I pressed my lips together. Please get better.
His chin was covered in a thin layer of stubble. I touched it lightly with my free hand and then jerked my hand away. Gray had grown into a man, but I was still the same lost little girl.
“Don’t you dare die on me before you have a chance to fall in love. I want to see who you Bind with! I want to see you happy with someone who deserves you.”
My back ached, and my butt grew numb from the stool as time slipped by.
“I’ll come back again tomorrow, Gray. I promise.” I sucked in another breath and closed my eyes, squeezing his hand. Only an empty room waited for me once I left.
Brightness sparkled behind my closed eyelids, and my eyes popped open. “Who’s there?”
Light winked at me between our interwoven fingers, throwing the dark shadows of the room into relief. Our hands grew warm.
“Gray, what are you doing?” Was it possible for him to use Light Magic right then? Maybe I should let go. No. I shook my head. Light Magic wasn’t dangerous. I tightened my grip on his hand.
The bright glimmer of our hands sent a comforting warmth through me. “I need you to wake up, Gray.” My voice broke. “Please.”
Our hands flared brightly, like an answer to my plea. “I can’t do this on my own.” I took a shaky breath and bit my lip. “Don’t leave me alone. I need your help saving Neil and finding Ivy.”
His silence and that bright light were my only response. A few minutes later, I stood. “Until tomorrow.”
The room tilted like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. One wrong step and I’d fall.
My vision blurred and I held a hand to my head, leaning heavily on Gray’s bed. I couldn’t make it back to my room. My knees wobbled, threatening to collapse. I crawled onto the edge of Gray’s bed and rested my head on his shoulder.
My eyes, too heavy to keep open, slammed shut. “Gray, what’s wrong with me?” The room continued to spin. I squeezed Gray’s hand to anchor me in place, and the world turned black.
“Emmie.” Someone shook my shoulder. “Emmie.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, needing more sleep to get rid of my pounding headache. “Shh.” I snuggled my face into my pillow, but it was too firm. One eye cracked open. “Gray?”
He grinned at me.
“You’re awake!” I scooted off his chest and threw my arms around him, then I groaned. “Oh, I feel terrible.” I rested my head on his shoulder while he hugged me.
“What are you doing in my bed?” he asked with a grin in his voice.
“I came to visit you last night, but when I tried to leave I didn’t feel so good. I laid down and I guess I fell asleep too.”
“And what am I doing in the infirmary?” When he turned his head, his stubble scraped across the top of my head.
I froze. “Don’t you remember?”
He sat up, and I scooted over to claim the space he abandoned in the center, keeping one eye cracked open to watch him.
“Remember what?”
Nurse McKay rushed in. “Mr. Mastiff! You’re awake! How is this possible?”
I laid my head against the pillow, and Gray climbed out of bed to escape her check-up, pulling out the IV.
“I sure am, and I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks.” He rubbed his stomach and looked around the room.
Nurse McKay bustled around, her footsteps and the swish of her skirt loud in the otherwise silent room. “Not weeks, but it has been about thirty-six hours since you’ve eaten.”
“Thirty-six hours?!” His gray eyes widened. “Elements above, what happened?”
“You’ve been in a coma.” She held a hand to his forehead.
Gray’s eyes widened. “A coma? Why was I in a coma?”
“Before we get into that, I need to do some tests to make sure you’re all right.”
“I’m fine.” He pushed her hands away and took a step back. “But you need to check on Emmie. She looks terrible.”
“Gee, thanks, Gray,” I mumbled from the bed.
“I’ll examine Miss Lyland if you let me examine you first.”
“All right,” he agreed. “But you’re wasting time. I feel great.”
Nurse McKay pulled a form toward her and did a quick check-up. “That’s not possible. You were in a coma for most of two days.”
I closed my eyes again.
A few minutes later, Gray said, “Now will you look at Emmie?”
