Chapter 3

Amy looked like she could barely contain herself. She fidgeted in the folding chair, smiling at us and looking seriously like she wanted to leap across the room and give us all the biggest hugs. But she stayed seated, her stare only averting from us when Luke gently spoke her name.

“Amy, you remember dreaming about Jette, and Starke, and Jill, don’t you? You told us you dreamt they were coming to help.”

Amy rolled her eyes and shot him a sideways look. “Of course I do, silly. I told you that like a billion times.”

Luke smiled at her in amusement.

“Right. So you did.” He walked around her and sat on the upside-down bucket across from her chair. Leaning towards her, he folded his hands loosely between his legs. “Do you remember anything else from your dream? How they are supposed to help us? Did they do anything important in your dreams?”

She nodded, her black curls bouncing. “Yeah. They beat the monsters with magic and the big dogs.”

Dogs? Wait a minute. We didn’t have dogs. Only dog I’d seen in a month was the one right here. Luke picked up on the same thing and glanced our way.

“You have an army of magical dogs in your world?”

Starke shook his head. “No more than the average house dogs. Nothing magical about them.”

Luke cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the girl. “Are you sure it was dogs? Starke says he doesn’t know anything about magic dogs. Could you be mistaken? Was it something else?”

“There were dogs in my dream.” Amy scowled at Luke like how dare he question her words. “Big ones. Even bigger than Scruff, some of them. They looked real ugly but they were really nice. The monsters were scared of them. And of the magic.”

She stopped talking and leaned toward Starke, her hands clasped tightly at her chin. “Mr. Starke, can you show me some of your magic? I love magic.”

Starke, being his typical self, smiled indulgently at the girl.

“I would love to. But to get here, the three of us had to use all our magic to open the door. We don’t have any left.”

“Well that’s about as surprising as a jack-in-the-box,” Bixby muttered from her leaning post at the wall, arms crossed defiantly. I glared her way. I was growing tired of her skepticism. Starke chose to ignore her, his attention focused on the curly-haired girl.

“But you don’t need me to show you magic. You have your own.”

Her eyebrows shot up as her eyes opened even wider.

“I do?”

“Yes. When you dream about us and the dogs, that’s magic. Only you can do that. No one else.”

She covered her mouth in excitement. “Hear that, Kip? I’m magical.”

“I could have told you that, darlin’,” the tall lady answered, and Amy giggled in response.

Starke wasn’t done. “Luke told us how you were a real big help before. You helped Bixby by telling her she needed the necklace. You helped with the leeches. But now we need your help.” His finger twirled in a circle, encompassing him, Jill, and me. “Can you do that?”

Her brow creased as her worried gaze bounced between us. “I’ll try.”

“In your dreams you saw us with dogs and magic, right?”

She nodded, taking in every nuance of Starke’s words. “Did you see how we helped? What kind of magic did we do?”

The crease deepened as she shrugged and stared at the floor, thinking hard. “I don’t know. Just everyday magic, I guess. The monsters didn’t like it and they disappeared. Like before. When we all thought we were safe. Only this time I think we will be really safe.” She lifted her gaze, pinning us with stormy gray eyes. “You’re gonna make us all safe, right? You guys and the others. The ones that can make the ground shake and the crazy wind blow. You can do it?”

I sucked in a breath. She was talking about the other elementals. Curly and Larry.

“You’re dreaming about the other elementals too?” I interrupted whatever Starke was about to say. “Tell us about that. Do you know if they’re safe? Do they know about us? How do we get to them?”

Amy shrunk back in her chair like I’d yelled at her, and guilt manifested in my chest. I’d overwhelmed her with all my questions.

“Easy there, Jette,” Starke warned. “Let me do the talking.”

I quirked a brow and flipped my hand Amy’s way, giving him my best ‘fill your boots’ look.

“There were more than us in your dreams?”

Amy’s gaze shifted between Starke and me like she expected me to yell again.

“Umm, yeah. Sometimes. I think. I’m not sure anymore. Sometimes my dreams get real mixed up and I forget them.”

“It’s okay, Ames.” Bixby approached the girl and ran a gentle hand over the frizzy curls. “Take your time. There’s no rush. Just tell them what you remember.”

