They entered a dim building lit by the small fires of several strange lamps. There were no windows, only a long hall filled with doors. The elf girl pulled him forward to one of the last ones. Elric turned into the doorway and the elf girl stayed close by his side. Guards followed right behind them. She scooped up Mildred.
Elric watched as the terrifying elf leader who had given him so much grief knelt at the side of a simple bed and took up the hand of a young elf lying on it. The boy appeared to be sleeping.
“Codex?” Axis smoothed his hand over the boy’s brow and bald head.
The boy blinked open his eyes, bright yellow eyes that glowed in the dim light. “Father?”
The Headmind pulled the boy into his arms and held him in a desperate embrace. The elf girl squeezed Elric’s hand as she wiped her sleeve under her nose.
“He’s saved. You saved him.” Axis looked back at the girl.
She shook her head. “Wynn taught me how.”
“She comes from the fairy realm. Fairies do not change. What great gift did she demand for this magic?” the Headmind asked. “Her freedom?”
“She asked for nothing,” the girl said. “She said it was the right thing to do for a friend. She is still locked in her room.”
He stood, though his fingertips remained on his son’s shoulder. “Bring the girl to me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEWynn
WYNN SAT ON THE BED in the corner and waited for it to be night again. Her back hurt from sitting in the corner all day, but she knew night would come soon, and then she could see her friend. She wanted to talk to Lexi. She also wanted to see Mildred again, but she knew Lexi was taking good care of her. Lexi was very nice. The rest of the elves ignored her. She was used to the fairies being busy and leaving her alone. But this was different. At least the fairies would wave or say hello. When the elves came into her room to give her some stale nuts to eat, they spoke in their language so Wynn couldn’t understand, but she knew they were talking about her.
Wynn scratched at her bandages and wished she could take them off, but the elf who came in at dawn to treat her wounds told her not to pull on them. Headmind Axis wanted to make sure she was healthy.
The door opened with a creak. Wynn looked up. Maybe someone was bringing her lunch. She was hungry. A grumpy-looking elf with deep wrinkles in his forehead stepped inside.
“You are to come with me,” he said in a gruff voice.
Wynn hugged her knees and shook her head. She didn’t want to go anywhere. She liked this room. Lexi could pop up through the floor. She didn’t want to go to a different one.
“The Headmind has need of you.” The guard came forward and loomed over her. She looked at his thick leather shoes, then back up at the grumpy elf. The elves liked to threaten a lot. She crossed her arms and stared at him.
“I could drag you out of this room,” he said, but he didn’t actually do it. Maybe he didn’t want to do it. Wynn just blinked at him.
“What do I have to do—”
“Smile?” she said. He was very grumpy. She didn’t like that he looked so scary.
He looked at her, confused, and his brow got even more wrinkly. “What?”
Wynn smiled at him, showing off her teeth. She wasn’t sure if he knew how to smile.
“That’s all you want?” He looked even more confused.
She nodded. That would make things a little better.
He did his best to pull his lips back into a smile, but it made his eyes squinty, and his forehead more wrinkly. His nose crinkled up too. He looked funny, and it made Wynn want to laugh. That made her feel better. It would do, for a smile.
“I like your smile,” she said, and took the elf’s hand. He closed his hand gently around hers. Wynn decided he was very grumpy, but grumpy didn’t always make someone mean. Osmund was grumpy, but Osmund was never mean.
The elf led her out the door and down the long hall to another room. She recognized it immediately. It was the room Lexi’s brother was in. It was more crowded now.
Axis knelt by the bed. Wynn worried that Lexi’s brother had died, but when she stepped forward, she saw that Lexi’s brother wasn’t turning invisible anymore. He looked real again, or at least she couldn’t see through him to the other side. That was wonderful. Maybe now he would get better.
“Wynn!”
She knew that voice. Everything in her body happened at the same time. Her heartbeat stopped and started, and she couldn’t pull a new breath in. Her mind rushed with a hundred thoughts all at once. She couldn’t control her hands. Her body shook, and she flapped her arms as she tried to say something. “El . . . Elric . . . you’re here!”
Elric pushed forward, but a guard held him back from her. The guard who had smiled for her gripped her arm as she tried to pull it away from him.
Elric was here. She needed to give him a hug. She slapped the guard’s hand, then twisted her arm the way that always made Elric release her when he was holding too hard. The guard let go with a surprised shout. Wynn ran forward. She didn’t care if guards were holding him. She threw her arms around Elric’s neck and held on to him as tightly as she could. She didn’t want to let go of him ever again.
“Wynn, I can’t breathe,” he gasped. She stopped hugging him, but didn’t fully let go.
“I . . . I don’t believe it,” she said. “You found me.”
He had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping in a
