She helped her grandmother out of the car and guided her through the park.
“Did I tell you I can smell magic?” Rose asked.
“You can? I thought people could see magic.”
Rose led Grandmother around a cluster of picnic tables that had more than one occupant. At least one person looked in their direction but didn’t try to intercept them.
“Some can,” Rose went on. “I can’t see it at all, but I can smell it. Sometimes it smells like irises and I think of you.” Rose told her about the other ways people could perceive magic.
When they neared the trees, Rose squinted. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw the fey world through the Slit. She could still go back. She could show it to her grandmother one more time.
“Are you ready?” Rose asked.
“Rose, my darling, I’ve been ready for sixty years.” Her eyes were focused on the trees, drinking them in as if they could vanish at any moment and she would never see them again.
Rose tucked Grandmother’s hand over her arm. “One last adventure.”
“So much better than doctoring pies.”
Laughing, Rose guided her forward.
Chapter 31
As soon as they were through the Slit, it closed behind them. Rose didn’t care because her grandmother was smiling, eyes fastened on Pearl, who was flying down from a tree. Rose, however, was focused on the group of people off to the side.
Waterfall was there, as were a subdued-looking Alda and Everblue. Silverlight was holding his hands strangely, like they were bound together. Beside them were Summersky, George, Moonbeam, and Fireheart.
Pearl settled onto Rose’s shoulder, and for a time, she ignored the fey who were certain to be even angrier than they had been before.
“Grandmother, let me introduce you to Pearl. Pearl, could my grandmother pet you?”
Silverlight gasped. “Iris…”
Beside him, Waterfall and Fireheart stiffened.
Rose didn’t let them distract her for long, staying as focused as she could on Pearl and her grandmother. The little dragon considered Rose’s request before nodding and stretching out her neck. Grandmother reached out a trembling hand and gently brushed her fingers over the top of the dragon’s head. Pearl hummed, and with a giggle, Grandmother rubbed her head again.
“You are a pretty one. Why, all the lads must fight over you,” Grandmother cooed.
The moment was broken when George marched over. “Foolish girl. What have you done now? Bringing a human here?”
Grandmother stopped petting Pearl and stood up straighter. “Mind your tongue. That’s my granddaughter, and you won’t speak to her that way.”
“She has violated our laws by bringing you here.”
“Pish, I would have come years ago if I could have opened the portal. Besides, I’m old. Even if I went back and told the world, people would just say that age and medicine had gotten to me and I’d finally lost the few marbles I had left.”
George didn’t seem to know what to say to that, which was for the best. Another coughing fit came over Grandmother and she doubled over, leaning heavily on Rose.
“You can do want you like to me, but you won’t ruin this moment for her,” Rose said over her grandmother’s crumpled form.
Moonbeam hurried over, laying a hand on Grandmother’s forehead. Instantly the wheezing stopped and her breathing eased. “Pneumonia. And cancer.”
“Can you do anything for her?” Rose had known her grandmother was in bad shape, but hearing it like that only reaffirmed that she’d made the right choice. If Grandmother was going to go out that way, she deserved a little fun first.
“I can ease the symptoms, make sure she’s not in pain, but at this point, it is beyond my ability.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here. I may be old and sick, but I’m still breathing.”
“Sorry, Grandmother.” Rose rubbed her back as she stood up again. As ill as she had looked in the pond, the reality was worse. When she saw her grandmother coughing so much she could hardly move, she knew that the end was truly coming.
Biting the inside of her cheek, Rose forced the tears not to fall. Seeing this world had been her grandmother’s dream and she wouldn’t ruin it with sorrow. The memories would stay, the love would stay, but the stolen moments would only be in her daydreams. There would be no pretending that they would be laughing and plotting how to doctor next year’s pie if only they were in the same world.
Pearl made a soft chirp and nuzzled Grandmother. With a smile, Grandmother gently scratched under Pearl’s chin.
Movement caught Rose’s eye, and she turned just enough to see Fireheart walking over, his eyes fixed on Grandmother.
“Iris? Is that you?”
Grandmother’s hand fell away from Pearl, who huffed, pushed off Rose’s shoulder, and lazily flapped over to a nearby tree.
A ball of light appeared overhead as Fireheart tilted her grandmother’s chin up. His eyes searched her face. “I never thought… After all these years, to see you again…”
Reaching up, she took his hand in hers. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“Like what?” Fireheart asked.
Grandmother pinched a loose fold of skin between two fingers. “A young spirit trapped in an expired wrapper.”
He smoothed down the skin on her arm, running his hand up her shoulder and neck to cup her cheek. “It was the spirit that enchanted me all those years ago. The package was simply where that spirit lived, and age has only made it more beautiful. Don’t berate the form that helped you all these years. It has done its best by you.”
“Just like last time, you have all the right words.”
“They are the truth.”
“Perhaps in your eyes,” Grandmother conceded. She smiled at him, and the smile he gave her in return had a touch of the same love and tenderness that Rose had seen pass between her own parents.
“This is touching, but how do you know this human?” George demanded to know.
