Focusing on Memphis, Brokk nodded. “I can do this. Jump through time, to keep her safe. But will you stay with me?”
Panic flashed through her. “What do you mean?” She looked to Memphis, grave, as he ripped his gaze from Brokk. He looked like a ghost as he walked toward her. Snow crunched underneath his foot as she whispered, “Memphis?”
Her palms tingled as her breaths came in quick bursts. She could practically feel the ground underneath them quake, the distant army closing in on them. Her pulse flew unevenly, sweat collecting at the base of her neck, as she absorbed Memphis’s pinning gaze. She flicked her eyes to Brokk and he nodded once. Memphis was before her, dissolving the space between them. His voice was gruff and thick as he leaned in, his breath hot against her cheek, as both of his hands cupped her face gently. “I love you. Please, just never forget that.”
Ice ran through her veins, and the world dropped away. Her stomach felt like it was being ripped from her, and she had the illusion of warm hands supporting her. Labored, sickening wails echoed around her... or maybe that was her. The forest became a blur, ivory bleeding into everything, leeching it all of color. In the distance, a voice bounced toward her, like cutting through a fog. “Em, hold on.”
And then her world cracked into thunderous light. She was falling, wind roaring around her, but she felt another presence and knew she wasn’t alone. They spun and spun, brilliant golds, greens, and blues fracturing around them like diamonds or blazing embers. Ice ruptured through her, numbing her, until she was tearing through a sea of light. The golds bled into silvers, curling and twisting like liquid metal. The blues and greens softened into teal, and it reminded her of crashing waves. She wasn’t sure she had ever been to the ocean. The thought struck her violently, and she tried to twist, but gravity lurched her down faster, her hair tumbling around her. Where was she? Where had she come from? Who had she been? With each thought she spun faster, dislocating her sense of self, until there was the sweet scent of damp grass and the trickling warmth of sunlight on her skin. Her body slammed, cracking against the hard ground, violently. There was a whisper of words, Brokk’s soft voice dying, and then there was nothing but pain. Nausea and throbbing raked through her, and she was distantly aware of the world churning around her. She was blissfully greeted by the darkness with open arms as she knew no more.
21
Emory
“Miss? Hello?”
“Do you think she is dead?”
“Will you shut up, Aideon, and call 911?”
The two voices bantered around her. There was a pause, and then a series of clicking as the male voice, Aideon, spoke smoothly, “Police.” A pause. “Yes, hello. My wife and I are pulled over on Gore Road, just outside the city, where a young woman looks to have been beaten and is unconscious.” Another pause. “Yes, visible wounds, dried blood, bruises. Okay, thank you, and yes, we will wait.”
The padding of soft feet sounded farther and farther away. She felt the cool tickling of grass underneath her, a soft wind brushing across her face. Unfamiliar sounds whirled around her, all too sharp, too fast, and too much. Groaning, her eyes fluttered, catching snippets of the scene around her. A piercing blue sky, and downy clouds. The woman stood beside her, her blond hair tumbling around her shoulders, her features pinched with worry. A strange shaped box was behind them, pulled off to the side from the winding paved pathway crawling with more people, and some form of... carriage? Coughing, she shut her eyes again, feeling dizzy.
The woman crouched down, her voice gentle. “Hold on, sweetie, it won’t be long now. Everything is going to be okay.”
She didn’t know what she meant, but she was happy to lay here, her body radiating pain, and drift on the sea of sounds and smells circulating around her. Concentrating on her breath, shallowly in and out, she was comforted by the rattling wet sounds of her lungs dragging. She winced, her eyes flying open as piercing wailing noises sliced through the air.
The man, Aideon, stated, “There’s the ambulance and the police. Is she awake?” Her heart clawed faster at the strange words, ambulance, police? Tears seeped from the corners of her eyes, burning as they trickled down her cheeks. There was an intense squealing and then chaos erupted around her. Overlapping voices collided around her, questions being shot every direction.
She winced away as another man and woman came into her view. “Can you tell us your name and how you got here?” She squinted, taking in the big white box with red flashing lights blinking on it. They carried a strange bag. The man took out several tools, and she bared her teeth at him in a feral way. Her heart pounded as they came closer, panic immobilizing her. My name. The world spun. What is my name? A spark bloomed in her chest, becoming an inferno.
“Emory Fae. Emory Reia Fae,” her voice crackled, sounding a thousand miles away.
“Can you tell us what happened?”
She tried to sit up, and they responded, coming too close to her, too fast. “Get away from me!” She snarled as her mind churned, pulling and tugging at strings with empty endings. What had happened? She was met with a brick wall. Who was she beyond the name? Another wall. Where was her home? Her family?
Strong hands and a soothing voice pinned her. “You are going to be okay.”
She was screaming, her nails biting into flesh, dragging down. She was feral, tried to bite, to snap, to do anything. There was a sharp prick on her arm, and in an instant, the world fell away in blanketed nothingness.
She dreamt of the woods—towering trees weaving a canopy
