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It takes magic and concentration to make the door of light appear and to make my way fast and undetected through the London streets. I'm taking a terrible risk to do so, using a power that is unpredictable, but I've never been more desperate. The magic does nothing to shield me from the London rain, though. By the time I reach Miss Moore's flat, I am dripping wet. Fortunately, Mrs. Porter is out, and it is my former teacher herself who answers.

"M-Miss M-Moore," I chatter, chilled to the bone.

"Miss Doyle! What ever is the matter! You're soaked. For heaven's sake, come in."

She leads me upstairs and into her rooms, putting me before the fire to warm myself. "I am sorry for this, but I must tell you something. It's urgent."

"Yes, all right," she says, hearing the fear in my voice.

"We need your help. Those stories we've told you about the Order? We haven't been completely honest. It's real. All of it. The realms, the Order, Pippa, the magic. We've been there. We've seen it. We've lived it. Every bit of it. And now the water nymphs have Ann. They have her, and we've got to get her back. Please. You must help us."

My words come out in a torrent to match the rain rattling the windows of Miss Moore's flat. When I finish, Miss Moore studies me for a moment.

"Gemma, I know you have been under quite a bit of strain, losing both your mother and your friend . . ." She places a hand on my knee.

I want to cry. She doesn't believe me. "No! I am not telling tales for sympathy! It's true!" I wail. Two sneezes escape me. My throat is raw and swollen.

"I want to believe you, but . . ." She paces before the fireplace. "Can you prove it to me?"

I nod.

"Very well, then. If you can prove it to me here and now, I shall believe you. If not, I shall take you home immediately and speak with your grandmother."

"Agreed." I nod. "Hester . . ."

I waste no time. Grabbing her hand, I use the meager power I have left to make the door appear. When I open my eyes, it is there, the bright light illuminating the look of complete astonishment on Miss Moore's face. She closes her eyes and opens them again, but the door is still there.

"Come with me," I say.

Her hand in mine, I pull her through. It is an effort. I am growing weaker. I can barely feel the whoosh of blood in her veins fueling the heart that is even now accepting that logic is yet another illusion we create.

The garden shimmers into focus. There is the ground littered with purple flowers. Here is a tree whose bark curls into rose petals. There are the tall weeds and strange toadstools. For a moment, I am afraid the shock has proved too much for Miss Moore. She raises a trembling hand to her mouth and puts the other to the tree. She pulls away a handful of petals and lets them drop from her fingers while she wanders in a daze through the emerald green grass.

She sits on a rock. "I am dreaming. This is a delusion. It must be."

"I told you," I say.

"So you did." She touches one of the purple flowers. It becomes a garden snake that slithers up the tree out of sight. "Oh!" Miss Moore's eyes grow wide. "Pippa!" Pippa and Felicity rush to meet us. Miss Moore reaches out a tentative hand to touch the silk of Pippa's hair. "It is you, isn't it?"

"Yes, Miss Moore. It is," she answers.

Miss Moore puts a hand on her stomach, as if trying to steady herself. "I'm really here, aren't I? I'm not dreaming?"

"No, you're not dreaming," I assure her.

Miss Moore stumbles through the garden, taking in everything. I'm reminded of my first journey here, how astonished I felt. We follow her under the tarnished silver arch and into the place where the runes once stood. She stares at the scorched earth there.

"That is where Gemma smashed the Runes of the Oracle, the binding on the magic," Pippa says.

"Oh," Miss Moore says, as if she is a thousand miles away.

"That is why you were looking for your temple?"

"Yes," I say. "Still looking."

"You haven't found it, then?"

"No. We were trying to find it when we were led astray by some dark spirits. And then the water nymphs took Ann," I say.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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