When the poking and prodding started, I rolled onto my side. “I’m okay. I just need to s-sleep.” Maybe then, the nausea in my stomach and pain in my head would disappear. It wasn’t fair that Gray had just come out of a coma and looked in the prime of his health, and all I’d done last night was sleep, yet my body protested every movement like I’d just finished a particularly punishing sparring session with Henry.
Nurse McKay clucked. “I’ll watch over Miss Lyland, but you need to go find the Academy Heads. They’ll need to talk to you immediately.”
“I don’t want to leave Emmie,” he protested.
I cracked an eye open and gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine, Gray.” My voice came out hoarse.
“You heard her. Now, go.”
“Who’s coming to find me?” Mr. Mizuno’s voice abruptly joined the conversation, and I groaned. “Mr. Mastiff, you’re all right.”
Let me sleep.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” Gray responded.
I peeled my eyes open to watch the situation unfold.
“How is this possible?” Mr. Mizuno said.
Nurse McKay shrugged her shoulders. “He was awake when I got here.”
Even through my exhaustion, their gazes weighed on me. “Don’t look at me. He was asleep when I got here and awake when I got up. I have no idea what happened.” Had Gray healed himself?
“It’s a mystery.” Mr. Mizuno paced the room.
“It’s a miracle!” Nurse McKay beamed at Gray again.
“It’s too loud.” I threw the pillow over my head to block everyone out.
“We should let Emmie rest,” Gray suggested.
“Now that you’re awake, we have much to discuss.” Mr. Mizuno’s voice grew louder as he approached.
“We?” Gray’s voice was tight.
“The Academy Heads,” he explained.
“Wait, I want t-to come, too.” I sat up and winced.
Gray tried to push me back down. “No, you need your rest.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a headache.” My legs were heavy, but I swung them over the edge of the bed.
Nurse McKay sighed and muttered something like “stubborn” and “this generation.” I pretended I didn’t hear.
“I’m going to gather the other teachers.” Mr. Mizuno’s gaze flicked back and forth between Gray and me. “You two come to Headmistress Elsie’s office when you leave here.” He strode from the room.
Nurse McKay collected a promise that I would go to bed early, gave me some tonic for my headache, and finally released us.
As Gray and I walked through the halls, I wrapped hair around my finger and pulled.
We stepped through the door and found all of the Academy Heads except for the headmistress awaiting us.
“I feel like I’m about to get scolded for something I have no memory of.” Gray shot a little grin at me, but it fell flat. “Emmie?”
What were the right words to say in a time like that? Were there even any? I shook my head and slipped my hand into his as we sat in two of the chairs.
“Mr. Mastiff,” Mrs. Terrel greeted him. “We need to talk to you about the attack the other night.”
Gray scrunched his forehead, and his shoulders slowly tightened.
I squeezed his hand.
He took a deep breath. “I remember being attacked in the library, and that man said he came for Neil.” Gray glanced around. “Flaming fireballs, did that man take Neil?”
There was a brief pause before Mrs. Terrel admitted, “He wasn’t kidnappe
d.”
Gray’s breath whooshed out.
I braced myself for the rest of her announcement.
“But he was affected by the attack.”
Gray’s grip cut off circulation in my hand. “What do you mean, 'affected?' Is he hurt? I need to heal him.”
Mr. Mizuno shook his head. “We don’t think he’s hurt.”
“Then, what’s wrong with him, and why is he not here now?” Gray yelled.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled my hand free and rested it on Gray’s shoulder. His breathing was rapid and my attempts to comfort him seemed to have no effect. “He’s t-trapped in something called an Arresting Crystal.” I threw a glance toward the teachers. “Whatever it is, that monster threw it at Neil, and within minutes it c-completely encased his whole body.” My voice faded to a whisper by the end.
Gray wiped a runaway tear from my cheek and pulled me in for a hug before looking at each of the teachers.. “What do we know about these Arresting Crystals? How do we get Neil out?”
There was another pregnant pause. I clenched my jaw.
