by Sela Croft
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “I think I’ll take you up on it.” I’d called his bluff, but Bram didn’t retract the offer. He was apparently willing for me to find him.
I looked at Callie, reluctant to leave her. She seemed to be resting peacefully, much as she had when at Morrigan’s castle. Delay would only worsen matters. I was determined to reach Callie and her sister, then get them back.
Noah gazed up at me. “I assure you that I’ll look after Callie and Rosamon. I’ll guard them with my life and use all my power to protect them.”
When I didn’t respond, Noah added, “You must go. I don’t see any other way. You need to convince Bram to assist us.”
It was my duty to go. One of us had to stay behind as a guard, and one of us had to locate Bram. The latter responsibility fell to me. I kneeled beside Callie and kissed her cheek. “I won’t fail you,” I said. Then I nodded at Noah, before going on my way.
I spoke to Bram and he talked to me steadily. I followed the sound of his voice to trail it to his cell.
“I’ve had my eye on you for some time, vampire prince,” Bram said. “What I’ve seen has impressed me, I must say.”
I listened to his flattery without allowing it to affect me. I remained vigilant in my task to discover his location. The voice led me through narrow hallways and up several flights of stairs. My power was useful in tossing aside a couple of heavy wooden beams blocking the way.
It was difficult to judge how far I’d come. The voice grew ever closer, so I forged ahead without considering whether I’d be able to find my way back to my friends.
At long last, I rounded a corner and came upon a brightly lit space. A shimmering cage was positioned on a high platform. The bars of the cage sparkled like gold, seemingly in contrast to its purpose. It contained the body of a middle-aged male. He had dark hair and dark brown eyes that seemed to hold knowledge that others weren’t privy to.
I stepped closer, but Bram didn’t move. He couldn’t.
“I’m sorry that I can’t shake your hand, vampire prince.” The sorcerer’s brown eyes reflected a deep-seated hatred that I attributed to his fury at being held captive. “I’ve been frozen in place, since the moment I was incarcerated.”
Chapter 22
Callie
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. The mirror in the chamber had revealed a vision of our bedroom at home. Astoria, Oregon hadn’t looked as wonderful before.
Then Rosamon had reached toward our bedroom and touched the mirror. She’d instantly collapsed.
I recalled grabbing my sister. Then I’d seen her beckon to me from the other side of the mirror. I wanted to go to her. We’d just been reunited; I couldn’t lose her again. Then I’d touched my fingertips to the cool glass of the mirror.
Suddenly, I was standing beside my sister at the top of the stairs of our house. It took me a moment to get oriented. I was back home, my real home in Astoria, and we were together. Out the window at the end of the upstairs hall, I saw my beloved forest.
The thick grove of trees hadn’t changed. I’d been gone but they’d stayed the same. It was comforting. The house was nice and warm. That’s how my mother Emma kept it to shield us from the biting cold of winter. My heart swelled over being home; it meant more to me than I’d known.
My sister took my hand and we turned toward our bedroom. I sensed her touch, but oddly, didn’t feel her body heat. And the delicate scent of her hair was missing. I looked at the mirror on the back of the closet door but didn’t see either of our reflections.
I didn’t feel that different but perceived that I was. My only other experience like that was when I’d traveled with Morrigan. I hoped that the visit to our home wouldn’t be as traumatic. And I didn’t see how it could be anything but good. It felt too right to be in our very own bedroom.
“Do you understand what’s happened?” I said.
“Our forms are magical projections,” my sister said. “Our physical bodies are in the prison chamber, but our souls and minds are here.”
“The mirror did that?”
“Yes, it did,” Rosamon said. “The mirrors can be an aid to magic. While I was in my cell, I learned how to project my form as an illusion. We should be all right.”
“It’s not uncomfortable, or frightening, either.” I was glad for a chance to visit home, whatever the form I was in. Rosamon didn’t seem worried, and she’d had experience with the phenomenon. There was no reason to panic.
But that was easier said than done. I wasn’t in control. I’d been projected without having any voice in the matter. Good or bad, I should have the right to decide. Maybe magic mirrors were more of an automatic process.
Once we’d touched the mirror, the transporting had instantly happened. I’d have to remember that for the future. Touching things in a magical realm could have consequences.
“It’s one thing to project to a different location,” I said. “But what about the return? Do you know how to do that too?”
“I have done it successfully,” Rosamon said. “In my limited experience, it isn’t any more difficult to return than it was to leave.”
“That’s encouraging.” Still I wondered how it would all work. “What should we do?” I said to my sister. “How can we get back to our bodies?”
“It’s simple. We just need to wish hard.” Rosamon smiled. “But don’t you think we should check and see what’s happened since we’ve been gone?”
I’d been so intent on how to reverse the projection that I’d missed the point entirely. I was back home, with Rosamon. That had been my goal all along. Well, maybe not in this form. But we were together, and we were at home. It was an opportunity that might not come again.
That was a sobering thought. The joy of bringing my sister home might be fleeting. Without our physical forms, it would be impossible to stay. “You have a good point. I suppose we should see how Ian and Emma are doing. And what we’ve missed.”
