Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy (35 page)

"Yes."

She nodded. "I think there are a few things in here that might help. But I need some stuff."

"I know where we can get it."

Cass looked at him. "Where?"

"There's an old apothecary room in the basements. When it was closed, they never cleaned it out. I'll take you there."

She seemed to hesitate before talking. "OK." She turned and started down the stairs.

Raine looked back toward the shelf, grabbed a small blue book, and slid it into the waistband of his pants, covering it with his shirt. He then hurried after her, passing her in four strides. He led her down to the basements and quickly broke into the old dust-filled room with one shove of his shoulder. He watched Cass's eyes light up as she looked around the room, which brimmed with jars and boxes filled with all sorts of herbs and plants.

"You should be able to find everything you need here."

"OK. I'll grab everything, and we should get to the infirmary as quickly as we can," Cass said, placing the book on a table and running a finger down the page.

"No, let me go up there and clear the room first."

Cass looked up at him. "Why? We need to get this done."

"We also need to keep you alive and out of jail. These magics are locked for a reason. You can't go around performing them without people noticing and telling the wrong people," Raine said carefully. There was so much more that he wanted to tell her but knew he couldn't.

She stared at him for a while. "You mean, you don't want my mother to find out."

He nodded.

She looked away and seemed to be arguing with herself. Finally she nodded. "I'll get everything ready. But don't take too long."

Raine let out a breath and put a hand on hers. She immediately pulled it away. "I'll be back," he said.

He took off and headed up to the infirmary. He stopped at the door. There were more people than he'd expected. He'd assumed that Hunter and Gabe would be there, but Helen, Ember, Fern and Noelle also were there.

"What are you doing here? Where's Cass?" Leaf asked, walking up behind him.

The rest of the room looked over to him after his presence was announced.

"She's in her room with Prey. She wanted an update on Syney," he said.

"Doesn't look good," Helen said.

Raine nodded and dared a look over to Gabe. He looked away, knowing he already had gotten his attention in those brief seconds.
Cass got the secured section
open
, Raine thought.
I have the book, and she has the healing book. She's down in the basement at the old apothecary. I'll get her once the room is clear
.

He glanced back at the Vampire, who gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

There was silence for a moment before Helen spoke up—only she didn't entirely sound like herself, almost a little dazed. "It's really late. We should all go to sleep, see how she is in the morning."

Leaf nodded in agreement. "You and Noelle should go. We'll get you if anything happens."

They both nodded and filed out of the room with Ember in tow.

That wasn't good enough.

"There doesn't need to be so many here. I'm sure Hunter can handle anything that comes about," Gabe said, giving Hunter a look.

Raine found it interesting that Gabe seemed to trust Hunter. Gabe didn't give his trust very quickly.

"There should be a lot of guards on her," Leaf countered.

"It's all right," Hunter said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. You'll need to be prepared."

Leaf looked at him stubbornly but nodded. "OK. Stay here, though."

"I will."

Leaf gave Syney one more look before heading out, followed closely by Fern, who gave everyone a cursory nod.

Once they were gone, Hunter looked at Raine and then at Gabe. "Care to tell me why I just helped you clear the room?"

Gabe looked at Raine.

Raine didn't want to be the one to explain. What he was doing—what he was a part of—went against everything they had been taught. Still, he knew Hunter would be fine with what they were doing tonight, because it was to help Syney. "Princess Cass will be coming up in a moment. She's going to perform some healing spells—spells that could get her into trouble if many people knew."

Hunter gave him an appraising look. "This isn't you. What's going on?"

"Much more than you can imagine," Raine said, and walked out of the room. Hunter didn't need to be pulled into this any more than he had to, and he would see to that.

Cass

Cass couldn't think about anything except for each spell as she grabbed all sorts of ingredients from the dusty shelves and cabinets. She was amazed this place was actually in the palace and untouched. But it did make some sense. Most of these ingredients were no longer needed because these spells weren't used anymore. And these spells scared Cass. They weren't simple, and they needed way more power than she thought she had. But she did remove the spells in the library—not that she even knew how she had done it. Once she had gathered what she needed, she grabbed a cloth bag off the floor and shoved everything into it then waited. Now all the thoughts she had pushed aside assaulted her. Raine, her Raine, her Protector—she had no idea who he was anymore. She always had trusted him; she had to, but she also wanted to. But now everything was up in the air. And then there was the fact that she had used magic, and not just magic from a spell. She had broken those spells with something primal inside her. She had felt it build as she fought with Raine and then felt it release the moment she had hit the spells. It was crazy but also amazing and exhilarating. But it scared the crap out of her too. While she and her people were known as Magic Users, there wasn't much magic around. But this...this was magic, and it was inside her.

Raine slipped back into the doorway and waved her over. "All set."

She nodded as she grabbed the bag and followed him out of the room and up into the infirmary. Hunter and Gabe both looked at her when they entered. She
glanced away nervously and went straight to the window that looked into the surgery room. They weren't working on Syney anymore, but a few doctors were standing around. She looked over to Raine, who looked over to the Vampire.

