Page 22 of The Other World

Then I opened a browser window, thinking that if I could see where we were on a map, at the very least I could tell them which direction to head to find civilization. I had no clue where we were, and it was the only other thing I could do to help, but I didn’t even finish typing into the search bar, when something slammed into me, knocking me off the chair.

I hit my head on the side of the desk. There was a blinding flash of pain, then nothing.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I woke up swearing.

“I need to get back,” I said, before even opening my eyes.

“Hold on there, pumpkin pie,” said Mrs Spencer, helping me sit up and plumping the pillows behind me. I’d know her voice anywhere, and the pain in my head was still too sharp to open my eyes. “You’ve got a nasty bump on that old noggin of yours. The last thing you need is a concussion.”

I knew she was right, but it was still frustrating. I had no idea what was going on back there, if everyone would get out safely, if Sam would listen to me and escape. What if my not-father overpowered Tennyson and Althea and captured all four of us for his creepy experiments? I didn’t want him getting his greasy mitts on my other world form. Who knew what he’d cook up if he knew about parallel worlds, he’d probably just grow his ambitions to fit the bigger universe. The last thing I needed was a second evil faction to deal with, I had plenty to be going on with as it was.

“Here, drink this. It’ll help.”

She pushed a cup of hot tea into my hands. I sniffed it but couldn’t smell anything suspicious, mostly just sage and ginger. I took a wary sip but nothing tasted out of place either.

I couldn’t sense anyone else in the room, but I attempted cracking my eyes a bit to double-check. The light was like a dagger into my brain but I could see enough to know we were alone. I set the tea cup aside and grasped her by the hand.

“I saw him,” I whispered. “Sam.”

For a moment, she seemed frozen, but then she squeezed my hand. “How is he?”

I shook my head, unsure how to answer. “He’s… confused, I think. He seems okay physically but…” I shrugged, then winced at the movement. “I was helping him escape when I got knocked out, that’s why I need to get back there. I don’t know if he got out.”

“He’s a prisoner?” she asked me softly.

“My father,” I said. “Other father. Her father. There.”

She was quiet for so long that I risked opening my eyes again. It was less painful this time. She looked very tired but she smiled when she noticed me staring.

“I want to come with you,” she said. “To that world. We’re working on a way but we need that sword, and that awful woman hid it too well.”

I assumed the awful woman was Tennyson’s mother, and I couldn’t disagree with her assessment, even if it did seem mean to say about her now she was dead.

She took a deep breath, then stood up. “I should tell Tennyson you’re awake. That Vucari has been buzzing around like a darn mosquito as well, wanting to know how you’re doing with his business. Anything I should tell him?”

I shook my head. I’d all but forgotten about his relic but once Sam was safe, I could look into that more. To do either though, I needed to get back. Even though Mrs Spencer warned me tostay awake as she slipped out the door, as soon as she was gone, I closed my eyes and snuggled down into the bed.

It didn’t take long for me to drift off, but this time, I didn’t immediately wake up in the other world. Maybe because of my concussion, but when I came to, I was in that temple, the same one from my dream, from the ritual. Even though I couldn’t see anyone else there, I could tell I wasn’t alone.

And that noise. The dripping I’d heard when we were in my not-father’s dungeon. It was even louder here, and when I listened closely, I could make out what it was saying.

“Come and take your seat with us,” it said, and once I heard it, I understood that it wasn’t dripping at all, it was a blend of voices. The voices spoke at so many different frequencies that they couldn’t be heard by the human ear, so I’d just heard dripping, but here, in this place, I could understand.

“You are like us, and yet unlike. We could learn much from each other.”

And even without them saying, I knew who they were. It was the Spirit Council. Those useless jerks who had refused to help us when we were trying to fight against my evil dad and his jerkface sidekick, evil Henry. They’d had no interest in us learning from each other back then, they couldn’t have cared less. As far as I knew, they were controlled by my father now. He was calling himself the “master of all”, the leader of the High Council, which included the Spirit Council. And it hadn’t just been the fey who had betrayed us the day that Sam had vanished, the day Tennyson became alpha.

“I’m good,” I told them, in my drippiest voice.

“The time will come when you will think differently,” they said. “Our knowledge is necessary if you hope to be successful.”

I shrugged. I knew I was being stubborn, and maybe I’d regret it, but I couldn’t help myself.

“We will be here when you change your mind.”

As their voices faded out, so did the temple. I blinked my eyes and I was awake again, back in the other world.

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