Page 41 of Glass Hearts

The foggy nightmare of darkness passes as I shoot up next to my brother and my girl’s best friend, Lo.

Lo? What is she doing in our room?

Two little mice are at her face, slapping her with their tiny paws, trying to wake her up.

Then it all comes back to me. All I had witnessed as I was trapped in my mind. Arabella, the whipping, the cruel words. My brothers seem to come back to reality at the same time as I hear Grayer cry out a pained “Arabella.”

“Where. Is. She.” Archer grounds out as we all massage our temples. It feels as though we all have an awful hangover from drinking for five days straight. Jett is licking his face, and the mice are still trying to wake up Lo.

“We probably don’t have a lot of time until Victor and Bernice try to find us.” Sylas is the first to get up fully, trying to help Lo sit up from the floor. “We need to wake up Miss Elora, she may know where our Vixen is. Especially if she knew enough to get us out of the spells.”

“You are right,” I say as I summon my water magic to dump ice-cold water over her.

“Why the fuck am I bleeding?” Archer asks as he touches his forehead.

“Looks like our girl’s friend got a lucky shot at you while you were passed out,” I chuckle.

“It’s not time to laugh, brother. I need to find my Duchess.

” Grayer, who is normally more relaxed even when he is acting a bit maniacal, looks absolutely murderous.

I send another dump of cold water over Lo in urgency.

The mice are angrily chittering at me, getting caught in the onslaught of water.

“Sorry, boys, I need to find my woman.”

Lo stirs as she sputters out the water. Sylas, ever the gentleman, is already there helping her sit up. He hands her a glass of an amber liquid.

“It worked,” Lo squeaks out before sputtering water from her mouth. “Really? I save your bums and you waterboard me!?”

“Not waterboarding, just waking you up.” I lift my arms in peace.

She takes a large sip of the alcohol.

“Thanks, I needed that. But we don’t have time. Ella is in trouble.”

“Do you know where she is?” Grayer asks angrily, getting up in her face. I pull my brother back.

“Gray, calm down. Lo is on our side, trying to help us,” Archer condemns Grayer as he struggles to maintain any form of composure. Archer turns back to Lo. “Thank you for helping us. What do you think happened? Where is she?”

“I have no idea where Ella is.” Tears stream down her eyes at the confession. “She has a bracelet I spelled to find her. But I need to make a conduit to track her. I accidentally left my original tracker back at home.”

“Then make it!” Grayer screams, and angry tears fall down his face. “I remember it all. That bitch said she was selling her off tonight to get married. She can’t, she is MINE.”

Lo nods, trying to get up. Sylas is there, helping her up. She lists the ingredients for us to collect.

“I also need something of Ella’s. Would any of you happen to have something on hand?”

Grayer leaves for a few minutes and returns with the pouch that contains our pendants along with the other requested items.

“Wasn’t the desk drawer locked?” Archer asks.

“I melted the lock and kicked in the drawer,” is all he says as he reaches for his necklace first, removing her glass orb from his chain. He tosses the bag to us to retrieve our own pendants.

Hesitantly, Gray hands Lo the orb. Lo smiles as she realizes he had it around his neck.

We put together a plan and pack a few items we may need as Lo gets to work.

Bri bursts into the room a short while later. “Why the fuck is the dining room bloody? Are you all okay? Where is Arabella? She didn’t show up for her shift.”

Grayer growls as Sylas runs his hand down his face.

“It’s a long, fucking awful story. We were spelled, Arabella is in trouble.

The-the blood is hers,” Sylas struggles to get out.

We are all emotional after watching the woman we love get whipped.

Unable to do anything to stop it. “Her evil stepmother works with a mage, who had disguised himself as Hendrickson. Miss Elora is trying to develop a conduit so we can track her. ”

“Well, fuck. I take it that’s why the castle is empty. Hang tight, I am going to go inform the staff not to trust any other council folk and the Baudelaires. I will also prepare a few goods for you to take along the way.”

A bird taps on the balcony window.

“That’s Petra! Open the door!” Lo bellows, still trying to focus on the spell. We are a useless lot, as the women do everything.

The crow caws as it goes directly to Lo with a note. Most likely from Sunshine.

My heart aches that we aren’t the first people she turns to for support, but then I suppose we had just broken her damned heart, even unintentionally. I am going to break every bone in that evil woman and her partner for making our love hate us.

We circle Lo as she opens the note.

My dearest Lo,

I am so sorry I ran off without telling you, I should have found you and run with you. It all happened so fast. You need to get out of the castle—fast. There was never a mage willing to help me. I have been such a gullible fool in so many ways.

Bernice was right; love isn’t for me. The princes never loved me; they chose my stepsisters… so maybe don’t trust them either. Just get out of the castle. Tell Bri to be careful, too.

LEAVE NOW!

Bernice we need to leave now,” Archer says as he puts on his satchel with determination.

“Take this.” Lo hands back the orb that now has a slight glow to it. Grayer puts it back on his necklace. Holding it to his chest as if it is the most precious thing he owns, “When you get closer to her, within five meters, it will glow. If you move away from her, it will dim.”

Archer puts his hands on Lo’s shoulders. “We cannot thank you enough. Be sure to get out and hide from them. The castle is compromised. Do you have somewhere safe to go?”

“I do, but don’t worry about me. Follow the glow and bring my girl back. Take Bert and Kip. She will want them with her.” Lo turns to leave, but before she exits, a snake, that must have been hiding in her hair, wraps around her neck, and raises its head to emphasize her parting words.

“One more thing, boys.” It isn’t lost on us that she dropped our princely titles. “If you hurt my girl ever again. I will destroy you all. Royalty be damned.”

And I believe her.