Morning Rising (22 page)

“You killed him,” Kara said. Her voice was
barely a whisper. Dylan smiled down at her. In an instant she was
the girl that Kara knew, a normal girl with normal issues and
problems, not an all powerful princess from another realm.

“Let me see your head,” Dylan said. Her voice
sounded thick with concern. She reached out for Kara.

Kara obediently let her head drop into
Dylan’s lap, giving in to the desire to shut her eyes. She groaned
in pain as Dylan’s fingers found where the rock had split open her
scalp. Bright colors danced behind her eyelids in technicolor
explosions of pain until she could hardly tell if Dylan was still
touching her.

“Kara, don’t you dare fucking die,” Dylan
hissed in Kara’s ear.

Kara couldn’t help but smile. She forced her
eyes open. With great effort, Kara turned so she was looking up at
Dylan. Tears ran down Dylan’s face, leaving clean tracks in the
dirt and blood.

“So, we won?” Kara asked. Her tongue felt
thick in her mouth and the words were hard to form. Dylan was
holding Kara, but she seemed far away.

“I think so,” Dylan said. “Stay with me,
okay?” Kara nodded slightly, but her eyes were shutting again. She
couldn’t help it, they felt so heavy.

“Baron! Baron I need you!” Dylan screamed.
Kara felt a tear drop on her face. She tried to move her hand to
brush it away, but nothing was working right.

“What happened?” Baron’s voice was worried,
as he leaned over Kara. She could feel his breath on her face, and
she clung to the sensation.

“I don’t know. I think it was Demitar. He was
attacking her. I stopped him, but it might have been too late.”
Kara heard the words, but they didn’t make sense to her. Dylan’s
voice was higher than usual. She was trying hard to keep it
together. The sight of Kara lying almost lifeless in her arms was
too much.

“We have to get her to the Daylands.” Kara
recognized Ivy’s voice. “There isn’t a healer here.”

“Okay,” Dylan agreed. She ran her thumb over
Kara’s cheek, wiping away a tear Kara couldn’t feel. “Hold on,
Kara. I am going to be so pissed at you if you die.”

“Lockler, take her feet,” Baron ordered.

Dylan slipped carefully out from under Kara’s
head. Moments later, strong hands grabbed her under her arm pits
and around her ankles. They lifted Kara from the ground, jerking
her injured back and sparking her senses back to life. Kara’s eyes
snapped open, and she screamed at the sudden pain. Moments later
her eyes shut, and her head lolled as the world went black.

Chapter 16

Kara opened her eyes. She blinked a couple
times to clear her vision, not sure what she was seeing was real.
White painted stars covered a dark blue canopy above her head, and
sunlight streamed in through the thin white curtains, lighting up
the bed she lay in. She was covered by a white sheet and a thick
blue comforter lay at the foot of the bed where she had kicked it
off.

Kara pushed herself up, closing her eyes when
dizziness threatened to overtake her. She lay back down slowly,
letting the sensation pass. When Kara opened her eyes again, she
was almost surprised to still find herself in the bed. Part of her
expected it to be a fevered dream. Kara reached over to push aside
the curtain. Glint’s round eyes looked back at her from the top of
the dresser that stood beside the bed. His wide mouth broke into a
smile at the sight of her.

“The Guardian.” Glint bounced in excitement,
shaking the dresser. “Princess, she wakes.”

Dylan came into view through the thin white
curtain. She pushed aside the curtain and smiled down at Kara.
Dylan’s long hair fell halfway down her back, curling and shining
in the sunlight. She wore subtle make-up, nothing like what she
wore in the human world. Her skin was tan, and she looked healthier
than ever.

Kara couldn’t speak as she eyes wandered over
Dylan’s body. Dylan wore a short green dress, tight at the bust and
flowing downwards to just above her knees. It brought out her eyes,
making their usual hazel color appear green. She was beautiful.

“Hey,” Dylan said softly. She sat cautiously
on the edge of the bed, tucking one of her bare feet under her.
“How do you feel?”

“Pretty crappy,” Kara said. Her voice was
raspy from not being used. The dizziness had passed, but it left a
pounding headache in its place.

Dylan laughed. “Well you should be dead, so
I’ll take pretty shitty over that. Glint, can you go tell everyone
Kara is awake?” Glint didn’t look very eager to leave Kara’s side,
but he nodded and hurried out of view. “He’s been watching over you
day and night the last three days.” Dylan smiled.