“We aren’t sure if we can get Neil out,” Ms. Ventor finally said. “No one has seen one of these crystals since the Shadowed Days. It shouldn’t even exist.”
“All we know is they’re made of Dark Magic,” Mr. Mizuno said.
Gray frowned and squeezed his hands into fists.
“That’s not one hundred percent accurate. We also know that they slowly drain the life and magic of whoever is trapped inside. If we don’t figure out a way to get him free soon, we might not be able to at all,” Mr. Kaji said.
“Abraham!” Mrs. Terrell turned to him. “They’re children. You shouldn’t burden them with these terrible truths.”
“They need to know,” Mr. Kaji said. “It won’t do any of us any good if we aren’t all on the same page.”
Mr. Mizuno nodded.
“He’s right.” Gray’s voice was deeper than normal. “If there’s a time limit, we need to know.” He was silent for another moment. “How long do we have to free him?”
“That’s one of the aspects we aren’t clear about,” Ms. Ventor explained. “It could depend on a variety of factors; including the strength of the Magical who made the crystal and the strength of the Magical trapped inside.”
“Knowing Neil, he’s stubborn enough to give us plenty of time to get him out.” Gray’s confidence brought a smile to my lips. “Okay, the first thing we need to do is talk to my father. He loves studying history. I’m sure he’s read about these crystals before.”
The silence was so deafening, I almost preferred the awkward pause from earlier.
“Gray—” I hesitated.
“We tried to contact your father earlier to inform him of the attack, but we’ve been unable to reach him so far.” Mr. Mizuno seemed to have taken it upon himself to be the bearer of all bad news.
“So where is he?” He looked between the teachers, but no one would make eye contact with him.
“He’s not missing exactly.” Ms. Ventor tiptoed around the truth. “But he hasn’t been seen since he left Ackley after his last visit.”
“That was days ago.” Gray buried his head in his hands.
“Maybe he’s in one of his research moods. You know how he gets. He’ll avoid people for days when he’s found a new book to s-study. He even forgets to eat sometimes.” I sent him a small smile, ignoring the room tilting around me.
Gray glanced at me, gaze flat. “Yeah, maybe.”
“But with the string of disappearances lately, it’s best to be prepared. Especially with Miss Hart taken straight from the Academy. We shouldn’t assume anyone is safe right now.”
If I had Fire Magic I’d sear off Mr. Kaji’s eyebrows for his extremely terrible timing. Couldn’t he see Gray needed time to adjust before finding out about Ivy?
“Ivy’s gone, too?” Gray’s voice was so quiet it was only possible to hear because the rest of the office was dead silent.
I squeezed his hand again, but there was no response.
Face expressionless, Gray stood and walked to the door.
I hurried to follow him. “Wait.” I reached out a hand toward him, and it morphed into two hands. The room spun and my legs gave out. “Gray,” I mumbled, before unconsciousness claimed me in her embrace of blissful ignorance.
When I woke again, I was back in the infirmary. Gray dozed in the chair next to me.
I struggled to sit up.
He opened his eyes and stretched. “You’re awake.” He leaned forward. “Don’t scare me like that, Em.” He gave me a half-grin, but his eyes were dull.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I promise I’m okay.” I stretched and sat up, feeling refreshed. “What’d I miss? How long was I out for?”
“Only a few hours.” He frowned. “Not as much as I missed when I was asleep.”
“Are you okay?” I turned to face him, ignoring my stuffy head.
“I will be,” he assured me. “Right now, everything is overwhelming, but now that you’re awake, I can cross that off my list of reasons to panic.”
He tried to act like his usual joking self, but without the happiness that always accompanied his jokes, the words staggered from his mouth like wounded soldiers, dying before they even made it to me.
I folded the edge of my blanket and peeked at Gray. “Why do you think that man took Ivy?”
He sat next to me, and the bed dipped under his weight. “I was thinking of that while you were asleep. I have a theory of my own.”