The girl squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating hard. No one in the room spoke, as if afraid to distract her in any way. Finally, she opened her eyes again and sucked in a lung full of air, like she was about to cry.

“That’s all I remember. You guys came through the blue door to help us and the monsters ran away. I’m sorry, Bix. I’m so useless.”

She stared up at the redhead standing above her, her face scrunched with her disappointment and her eyes filling with tears.

“Hey.” Bixby pulled the girl’s hands into her own, before squatting down so they were eye level. “You did good. There’s no need to be sorry.”

“I did?” Amy sniffed as a couple of tears escaped and started dripping down her flushed cheeks.

“Yeah. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have found these guys. You told us where they would be. Remember?” Bixby gently wiped the stray tears away with her thumb. “So don’t you ever say you’re useless, ‘cause that is not true.”

“But if it wasn’t for me, the farm would…”

“That is not your fault.” Bixby’s stern tone terminated whatever else the girl was about to admit. “We talked about this. None of that was your fault. Understand?”

Amy nodded, even as a couple more tears squeezed their way out. What were they talking about? Obviously, Amy carried a load of guilt, just as it was obvious to see how much Bixby cared for her and believed otherwise. Even Kip and Luke looked concerned, like they thought Amy was going to have a full-on meltdown.

“Now, try for me again. Is there anything weird from your dreams you remember? Anything that may be important so these guys can help us. Something that stands out. Something that was out of place?”

Her sigh bounced about the room as she closed her eyes again. She sat in silence, dredging up her dreams.

“I remember people. And dogs. And monsters. There was…there was a lot of noise. Not yelling. It was louder than the yelling. Loud rumbling that seemed like it was in the sky.”

I arched my brow at Starke as I whispered. “Thunder?”

“Maybe.”

“Anything else?” Bixby kept digging.

Amy concentrated. “Water. Everyone was wet like it was raining. But I don’t think it was rain. The place was more steamy, like someone was taking a really hot shower. But the monsters don’t want you going there, Mr. Starke. To the rainy place. They know that place has a lot of magic and they don’t want you there.”

Water? This was interesting. Water was what Starke and I needed. And apparently these creatures knew that. Now we were getting somewhere. But what place was she talking about?

“Good. You’re doing great, Ames.” Bixby shook the hands still curled in hers in encouragement. “Anything else? Do you know where this place is? Just say what you remember, doesn’t matter if you don’t think it’s important.”

“I…I don’t think so.” The girl opened her eyes full of disappointment. “I’m sorry, Bix. I can’t remember.”

“That’s okay…”

“Wait!” Amy cut Bixby off midsentence, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Something else. There was a huge tower. It went right up to the sky with a big round piece on top. I remember that it was really scary looking ‘cause I wouldn’t want to fall off it. It scared me almost as much as the monsters.”

Her smile was full of pleased accomplishment, negating her tear stained cheeks.

“Amazing. You did so good, baby girl.” Kip leaned over and dropped a kiss on the black curls. Amy giggled happily as her eyes averted back to us.

“Did I help you, Mr. Starke?”

“You certainly did. You helped us so much, I can’t ever thank you enough. What a great use of your magic.”

His dimpled grin made my knees go weak. Amy practically glowed.

“Yay.” She clapped her hands. “Now can I go, Bix? Little Sammy and me, we were playing catch. Gordo took over for me, but he’s nowhere near as good as catch with Sammy like I am.”

“Of course.” Bixby pulled her to her feet. “Give Sammy a kiss for me, will ya?”

Amy nodded and wrapped her arms around Bixby’s waist for a quick hug before walking the couple of feet to us. She stopped in front of Starke, smiling shyly, totally enamored with him. I understood how she felt.

“I hope you help soon, Mr. Starke. The bad guys are really mean, and they need to go. They took away a lot of people I loved.”

Starke reached out and tugged on one of the ebony curls. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m going to try my best.”

Her smile dropped away, replaced by a look of confusion that clouded her eyes. Turning to me, she spoke in a voice so solemn and sure, it didn’t sound like it even belonged to her.

“Jette, your mom really, really wants you to find her. Invenient mihi.”

I startled in shock, even as Amy gave herself a little shake. Ignoring me, she tossed Starke a dazzling smile and skipped from the room, like she had no idea she’d just uttered those last few words.

