Lark (23 page)

             
Grey scoffs in response and walks back up the stairs.

             
“Friendly,” Jacoby mutters.

             
“He doesn’t approve of me talking to you,” I whisper even though I know Grey will undoubtedly be able to hear me anyway.

             
“Why ever not?” Jacoby fakes surprise.

             
“Oh I don’t know, something about you not stopping Brian from kidnapping me. Oh, and the fact that you happen to be the beloved Prince of the Dark Elves.”

             
“Yes, there is that. Did you at least tell him I also helped you escape and therefore will never be able to return to the Underworld for fear that they will punish me brutally, perhaps even kill me?”

             
“Yes, but his mind is already made up. You are not to be trusted.”

             
“I can’t say I blame him,” he shrugs with a smirk.

             
“But you aren’t bad, are you?” I ask him seriously.

             
“I’m no saint.”

             
Yes, he’s definitely not a saint. He has done evil things, but I refuse to believe that he’s an evil person. He wouldn’t have helped me if he was.

             
Grey clears his throat loudly to get our attention.             

“
Alberico is coming,” he announces and I step away from the cell.

             
A few seconds later, Alberico descends the stairs with Frederick, one of his guards, and Finnegan trailing behind him, red-faced and obviously irritated.

             
“Your majesty, please be reasonable.”

             
“I told you, as I told the rest of the council, Mia has given her statement and our first assumptions were false. If she believes the prisoner is on our side, then I believe her. It is no longer up for discussion.”

             
“But--”             

             
“Remember your place, Duke,” growls Grey. “If His Majesty has decided to offer him amnesty, it is none of your concern.”

             
Finnegan looks taken aback and furious as he looks from Grey to Alberico and finally to me before he storms back up the stairs.

             
“Jacoby, could you please tell us what happened?”

              “When Dugan dismissed me from her cell, I knew that I had to get her out of there. I hunted down my contact to try to get the amulet early. It wasn't finished yet. Then I heard her scream, so I knew I couldn’t wait for it. I rushed back to her. I had just returned when she lit up the room, and the Dark Elves were kind of, um...well, freaked out, so I grabbed her while they were distracted and transported her to the first place I thought of, her bedroom. 

             
“Frederick,” Alberico nods to the guard and he steps forward immediately to unlock the cell to let Jacoby out.

             
“What do you mean that I ‘lit up the room’?”

             
“As bright as the sun,” Jacoby answers.

             
At first I have no idea what he is talking about, but then I remember the golden lady.

             
“That wasn’t me,” I tell him. “You must’ve seen her too.”

             
The three of them silently stare at me like I am a crazy person.

             
“Who are you talking about, Mia?” asks Alberico kindly.

             
“The golden lady. She kept saying 'the power is within you' and a bunch of other crap about being 'the chosen one'.”

             
“I assure you, the only ‘golden lady’ in the dungeon was you,” Jacoby says.

             
“But that’s not possible. I can’t do that!” I stamp my foot in frustration. I’m already part elf, I don’t need to add ‘glow–in-the-dark’ to the mix. “She talked to me. I’m not crazy! I know she was there!”

             
“Alberico, do you think this means—?” Grey doesn’t finish his question.

             
“It can’t be anything else,” Alberico smiles. “She has been blessed.”

             
“Blessed? By who?”

             
“You have been blessed by Sól, my dear”

             
“Who is Soul?”

             
“Sól is the Goddess of the Sun,” he states simply.

             
“And how do you know I’ve been blessed by her?”

“Do you think we are all capable of controlling the light from the sun?” His blue eyes twinkle with pride. “You've been chosen by the goddess.”

              “Why would Sól bless her if she is the one prophesied to break the curse that Sól herself placed upon the Dökkálfar?” Grey questions Alberico as he runs his hand nervously through his hair.

             
“I am not sure. But it is certain that she has been blessed.”

             
“Maybe I'm not the one in the prophecy after all?” I ask hopefully.

             
“If you aren't the one, who is? You are the only one to fit the description,” Grey points out. “Alberico has no other children. So you are the only Half-blood child of a Sovereign one.”

             
I shrug in defeat, “I was just hoping I guess.”

“I expect you to be in the War room tomorrow morning by 9 o’clock,”
Alberico addresses us all.

             
“The War room? All of us? Why?” I ask Alberico, but it’s Jacoby who answers.

             
“The Dark Elves are desperate. Now that they know what your weaknesses are, they aren’t going to just give up trying to get their hands on you.”

“He is right. We are going to have to take offensive action as soon as possible. We need to form a plan of attack and end this once and for all,”
Alberico declares solemnly.

“But I can go back home, right?” I ask
Alberico. He looks shocked that I would even consider such a thing, so I hurry to continue. “I just, well you know, I don't know how my mom would feel about me dropping out of school during the last semester of my senior year...” It's true. She would probably flip out to be honest. But mostly I am just homesick and scared.  And when I am scared, I want my mom.

“I can return with her and keep an eye on her for the rest of the school year. I'm already enrolled. She can transport back here for a couple of hours every day to check in and continue her training,” Grey suggests.