I pleated the blanket again. “What is it?”
“Remember when you and Ivy talked about how all the Magicals who had disappeared were strong?”
I nodded.
“And Ivy’s birthday is also in the first cycle of the red season…” He trailed off, glancing between me and the sheets I creased.
My hands stilled. “You think Ivy’s the missing princess?”
He watched my hands. “I know I laughed when you brought it up earlier, but it makes sense.”
I bit my lip. “Ivy’s parents died when she was young.”
His hands tightened on his knees. “How could we not have known?”
I shook my head. “There’s no way Ivy knew. She would’ve told us.” I took a deep breath. “Looking at everything that’s wrong all at once will make us depressed. What we need to do is break this into manageable pieces.” Neil or Ivy? “I’m not sure what we can do about Ivy at the moment, so maybe we should focus on Neil.” Neither of us mentioned Howie.
“If only we had some way to find that two-faced fire eater,” Gray growled. “We could defeat him and get Ivy back.”
“That’s it! Gray, you’re a genius! We need Oliver!”
“Oliver?” For the first time in two days, Gray’s eyes lit up to their usual shimmering silver. “You’re right. He can help us track Ivy’s magic. He knows her.”
“More importantly, he knows her magic. Neil told me the more familiar Oliver is with someone’s magic, the easier it is for him to find their imprint.”
Aside from Gray waking, that was the best news I'd received in days.
We shared an excited grin. He stood. “Okay, I’ll talk to Oliver.”
I grabbed his sleeve to stop him. “Wait, what should I do?”
“You should go to the library to research the Arresting Crystals and look for any info on how we could possibly defeat that Dark Magical.”
The concern in his expression hit me square in the chest. He was worried about me like I was worried about him. Ackley was no longer the safe place it used to be.
I flinched at the idea of being near Neil while he was trapped in that horrible crystal, but I hurried to cover it up. I could handle it for him. Even though just being near it made me feel tainted.
“You’ll have to go to the head teachers to get permission, though. The library is off-limits for students right now because of the attack and the Arresting Crystal.”
“Okay, I’ll research, and you fi
nd Oliver.” Our plan of action gave me a way to breathe under my crushing pile of worries and concerns.
“I’ll meet you there when I’m done,” he promised before walking out the door.
The next few days passed in a blur of research and meetings. Gray and I were constantly pulled out of the library to talk to the teachers.
“Do you remember anything else about the attacks?”
“Had we ever seen the man before?”
“Do we know how Gray woke from his coma?”
The questions never stopped, and I grew less patient each time we were called away from our research.
Classes were canceled while the teachers reinforced security around the school. More Magicals from the Koban were called into the school, and the outer edges of campus were marked off-limits until Headmistress Elsie returned.
As a result, rumors flew among the students faster than information flowed via the communication crystals. Some claimed the man was a phantom who made it through the wards around campus. Others said it was actually a whole group of men that snuck onto campus. Either the man completely shut down all the security measures put in place or there were no security measures. He was gone and never coming back. He’d be back for more girls and no one was safe. Gossip was the seventh magic for students at Ackley Institute.
Too many days after the intrusion, the headmistress finally returned. Gray and I were called in to repeat our version of that night to her. She listened tensely to our stories, not interrupting, but her face grew darker with each passing minute.
With her return, new rules were enforced. We were no longer allowed to go to our weeping willow tree at the edge of campus, we had to be in our own rooms by nine, and students were discouraged from walking around alone.
The teachers constantly comforted the students with the extra security measures and new school rules, but the threat of danger permeated the school grounds. The new security was a constant reminder of the dangers lurking. Was anywhere safe?
Despite the fact that life had changed irrevocably for Gray and me, everyone else returned to normal once classes resumed. The whole school missed Neil and Ivy, but no one more than the two of us. A hollow feeling grew inside me each time I returned to my empty dorm room or ate lunch alone.
Unleashed Magic (The Chronicles of Andar Book 1) Page 18