and you’re thinking… ‘I have another chance! I can make this right through her!’ Tell me I’m way off, and I’ll shut up.”
I stood up and started pacing the floor. Two students sitting at a table across the room looked up, then saw it was me and went back to their stuff. They’d gotten used to my drama.
“You’re not… way off. But I’m not trying to hurt her. I just need her to help us, that’s all. If she’s a dream jumper, then she can finish what I started. And I will protect her with my life.”
“And you believe that. What you just said…”
“It’s true!” I yelled, pissed off at her. She was starting to get on my nerves.
“Then why aren’t you telling the others? Your boyfriends, Klaus, Patricia…”
“I have to be sure first.”
“Sure of what?”
“That she can help us. Corri told me she sleeps a lot, but there are no signs she might be suffering of schizophrenia. Maybe she’s not a dream jumper at all, and I’m just getting ahead of myself.”
“No one in your family suffers of schizophrenia, Mila.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You were a dream jumper, and you weren’t acting weird at all. Well, you’ve always been weird in your own way, but not like you needed to be locked up or something. Your mother was diagnosed because she was more than a dream jumper. She was a dream… err… I don’t know. Switcher.”
I nodded. After I saw her in that dream, I’d told the Arcane Cabal about her unique gift. She was one of the few who could switch places with herself from other parallel dimensions. It was how Morningstar had managed to move her from this dimension to the other. Although… I still didn’t know the details. I had to remember to ask Corri about what she’d meant when she’d said she knew why my mother couldn’t find her way back.
“I never switched places with myself from somewhere else.”
“You didn’t have the time to learn how.”
“Anyway, I don’t know if she’s the one.” I stopped in front of the table and placed my hand on the post-it. “Corri can’t read minds and can’t follow her in her dreams. If she dreams at all, that is. And she’s a pixie, it’s not like she can just go in there, introduce herself, and shake hands.”
“Dream journal?”
“I thought about it. Corri checked, and she doesn’t keep one.”
“So, what’s your plan?”
“Go there and meet her. I thought you might want to teleport with me.”
Lorna straightened her back. A smile grew on her face, and it wasn’t wicked at all, like her smiles usually were. In fact, it was so cute and genuine that she tried to hide it by turning it into a fake frown.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
“After the field trip?”
“Whenever you say, boss.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
CHAPTER TEN
The Carnelian City was named that way because… surprise, surprise! It was all made of carnelian. To the people living here, the semi-precious stone was sacred. They used it to decorate their buildings, carving the marble and gluing thin slices of carnelian into it, like I’d once heard the Indians had done at the Taj Mahal. I hadn’t seen the Taj, since not many deaths happened there these days. They also used it to make the most beautiful jewelry I’d ever seen. Of course, since I was the only girl in the Violent Death Cabal, I was also the only one interested in the jewelry shops we walked by as we headed toward the Great Carnelian Temple.
“We’ll stop on the way back, I promise,” GC said, kissing me on the top of my head.
Professor Maat was telling us how the city had been built, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was fascinated by the people and creatures going about their business, in their shops, bakeries, markets, and open squares. They were of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I even saw two oversized scarabs crossing the street, mindful of the traffic. Oversized meaning they were as big as two ponies. My thorough research had revealed that they were perfectly sentient creatures, they weren’t for riding or pulling carriages and the like, and yes, they were carriers of the scarab flu, a nasty sinus infection that could kill a human in a matter of days. That was why the scarabs, as well as many other creatures that lived here, weren’t allowed to leave their pocket universe. And that was also why I was currently wearing a medical mask Headmaster Colin had enchanted himself. Actually, he’d just pretended to enchant it, so he could maintain the lie that I was human and, therefore, in danger of catching all the plagues of the Carnelian City.
We walked by an open market, where people were selling fresh fruit and veggies. A tall, lanky man with black skin and gold teeth smiled at me and gave me something that looked like a pear covered in snakeskin.
“Thanks!” He didn’t understand me, so I bowed. He bowed back.
I tried to pull at the skin, guessing the thing must have been a fruit. Professor Maat was behind me in a fraction of a second, slapping the thing out of my hand.
“Are you insane?! I told you not to eat or drink anything!”
“But the nice man gave it to me…”
“What are you? A stupid child? Taking candy from strangers?”
GC, Pazuzu, and even Francis were laughing their heads off by now. I scowled at them, and Professor Maat scowled at me. She wasn’t done yet.
“Was it candy?” I asked, trying to see where the fruit had rolled off.
She turned her eyes toward the sky, as if asking God to give her strength.
“No! It’s called Zarin, and it’s a fruit that turns into tiny little snakes in your stomach that digest your food for you.”
My eyes almost popped out of my head. Corri, who was sitting in her usual spot on my shoulder, screeched like a banshee and hid behind my blue hair.