Rose closed her eyes, knowing that yelling at him wouldn’t do any good. George could always be trusted to ruin a beautiful moment.
Fireheart answered without looking away from Grandmother. “Years ago—”
“Sixty years ago,” Grandmother clarified.
“Yes, sixty years ago I brought her here for a single night. Iris was as fey hearted as any human I’d ever met, and I thought she’d be happy here. Due to my experience with fey hearted, the treis let me take on most of the responsibilities. I took her through the garden, explained what life would be like, and then told her the terms. She cried, for she wanted nothing more than to come here, but she wouldn’t leave her child or husband. Iris cried again when I told her I would return her home with no memory of this place.” Fireheart took a deep breath, clearly nervous to tell the truth of what happened that night.
“She begged me to let her have this one night,” he went on, “so she could know what was here and hold the memories close. She vowed that she would never tell another soul, but if she went home without the memory, she would always wonder, always hope. It was the one time I failed my duty. I returned her to her bed but didn’t remove so much as a single memory of the night.” Fireheart sighed. “What you may not remember, George, is that my wife had died not long before. I went looking for a fey hearted hoping that teaching would give me something to do, keep me from dwelling on the pain.”
“You stopped looking after that,” Summersky said. “I always wondered what happened, but you seemed more alive all of a sudden so I never questioned it.”
“It was that night. Iris reminded me that family, even the ones you don’t love as you should, is worth everything.”
George’s face reddened, his eyes narrowed. “You reckless fool! She could have told the humans about us. Why, they might be trying to find a way here as we speak, and that one—” George pointed to Rose “—is in on it.”
Fireheart’s voice hardened. “I am many things, Geo
rge, but I am no fool. I did bind her with magic so I would know if she told anyone of her night here. She never said a word.”
George opened his mouth, but Rose quickly said, “She never told, not to my knowledge. Oh, she told me countless stories of elves, magic, unicorns, dragons, and even some fey, but while there are shared features between this place and some of those stories, they were not of the fey world.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to tell the truth about your grandmother,” George spat.
“You must lead such a sad life if you can’t believe the truth,” Grandmother said.
“George,” Summersky said, “leave it be. If she had told the humans, they would have tried to find a way into our world long before now and we would’ve heard of those efforts. I trust Fireheart and so should you.” She looked over her shoulder. “Now we must decide what to do with the two of them.”
Waterfall shook his head. “I am too close to the situation.”
She frowned and studied George. “You are too biased. Fireheart is involved, and I do not feel able to make a decision like this on my own.”
A second dragon dropped out of the sky and rested on the branch next to Pearl. Rose thought it was Cobalt, but in this light, it was hard to say.
Summersky nodded. “Yes, I’ll leave it to the elementals. What should be done with Iris?”
Pearl cocked her head and chirped. The dragon next to her took off, rising above the trees and shooting a jet of flame high into the air. At the same time, Pearl pushed her way between Fireheart and Grandmother, creating space.
It will be all right, Fireheart mouthed.
Grandmother nodded. If she said anything to Fireheart, Rose didn’t hear it.
Rose bit her lip, hoping Fireheart was right. When she’d bargained with the magic, it hadn’t included bringing her grandmother back. She hoped the magic understood and wouldn’t punish Grandmother for Rose’s actions.
Pearl started flying around the clearing. Before long she was joined by gem-colored moths, small perytons, Esmeralda, some other fevians, and more small dragons, including Cobalt. They were all flying different speeds but in the same circle.
At some signal Rose couldn’t perceive, they broke from the pattern and headed to Grandmother, forming a new circle around her. In seconds she was shielded from view by the elemental fey. The smell of irises and spring filled Rose’s nose until it obliterated any other odor.
A peryton buck flew overhead, and a single piece of paper dropped from his mouth. It landed at Rose’s feet, but she was too busy watching the mass of creatures surrounding her grandmother to pick it up just yet. Then the creatures broke away from Grandmother, scattering into the woods.
Through their fleeing forms, Rose saw her grandmother crumple to the ground. She reached out, but there was nothing she could do without hurting the elemental fey who were still between them. Facing the same problem, Fireheart balled his hands into fists.
Pearl resumed her perch on the tree, and with the creatures now out of the way, Fireheart hurried forward. Rose started to follow, but the crinkle of paper underfoot reminded her of the sheet the peryton had dropped. She knelt down and picked it up. She brushed the dirt off and tilted it so that the light shone on the words:
What more could we ask for than a lifetime of belief, keeping of our secrets, and the integrity to honor the commitments she made? For that, we give to her what has been lost.
Rose hurried over to her grandmother and got there just as Fireheart smoothed the hair away from Grandmother’s face. Only it wasn’t Grandmother’s face, at least not as Rose remembered it. But she had seen that face once before, in an old album full of photos from when her mother was a child. There had been a few, just a few, of a much younger Grandmother.
All around the clearing, people gasped. Her flesh was young and smooth, and her cheeks full. Looking down, Rose saw that the changes weren’t just in Grandmother’s face. Her arms were firm, without the sagging skin or discolored age spots. The fey had given her back her youth.