“I can be there too. It couldn't hurt to have the extra protection,” Jacoby says nonchalantly.

“And what kind of protection are you capable of providing?” Grey snorts. “Shouldn’t you be worried about your own head?”

              Jacoby stares coolly at him. At first I think that maybe he is going to be the bigger person and ignore Grey's snide remark. But then Greyson's face distorts in pain, and he covers his ears with both hands.

“Jacoby, stop!”
I plead. He looks up at me, wide-eyed with mock innocence, and has a guilty grin on his face like a child who knows he is too cute to ever really be in trouble.

“Just demonstrating, Lark.”

“That’s not exactly the way to earn their trust,” I point out to him.

He shrugs and throws his hands up in surrender.

But then Greyson recovers, and the next second the earth starts to quake under Jacoby's feet, making him lose his balance. As he steadies himself, all humor leaves Jacoby's face and he focuses once more on Grey, who immediately falls to the ground, writhing in pain that is being manufactured inside his head.

“Stop!
Jacoby!”

As soon as I say his name he releases Grey but he adds with a wink, “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“How do we know we can trust him?” demands Greyson. He has remained fairly calm up until this point, but the anger radiates off of him now. “How do we know where his loyalty lies? He was raised with them and on top of that, he’s a Spirit user! Don’t you find that suspicious?”

I've never heard him yell at anyone before. It's unsettling. He is usually so calm and collected. But what disturbs me more is the fact that he refers to Jacoby as a “Spirit user” like it's a bad thing. It is as though, in Grey's eyes, being a Spirit user is reason enough to distrust Jacoby.

“Look, Mr. Intensity, calm down. My loyalty is with Mia. I will do anything to keep her safe, which includes putting myself at risk. Which I think I proved when
I
saved her.”

             
His words warm me to my core. Nobody has ever looked at me with such reverence before. For a moment, I wonder if I’m suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something, because surely it’s not logical for me to have such fondness for someone who helped to kidnap me. But then I remind myself that he also helped me escape.

And besides, he never exactly seemed willing to kidnap me or harm me in any way, so maybe I’m not completely out of my mind after all.

“He did save me. He helped me escape. I couldn't have done it on my own, and he didn't have to help me,” I point out to Grey. “I believe him. I don't think he is going to hurt me.”

Alberico
nods in agreement, trusting my instincts, but Grey does not look too happy.

“Another Spirit user,”
Alberico says more to himself than anybody else present. “Things just got a lot more complicated.”

Chapter 16

             
I only have a few days left in Álfheimr before my mom expects me to be home. Alberico has insisted that I remain on “bedrest” to rebuild my strength. Let me tell you, bedrest sucks. It’s only day two and I am already going crazy. Usually my stubborn self would throw a hissy fit over something like this, but since Alberico went out on a limb for me by releasing Jacoby, I figure I owe him this one.

              I call my mom to check in on Maddie. She doesn’t even remember calling me to tell me that Maddie was sick in the first place, so I play it off as a case of sisterly-instinct. I am so relieved that Maddie is perfectly fine now. 

             
I haven’t seen any sign of Grey yet today which, even though I am not entirely surprised, I do find to be a little weird. Before I was kidnapped, I saw him every day. I suppose he might be busy planning attack strategies with Alberico and the rest of the council. But I suspect the fact that Jacoby hasn’t left my room all day might have something to do with it.

             
“So what do you do for fun back home, Lark?” he asks me on day two of my bed rest.

             
“I don't know. Normal things, I guess. Watch movies. Read books,” I shrug.

             
“What is your favorite book?”

             
“Why don't we ever talk about you?” I ask, trying to avoid answering his question.

             
“Because I'm not nearly as interesting as you,” Jacoby counters, but I’m inclined to disagree.

             
“Well, what are your plans now?”

             
“Besides baby-sitting you?” he smirks.

             
“Ha, ha. Jerkface. Seriously, what are you going to do now? You know, besides baby-sitting me.”

             
“I don't know, I guess go to a normal high school, travel, whatever. Maybe I'll try to find out more about my parents?” His face darkens and my heart aches as it always does when he talks about his parents. “But I don't want to talk about that. I want to know what your favorite book is.” 

             
“Do you want to know the real answer or the answer I tell everyone?” I ask coyly.

             
“Both. You have to tell me the truth anyway, I'd know if you were lying,” he responds with his toothy grin.

             
“How?”

             
“Your aura of course,” he says with a wink.

             
Damn.

             
“Well, I tell everyone that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. And it is definitely one of them. I sorta have a thing for the brooding Mr. Darcy, but...” I pull the blanket up over my face not wanting to continue.

             
“Go on,” he encourages as he pulls it down just enough to reveal my eyes.

             
“You promise you won't laugh?”

             
“I'm not promising anything,” he says with a smile. I take a deep breath and ignore the fluttering in the pit of my stomach.

             
“My actual favorite book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” I blurt quietly before quickly hiding my face beneath the blanket once again.