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“But I do know where you should go that might be more helpful,” he continues before I can ask why he looked sad, and just like that, he has my full attention.
“Where?” I ask too loudly and fast as I sit forward, almost knocking into him. “Sorry,” I say sheepishly, sitting back and trying not to fidget with the idea of getting home.
“The queen has a library. It’s huge and holds the history of Anolas and every other kingdom.”
I hear his words, but they take a moment to really sink in.
That’s the second time he’s mentioned Anolas now, and what’s this about a kingdom or kingdoms, I guess?
My confusion must be clear on my face because he quickly begins to explain.
“I don’t think you were simply lost in the woods. I don’t think you’re from here at all. How is it that you ended up in the woods?” he asks, and there it is.
I open my mouth and close it again, trying to decide how to explain it. It sounds crazy even to me, and I was there. I followed the damn little fireball things through the woods.
“Um…” I hesitate, and he waits, watching me. He doesn’t rush me or demand answers, and I realize he hasn’t since he found me. He gave me a hard time about my name, but it was almost playful, and he so quickly believed me when I told him I’d lost my beast.
“I was at home, studying, when a little ball of fire floated up by my window.” I start, carefully watching his reaction for some hint that he might think I’m crazy. His face remains impassive as he nods for me to continue, and I do.
“I’d never seen anything like it before, and I felt this pull.” I rest a hand on my chest, over my heart where I felt it. If I think about it hard enough, I can remember how it felt. “Right here. It was as if I needed to follow it. Something was telling me to go, and so I went. I followed it into the forest not far from my house and found a clearing with hundreds of them.”
His brow raises a bit, but he doesn’t interrupt. “There was a stone circle. It was old and overgrown, but when the little fire things went through, it shimmered, and they disappeared right before my eyes. The pull was stronger with every step, and despite knowing that I probably shouldn’t follow them, it was like I wasn’t in control anymore. Something was pulling me to it, and when I finally went through, I was in the woods, alone, until you found me…”
He knows the story from there.
He’s quiet for a moment as his eyes search my face. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but I can’t bring myself to look away, even though I squirm under his intense gaze.
“You’re not from here at all,” he says finally with a nod, as if that’s supposed to mean something. It doesn’t. I was pretty sure of that already, considering the other language and lack of basic things like electricity and running water.
He pops up off the bed so fast it startles me. He moves to the end of the bookshelf, pulling a thin, brightly colored book. Heading toward me, he drops to his knees on the ground next to the bed, lays the book between us, and flips it open.
I’m hesitant to look, knowing I can’t read a word of it, but the pages appear to have very few words. Bright colors fill each page, drawings colored in every shade with what appears to be beautiful watercolor.
Tall skyscrapers, cars, planes, boats, and cities. He flips through the pages too quickly for me to get a good look at any one thing, but it’s clear this book is not like the others.
“What is this?” I ask, my voice hardly more than a whisper as I reach out to stop his flipping. He lets the pages fall from his hand, resting open on a page with a large amusement park filled with all types of rides. From roller coasters to the Ferris wheel, food vendors, and games, it’s all drawn in an almost whimsical style, as if these things were pulled from the imagination. The same way stories of fairies and gods were written in the storybooks I loved as a child.
“It’s a book of fables, tales we tell children to help them sleep and imagine.” I jerk back as if slapped and find his eyes on me, full of curiosity and questions.
“Though now I get the feeling they aren’t as made up as we might have been led to believe.”
It’s a question, and not at the same time. I can see that he wants to ask but is afraid, the same way I had been afraid to explain.
“No, they aren’t made up.” I shake my head and pull back, sinking into the pillows as the realization of what’s happening begins to sink in.
I’m not in Georgia anymore, not in the United States at all. While I’d thought maybe I’d slipped into some other country through that portal thing, I’d actually–
The thoughts are too much, even to think, and I shake them away.
Ryker flips to the end of the book, and I gasp, scrambling forward once again for a better look.
The same little balls of fire are drawn on the page. They surround a stone circle covered with vines and shimmering a beautiful blue, just like the one I’d found in the forest.
I reach out, running my fingers over the page. The art style is strange, but there’s no mistaking what it is.
“The will-o-wisps are said to lead you to your destiny,” he tells me, his voice quiet and gentle as if one wrong word might send me spiraling—and for all I know, it very well might.
We sit in silence while I try to get my thoughts in order. A few weeks ago, my biggest problem was balancing work, school, and finding a boyfriend who wouldn’t ghost me after a few dates. Well, that and the fact that someday the guys would find a pack, but overall, it was nothing compared to this. Now, it feels like every time I turn around, some new thing is ready to take everything I know and flip it on its head until I don’t know which way is up or down.
