Don’t you dare let them get to you while I’m gone.
P.S. Since I’ve been here, I’ve heard several mentions of Paradise.
January 1867
Nothing much to do here in solitary except read. The selection is more extensive than I imagined. I have access to every book in the Grandiuse archives. I need only request it. I stumbled upon a book written anonymously by a gentleman who does covert work for the Service. I think perhaps it might secretly be the notorious Crete Reynes. The entire book is rather intriguing. I’ll have to get it to you somehow, but there’s a passage I would like to quote.
“Few have seen it, but my eyes have borne witness to the quote etched in bloodstone on the walclass="underline" “
Within the strongest spirit, one finds Paradise.”
Those who reside in the underground city have the most powerful of minds. The location of the exclusive Paradise remains a mystery to most.”
Paradise, Sephi. If we can live in a city so exclusive, maybe you can finally be safe. No one can hunt you in a hidden city.
Skye Gossamer was not used to waiting. Even prior to her death, before she learned about her ancestry and its perks, doors opened for her willingly. In life, she’d been just as captivating as she was now. It wasn’t always a good thing. She’d captivated the wrong person, and it had led to her premature death.
She’d had a very odd upbringing with her free-spirited parents and their communal life. The colony in which she’d lived housed several families with few rules. Perhaps if they’d realized this was the twenty-first century, if they’d accepted the fact that the world was not a safe place, and they needed locks on their doors, Skye would not have been attacked. She would not have been murdered.
She tapped her foot now waiting outside of Alex’s door. They were going to be late for Duvall’s ABC gathering. “Are you ready?” she called.
“Almost!” She heard from behind the door.
Seriously, how long did it take to imagine oneself in an acceptable outfit? Finally, the door swung open to reveal a small black box in the entryway. Had the box itself opened the door? She shook her head to discard such a weird thought.
She reached out to pet it, and it shut its lid with a bang. She didn’t like its vibe at all, so she avoided touching it when she entered the room.
Alex’s clothes were slightly wrinkled. She must have overslept. Skye made a mental note to bring her friend some valerian root from Duvall’s storage room. That would calm her nerves. Alex seemed pretty high-strung.
Alex twisted her hair into a bird’s nest of a bun even though her mind could have done it for her. “How do you manage that hair?”
Skye dramatically ran her fingers through it. She knew her hair was stunning. “I never cut it, so my mind doesn’t know the difference, I guess. I did always want waves like yours though.”
However, the way Alex's flyaway hair stuck out this morning, she wasn't so sure anymore.
“Wait, you never cut your hair?”
Skye shook her head. “My parents were hippies. Haircuts didn’t make the priority list.”
“Hippies, huh?”
“Technically, it’s communal living.” She held up two fingers. “Peace, love, and harmony.” She remembered her last day there and stifled a shudder. It was the furthest thing from peaceful. She hoped someone had cleaned her body well so she looked beautiful in her casket.
She led the way across campus and into the school. They floated up the large center staircase and into Duvall’s ABC classroom, where several newburies chattered happily. She chuckled at Alex’s double-take while seeing the dozens of rows of glass test tubes and flasks sending wisps of perfumed vapor into the air.
“I was expecting a cauldron,” Alex whispered.
“It must be in the back.”
Skye didn’t know why she bothered to formally introduce Alex to the others in the room. They already knew who she was. Between benches, banshees and Westfall’s orbs, Alex was well known. That didn’t mean other spirits weren’t wary of her, however. Being a strong spirit didn’t change the fact that the girl was a mystery. She had to be multigenerational, but no one knew her family history. She could be cursed like the Bonds or greedy like the Rellingsworths. The spiritual world deemed some families as rejects, and Brigitta was more cliquish than high school.
She heard the office door slam behind them. Professor Duvall entered in her usual getup of shawls and beads, and intertwined within them was a thick yellow and white snake that arched its head into the air. A long red tongue rippled out of its scaly jaw, and Skye could have sworn it smiled at her. She smiled back.
Duvall held up a sheet of paper littered with chicken-scratch of swirls and spirals, and flashed a wide grin at Alex. She winked at Skye and nodded her approval before turning to Whit, one of the group leaders. “Go ahead and take your team to the wormhole. I need you to fetch me some Kahuli.”
“Ka-what-i?” Whit asked.
“Sounds like an island,” said Linton, sliding off the desk to join Whit. He stood obediently, watching Duvall with avid interest. It was the only time Linton ever acted polite.
“Actually, it is found on an island. Kahuli are tree snails found on Oahu.”
Skye sensed her opportunity. “Professor, can Alex and I go with them, since she’s sort of observing today?”
Duvall didn’t even look up. “Absolutely not. Alex needs to stay safe and sound in bounds.”
Safe and sound? What did that mean? Duvall had never expressed concern before.
Skye hated to feel dissatisfied. Like hunger, once it hit, it couldn’t be ignored. “But I got to tag along with Whit on my first day.”
“Off to Oahu, my dears,” Duvall ordered, flicking her wrists with finality and ignoring Skye. “Aloha.”
Skye crossed her arms. Too bad her charms had no effect whatsoever on the teachers.
“Team two, Matthew, please take your group to the wormhole and head for the National Zoo. We need the hairs of a baby polar bear, and the zoo just announced the birth of their newest addition. The younger, the better.”
Matthew furrowed his brow. “They get Hawaii and we get the zoo?”
“Would you rather chase them down in Antarctica?” Duvall remarked curtly. “Because I need the hairs by tomorrow, and it would probably take you two weeks to track down a baby polar bear in the wild, let alone get close enough to extract the hairs without upsetting the mommy.”
Matthew relented. Skye patted him on the back, and his cheeks turned pink.
When team two departed, Skye and Alex were the only students left with Duvall. “Now, my loves, I’m running low on Thymoserum.”
Skye cocked her head. “What is that?”
“It’s a combination of chemicals that function to trick a bodied mind.”
This sounded fun. “To do what?”
“To forget. Sometimes we need things, tangible things, and although the bodied can’t usually see us, we still have to be sure they can’t see the object we take. We can’t make the item invisible, but we can trick their bodied minds to make it seem so. Everything is mental, even sight. So, I need for you to go fetch me some banana slugs.”
“Okay, how many?” Skye asked, extending her hand to pet the snake. It had a good temperament, but clearly Alex did not agree, because she recoiled against a cabinet when the snake stared at her openmouthed. The edges of its glistening fangs caught the light, and Skye directed a look of reprimand at the serpent.