"Got it," the Vampire said softly.

A moment later all of the doctors walked out of the room and passed all of them, as if in a daze.

Cass looked to the Vampire. "Thank you," she said shakily.

He gave her a nod.

She turned away and took a big breath. This was a large task, and she wasn't sure she could handle it. She looked at Syney lying lifeless on the bed behind the glass and felt her resolve build. She could do this; she had to do this. She walked quickly through the swinging doors and to Syney's side. She looked pale and still had some dry blood on her skin. Cass didn't know what was worse—all of the stitched-up areas on her abdomen and chest or her bruised and swollen face. It was disgusting that someone could have done this to her. She fought back tears while Raine pulled up a long metal table for her. She nodded to him and pulled out the herbs and plants. She flipped open the book to the spell on healing deep cuts and mixed together what she needed in a bowl that she also had found in the dusty room. After she had mixed the ingredients, she held her hands over the bowl and repeated the spell in the book. At first nothing happened. She felt no surge of energy. She sighed, frustrated, and looked at Raine.

"Try it again," he said softly.

She put her hands back, and he gently put his above hers. She said the words again and immediately felt his hands warm hers. Once they did, she felt that tug of energy flow through her hands and onto the mixture. She looked up at him, silently questioning.

He gave her a small smile. "Magic is all about life forces. You just borrowed some of mine."

"So we can all do magic?" she asked.

He nodded. "To an extent. But you were born with a magical life force that's stronger than any others."

Cass wanted to ask more but knew she had work to do. She brushed the mixture onto Syney's sutures with her fingers. Once she was done, they started to shine, as if blue gems were implanted in them. She smiled.
That must mean it's working
, she thought. Next she mixed up something for any internal bleeding and then something to replace Syney's lost blood. Raine helped her with both the creation and injecting it. The last step was Syney's face. Cass moved quickly, mixing ingredients and then saying the spells over them. This time, however, she didn't need Raine's help. She felt her power run freely now, as if it was just there on the surface, waiting to be pulled upon. After everything was applied,
injected, and covered with cloth, all they could do was wait. Cass pulled up a stool next to Syney and offered up some prayers to the gods. She was pretty sure everything would work, but it didn't hurt to add prayer to the list.

After about an hour, Cass looked at Raine and nodded. She pulled off the first cloth to see clear skin with only a faint scar. She smiled, and they both took the rest of the cloths off. Her face was still a little purple, but it was much lighter and not swollen at all. Her color was even picking up in her whole body. Cass had done it. She smiled at Raine and then at Hunter, who watched like a hawk through the window.

"Wait." Her smile faded. "What are they going to say when they see her? They'll know someone performed spells on her."

Raine shook his head. "It'll be all right. Let them come up with their own reasons. The Vilori were natural healers, just as your line were natural persuaders. They'll probably just attribute it to that."

Cass eyed him. "What should we do with this stuff?"

"I'll take it—the book too. The next time you break into the library, I'll bring it so you can put it back."

"I want to keep it."

"It's too dangerous for you to have. If you want to look through it, we'll meet in the library tomorrow night. OK?"

She nodded and handed everything to him. They walked into the other room and stopped when Hunter spoke.

"Thank you," he said softly, still staring into the other room.

"You're welcome." Cass led the way out of the room. She turned just as Raine passed something to the Vampire. It looked like a book, but she couldn't tell. The Vampire quickly grabbed it and slid it into his pant's pocket. She frowned and walked back to her room. Something definitely was going on, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it was.

Syney

Syney looked around the room she was in. It looked like the queen's throne room, but something was different. She was pretty sure she wasn't actually here. The last thing she remembered was being attacked in her room. She looked down at her stomach—not a scratch. She was also out of the ball gown and in her usual leather pants and wool sweater. She sighed.
Great
, she thought.
I'm either dead or dreaming
. She kind of hoped for the dreaming, although her life at the moment wasn't the greatest. She looked around the room. She had been here many times, but something nagged at her. She looked at the walls and realized that all of the banners were now purple. The whole room was decked out in purple. It seemed odd but still kind of right.

"Hello."

She spun around and looked at the woman behind her. She didn't look too much older than Syney and not too dissimilar either. She had dark hair that was curled and set just above her neck. She wore a purple gold-laced gown and what looked like Syney's purple amulet.

"Hi," Syney said unsurely. This was all a bit odd.

"I'm Amelia."

"Syney."

She smiled and gestured her over. "I know. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Syney joined Amelia as she sat down on one of the steps that led to the throne. "You're a Vilori, right? The last queen?"

She nodded, her violet eyes shining. "And you are the lost Vilori."

"Right. Guess news travels, even to the afterworld," Syney said with a nervous laugh, when a thought occurred to her. "Oh, god. I'm dead aren't I?"

Amelia laughed. "No, you're still alive, and yes, I'm really here. I needed to see you. I saw this as an opening."