“What did the paper say?” Fireheart asked.
Rose read it aloud, and even George was too surprised to say anything.
“Iris? Iris, please wake up.” Fireheart gently shook her shoulder.
Her eyes fluttered, and she looked at the two of them before blinking rapidly, as if bringing them into focus. “Did I fall?” She sucked in a breath and lifted a hand to her chest. “It doesn’t hurt to talk or breathe. What did they do to me?”
Rose held out the paper with a shaky hand. “Grandmother, they made you young again.”
“No one can do that. Not even these people with their magic.”
“The elemental fey can,” Fireheart said.
“Just read it.” Rose shook the paper.
Grandmother took it, eyes widening when she saw her own arm. After reading the note, she stood up, tugged on a pant leg, and looked at the healthy limb hiding underneath. When she staggered, probably from shock, Rose and Fireheart were there to steady her.
“My joints don’t hurt. I feel strong again.” She looked at the two of them. “What does this mean?”
Fireheart smiled. “It means, Iris the fey hearted, you can live the rest of your life here. You’ve gotten the last sixty years back.”
“And my family?”
George cleared his throat. “I think we can get the magic to arrange things so they believe you died peacefully in your sleep. It should be easier than erasing their memories of you.”
Grandmother—it still felt like the right thing to call her, even if she did look almost as young as Rose—turned and swept her into a hug. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here, giving me this chance.”
Rose smiled through her tears. “I had to. I love you.”
“I love you, too, darling.”
Chapter 32
Watching Rose and Iris embrace, Silverlight felt the worry about his forthcoming punishment wash away. He’d known from the time he decided to break Rose out of the healing house that he wouldn’t be able to get away with it. Oh, Alda and Everblue had helped him plan, and they’d hoped their involvement would go unnoticed, but even with Pearl’s friends helping with the distraction, he’d known someone would figure out who was behind it all.
But the joy in Rose, Iris, and Fireheart was worth it. They deserved this. They’d all made sacrifices, and it was time for some good to come from them.
Rose pulled back from hugging her grandmother and sent a smile in his direction. He smiled back, but his smile faded when she paled, gasped for air, and collapsed to the ground clutching her throat.
“Rose!” Silverlight ran to her, knowing there wasn’t much he could do with his hands bound. He slid to his knees beside Fireheart and Iris.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Iris asked.
“Rose? Talk to me,” Fireheart said.
Her hand flailed, and Silverlight caught it between his. She squeezed, hardly enough pressure to be noticed, and he squeezed back. “I’m here.”
Moonbeam knelt down, resting a hand on Rose’s forehead. She snatched her hand back, eyes wide.
“You need to hear this,” Waterfall said.
Silverlight twisted around to see his father holding another scrap of paper. Waterfall was pale and his hand was shaking.
“The magic used must be returned,” he read aloud. “It is the price for what you sought.”
“What does that mean?” Silverlight snapped.
Moonbeam answered in an uneven voice. “She had become fey. They are taking the magic from her body. If they take enough, it will kill her.”
“No! Rose, why did you risk that?” Iris demanded.
Rose drew a raspy breath. “Worth it. Love. Family.”
“How much magic are they taking?” Silverlight asked, afraid he knew the answer. He took a deep breath, trying to hold back the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Rose couldn’t die. Not yet.
“I’m guessing they’re reclaiming every bit of magic she used t
o open the Slit,” Alda said as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I found her blood contract. She changed it to be able to leave the fey world, and it allows for expended magic to be recovered at any cost.”
Dyna’s words came back to him. You do not understand what the magic can do. Now, he understood.
Rose’s eyes moved, and Everblue knelt down and touched her arm.
Silverlight felt a hand rest on his shoulder and turned to see his father looking down at him with sympathy in his eyes. The bonds vanished from Silverlight’s hands.
“How long does she have?” Fireheart asked.
“A few minutes, at the most,” Moonbeam said gravely.
As much as Silverlight wanted to shout at her, demand she do something to save Rose’s life, he knew it was outside her capabilities. If magic was being pulled from Rose, the only thing Moonbeam’s involvement would do was put her at risk.
He held Rose’s hand and wished he could go back in time. He would do everything differently just to spare Rose this end. He would never have shown her the pool, he would have found a more permanent way to deal with Dyna, and he would have asked his father more questions. Rose had been getting to the point where she could contribute to their society, and he knew she would have loved what was to come. Her life here had only just begun.
Pearl drifted down from the tree and landed on Rose’s chest, making soft reassuring sounds. When Iris went to move the dragon, Fireheart caught her hand and shook his head. Weight on her chest wasn’t going to make Rose die any faster, and the little dragon loved Rose.
Rose tried to smile at Pearl, and the effort she put into the tiny movement of her lips brought tears to Silverlight’s eyes. He looked away so she wouldn’t see him cry.
Then the sounds Pearl was making changed. They were still soft and comforting, but they were growing more and more like human humming. Silverlight noticed reoccurring notes. As soon as he heard them, he recognized the pattern that Pearl kept repeating.
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