“What do we do?” I hissed, speed walking through the kitchen in the direction Rissa had gone.
Soren waited until we’d entered the tunnel, glancing behind and ahead to make sure we were alone, before calling out in his deep voice, “Rissa!”
The sound of her name pulled her to a stop.
As we came around to block her path, she stared through us instead of meeting my gaze.
“Marissa!” I tried again. “It’s me, Brynn!”
She didn’t respond.
Jitters rolled down my spine.
“Marissa,” Soren repeated her full name in a soothing tone. “Can you tell us where your father and—” He glanced at me in question.
“Youngest sister.”
“And your youngest sister are?” he finished.
Slowly, her eyes rose to his, squinting like he was too bright to look at.
“Olive,” I prompted when she only blinked at him. “Rissa, where are Dad and Olive?”
“Olive,” she repeated slowly.
I whirled on Soren. “What’s wrong with her?”
Holding up a hand, he kept his gaze on Rissa. “Give her a second.”
We could almost see her return to the surface of her mind, and she started blinking more rapidly as her consciousness emerged. Her drink tray fell from her hands with a crash, splashing our legs with liquid. “Where am I? Who are you?”
I stepped in front of Soren, ignoring the puddle of fae wine underfoot. “Rissa, it’s me.”
She squinted again. “You look a lot like my sister...”
She thought I was fae.
Spinning to Soren, I gestured wildly at my face. “Take the glamour off!”
His fingers danced over my cheeks and forehead, but with my blood pumping loudly in my ears and my whole body vibrating at the fact that my sister wasright there, I barely felt it.
“Done,” he murmured.
Swiveling back to Rissa, I put my face an inch in front of hers. “Rissa, it’s me. It’s Brynn. I’m here.”
The next second, her arms wrapped around me, squeezing tight, and her body shook with sobs. “What’s going on, Brynn? Where are we? Where are Dad and Olive?”
Tears streamed down my face. I held it together just barely, brushing a comforting hand over her dark hair. “I was really hoping you might know... But they’re here somewhere, Rissa, and we’re going to get you all home...” I struggled to sound hopeful.
Soren saved me. “Rissa, close your eyes and picture their faces the last time you saw them.” To me, he added, “It might take her a bit to access the memories, but they’re there.”
She just shook her head against my shoulder. Trembling, she continued to cry, soaking my dress, but I held her tight, not caring. Slowly, as the tears stemmed, she hiccuped and pulled back. “I think we came here together. I can remember them giving us the same job, serving drinks.”
“Okay, okay, we can work with that.” I rubbed her arms, trying to warm her up because both her coat and her blue robe were gone. All she wore was an old tank top and those ragged sweat pants that said “juicy” on the butt.
“Perhaps back to the kitchen?” Soren suggested. “If they’re all serving drinks, then logic says they have to come back to get more eventually.”
“Yes!” I practically yelled, wrapping an arm around Rissa and pulling her back down the tunnel.
