“Nearly, by accident, admittedly,” I said, dropping down into a chair. “How’s Gabe?”
“My God!” Tess said, going to her knees by the bed. She reached out instinctively to touch Gabe’s mottled face but then thought better of it, her hand hovering in the air, shaking, as she took in the full extent of his injuries.
“Looks like he should be on the mend,” Vickers said, appearing from the bathroom. “Your man here, Flea, found quite the miracle cure in the library. Soarsin stones when powdered and added to willow bark and velecian acts as an enhancer, reducing inflammation and helping repair damaged flesh. Apparently, soarsin is quite sought after in other realms. Common as muck here. Reckon he’ll be awake and not thanking us for it by tomorrow.”
“Thank you so much for your help,” I said.
“Ah, think nothing of it. If I hadn’t been part of His Highness’s household since I was a lad, I’d have left long ago. They’re cruel here, unnecessarily so. A pinkie’s not the same as a normal animal, but they don’t merit this kind of treatment.” He looked up at me and then seemed to realise what he’d just said, “Excepting yourselves, of course. Well, I’ll take my leave.”
Flea came back in the room just as Vickers was leaving, toting another pile of books. His eyes went wide when he saw Tess, almost dropping the collection before recovering them, taking the time to smooth his expression to one of calmness. “Tess, you OK?”
“Ah…” I could hear the shake in my sister’s voice, “well, obviously better than Gabe.” She crossed her arms, fingers digging into her skin so hard they went white. “I-I . . .”
“It’s OK,” he said and placed the books on a table before moving to her side. His arm automatically went to go around her shoulders, then stopped, as if he wasn’t sure he should.
“It’s fine, I’m fine,” she said, waving a hand and Flea immediately took a big step back. “We don’t have time for hysterics; we need a plan to get out of here.”
He nodded at this, “Well, I’ve been working on it.” We all took seats in the bedroom. “From what I understand of your Nan’s spell, each time Tess reads a book or watches a movie, something with a story, you, Ash, end up having that happen to you when you wake up.”
“Yeah, but it has stopped working since Gabe turned up,” I said. Everyone’s eyes slid to Gabe’s prone form and there was a moment of silence. “Tess thinks he’s what I needed and that’s why it doesn’t work now.”
“Well, you need something to help us out pretty desperately now,” Flea said. “What if that’s how it works? When there’s a need, it activates?”
“So, what? Tess is going to reread Cinderella and we’ll bring Prince Charming to the rescue?” I said.
“Or King Arthur. We could bring Merlin here!” Tess said, her whole face lighting up. “That’s a genius idea! He could open a portal and–” Tess said.
“Ah, I wasn’t quite thinking along those lines,” Flea said. “What if Tess spent the day reading every action hero, badass book you could think of? Superhero comics, Rambo, military sci-fi, you name it.”
“And bring them here?” I asked, smiling against my will. I was trying to imagine a plethora of superheroes, wizards and warriors, all at our backs, helping us march right out of here.
“Oh, my God, yes!” Tess said. “I could read something about MacGyver. Did they do novelisations of his show? There’d have to be some fanfic somewhere, anyway.”
“None of the sexy kind, though,” I said with a shudder.
“But we’re thinking too small!” Tess said, warming to the idea. Having some kind of solution seemed to transform her mood. “I could read the Dragonriders of Pern and have sentient, fire-breathing dragons. We could have Aragorn and Dumbledore and Aladdin’s genie.”
“Yeah, well, let me know what you decide on,” I said and moved to sit down on the bed next to Gabe. I very gently ran my hand down his cheek, careful to ghost over the bruises.
“Master Vickers said to apply this to all the injured areas,” Natty said, holding out a large ceramic container of a herby-smelling paste. “Just brush it on, lightly, of course.”
I nodded and set to work. The afternoon light bathed him in a hazy golden glow as I went, somehow muting the injuries’ brutal appearance. The paste left a white chalky residue behind it, further glossing over the horror visited on his body. I ran the brush over his cheeks and the bands of finger marks around his throat, letting the paste pool in the small holes caused by one of the wolf people’s claws. I worked my way across his collarbones and down his chest, across his biceps and down the raking marks on his forearms. I swallowed as I moved my brush down. The bruising was much denser around his abdomen, groin and legs; wreaking the most harm where he was most vulnerable. I forced my hand to move, painting the healing poultice over him, trying to erase the damage, trying to bring him back to me.
Did I love Gabe? We’d had this weird whirlwind affair, more about sex than anything. He was kind and caring, loving and funny; I enjoyed being with him more than most boyfriends, but I guess the idea that he was this magically-induced boyfriend had put a bit of a block on me developing feelings for him. What if he up and disappeared the next day because Tess started reading something else? Why had he stayed when the others went the next day? I worked my way down to his feet, anointing each toe, with their swollen tips and jagged nails. “We’ll do his ba
ck when he dries,” Natty said.
“We’re going to do a trial for tomorrow,” Tess said when I came back to my chair. “I’ll read one book and we’ll see what happens. The spell has been very quiet for some time.”
“OK,” I said.
“I’m so sorry, Ash. If I had any idea–”
“So, that’s where you got to.” Our heads all whipped up when the door to our suite opened and standing in the doorway was the prince, back in his usual pinstripe suit and not looking happy. “Good to see you returned in one piece. With me, Milady McKinnon.”
“No, Ash . . .,” Tess said, grabbing at my hand.
I shook my head, shooting her a fierce look, “The prince only needs me for a moment. You have some reading to do, don’t you?” Flea seemed to understand the need to be cautious about what we knew, even if Tess didn’t. He started pawing through the pile and then shoved a book with a lurid cover at her. “I’ll be back soon, won’t I, Your Highness?”