“What happens after they digest your food… for you…?”
She sighed, defeated. In her eyes, I really was a child right now, and she had no other option but to babysit me.
“They curl into balls and you poop them.”
I let out a breath of relief. “At least they don’t wriggle when they come out…”
She shook her head, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me with her to the front of our group. She didn’t take her eyes off me until we reached the temple, and didn’t let go of my arm, either. I felt like a brat who’d promised she’d behave, then went right ahead and did the opposite. But the city was so exotic, so fascinating, and so lush that it was impossible to resist its charm! Everything was shining bright and delicious! I saw men with olive green skin and crocodile tails peeking out from under their long, traditional skirts. There were women so short that they barely reached my hip, and I wasn’t a tall girl by any means. Children with skin as black as onyx selling freshly squeezed juices at street corners, old women covered in white robes from head to to
e weaving tiny stones into bracelets and necklaces, and griffins trotting high and proud down the streets, their wings tucked on their backs. Underneath my mask, my mouth was agape. A speck of dust must have found its way in, because I sneezed, and then I sneezed again. Next to me, Professor Maat froze, her huge eyes filled with fear.
“I’m okay, I promise. I’m okay.” I sneezed a third time. “It’s just dust.”
“Scarab dust!”
“I’m okay!”
“Well, if you die when we get home, it’s on Headmaster Colin. That’s all I’m going to say.”
I chuckled and followed her into the Great Temple.
“If Hell didn’t kill me, Professor Maat, I don’t think the Carnelian City will.”
“There are worse places than Hell, Miss Morningstar.”
The Carnelian City wasn’t ruled by a king or queen. The highest authority was the priest running the Great Temple, but this temple was like no other I’d ever seen or thought existed. It was made to worship dozens of gods and goddesses, with human features, animal features or combined, from this pocket universe or from others, kind or cruel, bringers of life or death. It was hard to believe, but I actually saw a statue of Santa Muerte by a window, next to a statue of Ganesha. There was a Jesus on the cross, an Anubis with his jackal head, and… No! No, it’ can’t be! I rubbed my eyes so hard, and when I looked again and saw the same thing, I wanted to pull them out of my head, wipe them on my uniform, and maybe give them a good wash, too.
“GC, is that…”
He was beaming. He stood up straighter, pulled his shoulders back, and now he was walking like he owned the place.
“That’s my grandfather.”
“Golden Calf Apis the First,” I murmured, bewildered. “I had no idea there are still people who worship him.”
“Mr. Apis, let’s not cause a commotion,” Professor Maat whispered discreetly. “These people don’t need to know who you are.”
That deflated him a bit, but he quickly recovered. We stood in front of the golden statue of the calf, with its mighty horns and sapphire eyes. The eyes were literally two generous sapphire stones.
“Handsome, am I right?”
Paz cocked an eyebrow, and Francis sighed. Today was not their day. There were symbolic offerings of rice, flowers, and something that looked like candy at the statue’s feet, but by the small number, I guessed the false god of the Old Testament wasn’t worshipped by too many people in the Carnelian City. At the same time, it was obvious there were so many gods in this place, that it wasn’t impossible to believe some were worshipped by only one or two people, maybe a household.
“Everyone is free to bring a statue of their god or goddess in the Great Carnelian Temple,” Professor Maat explained. “Religious freedom is greatly encouraged here, to the point where people can even invent their own creatures they want to pray to, carve statues, and place them among the gods and goddesses we all recognize.”
“I don’t recognize that one,” said Caspian, pointing at a mythical beast with a human torso, wheels instead of legs, twigs on its back instead of wings, and an oversized head out of which a set of triple horns protruded.
“Err… I don’t think you’re supposed to,” said Mrs. Maat. “Must be something local.”
We moved on.
Monks and nuns were gathered in an adjacent room, where they sat on pillows and chanted a mantra in a language I hadn’t heard before. The High Priest was at the front, sitting in lotus position on a large pillow raised on a dais, and he was the one giving the tone.
“Servants of the temple,” Professor Maat whispered. “By choice, of course. They are allowed to marry and have children. In the Carnelian City, no one sees how something as natural as having a family could get in the way of serving at the Great Temple. Let’s sit and listen for a minute.”
We found pillows and sat down at the back of the room, silent and reverent. Even though I didn’t understand a word of what they were chanting, soon the vibration alone seeped into my bones, making me vibrate from the inside. I closed my eyes and let the strange notes envelop me. A minute turned into ten, and then twenty. No one wanted to get up and leave the temple. I stole a glance at Mrs. Maat, and she seemed entranced, looking ahead, at an indefinite point above the High Priest’s colorful ceremonial hat. Even GC and Pazuzu seemed to have fallen in a calm, meditative state. I was seated between Sariel and Francis, and at some point, I felt Sariel’s hand seek mine.
