Mr. Meeks shakes his head. “Your tastes are far beyond my means to understand.”
Mr. Osterman chuckles, then heads toward the staircase while Mr. Meeks starts down the hall toward us. I spring back into the room, pressing myself against the wall, chest heaving as I process everything I just heard. Aspen stands in the doorway, eyes still locked on the hall as his body trembles with rage, his violet aura writhing to match.
That’s right; this isn’t happening. This is a dream.
With shaking steps, I return to Aspen’s side and watch Mr. Meeks approach. The man shows no sign that he can see either of us. “Why am I dreaming this?” My words do nothing to snag his attention. Mr. Meeks opens the door across the hall and peeks inside. It’s too dark for me to see what lies within. His expression is grim as he closes the door and faces this one instead. Now I know for certain we’re invisible. He should be able to see us.
As he enters the room, he flips a switch and the buzz of electricity hums overhead, illuminating several bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The dim room comes into full view, and I see now what lines the shelves. A vibrant, ruby-red heart is preserved in a thick green liquid encased in glass. Bones, talons, and teeth fill countless jars. A pair of enormous blue wings like a dragonfly’s rest on the topmost shelf. A set of smaller green wings are set upon it.
Aspen takes my face in his hands, his terrified eyes locked on mine. “Evie, it’s time to wake up now.”
I pull my face away, craning my neck to see Mr. Meeks nearing the table I had been lying on. A table I’mstilllying on. As if standing outside myself, I see my unconscious form strapped to the table by metal cuffs locked around my wrists and ankles. I’ve been stripped down to my corset and knickers, sending a wave of nausea through me. Even my rowan berry necklace has been removed.
Mr. Meeks approaches his table of tools and selects a scalpel. With his free hand, he gently brushes a strand of my hair off my face as he looks down at me with his kind, fatherly smile.
Aspen forces my gaze back on him. “Wake up, Evie.”
My entire body is racked with tremors.
Aspen’s eyes are pleading, hands warm on my cheeks. His voice rises to a shout. “WAKE UP!”
* * *
I openmy eyes and find myself in the same room I was dreaming about. How can that be? My mind still feels cloudy, but it’s slowly beginning to sharpen.
Mr. Meeks stands over me, just as he was in the dream. Only my perspective has changed. “Miss Fairfield, so good to see you awake.”
“Where am I?” My throat feels like it’s coated in cotton. Aspen is nowhere in sight.
“I’m so sorry to distress you, but this was the only way I could bring you here.”
“Where. Am. I.” I say it through my teeth.
“In my laboratory. It’s a rare thing I get to do this kind of work, and I’m so grateful to have your assistance.”
I try to sit but remember the metal cuffs around my wrists and ankles.
He follows my gaze and runs a finger over the cuff at one of my wrists, brow furrowed. “Does the iron hurt you?”
I almost say no but stop myself, some instinct urging me to lie. So I wince. “Yes, the iron burns. It weakens me.”
He nods and returns the scalpel to the tray, then faces the counter behind him. I lift my head and watch as he scribbles notes on a sheet of paper. “Interesting,” he mutters.
I drop my head as he finishes his notations and turns back to me. “Where’s Lorelei?”
“She’s fine.”
“She was stabbed with a spear.” Even though I didn’t see it, I know it’s true.
Mr. Meeks offers a comforting smile. “I’m sure it appeared that way to you, but Mr. Osterman meant her no harm. She reacted violently when she saw him with the spear and may have been injured when Hank defended himself. But she has already recovered and returned to Faerwyvae.”
Lies. That is, if my dream had any truth to it. Something tells me it was more than a dream. “What’s the Briar House?”
He narrows his eyes for a moment. “Nothing you should be concerned with.”
It was real. Aside from Aspen being there, of course. I must have been half-awake. I must have seen this room, heard the conversation in the hall, my mind constructing it into a dream. “What are you going to do to me?”
His eyes widen as he lets out a gasp. “How could you ask such a thing as if you’re frightened of me? I’m not going to hurt you, Miss Fairfield. I’m only going to gather some data like we spoke of. You said you would help me.”
