“Yes, something like that.”
“There’s always my apartment in the meantime,” Jack offered. “It’s not really big enough, but it can work before we get somewhere bigger. That way you’re not in a hotel, which is kind of busy. Lots of traffic.”
“I think that is a good idea,” agreed Eriana. “Why don’t you switch rooms tonight, and tomorrow you’ll all go to his apartment. We can start planning a base for you. And I can go visit Anna with Jack.”
No one disagreed with this and they set things in motion, their minds too full for more revelations. Eriana got them a hotel suite across the road and, with Jack’s help, took over all of their suitcases so that they could essentially sneak in a side door, climb the stairs, and head inside while drawing fewer eyes. They walked over to do this to minimize the risk of being in a moving car when summoned, so Jack moved their cars. Then Eriana left for her own hotel.
In the morning, Jack loaded their bags into his trunk, Eriana arrived to check them out, and then she followed Jack as he drove the guys to his apartment. The twenty-minute trip made everyone nervous, but they weren’t summoned along the way and finally relaxed once inside. They spent some time hooking up Eriana’s phones to their new numbers and otherwise making some plans on what to do when they all disappeared again.
Now it was time to see what Eriana could do for Anna. She wouldn’t predict the amount of healing that would come, remarking that her strength with it seemed to ebb and flow like a tide as magic slowly returned to Earth. The hope was to get Anna out of any remaining danger, but it relieved them to discover on arrival that she had improved overnight, enough that the hospital began considering if they should remove her from ICU. Jack hoped Eriana would ensure this happened today. He felt grateful even before they reached Anna’s room, her parents not having arrived yet, which Jack knew because he’d talked to them this morning. He purposely made it here first to minimize explanations about who Eriana was. They planned to do their thing and then the priestess, at least, would leave so that Jack could talk with Anna’s parents. For now, he intended to claim ignorance about where Matt, Eric, and Ryan were. There were just too many things to explain.
“Let me go in first,” Jack whispered to Eriana, who was peeking around the door at Anna. She nodded and Jack slipped inside the familiar room, with its whirring and beeping machines, various wires and tubes like an IV attached to the patient. A TV high on one wall, and which he hadn’t noticed before, quietly played a movie that Anna didn’t appear to be watching, her gaze far away until she noticed Jack, when she smiled a moment. He knew concern likely shone from his face but, with an effort, he forced it away, because the woman he’d brought with him had brought hope with her.
“Hey,” Jack began gently, gripping her hand, the one that wasn’t part of a broken arm. Her fingers didn’t react, and he wondered if she even felt it. “How are you doing?”
“Not great,” she admitted, eyes going to their hands together. She met his gaze with a sad resignation, and he knew she didn’t feel it.
“Well, I’m not going to waste any time with my announcement, because it’s very important to me and the others that you feel hopeful about your future.”
“I could use some good news,” she admitted. “How are the boys?”
“Great, except they’re worried about you, but we have reason to be excited. There’s someone very special I want you to meet. We met her last night, and she’s a game changer.” He looked back to see Eriana coming in to the other side of the bed. With any luck, that benevolent radiance exuding from her would work on his friend like it did on him, even before a healing spell. “Remember when you asked me to bring you a priest? Well, I found a better one.”
“Hello Anna.” Eriana gripped her other hand, smiling fondly at her. “It’s so very nice to meet you.”
“Who are you?”
“On this world, I’m known as Erin Jennings. But on my own and many others, I go by many names. The Lady Hope. The Blessed One. The Light Bringer. I am Eriana of Coreth, one of the Ellorian Champions that you and your friends have been impersonating without meaning to.” As Anna stared up at her in a mixture of disbelief and curiosity, Eriana pulled the gold scarf from around her neck to reveal the Amulet of Corethian. “I understand you wear a copy of my amulet when you are summoned. And I’m sure you wear it well. I know you must have many questions, but your parents will have more if they see me in here, and so Jack and I have come before they arrive in a short while.”
Anna’s eyes went to Jack, who grinned at her and answered the question he assumed she wanted to ask. “Yes, it’s really her. We’ve learned a ton last night, but right now, it’s important for her to heal you before your parents get here.” He saw sudden hope appear in her eyes, which went to Eriana with a desperation that hurt to see.
“Can you really heal me?”
“Yes,” Eriana replied, “enough to get you out of ICU, anyway. For the rest of your injuries, you will need to wait until you are summoned again. I want to assure you, as I did your friends, that the Quest Rings will fully heal you. Anna, you will not be paralyzed for long.”
Tears sprang into Anna’s eyes and down her cheeks.
“We all forgot about that,” Jack confessed. “And I think you might have, too.” She nodded wordlessly, still crying, Eriana