Even as I spoke the words, I was overcome with reluctance. I wasn’t sure what that was about. I’d recently been in Scotland with Logan. I’d been in the outside world, free of the other realms. I could have gone home to check on things.
If I had asked, Logan might have agreed. Guilt consumed me. I hadn’t even thought about home. I had passed up a chance to see if my adoptive parents were okay. It was appalling. What had gotten into me?
Rosamon led me back to the top of the stairs. “We shouldn’t let Ian and Emma see us.” She paused. “They wouldn’t understand.”
How true that was. Our parents couldn’t conceive of other realms, much less that their adopted daughters could travel as illusions. I couldn’t blame them. If I hadn’t recently experienced all that I had, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
That brought home the point of how much had changed. I wasn’t the same as before I’d been swept out of my real world. I could only hope that I’d matured. Yet based on my behavior at times, I wasn’t sure that I had.
Rosamon took one step down. She put her finger to her lips, then mouthed, “Shush.”
I nodded and took a couple of tentative steps. It felt as though I was crossing from one world to another. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to go back. What if I saw my parents and…
Well, I didn’t know what could happen. I hadn’t been in a situation like this before. There was no precedent for what I was about to do.
Rosamon seemed calm and composed. She didn’t hesitate to go down the stairs, and her confidence imbued me with more of my own. I decided that I probably shouldn’t worry so much.
Halfway down the stairs, I was able to see into the living room. I halted then my sister did too. We peered into the room, being careful to stay out of sight. When I saw what was going on downstairs, tears clouded my eyes. Emotion gripped my heart and I put my hand over my mouth to cover a sob that threatened to escape.
Chapter 23
Callie
There was a stack of newspapers on the coffee table
, so I read the headline: Twins Still Missing. The article had photographs of us. But that wasn’t what had my attention.
Our adoptive mother Emma looked more tired than I’d seen her, like she hadn’t slept much. Her brown hair was messily tied at the nape of her neck. She was busy with a task. When I looked closer I saw that she was creating a flyer with a photo of us from last summer.
It reminded me that summer vacation had ended with us still missing. Our senior year had started without us. The students might not miss us, but our parents certainly did.
“I’ve included a few more details in the flyer,” Emma said. “Maybe this one will get some results.” Her expression tore my heart out. She looked so sad.
It’s odd that I hadn’t realized I was that loved. I’d been grateful that Emma and Ian had adopted us, having known our life would have been horrible if we’d remained orphans. They had cared enough to take us in and raise us. Our parents had treated us the same as if we’d been their natural daughters.
I don’t think I’d comprehended the love that had required. Watching my mother diligently create yet another flyer, after the many months we’d been lost, touched me deeply. The depth of her love overwhelmed me.
“It’s been such a long time that the girls have been missing,” Ian said, his voice cracking. He was close to breaking down because of his grief—over us. My adoptive father hadn’t seemed sentimental. I remembered his coming home from the bakery with flour on his clothes, or, reading the paper at the breakfast table. He had been kind and caring. But it dawned on me how much he loved us and wanted us back.
“We just have to keep doing all that we can,” Emma said.
“There hasn’t been a peep, not a single clue,” Ian said. “I don’t understand how my girls could disappear without a trace.”
Rosamon glanced at me. She had tears in her eyes too.
“I want to go downstairs and tell them not to worry,” I whispered. “I need to let them know that we are alive and trying to get back to them.”
My sister shook her head. “You can’t do that, Callie. It would make things a lot worse.” She gave me a weak smile. “As it is, they are devastated over the loss. But they can cling to the hope that we will show up, convinced that we haven’t met with an untimely death.”
“Is that better than knowing?”
“It has to be,” Rosamon said. “It would be impossible to explain what really happened. And we’re still in a lot of danger. That would scare them, too badly.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“And besides, if we go downstairs like this, Emma and Ian will think that we’re ghosts or something.” Rosamon glanced at our parents, so alone and missing us. “I wish we could reassure them. But I don’t see any way to do that.”
There was no good argument against Rosamon’s view, so I relented. I knew she was right. With the back of my hand, I wiped the tears from my face. “What should we do then?”
“We need to return to the cell, then find a way to get out of that prison for good.” Rosamon motioned for me to follow her back to our room. “We need to go back to our bodies, while we still can.”
My last view of Emma and Ian was of them sitting on the sofa, side by side. My parents were holding hands, while looking at a photo of us. “I promise to return,” I whispered. Then I followed my sister to the bedroom, closed my eyes, then wished myself back to my physical self.
When I opened my eyes, Noah was helping my sister and me back to our feet. The prison chamber was missing one important person. I didn’t see Logan anywhere; a tinge of panic surged. “Where’s Logan?”
“He’s gone to see your father,” Noah said. “He seemed confident he could find him.”
“He must be worried about us,” I said.
