“I’ll stop Solana with my dying breath if I have to.”
Mom smiled, but there was a bittersweet look in her eyes. Like she wanted to be happy but somehow wasn’t allowed to be.
“How I wish I could have been with you when you were growing up,” she said, sadly. “How I wish I could be with you now and see all the things you’ve accomplished. You’re so strong. So, so strong. The Rivera family would be so proud of you if they only knew.”
“I get my strength from you.”
“I don’t doubt that. Now you must use your strength to stop unspeakable evil. You must stop Solana before she hurts more children. If you don’t stop her, she will summon Moloch . . . and blood will run deep when she does.”
“Oh, believe me, I’m working on it.”
She looked back towards the window, but her eyes saw nothing beyond the glass. Instead, her gaze turned inward to her own thoughts.
“I have to go soon,” she said, growing restless.
“No, wait!”
“Before I go I must tell you two things . . . and you must listen.”
“I always listen to you, Mom.”
She leaned further down the bed towards me, reaching out her hand to me, but her fingers couldn’t quite bridge the gap between us. It was as though she was somehow forbidden from touching me, like if she inched closer something terrible would happen.
“That man you sleep with,” she began. “Logan Hawthorne . . . ”
“My partner?” I asked, completely baffled that she knew anything about him. “Technically, we’re not sleeping together, we’re just sharing a room. And even if we were sleeping together, I know he’s not a faerie like us, but—”
“Regardless of his birth, he is a good man. Pure of heart. Keep him close.”
“Um . . . could you be more specific?” I asked. A laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. It was my dream, after all. I had questions.
She shrank back away from me and glanced over her shoulder as if she was being watched.
“The second thing will save you all,” she said. “It will stop Solana from unleashing chaos and forcing her evil up into the surface world. It will save the children of Yarbrough. It will bring them back.”
Hanging on her every word, I leaned towards her, my heart hammering hard in my chest.
“Do you remember your way around the castle?” she asked, holding out her hand towards the door.
“Of course. It’s our home! I mean, it used to be our home.”
“Then you’ll remember the library.”
“Yeah!”
When I was a child I spent tons of time in the library, although there was a section that I was forbidden from entering. I remembered its green door down in the lower level of the castle. No one could enter that area except the high council and my mom and dad. There were rumors around the castle that ancient secrets were kept in there, magical ones that were too powerful for ordinary subjects to know about. Even as a young princess, and the heir apparent, I was never allowed to see them.
“Now is your time to learn what lies inside that part of the library,” my mom explained. “Now is your time to learn the secrets it holds.”
“How exactly do I do that?” I asked, bewildered.
“You will know how.”
She stood up and walked back to the armchair in the shadows, sinking herself deep down into it.
“Mom, wait!”
I still had a thousand things to ask her, and a thousand more to tell her. I wanted to tell her I loved her. Wanted to hold her and smell her comforting, familiar scent. I wanted to feel like I was a kid again, safe in her arms.
“I must go,” she said, dissolving into the darkness.
“But Mom! What about the library!”
“You will find what you need within its walls,” she breathed, her figure shrinking into the shadows.
“Wait, don’t go! How can I get into the library? Solana lives in our castle now!”
I leaped off the bed and ran to the chair, but as I reached it, I saw it was empty.
“Mom? Mom! Mom!”
A short, sharp gasp stung my chest as I struggled to breathe, and the next thing I knew I was sitting upright in bed, crying. My hair was still wet from my shower, and my heart was thundering so fast it felt like it was about to explode.
“Elena?” called a voice nearby. “You okay?”
“I had the craziest dream!” I cried.
“So I gathered,” Logan said, reaching over and turning on the little light above the bed. He looked down at me and stepped into the bathroom, coming back with something in his hand. “What was it about? Your mom?”
“Yeah . . . ”
Looking out the window, I saw it was still dark. Beneath me, there were no green silk sheets and no earthen smell of the fae realm. The summer night air was fresh, but it wasn’t the same as it had been in my dream.
“Here,” said Logan, handing me a wad of toilet paper as he sat down next to me. I wiped my eyes and blew my nose as I tried to gather my bearings.
“It didn’t feel like a dream,” I told him, throwing the used toilet paper at the little trash can in the corner. I missed. “My mom came to see me. It felt so real. She was sitting where you are now and it felt so real.”
Logan gave a sleepy, sympathetic smile and wrapped one of his long arms around my shoulders. I kept waiting for him to offer words of wisdom or try to bring up how he dealt with things when his own mom died, but he just sat with me, rubbing my shoulder, giving silent comfort.
I recalled what Mom had said about him . . . that he was pure of heart, that I should keep him close. As I looked into his eyes, I wondered how to interpret her message. Given that he’d pulled me out of a car seconds before it blew up, he was definitely a good person to have nearby.
“My mom told me how to solve this case,” I told him.
“Oh yeah? What did she say?”
“That I had to go into the library,” I said.
“Yarbrough doesn’t have a library.”
“No, I mean the library in the castle I grew up in. She said there was something in there that would help lead us to the missing children. But I don’t know how I could get in there.”
