Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
FRANKIE
“Frankie, can you hear me?”
I gasped and spun around. “Cooper? I hear you. Why can’t I see you?”
“Because we’re looking for Everest, it’s more likely he’ll answer if you’re alone.” Cooper’s voice was strong and steady and not far away. “Just breathe for me. Your body is asleep and safe right here in the living room next to me. You’re just going to go for a walk.”
I glanced around. “It’s just black. I feel like Eleven in Stranger Things when she tries to find people.”
Cooper chuckled. “You’re not wrong, but I assure you that you are not in a sensory deprivation tank or pool. There’s no radio static coming from the speakers either. I am in control.”
“And I am here to help.” Deacon’s snicker echoed around me like something from a horror film. “Think about Everest, dudette.”
Think about Everest? Like, any thoughts?
Red smoke coiled around me as if it were a snake slithering up my body. “ Everest. ”
Images filled my mind instantly. At first I just saw his face in a sea of black but then I was lying on the couch in Lookout Tower watching the fireworks. The image changed to that spell room in the Tampa infirmary. My whole body cringed. I waited for the memory to replay what we’d done in these places, but the image changed too fast. Next I was in Coach’s office with only the red light on but that quickly transformed into the dance floor— Wait. He’s not here. Each of these moments were pieces of memories of places I’d been with him and yet I wasn’t seeing him . . . The infirmary room I’d stayed in for days. The hospital I’d been in for months.
Avolire.
I shuddered. So many images of that forsaken place, of all the different rooms and outdoor spaces I’d been in. Yet they were empty backdrops. There was only me. I saw me hanging upside down in that car, then back in the frat house bedroom. This made no sense.
“This isn’t working,” I said softly and closed my eyes.
“Let’s try . . .” Red lightning zapped me a few times, but it didn’t hurt, “. . . this. ”
I opened my mouth to ask what he’d done when the sight in front of me changed. Then again, and again, and again. The images changed too fast for me to process fully. I saw a lot yet nothing at all at the same time. A beach with a cliff. A cave. A wooden cabin in a forest. The ocean. A beach shack.
I sighed. “ Hit me again, ” I whispered.
Red lightning lit up my chest. When the light faded, I found myself standing in the middle of a forest. It was breathtakingly beautiful, with trees towering over my head like skyscrapers. The light moving through the trees was a faint blue color and little fireflies swirled through the air. I looked down and found myself wearing a long, red satin gown that grazed the grassy path. My hair whipped around my elbows. It was quite a few inches longer than I actually wore it but was the right shade of bright-pink. It was incredible. I’d never been anywhere like this and now I didn’t want to leave. Perhaps that was the danger they’d spoken of.
Darkness spread between two trees and I smiled. Everest. He emerged from the dark looking radiant and perfect in all white. Seeing him in just a button-down shirt that was unbuttoned a few at the top and rolled up to his elbows made me squirm a little.
Those white and blue eyes narrowed on me as he stepped onto the trail where I stood. “What are you doing, Francelina? This is not safe.”
I pointed to Myrtle’s diadem on my forehead. “She told me. And I’ll leave quickly, but my mind . . . it is . . . unsettled . . . when unconscious.”
The harshness in his eyes faded away instantly. His whole face softened. He reached up and brushed his fingers across my cheek. “Do not fight it. Do not try to dissect it. If I can help you, I will, but you do not come looking for me in here. I will find you.”
My eyes watered against my will like little traitors. “I needed to see you. I need you out of here.”
He cringed and cupped my face in his hands, the warmth in his touch chasing away what was left of that chill. He smelled like cinnamon, and it made my mouth water. “I cannot leave yet. My secret must remain. And you cannot come for me—in reality or in dream.”
“I know, I know, I just . . .” I miss you, but I didn’t say that out loud. “Everest . . .”
He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. I leaned into his touch. “Cooper and Deacon can monitor your dreams, if you’d like, but the answer you seek will only reveal itself when it is time.”
I didn’t comment on him knowing Cooper and Deacon were in here with us. It didn’t matter. “I don’t know what to do, Everest. It’s . . . a lot. My mind is unsettled. My heart is . . . far away. I’m overwhelmed. There’s too much. The prophecy?—”
“I know. You’re doing better than you realize. Just one step at a time. Valathame will send guidance. You are not alone, even if I cannot be there with you.” He pulled me flush against his chest, then pressed his lips to my forehead, holding me tight. “Prepare thy Coven, Francelina. They will not give you rest for no reason. If the night goes unscathed, they are elsewhere.”
“ I miss you, ” I heard myself whisper.
“Sleep, Gali. I will keep the dreams away for tonight.” He sighed against my skin. “Our time apart is near the end, and then we will never be parted.”
I closed my eyes and let darkness take me.