I watched her go, the knot in my stomach only worsening. My mother? How did she know about her? How did she know those words? Despite what Starke had told Amy, her memories of her dream hadn’t helped at all. And this mom thing? I was more confused than ever. I hope someone else in this room had a better idea what was going on than I did. It wasn’t Starke. He looked at me weirdly, Amy’s words as confusing to him as they were to me.

“I’ll explain later,” I threw his way.

“That was…interesting. And totally useless,” Jill muttered. “We’re more confused than ever now.”

“You’re wrong,” Starke said as he got to his feet and began pacing the room. “Amy told us quite a bit. We were sent here for a reason. Call it destiny or magic, but fate decided we need to serve a purpose here. Just like we are meant to serve a purpose for Endova.”

“Which was to restart the prism,” I added, not able to quell my anxiety anymore. “Not to eradicate blood-sucking aliens. This world, these aliens, they have nothing to do with our mission.”

Starke threw me a lopsided grin. “You say that as if we have a choice in this matter. Fate and destiny are ruled by no man. Or Fae. Our paths have already been decided. All we must do is follow them and stay on track to the best of our ability.”

“Okay, can you please at least talk basic English here?” I groaned as I massaged my aching shoulder. “What does beating Asha to the elementals, and these aliens have in common?”

He stopped pacing. “I’m not sure yet. But I’m convinced it is all connected.”

“Connected how?” I insisted. “You think these aliens are a byproduct of the crazy queen’s experiments as well? Like the morquals and the mutant wolves? I mean you said yourself those wolf things were reproducing. Transforming possibly. Just like the creatures here?”

“What the hell are you people talking about?” Bixby’s hands flew to her hips. “Morq…what? Mutating wolves. Focus, people. Amy said you were here to help, so start helping.”

“And what do you think we’re doing?” I shot back. “But since we have no frame of reference in dealing with aliens that drink blood, we gotta kind of work our way around this, ya know?”

“Enough.” Kip’s tone was pure steel, and demanded it be obeyed. “Arguing amongst ourselves will not get us anywhere. Let’s try and break this all down, shall we?”

I nodded as Bixby folded her arms again and stayed quiet. Her form of agreement, I guess.

“The floor is all yours, Kip,” Starke informed her.

She ran a hand over the back of her neck and took a deep breath.

“Okay. This is what we know. Amy is convinced you people are here to help us. With magic. But you three are saying you have no magic. Problem number one. How does one come about magic?”

I looked to Starke since I knew sweet-dick-all about answering that.

“In normal times Fae or elemental can pull from the earth’s magic. As I already told Jette, magic is not infinite. You need time to regenerate. But this is not normal times. This world has little magic to pull from. The only way we will be able to regenerate here is to find a ley line. A location thought to be a pathway of eternal magical significance. They are offshoots of the prism, and numerous ones are threaded throughout all worlds.”

“A specific place here on your world that is full of magic,” I added as their puzzlement at Starke’s flowery words only deepened.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “What she said. I believe Amy dreamt of one. The rainy spot. Just as she dreamt of everything else. That is our ley line. That is where we need to go.”

“Great.” Kip continued. “Problem number two. Where the heck is this place? A rainy spot that is not rain, loud noises, and a huge tower with a bubble top. That could be anywhere. That could be on the other side of the world for all we know.”

Starke shook his head. “No. For this energy to invade Amy’s dreams, the ley line is not that unattainable. It has to be somewhere around here. Somewhere not that far. A place of wonder and beauty that draws people to it like a moth to a flame without them even realizing why.”

“So ley lines are basically tourist attractions?” I scoffed at my joke, expecting Starke to laugh along with me. I didn’t expect him to agree.

“Basically, yes. All races are drawn to these lines, with most never truly understanding why. It is inherent in us all to be lured by the magic it exudes.”

“Holy Toledo,” Bixby looked as surprised at her admission as we all were. She stood up straight, her eyes lit with excitement. “A rainy spot that isn’t rain. Loud sky noises. A large tower with a bubble top. A tourist attraction. I think I know the place Amy saw in her dreams. The tower is Skylon tower. Your ley line is in Niagara Falls.”