“Can’t you go in the same way you came out?”
“Technically, yes, but there’s a bounty on my head, remember? If I set foot in The Hollows, let alone Elphame, Solana would have me killed on sight.”
“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to be there in person,” Logan said with a wink.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, I think there might be a way to get you in that library without entering the fae realm. A way Sylvia knows about.”
“Ohhh . . . right . . . ” I said, nodding slowly. One last shudder rippled though me, leaving behind relief and a desperate need for sleep.
“My mom also said to keep you close.”
“Oh yeah?” he smiled softly. “How close?”
“I’m not really sure,” I shrugged.
“Do you want me to stay here until you fall asleep?”
I felt my face flush ever so slightly. “If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.” He scooted down until he was lying down next to me. “If your mom came back from the grave and said she wanted me to stay close, then I’ll stay close.” He reached up and turned off the light, laughing softly in the dark. “You know I’m a momma’s boy.”
28
Logan
“Agent Rivera! And Agent Hawthorne! How nice to see you again!”
“I feel like this place is my second home now,” I laughed, stepping into Sylvia’s hallway, nearly tripping over three cats in the process. Thankfully, I’d decided against wrecking my other suit. I’d gone with hiking boots, a dark blue polo shirt, and my favorite tactical pants, made specifically for walking through briars and thorns. The cats would be no match for me.
“I had a feeling you’d both be back here,” said Sylvia, leading us bo
th down to the kitchen. “I just baked cookies.”
The smell of cinnamon and sugar permeated the house, giving a much-needed break from the fragrance of rotting wood and cat piss.
“That’s so kind of you,” said Elena, taking a seat at the kitchen table. After sleeping in late, I’d gone for a run. Then we’d gone to the diner for lunch, where she’d eaten a full order of chocolate chip pancakes topped with whipped cream, a strawberry milkshake topped with more whipped cream, and a doughnut. But that didn’t stop Elena from grabbing a cookie off the metal baking sheet. I swear that girl had a hollow leg.
It was still hot, and she winced as it burned her fingertips, but that didn’t stop her from sinking her teeth into its sweetness.
“Mmm . . . These are great!” she said with her mouth full and reached for another one. “I’ve got the biggest sweet tooth.”
“I’m surprised you have any teeth at all,” I said, taking a seat beside her and removing my Nationals hat. But there were a lot of things that surprised me about Elena. Her sugar consumption was by far the weirdest.
“As nice as it is to have company, I assume you came here for a reason,” said Sylvia, taking a seat. “What’s brought you back again so soon?”
As she sat down across from me, her eyes landed on the bandage on my temple.
“Goodness, Agent Hawthorne. What happened to you?”
“Someone tried to kill us,” explained Elena with her mouth still full. “But we’re fine.”
“Someone tried to kill you?”
“It’s just a scratch,” I said as Elena dipped her hand into the tray for cookie number three. “We came to ask you more about remote viewing.”
Sylvia tensed in her seat. I could tell she wasn’t in the mood to be sent on another psychic adventure.
“Not for you,” I quickly added. “For Elena. We need you to show her how to do it.”
“Really?” Sylvia asked, grinning widely at the prospect of someone seeking out her expertise.
“Really,” Elena said, gulping down the mouthful of cookie. “I need you to guide me somewhere. A place from my childhood.”
“You do? Oh, Agent Rivera! I’d be delighted to help you on your journey! But I won’t do it unless you promise me one thing.” She leaned closer to us, giving Elena a stern look. “This place you’re going. Is it dangerous?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
Elena was smiling as she spoke, the corners of her delicate mouth curling up as she chewed. I could see the excitement in her, the light in her eyes. I could almost see her want to bounce up and down in her chair like a kid stepping into Disneyland.
Sylvia slid her hand across the table and grasped Elena’s fingers.
“Are you are sure it’s not dangerous? I could never forgive myself if . . . if you got hurt.”
“It’s my childhood home,” Elena said with a dismissive wave of the hand. “It’s only dangerous if someone sees me there. That won’t happen, will it? No one will be able to sense I’m there, will they?”
“No. You’ll be looking at things just like you were watching them on TV. But things will be more vivid. You’ll be able to feel the temperature and smell your surroundings. You’ll even be able to taste things. You’ll feel the pain or happiness of whoever you see.”
“It sounds like the most immersive virtual reality experience,” I grinned.
“That’s exactly it,” said Sylvia. “It’s like being there in real life. It’s not for everyone.”
We all fell silent for a moment, looking at each other as we contemplated what we were about to do.
“You won’t be alone,” Sylvia eventually said to Elena. “I’ll guide you. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“Me too,” I chimed in. “On this side, anyway.”
Elena smiled and polished off her last cookie.
“I’m ready,” she said, wiping her hands on her jeans. “Let’s do this.”
We were back in the living room once again, the three of us sitting cross-legged on the floor as the early afternoon sunshine poured through the windows. The light and the warmth was so strong it was almost oppressive, and I found it impossible not to yawn. All around us, cats congregated and draped themselves on every available cushion and piece of furniture.
