Page 67 of Heart of Mischief

“Am I… Are the colors part of doing magic?”

“Colors? What colors?”

“Thecolors,” Charlie said. “The oranges and yellows in my head. I can see them so clearly. They’re like… like…”

As she scrambled to find the right words, a different, bold-faced, all-caps word appeared in her mind, set against the background of orange and yellow and happiness:

HELLO

Charlie nearly screamed.

“What theHelwas that?” she asked, rounding on Elias. “Is this some sort of practical joke?”

“I have no idea what you’re even talking about!” he yelled. “What practical joke?”

“You’re putting words into my head!” she yelled back. “I don’t know how, but—”

Two more words flashed to life:

NOT ELIAS

“Not Elias?” Charlie said aloud as the words faded away.

“What’s not me?” Elias asked. “You’re making literallynosense.”

Then, three messages in a row:

NOT ELIAS

IT ME

HENRY

Charlie’s heart leapt up into her throat. She spun around on the rock. When her eyes landed on the vätte, she found that he was no longer asleep. He was sitting up, beard wiggling, red hat pointed toward the sky. He raised his hands, waving them frantically.

“Henry?” She stepped off the rock. “Is that… is that really you?”

The vätte bobbed his little head. At the same time, a word appeared in her head:

YES

Charlie laughed so loudly that some nearby robins scattered. “We did it!” she said, clapping and bouncing up and down. “We made the connection!”

Henry hopped happily on his rock. A new mix of colors appeared in her mind: light blue and brilliant gold, a swirl that Charlie instinctually knew represented relief and joy. She couldfeelthe colors, as if they’d been painted by her own heart.

WE DID IT

WE DID IT

WE DID IT

The two of them bounced around the clearing, laughing and doing silly little victory dances. Henry sent color after color to her, each one representing the emotions he was experiencing: delight, wonder, glee, excitement…

“I’m not entirely sure what’s happening here,” said Elias, the amusement clear in his voice. “But I’m going to guess that you and Henry finally figured out how to communicate with each other.”

Charlie halted her dance, chest heaving as she beamed at Elias. It was a full-force smile, the kind that made her eyes crinkle andher cheeks ache. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt one on her face. “We did.”

Elias’s grin slipped from his face. He blinked several times, looking as if he had seen a ghost.