The next few days, we all assisted Lu as he learned the spell. He practiced it with Tabitha the same way I had practiced it with Blake.
Becky and Sammy went to get dinner for us while we all gathered in Lu’s room. Blake’s scent didn’t linger on his pillow anymore. Some of his clothes still carried his scent like the hoodie I was wearing. I kept smelling it.
Tabitha clapped and cooed when Lu finally got the stick-on tattoo that was on her arm to appear on his arm.
He hunched forward and rested his hands on his knees. A wide grin sprawled across his face.
“You okay?” Tabitha asked.
“I feel dizzy.”
“I’ll go grab something sweet, just sit down. I’ll be back in a second.” Tabitha rushed out of the room. They made a killer team.
“It’s actually such a simple spell,” Lu said.
“It’s not if you think about it. I mean, it’s like a counter spell for all the spells that don’t have one. All you need is a brave person to take whatever spell was cast upon themselves.”
Lu’s lips curved. “Is that a compliment?”
“Of course it is. You are one of the bravest people I know. Blake told me how Tabitha used to fly away whenever danger was near. Now she runs into it because of you. You only think about others. You never think about the consequences.”
“You are wrong about that.”
“You know what I mean.”
“The world needs Blake.”
“The world needs you too. Tabitha needs you. She won’t make it if you die.”
“Okay, enough. I’m not planning on dying. My life is finally going somewhere.”
I suppressed my smile. “Took you long enough to get there too.”
A pillow hit me on the side of my body as I laughed.
“He will be happy to know that you finally started giving her your time, Lu.”
“I know he will. Just don’t tell your dad or mine about this, Elena. They will put a stop to whatever we’ve planned so fast.”
“We need their help to find him, Lu.”
“We’ll find him somehow. I promise. Oh, before I forgot. Irene sent a note. She can see us tomorrow night at eight.”
“At eight?”
“She is busy, Elena.”
“Well, at least she gave us a date. Sometimes I wonder if my foretelling is really that important.”
“You will not die. Blake won’t be able to live without you.”
“He doesn’t even know who I am.”
“He will. We just need to find him. I should’ve known that he could submit. That it was a spell. Fuck. I could’ve transferred it from him and shook it off faster.”
“Yeah, well, when he acts strange in the future, just take whatever was laid upon him, please.”
We both laughed. “I loved that, Elena.”
“What?”
“I thought you’d lost hope, even if you were searching like hell. You never spoke about your future like that.”
“I had my doubts. But Papi gives a mean pep talk.”
“Wait, what?”
I’d told Lu who Papi was. Thank heavens he wasn’t an ancient anymore. Lu stared at me with a raised left eyebrow and a gaping mouth.
“Malone had family on the council.”
“Not Malone, Squires, and you take it to your grave.”
“He isn’t an ancient anymore.”
“I don’t care.”
It was time to see the viden, and Lu and Tabitha came with me. They waited below as I knocked on her door.
She usually says enter, but tonight she didn’t.
The door opened, and her eyes were puffy and red.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’m getting horrible nightmares.”
“About Blake?”
“Goran. I can’t see Blake because he belongs to you.”
Her words warmed my gut.
“Elena, he is under a spell. He is still yours, whether or not he remembers you.”
“You know about that?”
“I watched that conference your father had. You were pretty brave, taking Goran on like that.”
“Usually they say pretty stupid, so thanks for that.”
“We need to fight. Stop hiding and sweeping the severity of the case underneath the rug. You reminded me of your mother, and I hope the asshole saw it, too.”
I huffed.
“I can’t see your future. Whatever it is you wanted to ask, I can’t help.”
“You saw that foretelling?”
“You should’ve told me.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know, as I don’t see the other side of it with your family. The other side is the most important side. It helps to clarify in what direction my gibberish goes.”
“Am I going to die?”
“No, Blake can’t live without you.”
“He doesn’t even remember me.”
“Well, then fight to stay alive for him until he remembers you again.”
“Does it lean toward death?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“It’s your words.”
“It’s not how my foretellings work.”
I sighed and nodded. Her foretellings always came to light. “Is it still black?”
She stared at me. “I’m still here, alive and not in pain, so yes, it’s still black.”
I nodded with a slight curve on my lips.
“One thing I can tell you, I did not know that the foretelling belonged to you. When Lucian came to seek for a date to help with your foretelling, I had to search for it.”
