“But I would never leave my post unless it was an emergency. If that ever happens, just sit tight and I’ll be back to get you.”
That seemed like something we should have talked about on day one. I nodded and pulled the rolling pin from my bag. “Trissa said you could give me a lesson?”
Mara waved me off, her golden hand cuffs clanking together. “Oh, who has time for pesky lessons.”
Rubbing her hands together, a bright purple light built between her palms. My eyes widened. “A spell?”
Mara nodded. “I rode a motorcycle plenty of times before I got locked down in this place. I’ll just transfer the memories.”
I stepped back a pace, my wings stiffening. “Transfer memories?”
Elle and I shared a look.
Mara smirked, her lips curling. “It’s nothing scary. They will feel like your memories and your muscle memory will remember it as well. Trust me, it’s nothing compared to what Indra and Aubin can do. Those two could wipe your whole memory bank if you cross them.”
Wipe my whole life. I shivered. No one should have that kind of power. Memories that felt like mine but weren’t? That seemed scary as hell. But I knew we didn’t have much time to argue if I wanted to catch that crystal. “Okay.”
“Alright, then.” Mara reached out with the glowing purple hands and grasped the side of my face. A warm tingle worked its way into my head and a slight zapping noise popped in my ears, followed by a flare of purple light. She pulled her hands away.
“Done.”
I didn’t feel different, but maybe it would come to me on the bike.
“Alright, girls, Bash and I will wait here. It’s best you go in and out quick. If it’s missing, it may take you a few weeks to track the new location. We can go over that when you get back.” Mara waved us out the door.
It seemed time was always of the essence in this field of work. I looked at Elle, who nodded, and we stepped out into the rain. After waving Mara off, she shut the door and I activated the crystal on the rolling pin, which caused the motorcycle to transform and take shape.
“So, I have a theory about your … problem.” Elle looked back at the closed door.
Mysoulmateproblem? I didnotwant to talk about that now, but Elle and I were both top of our class in studies and if she had a working hypothesis I wanted to hear it.
“So, you know the elder library?” Elle asked.
I shivered. I wouldn’t forget that night I’d sat in there while they dumped this big new job on me.
Elle wrung her hands together. “Well, they called me in there to tell me everything and prepare me to be your guard. They showed me the crystals and all of that and then they had some emergency and they left me in the library unattended for like fifteen minutes.”
A grin tugged at my lips. “What did you read?”
The elder library was strictly off limits. If I hadn’t been grieving that night, I would have taken more notice of the titles there. As a book lover and knowledge seeker, I would love to be let loose in that thing.
Elle chewed her lip. “Well, it didn’t make sense at first, but now I wonder…”
I swung my leg over the bike and looked up at her. “Wonder what?”
“It was a book about halflings … which I think are what they called the Sons of Darkness in the very beginning…” You couldn’t keep anything from Elle. She was too smart.
I nodded. “Yes. Indra said that.” I needed to catch her up on everything she’d told me last night, but there never seemed to be enough time.
“It said that in the dark times, the Fae mated with the humans because they thought they were soulmates.”
I frowned. “Soulmates with a human?”
That was impossible.
Right?
Elle shrugged. “So then it’s not crazy to assume halflings could be our soulmates.”