“Have I been asleep that long?” Kara asked.
It didn’t feel like any time had passed since the battle.

“Since they lifted you from the battlefield,”
Dylan said. She frowned and looked down at her hands, fidgeting and
picking at her short nails. “I really thought you were dead for a
minute back there.”

“God, was I that bad off?” Kara asked. She
took one of Dylan’s hands to stop her fidgeting. Dylan gave her a
nervous smile

“The healer here said we were almost too
late. The cut in your head was pretty bad; you lost a lot of blood.
The stone fractured your skull, that’s why it still hurts.” Dylan
looked down at their linked hands.

Without thinking, Kara brought her hand to
her head. It was tender and she could feel the scar, but she knew
it was nowhere near as bad as it should be. Kara studied Dylan’s
face. A thin, pale line spanned from her nose to the outside of her
eye. It was all that was left from the burn Alster’s lightning had
left.

“I’m going to be okay, right?” Kara asked
hesitantly. She was almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Yeah, you’re gonna be great.” Dylan smiled.
That simple smile made Kara feel so much better. Dylan shook her
head and continued. “I don’t know what I would have done if you
weren’t okay. The healer says you’ll need a few more days of
rest.”

“I feel like I need a few months of rest,”
Kara said with a small groan. She looked out through the bed’s
curtain. “Where are we?”

Now that Kara could see the rest of the room,
she knew that the canopy bed wasn’t the only decadence. The walls
were blue and bordered in gold leaf and crown molding. A crystal
chandelier hung from the ceiling. Sunlight danced through the
crystals and sent rainbows across the walls. Through two wide
windows, Kara could see blue sky spreading on forever.

“We are in the palace, in the Daylands,”
Dylan said. “I met my dad,” as Dylan spoke, her grin widened. “He’s
so nice, Kara. Like everything a real dad should be. And my mom is
pretty great too, quiet, but nice.”

“That’s great,” Kara said. She wanted to ask
about her own parents, but wasn’t sure how. Dylan answered the
question Kara was thinking.

“I met your parents too. They are nice. Your
mom is beautiful.”

“That’s nice,” Kara smiled. Her eyes were
beginning to feel heavy. She forced them open, remembering that
Glint had gone to get the others.

“It’s okay if you want to sleep,” Dylan
assured her. She gave Kara’s hand a small squeeze. “They’ll
understand.”

“Okay,” Kara said, letting her eyes shut.
“I’m just so tired.”

“Go to sleep,” Dylan said, leaning close.
Kara smiled when she felt the warm kiss on her head.

“Kara!” Baron called as he entered the room.
“Glint said you were up.”

“Shh,” Dylan hushed Baron. Kara tried to open
her eyes, but they were too heavy. Kara could feel sleep beginning
to work its nimble fingers into her head.

“Was she up?” Baron asked in a whisper.

“Yes, for a couple minutes,” Dylan said.

“That’s good then,” there was relief in
Baron’s voice. “I’ll go let the healer know.”

“Thanks,” Dylan repositioned herself on the
bed, lying down beside Kara. “I’m going to wait here in case she
wakes up again.”

If Kara could have worked up the energy to
speak she would have told Dylan not to bother. Already she could
feel the darkness inside her own head taking her again. She gave in
happily; glad to be away from the pain and nausea.

*

When Kara awoke again, she didn’t immediately
open her eyes. There was a soft, persistent beeping coming from
somewhere nearby, but she couldn’t quite force her eyes open. She
heard the murmur of voices, but she didn’t think they were in the
room with her. Finally, Kara opened her eyes.

Kara stared at the white wall with the cheap
framed print on it. A glance to her right showed a hospital
monitor, the source of the beeping. Behind that, the shades were
drawn on the window. When Kara looked the other way, she saw a door
leading to the bathroom. Dylan sat in an uncomfortable looking
chair beside the door, reading a magazine.

Dylan looked nothing like she had the last
time Kara saw her. Her hair was straight, and the dress was gone.
Instead, she wore a low hanging pair of jeans and a hooded
sweatshirt. Dylan glanced up and smiled when she saw Kara watching
her.

“Hey,” Dylan said. She stood and stretched.
“Nice to see you awake again.” She stepped toward the bed and took
Kara’s hand.

