Page 55 of What Lies Beyond the Realms

“I want to be the one to end him. He must be stopped before he hurts anyone else. Who knows what horrible things he’s planning.”

“We’ll end him together then.” Nyx brushes my hair out of my face, and I reach into the envelope pulling out the tattered piece of folded-up parchment, the piece that must be from my father’s journal. I hold my breath, unfolding the weathered page gently.

It’s too late now. I’ve already placed the key inside her. I didn’t know it could destroy her. I cannot let Macy get wind of this. I will keep visiting Zomea until I find a way to fix this. I don’t care about the risks. If I cannot find a way to fix the key, I can only pray to the gods she unlocks the bridge before the key consumes her. I will resurrect Athalda to start planting failsafes now. I feel it…my time is running out. Someday the bridge will be the only way I can get her back.

I drop the page onto the bed. A wave of shock crashes into me, and I feel my chest tighten, and my heart starts racing. I don’t want any of this. What is this key inside me? And if my father never found a way to fix whatever he did—the key will consume her—me. I suddenly feel I might be ill. Nyx picks up the page, reading it over again.

“Fuck Euric, and fuck leaving fate to the gods. Lyra, I can feel your heart racing. It’s going to be alright. I promise. We’ll figure this out together.” His hand comes up to my cheek, coaxing me to face him. I turn, meeting his gaze, those gray eyes glowing slightly.

“Breathe.” He places a kiss on my forehead, and I focus on the touch of his warm lips.

“Nyx, this means I have no choice but to unlock the bridge to Zomea. If not, I could die. I must find Aidan soon. I need to know what he knows about everything, and I need to know who Athalda is.”

“Hey, come here, Princess.” Nyx pulls me into his lap, brushing my hair out of my damp face. “Remember, you’re so unbelievably strong. You’ve been through so much, Lyra, and you didn’t let anything break you. And now, now you have me, and we’ll get through this together.”

I relax against his chest, letting his touch calm me. He’s right. I will not let this break me. “If only I had my magic, I’d feel less helpless at least. I’m still months away from getting any real power of my own.” I sigh, readjusting.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about. I’ve been waiting to tell you because I didn’t want to give you any false hopes.” Nyx sits up straighter.

“What is it?” I ask, lifting my head to look at him.

“We might be able to help you get your magic before you turn nineteen. Not your Sorceress magic, which will have to wait until your birthday, but your Fae magic is a different story.”

“What do you mean? I thought you said it’s possible I only have midnight mind.”

“You said you didn’t start having these vivid nightmares until after your father passed, right?”

“Right,” I say, turning in his lap to fully face him now.

“I believe Euric found a way to suppress your Fae magic when you were born to protect your identity and his. I think when he died, his magic did probably go to you, at least a portion of it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even in death he found a way to suppress that too. The midnight mind is different. Maybe he wanted you to have it so he could eventually communicate with you, or maybe he couldn’t control it, because Zomea is powerful and a bit of a mystery to us all.”

I feel the unease start to slice through my chest again.

“What does this mean?” I ask.

“At the party, I told you I needed to talk to Granger. He might have a way to restore your powers. I asked him to investigate it for me first thing in the morning. I want to take you to the palace to meet with him but only if you want to.”

“Of course, I want to,” I exclaim. The thought of possibly getting my magic, and not just my magic but a piece of my father—gods, I’m just getting used to the idea that my father was Fae and I am half Fae, and now to know I could have had magic inside me this whole time.

“Are you alright?” Nyx asks, pulling me from my spiral of thoughts.

“Yes, just anxious. When do we leave?”

Nyx tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “It’s still a couple hours until dawn, but if you can’t go back to sleep we can take a bath and get ready now.”

There’s absolutely no way I can go back to sleep after the letter from Lili, the piece of my father’s journal and now the possibility of having magic.

“A bath would be great.”

“Wait here.” Nyx goes into the bathroom. I hear the bath start to fill and let my head fall back on the pillows. I cannot believe I might have actual magic in just a few short hours.

* * *

“Lyra, this is my wife, Elspeth. I believe she can help you,” Granger says from across the room where his wife sits at a table.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I say, moving closer to the table. His wife isn’t as frail-looking as I thought she’d be given she’s well over a thousand years old. She doesn’t even have gray hairs yet like her husband. Instead, chestnut-brown waves hug her heart-shaped face. But it isn’t her youthful appearance that catches me off guard. It’s her eyes, which shimmer a yellow, gold color that’s quite mesmerizing.

“I’d like to speak with Lyra alone,” Elspeth says, looking to Nyx then to Granger. Nyx’s hand came up just then, touching the small of my back.