designated just for my research and a handful of my favorite pens.
I put in my earbuds and get my favorite playlist going before pulling out the pack of M&M’s I bought at the vending machine in the student lounge on my way here. Then, and only then, do I settle into what very well might be the most comfortable chair in existence…and finally reach for a book.
I just hope it has some of the answers I need.And I wouldn’t mind a good memory retrieval spell, too…
24
Go Smudge Yourself
“Gra-ace. Come on, time to wake up.” A familiar voice penetrates the hazy fog of sleep that surrounds me. “Come on, Grace. You need to get up.” Someone taps my shoulder.
I swipe a hand across my face. Then roll over and curl up into a ball.
“I don’t know what to do.” This time I’m conscious enough to identify the voice as Macy’s, even though I have no idea who she’s talking to or even what she’s talking about. Nor do I care.
I’m so tired, all I want to do is sleep.
“Let me try.” This time it’s my uncle Finn who bends over me and says, “Grace, I need you to wake up for me, okay? Open your eyes. Come on. Right now.”
I ignore him, curling into an even tighter ball, and when he runs a comforting hand over the top of my head, I moan and try to pull my pillow over my face. But there’s no pillow under my head and no covers for me to yank up and hide beneath.
I’m almost conscious enough to recognize this as strange—almost—and when someone shakes my shoulder more forcefully this time, I manage to crack my eyes open just enough to see Macy, my uncle, and Amka staring down at me, all with worried looks on their faces.
I don’t have a clue what Uncle Finn or Amka is doing in our room, and at the moment, I don’t actually care. I just want them to leave so I can go back to sleep.
“There you are, Grace,” my uncle says. “There you go. Can you sit up for us? Maybe let us get a good look into those pretty eyes of yours? Come on now, Grace. Come back to us.”
“I’m tired,” I whine in a voice I’m sure I’ll be embarrassed about later. “I just want to—” I break off as pain registers for the first time. My throat is so dry that every word I speak feels like a razor blade scraping against my voice box.
Screw mornings. And screw three-person wake-up calls.
I close my eyes again as sleep continues to beckon, but apparently my uncle has had enough. He starts shaking me gently so that I can’t even curl up in peace now. “Come on, Grace.” His voice is firmer than it was before, more no-nonsense than I have ever heard it. “You need to snap out of this. Right now.”
I sigh heavily, but I finally manage to roll over to face him. “What’s the matter?” I rasp, forcing myself to speak, and to swallow, despite the pain. “What do you want?”
I hear a door open and close and then rapid footsteps coming closer. “What’s going on? Is she all right? I came as soon as I got Macy’s text.”
The worry in Jaxon’s voice finally manages to do what the coaxing and shaking couldn’t. I push myself into a sitting position and this time actually manage to pry my eyes all the way open.
“Can I have some water?” I ask through lips that feel absurdly parched, considering I’m not wandering the Sahara.
“Yeah, of course.” Macy grabs something from her backpack and hands it to me—a stainless-steel tumbler with the lid off. I take a long drink. Then go back for two more as my throat finally begins to feel human again.
As does the rest of me.
The cold water has the added benefit of getting my brain going, and as soon as I’ve slaked my thirst, I turn to Jaxon with what I’m sure are still sleep-fogged eyes.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Why is everyone in Macy’s and my room?”
There’s a weird silence as the four of them look at one another, then back at me.
“What?” I ask again.
Macy sighs. “I hate to break it to you, Grace, but this is definitely not our room.”
“Whose room is it, then?” I ask, looking around. And that’s when panic hits me, because I realize Macy is right. This isn’t our room. It isn’t Jaxon’s room. In fact,