The door to the room pushed open. A doctor
hurried in, followed by Baron. The doctor was young, female, and
very pretty. Her straight, honey blond hair was pulled back in a
band at the nap of her neck. It hung almost to her waist. Square
framed glasses seemed to magnify her brown eyes.

“Kara,” the doctor said, smiling down at her.
“I’m Doctor Fallon, can you talk?” concern wrinkled the woman’s
brow as she looked down at Kara.

“Yes,” Kara said. Her voice sounded rough to
her ears. She swallowed, realizing how thirsty she was.

“Do you know who you are?”

“Yes, of course I do. What’s going on?” Kara
pushed herself up, glad there was no dizziness this time. “Where am
I?”

“You’re in the he hospital. You’ve been in a
car accident,” Dr. Fallon explained.

“What? No,” Kara said. She glanced at Baron
and Dylan. They exchanged a nervous look.

“Yes,” the doctor assured her. “It was a few
days ago though. You’re doing much better. You had a minor
concussion and a few bruises. You’re lucky your brother made sure
you wore your seat belt.” Kara glanced at Baron, he grinned
sheepishly.

“Yeah,” Kara said. She leaned back against
the flat hospital pillow. “I guess I am.”

“Now I want you to rest. I’ll send someone in
soon to run a few tests, but now that you’re awake I’m confident
the worst is behind us.”

“Thank you doctor,” Baron said. He shook her
hand. “We appreciate all your help.”

“Not a problem. When the nurse comes in I
have some paperwork for you to fill out.”

“Of course.” Baron nodded. He shut the door
behind the doctor.

“What the hell is really going on?” Kara
asked as soon as the door was shut. “Why are we back here?”

“Some things went down after you fell back
into the coma,” Dylan said. She glanced nervously at Baron.

“Oh thank God,” Kara said. “I thought for
sure I was having some sort of Dorothy moment here.”

“No.” Dylan grinned and sat on the bed beside
Kara. “We were all there. We all remember everything that
happened.”

“So what happened?” Kara asked. Dylan looked
at Baron. He sighed and grabbed the back of the chair by the
bathroom. He pulled it closer and sat down. When he spoke, his
words were barely more than a whisper.

“Lockler and Fay went back to Inbetween. It
was only supposed to be for a quick trip. The Day King wanted them
to look around, kinda feel things out. He was hoping to assign a
new ruler there, one that would take easily to the idea of an
alliance.”

“Let me guess, that didn’t work out,” Kara
said dryly.

“No, not at all.” Baron smiled at her, but
the smile disappeared quickly. “Alster’s back.”

“What?” Kara sat up so fast that she did get
dizzy. Dylan supported her as she leaned slowly back down. “I’m
sorry, but I saw him bleed to death,” Kara said.

“As did a half dozen other people,” Baron
said with a small shrug. “It doesn’t seem to change the fact that
he is alive again.”

“But how?” Kara asked.

“I told you I never knew the full extent of
my uncle’s powers,” Baron said grimly. “I don’t think anyone did.
This seems to have come as a shock to even the Day King.”

“Alster’s put out a reward for our deaths,”
Dylan added. “We weren’t even safe in the Daylands. Father ordered
us back to the human world.”

“And we’re safe here?” Kara wasn’t sure she
believed that.

“Not really,” Baron confirmed her fears. “But
safer than you were there, at least for the moment.”

“Crap,” Kara said. She shook her head.

“Alster isn’t the one publicly arranging the
revival Inbetween,” Baron went on. “He has a front runner, but it’s
no one Lockler or Fay knew. That makes me think the man is weak. I
believe Alster is using him like a puppet.”

“Baron thinks we need to take the fight to
him, when you are better.” Dylan didn’t look like she was on board
with the plan.

“And if we don’t?” Kara asked, looking up at
Baron as she spoke.

“Best case scenario?” Baron asked. He leaned
forward, clasping his hands under his chin. “We spend our lives
running through every realm we can find, trying to keep one step
ahead of Alster as he becomes more powerful.”

Kara bit her lip, looking down at her lap.
Dylan squeezed her hand reassuringly. Kara glanced up at Dylan,
glad to have her there. She thought of how willing Alster had been
to sell them both out, and she knew Baron wasn’t exaggerating.
Alster would see them as a threat. He would happily kill them.

“I told Baron I would do whatever you
wanted,” Dylan said. She glanced quickly at Baron before meeting
Kara’s eyes again. “It’s up to you.” Kara nodded.