“Only the choirs of Heaven sound as beautiful as this mantra,” he whispered.
I don’t know what happened then, what made me say what I said next. The foreign words spoken in that simple, monotone cadence had melted my heart and cleared my mind of clutter.
“I’m sorry about Mabon.” I squeezed his hand back. Sariel nodded. I leaned toward Francis. “It was inappropriate. And I shouldn’t have run.”
“You needed space,” he whispered back. “It’s okay, we understand.”
I studied his profile. His straight nose, slightly upturned at the tip, his high cheekbones, and soft lips. It might have been the monks and nuns raising their voices as they reached the end of their mass, or it might just have been him. Francis Saint-Germain.
“I love you, you know…”
He turned to me then, and his green eyes were filled with peace and kindness.
“And I love you.”
“Hey,” Sariel pulled at my little finger to get my attention. “What about me?”
“Shut up,” I chuckled.
Mrs. Maat shot as un annoyed glance, raised her finger to her lips, and shushed us. I mouthed “sorry” and closed my eyes again. Now, both Sariel and Francis were holding my hands. GC and Paz had noticed the exchange, but it was fine. They knew when it was my other two boyfriends’ turn to be showered in my affection.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
On our way back from the Carnelian City, I promised them I’d do better. Three days had passed, and I wasn’t doing better. On the contrary. Lorna and I had skipped the first period to teleport to Bulgaria. The time difference complicated things. We could have gone on the weekend, but my boyfriends were all over me, and it was practically impossible to sneak out of the Academy without them knowing. If they were stuck in class, all they could do was wonder where I was. I had every intention to be back before lunch and tell them I’d been feeling under the weather, although it was a hard lie to sell now that I was a revenant. I rarely got sick anymore, and even the classic excuse was out of the question – menstrual cramps.
“So, why can’t you lie that you’re on your period?” Lorna asked me as we were sitting on a bench in front of the orphanage, trying to come up with the best plan of action.
“I don’t get my period anymore.” There, I’d said it. It was the first time I was talking to someone about it, and I’d dreaded the moment, but now that it had come, I felt calm about it.
“What do you mean? Oh my God, you’re pregnant!”
I rolled my eyes. “No, stupid. Since I died and came back to life, I don’t get my period anymore.”
“Oh. You should ask someone…”
“I don’t know any other revenant women. Anyway, I was dead and buried for three days. Enough for all my eggs to die, for sure.”
“But, Mila, that means…”
“I can’t have children. It’s fine. I’m not sure I wanted children, anyway.” That was a lie.
“But then… how was Francis born?”
“Francis’s mother is human. Revenant men can leave human women pregnant.”
“That’s so unfair!”
“Just like vampire men can leave human women pregnant, but vampire women can’t have children. That’s why Professor Ivanov is still human. She wants a baby first, and then she’ll let her husband turn her.”
Lorna nodded. We fell silent. People passed by, some walking their dogs, others carrying bags full of groceries. Couples walked hand in hand, talking in Bulgarian.
“Should we go in?” I asked.
“And say what? That we’re together and we want to adopt?” She laughed.
“Stop being ridiculous, and snap your fingers, make some boxes of toys appear. We’re going to make a donation.”
“Smart!”
She looked up and down the street, and when she was sure no one was watching, she did exactly what I’d asked. Two huge boxes filled with toy cars, dolls, coloring books, and colored pencils sat at our feet. I dragged in a breath and lifted mine. It was quite heavy, and it was fortunate the weight of things didn’t impress me anymore. We walked through the gates of the orphanage and asked to see the person in charge. I spoke Bulgarian, Lorna didn’t. We were friends, visiting my family, and because Lorna had grown up in an orphanage, everywhere we traveled and found one, we made sure to buy toys for the kids. Of course, Lorna was anything but an orphan, but she loved playing the role – a walk in the park for someone who’d pretended all her life she was a heartless, murderous bitch, when now I could see with my own eyes that she was just a normal person who, just like anyone, wanted to belong.
The children gathered in the common room and made a line to receive their gifts. When a girl teared up because her friend got the blond doll and she was left with a fat baby in diapers, Lorna pretended she was rummaging through the box, snapped her fingers again, and produced another blond doll out of it. Smiles and giggles. The older children came last, and among them, there was Yolanda Aleksiev, my dear second cousin.
“Could I have the coloring book with dragons, please?” she asked in English, having heard me and Lorna talk in English before.
I opened my mouth to say “yes”, but nothing came out. I was frozen in place, looking at her as if she were a ghost. She wasn’t a ghost, but dammit, she looked just like me when I was her age. Petite, thin and lanky, with long blond hair that shined like the sun, and big blue eyes filled with sadness. Even our noses looked the same. Lorna elbowed me, and when I didn’t react, she gave Yolanda the coloring book and a set of crayons.