I frowned. “That’s not true. You told Blake about my foretelling?”
“Blake?” she asked and then drifted off. Her jaw set.
“What is it?”
“He must have taken it away from me. I hate it when he does that.”
“He’d done it before?”
“Oh yeah. He is becoming stronger with that one. I have to report it to the council, Elena.”
“Please don’t. My father would only worry. I’ll take the blame if it comes out.” I touched her hand. “Please.”
“I will not promise, but I’ll see how long I can keep it to myself.”
“Thanks.”
I got up.
“I’m sorry, I can’t be of more help.”
“We’ll discover the truth behind it, eventually. Thanks for giving me at least the time.”
“You are welcome.”
“What is it you dreamed about Goran?”
“He has a dragon that is not Blake, but something completely different.”
“The Saadedine?”
“Not the Saadedine, either. I can’t make out what sort of dragon it is because it’s covered with so many boulders. It’s like it’s something summoned.”
“A dragon made of boulders?”
“It’s vicious.”
“I’m sorry that you see that.”
“Be careful, Elena.”
“I will.”
I walked to the door and ran down the steps.
I found Lu and Tabitha making out against the wall and looked away when my eyes caught the wyvern.
“Lu, the wyvern!”
They both snapped out of their love bubble. Tabitha immediately chased after him and exploded into her dragon form.
“Call George and the others,” Lu yelled.
I pulled out my Cammy as Lucian chased Tabitha and got Becky on the line.
“The wyvern is here.”
George jumped out of the window of our room that was visible from where I stood, and I pointed in the direction. He flew so fast. Becky wasn’t with him.
Brian, Jeff, and Annie followed in their dragon forms. I waited for Sammy and Becky as they barged through the door and came running to me.
My father’s hologram appeared on my Cammy. “He is here, Dad. The wyvern. Tabitha and Lucian followed him.”
“Elena, we searched the school grounds.”
“Then something tells me that this guy can disappear.”
Irene exited her tower and walked toward us.
“We’ll be there now,” my father said, and his hologram disappeared.
Becky and Sammy led the way as Irene followed us. We heard their voices first. Tabitha was howling.
“What the hell?” Sammy asked, and we ran faster toward her bawling.
Tabitha was in her human form, naked, crying in Lu’s arms.
“Tabitha, it’s going to be okay,” Lu said.
Jeff poured water from a bottle on Lucian’s hands and he tried to wash Tabitha’s eyes out.
Irene rushed up to them and crouched next to Tabitha, still in Lucian’s arms. “What happened?”
“Go get Constance.”
“Relax, Brian already went,” Jeff said.
“What happened?” I reached Tabitha.
“Lu, I can’t see,” Tabitha said.
“Constance is coming,” Lucian said as his eyebrows furrowed, staring at her with a squint in his eyes.
“What happened, Lu,” I yelled.
His gaze snapped toward me. “She had him and then he chucked shit in her eyes. Now she can’t see.”
“Fuck,” Becky yelled with her hands in her hair.
“Calm down.” George hugged her as Becky cried.
Brian returned with Constance’s dragon figure, and they both morphed back into their human figures.
She crouched down in front of Tabitha. Dad followed by Sir Robert.
He slid off his wing and came rushing to us. Constance looked into Tabitha’s eyes.
Lucian paraded in front of the tree, with his hands in his hair.
“I need to take her back to the infirmary,” Constance said.
“Son,” Dad stopped Lucian, “What happened?”
“He is here, but I can’t see him.”
“What do you mean, he is here?” Sir Robert asked.
“He disappeared. Something is protecting him.”
Dad shoved Lu back toward the rest of us and spoke in a commanding tone, “Reveal yourself!” It was Latin as the words always came with a tingling and prickling sensation.
There was a rippling effect pushing back against an invisible force. It brushed against the leaves, like the wind.
Steps in the distance reached our ears, and Lucian was the first to follow.
Sir Robert and my father were next with Jeff, Brian, and George on their heels.
“Go back to the dorms,” George yelled at the rest of us.
I followed. I refused to sit this one out.
“Elena,” Becky yelled. Their footsteps crunched on the leaves behind me.
Trees whisked by as I kept concentrating on the footsteps rushing up in front. I followed it. The moon barely lit up the pathway through the trees.
I ran until a gigantic cave appeared in front of me. I climbed the rocks and rushed inside.
Dad’s voice yelling a spell reached my ears as green and yellow light bounced off the walls.
