Year Two: Rebels - Cara Wylde Page 0,18

whatever you found there.”

I nodded. “I can’t give up, though.”

Adrian closed the distance between us. He grabbed me by the shoulders and made me look into his eyes. Corri flew away annoyed, muttering about how rude he was.

“You can’t go there, Yoli. I won’t let you. It’s too dangerous, and if you try again… who knows if you’ll ever return. Gilgamesh never returned.”

“I know you’re worried about me, but…”

“It’s not worth it.”

“It is! If I find the flower of youth, then you can give it to your daughter, and she will get to live a normal life. She will get to live for as long as she wants.”

He sighed. He released me and took a step back, turning away from me. He didn’t want me to see how much he needed me to help his daughter. I’d been locked up at the Karmic Asylum for half a year. How much had she aged during this time? A whole year? More? I was tempted to ask him, but I doubted he wanted to talk about it.

“Hey,” I whispered. “I can do it. I’ll figure out what I did wrong and try again. My Aunt Katia has done it a bunch of times and never got lost. She never went insane, either. I must have missed something, that’s all. I’ll figure it out, and then it will be safe.”

He shook his head. “It will never be safe.”

“Adrian, I have no other choice. This is my destiny. I can feel it. It’s not only about getting the plant for your daughter. It’s about finding a way to banish the Great Old Ones from our universe, so they can never hurt us again.”

He chuckled lightly. “Why you, Yoli? You don’t have to be the hero…”

“Jesus!” Okay, so I was starting to lose my patience. “It’s not about being the hero. It’s about doing the right thing. I am the only one who has everything she needs to get this right. I’m a dream jumper, I’ve mapped our network of parallel dimensions when I was a kid, and I have a cousin who’s a revenant. I know about Yig. How many dream jumpers do you think know about the Great Old Ones and are skilled enough to travel all the way to their cosmic network?” When he simply shook his head, I felt victorious. “Thought so. I have to do what I have to do, and I won’t let anyone stop me. Now,” I turned to Corri. “Let’s get me out of here.”

“I can teleport you out,” the pixie suggested.

“No. I don’t want it to be an escape. We have to do this right. I have to convince my doctor that I’m ready to be released.”

“How? You’re not exactly feeling… great.” Corri was such a sweetie. She didn’t want to tell me that I looked like hell, that I was as thin as a skeleton, pale, and my eyes were still unfocused and foggy from the meds.

“I have a batch of Akkadia Aeterna hidden in my suitcase. Go get it. I have a feeling it’s going to solve all my problems.”

Corri clicked her heels, saluted me like she always did when she was about to execute one of my requests, and disappeared in a cloud of gold pixie dust. While she was gone, Adrian sat next to me on the edge of the bed. We were only inches apart.

“I’m sorry.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I understand why you did it.”

“Your pixie is right. You are right. I should have tried to get you out sooner.”

“It doesn’t matter now. It wasn’t like I was lucid enough to ask you to get me out sooner.”

“I want to make amends.”

I smiled. “Okay. Then there’s something you can do for me. Talk to Headmaster Colin and tell him it’s time for me to return to Grim Reaper Academy.”

Corri was back some minutes later, holding a jar that was almost as big as her. Inside, there were three dried stems of Akkadia Aeterna. I asked her to take one and use her magic to make a concentrated infusion. I noticed Adrian was staring at the jar with unmasked interest. My heart ached for him. I took one of the remaining stems and gave it to him.

“For Inna.”

“No, I can’t possibly…”

“Please.”

“You don’t have much left, and your aunt risked her life to get it for you. I can’t.”

“You must,” I insisted. “I should have done this sooner.”

My tea was ready, and while I drank it, Adrian considered