“Most certainly,” Noah said, “which is why he demanded to see Bram in person. Logan will persuade your father to help us, if he has the ability to do so.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that Logan was probably okay. Then I smoothed my clothes and fluffed out my hair. I glanced at Rosamon, who looked flawless as usual. “It appears we made it back in good shape.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Noah said. “Your father had his doubts, but he wouldn’t say what they were.”
“We didn’t seem to be in danger, except for the emotional trauma,” Rosamon said.
Noah touched her cheek. “I know you miss your parents. We have to get you out of here.”
“Our father knows how we can escape,” Rosamon said to me. Then she explained that he’d encouraged my sister and Noah to drink each other’s blood.
Rosamon seemed so accepting that our father’s scheme would work. The whole thing weirded me out. “I must warn you, that might not be a good idea.”
A deep male voice spoke. “It’s the only way.”
I looked all around but saw no one. “Father?”
“Yes, Callie, I’m here. It’s good to talk to you. I’ve been hearing so much about you, since you came to the realm.”
“I’ve been hearing about you too,” I said. “Can you really assist us to get out of here? And will you be able to escape with us?”
“So many questions.” My father’s laugh was mirthless. “I can assist you, and I want out as badly as you do. But you must listen to what I say.”
At that moment, Logan walked in. He spotted me and opened his arms. I flew into his embrace, so glad to see him. “I was worried when you weren’t here.”
Logan hugged me tight, like he didn’t want to let go. “No need to worry. You were the one who vanished. I’m just glad you’re back. If we’re to escape, we need to get moving.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“First, let me take you to your father,” Logan said. “I managed to locate him, so we can go to his cell and have a talk.”
Logan took my hand to guide me into the hallway, with Noah and Rosamon close behind. With all the twists and turns, I would have been utterly lost. But he seemed to remember the way, quite well. He navigated dark passageways and numerous flights of stairs.
At long last, a light appeared in the distance. Logan led us straight to it and I discovered that it was my father’s cell. But when I stepped inside I was appalled. Gleaming before me was a cage made of golden bars. It shined like a jewel.
Chapter 24
Callie
Inside was my father, but he appeared immobile. “Father…you’re unable to move?” It was gut wrenching to see him so.
“I have been frozen for all the years since you last saw me.” My father didn’t express the sadness I would have expected. Instead, I sensed pent-up rage.
Rosamon walked up the stairs of the platform to get a closer look, but she didn’t touch the gleaming bars. “You’ve been much help with my magic,” she said then glanced around. “I’m curious…the Fae don’t seem to object to us talking.”
Our father smirked. “Maybe they can’t hear us.”
That was an interesting thought.
“If you must be so thoroughly detained, then why are there no guards around you?” Rosamon said.
He uttered one cheerless huff of a laugh. “There is no need. Imprisoned in this cage, there’s no chance of getting free.”
“But we’ve seen no guards either,” I said. “We’ve been able to roam about.”
“The Fae are confident that you won’t get out, once you get in.”
“But what about Amalia?” Rosamon said. “The princess was hounding me, day after day. Then she went quiet. And we haven’t seen her, since Noah arrived.”
“Let’s just say that the princess has been distracted.” My father didn’t say more about that.
I couldn’t let it go at that. “But wouldn’t the Fae have some way to observe the prisoners? Wouldn’t they hear us talking, realize that we’ve found you?”
After a beat, our father said, “I may be frozen, but I haven’t lost my magic touch.” The statement seemed to harbor a threat, and his tone was sharp. I looked in his
eyes, unable to read his mind or ascertain his mood.
Noah, Logan, and I walked up the steps to stand on the platform next to Rosamon. Not one of us dared to touch the gilded cage.
“I’ve found you and brought your daughters to you, as agreed,” Logan said. “Now keep your end of the bargain and tell us how to escape.”
“This prison was created by multiple sorcerers, magnifying the strength of each. The only way to break the spell and escape is through the same kind of power.” My father gave us a moment to consider that.
“I must point out to you, vampire prince, that my daughters have my power coursing through their veins. Both you and Noah have the power bestowed upon you by the witch who created your race.”
It was all quite astounding.
Our father took a breath. “Combined…we possess enough power to break us all free of our prison. I can think of no other way.”
Logan glanced at me and I could see that he was as doubtful as I was. “We should find another way,” he said.
“I assure you that there is no other option. And…I must point out that we should hurry, before things get worse on the outside.”
“What are you referring to, Father?” Rosamon said, leaning a bit closer to Noah.
“Take a look in the mirrors in the alcove.”
I’d been so mesmerized looking at the golden cage that I’d failed to take notice of the mirrors. Images rolled by in the glass like scenes from a movie. Only it wasn’t fiction. The view in one mirror was of the Fae realm. And the view in a second mirror was of Shadowland.
My father was letting us see for ourselves how terrible conditions beyond the boundaries of the prison had become. I watched bloody battle after bloody battle in horror. I wrapped my arms around my body and stared at the terrifying events.
Dragons flew in massive fleets over the battle scenes, breathing fire over all that lived. The mushroom forests and farms of the Fae lands roared with flames. Yet the dragons’ mouths continued to set more of the land on fire. The colorful, glowing mushroom forests were being turned to ash.