A gentle meow sounded nearby, and a moment later I felt a soft nuzzle against the back of my elbow. I looked down and saw Lafayette’s dark face looking up at me with wide green eyes.
“Hey, little dude.”
He meowed back in greeting and I scratched under his chin, then ran my hand down his patchy, unevenly shaved black fur. It was meant to appease him and send him on his way. Instead, he took it as an invitation to climb into my lap. I scrubbed my hand down my face as he morphed himself into a furry loaf shape across my inner thighs. The only thing separating his murder mittens from my balls was a pair of boxers and these fancy tactical pants. I guess it was time to see if they were a good investment or not.
“Alright then, Lafayette . . . go on and make yourself right at home, I guess.”
Lafayette looked up at me with a serene expression and began to purr in response. I swear he was grinning at me. It wasn’t a sweet, friendly grin, either. It was the kind of grin you give when you’re secretly telling someone to go fuck themselves.
“He likes you,” said Sylvia, smiling sweetly at us. “He’s always been aloof, but he likes you quite a bit. He told me so.”
Sure he did, Sylvia. Sure he did.
She was sitting near the coffee table, lighting what felt like the hundredth white candle. Beside her, Elena fidgeted impatiently. Every so often, her eyes would flick over to mine, but when I returned her gaze, she would glance away. I’m sure she was nervous. The last time we’d done this, Sylvia’s face had caved in and been replaced with a black hole of chaos. I thought about that happening to Elena and tried to put the image out of my mind.
“Okay, are we ready?” Sylvia asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” replied Elena.
“Okay, I want you to hold this.”
She placed a pen in Elena’s hand and poised it over a sheet of paper.
“Did you bring a blindfold? It might be hard to keep your eyes closed the entire time.”
I fished one of my neckties out of my pants pocket and handed it to Sylvia, who tied it around Elena’s head.
“Now, you’re a beginner, but you’re fae. You should have enough natural psychic ability to do this,” she said. “But you haven’t done this before. You’ll have to follow all of my instructions to the letter. Do you understand?”
“I do,” promised Elena, gripping the pen tighter.
“Okay, I want you to think of where you want to go. Name the place.”
“The library,” said Elena.
“Be as specific as you can, honey. There’s a lot of libraries out there.”
“I want to go to the library in my parents’ castle.”
“Good. Hold the image of it in your mind.”
Elena clenched her jaw tight and pressed the tip of her pen to the page.
“You got it?”
“Yep.”
“Okay . . . Now I want you to be there. Not just dream you’re there, but really be there.”
“How do I do that?”
“You switch off your conscious mind,” explained Sylvia.
“How could I ever do that!”
“Stop talking. Stop thinking. Stop doing anything. Just be . . . Just be in your subconscious.”
Elena clenched her jaw even tighter, but I could see she was struggling to complete the impossible task.
“Just be in my subconscious?” she repeated. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“Okay,” said Sylvia, moving so she was sitting behind Elena. “Where do you feel that you live?”
“Huh? I live outside of Washington, DC.”
“No, I mean your feelings. Where do they live?”
“In my head, obviously,” said Elena, becoming annoy
ed.
“No, no! I mean your true feelings. When you’re angry, where do you feel it? When you’re sad, where does that darkness lie? When you’re feeling lovey-dovey about someone, where in your body sparks to life?”
Elena thought for a second, then placed her free hand onto her stomach.
“In here.”
“That’s right,” said Sylvia, reaching around to cradle Elena from behind. “In your gut. That’s why it’s called a gut feeling, right? You’re an FBI agent. You go after the bad guys. You must’ve had a gut feeling before about a case. A hunch maybe?”
“Yeah,” said Elena. “All the time.”
“We’re going to draw on that feeling now,” said Sylvia, placing her hand over Elena’s.
The two of them sat there, holding onto Elena’s stomach as though it held the key to everything. Given how much she was capable of eating in a day, I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn it had magical abilities.
“Draw on this gut feeling,” said Sylvia. “This is where the subconscious lies.”
Elena fell silent for a moment, but I could see her whole body relax.
“I’m there!” she suddenly blurted out. “I’m in the castle! I don’t mean I’m just imagining it—it’s like I’m really there! I can smell it. Oooh, I can feel how cold the stone walls are. I can . . . feel the breeze coming through the open windows.”
Although her eyes were still shut, her face was filled with wonder.
“Where are you?” asked Sylvia.
“I’m on the staircase that goes down to the lower level of the castle. It’s dark. Pretty damp. It’s nothing like what it was when I was a child.”
“What do you hear?”
“Distant murmuring,” said Elena. “Like there are dozens of people above me. I can hear their voices traveling through the ceiling.”
Suddenly, she shuddered like she’d come across something hostile.
“What is it?” asked Sylvia.
“This was my home when I was a kid,” she said. “Except it’s nothing like I remember it. It used to be happy. But now it’s . . . dark.”
“Explain the darkness,” urged Sylvia.
Wiretaps & Whiskers (The Faerie Files Book 1) Page 27