Punches and grunts followed.
A language I’d never heard before reached my ears, followed by horrible clucking sounds with an explosion that vibrated through the walls.
Lucian screamed.
“Where the hell did he go?” Sir Robert yelled.
“I’ll find him,” George said.
“George, wait!” Lucian begged, as all of them came into view. The three dragons disappeared through the gaping whole in the wall.
Dad grunted and yelled from frustration.
Lucian cussed.“How did he do that?”
“It’s Goran’s doing. He cloaked them. It’s why we can’t find them. I want everyone to go through the woods. Now that I know what he is doing, we can find him. I want Goran in the dungeon tonight.”
Dad saw me standing in the opening.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m done sitting things out. I’m the Rubicon’s rider, Dad, not some fragile damsel in distress.”
“You are the princess of Paegeia, too.”
“And Mom was the queen. She fought bloody wars.”
Dad looked at me. “I don’t want to lose you, Elena.”
“I’m not just going to phone you every single time, Dad. You said it yourself. We are the future. One of my friends might have lost her sight.”
“She is not blind!” Lucian walked past me and out of the cave.
My eyes found Sir Robert with the two dragons that had gone missing sitting in the corner. They were dirty and tired, not to mention terrified. Shackles were around their feet.
Sir Robert freed them and the silver fell with a clunk on the floor.
Sir Robert picked up the one girl. “Let’s go.”
Brian helped by picking up the other girl.
“What was the clucking sound?” I asked Dad.
“He got the Elementals.”
“He got the Saadedine?”
“He will soon. I want him tonight in the dungeons. I won’t sleep until he is in my custody. Blake too.”
I grabbed Dad’s arm. “He is under a spell.”
“Until he is claimed, he will be locked up, Elena.” He waited for me to walk, and I took the narrow walkway out of the cave and back to the academy.
I went to the infirmary and found Tabitha with patches over her eyes.
Lucian sat with her. Constance was attending to the two girls they had just brought in.
“You okay?”
Tabitha flinched.
“It’s only Elena,” Lucian said.
“I don’t know. Constance said I should wear the patches. She put liquid in my eyes, and I will know if I’m blind in the next few days. I don’t want to be blind.” Her chin wobbled, and Lucian pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. Her cries were muffled in his chest as tears glistened in Lucian’s eyes. Mine pricked too as tears threatened to come.
“Don’t think about that now, okay? We will deal with it when we get to that part.”
“I’m going to be useless if I’m blind, Lu.”
“You are not useless. I’ll help you in any way I can. I won’t leave you.”
She nodded and then he planted his lips on hers and gave her such a tender kiss.
Dad spoke to the two girls, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying to them. I walked closer.
“How many dragon wyrms did you help bring into this world?”
“Four,” the one said.
Dad’s face fell as Sir Robert snarled.
Queen Maggie and King Helmut entered the infirmary, and she ran to Lucian and Tabitha.
“What happened?”
“She had him, Mom, and the wyvern chucked shit in her eyes. She might be blind. We don’t know yet.”
“Listen to me, darling,” Queen Maggie said. “We will do everything in our power to get your sight back. No matter the cost. You hear?”
Tabitha nodded and touched the queen’s hand that cupped her face.
“You are such a brave girl.” The queen kissed Tabitha on top of her head as King Helmut and Dad went outside. I followed them.
They whispered again.
“All four?” Helmut asked, and Dad nodded. “How many do you need, Albert?”
“As many as you can give. I’ll phone Caleb. We can’t rest. We need to get the Elementals back, and I want them in the dungeons tonight.”
“He has all of them?” I asked.
“Elena.”
“No, I told you, I’m done sitting on the sidelines. Where is Dad Herbert?”
“He is getting the search parties ready. We will find them.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. This was so frustrating. Dad’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “I know how you feel. It’s like we are twenty steps behind him.”
“Twenty steps. It’s like he is watching us and laughing at us, Dad. Knowing what is coming.”
Dad pulled me into his arms. “We will find him.”
“It’s been more than a bloody month and you have found nothing. It’s a miracle the sword is still safe.” I could feel a panic attack.
“The sword,” King Helmut said.
Dad let go of me immediately, and the two kings ran into the academy.
It hit me what this was. It was a diversion, and we’d fallen for it so that Blake could try to get the sword again.
“Blake,” I said and ran after my father. Tonight was the night that I was going to claim him, no matter what.
