The Book of Dreams (16 page)

With trembling hands, she fed Dana the roasted hazelnuts, one by one.

“The High King sends you this message.
The hour of your destiny has come. You are the light that will bridge the darkness. Only you can restore the gateways.
”

Dana’s eyes widened with shock. A short while ago such a huge task, such a burden, would have broken her; but she had retrieved her light and rescued Jean, danced with a god and eaten otherworldly food. Though she was reeling at the thought of what lay ahead, some part of her had already accepted the quest.

“You must find the Book of Dreams,” Edane said. “It holds a secret—”

She was about to place another nut in Dana’s mouth when she dropped it. With a cry, she searched frantically in the sand at her feet. It was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s okay, Mum,” Dana said, but Edane looked stricken.

“The High Queen was to bring these to you. I pleaded that I might come in her stead, for I feared that I might never see you again. Oh, what have I done?”

Dana felt a wave of the same panic. She was about to undertake the greatest mission of her life and the wrong person was guiding her! She forced herself to be calm. Her mother was already distraught. No use both of them losing their heads.

“Okay, so I’m to find a book,” she said. “How? Where do I look? Should I return to Ireland? Or is it somewhere in Faerie?”

Edane frowned as she tried to remember. “The Book of Dreams is in Canada. It is as the High King foresaw long ago. Your destiny lies there.”

Dana was appalled. “
Canada?
That doesn’t make any sense. There’s no magic there. And I can’t quest in that country. I don’t know it at all!” A map of Canada flashed through her mind. “And it’s
huge
!”

She might as well have been asked to search the ocean.

“The High Queen believes without a doubt that you are able for this,” Edane insisted. “The Book of Dreams belongs to you. It is your inheritance.”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

The question only heightened her mother’s confusion and distress. Again, Dana saw the grave error that had been made. Honor knew the answer to that question. Edane did not.

Now Edane stiffened suddenly and looked out across the water. A greenish mist was creeping over the lake toward them.

“Too little time! I have not said enough!” Her blue fairy eyes welled with tears. She was already fading away. “Your enemy will do anything to stop you. Courage, my daughter. You are the Light that I bore. Remember always, I love you.”

Dana reached out for her mother. “I love you too!”

The sickly green mist had reached the shore and was crawling like worms toward Dana.

“Wake up!” Edane screamed.

• • •

Dana woke in her bed, arms grasping the air.

“Mama,” she whispered.

Her face was wet with tears. She got out of bed and walked to the window. It was the darkest hour, just before the dawn. The road below was deserted. The street lamps shed light through the trees. The birds had yet to begin their morning song. In the distance came the silvery sound of wind chimes.

There was no question about the reality of her dream. It was a cry for help from Faerie. Not only had her portal been destroyed but all portals everywhere. Her soul trembled at the thought. The bond between the two worlds had been severed. Each side stood alone in the dark. The message in the dream was also clear.
The hour of your destiny has come.
A pang of fear shot through her. She had been given a terrifying mission: to save two worlds! How could they expect so much of her? What if she failed?

Dana steadied herself. Fail or not, she had to try. For better or worse, the job was hers.

A sweet fragrance lingered in the air around her. She heard the faint sound of music. She was not alone. Great powers had already moved to help her. The words of Lord Ganesha echoed in her mind.
Your gods are all around you, child of Faerie, you need but open your heart to them.

Standing at the window, she watched the night transform. Slowly the darkness gave way to the inky blue of pre-dawn; then the half-light that heralded the arrival of day. In the changing of the hours, her resolve hardened. She would go out into Canada and quest for the book.
Your enemy will do anything to stop you
. Her mother’s warning explained Crowley and the attacks against her. She would have to protect herself. It was time to end her isolation and ask for help. But caution was important. How could she tell friend from foe? For now, there was only one she was prepared to trust.

Below in the street, across the road from her house, he stood. She had been watching him as he skulked through the park, half-hidden in the shadows. The amber eyes glowed as he stared up at her window: the great black wolf with the white star on his chest.

J
ean did not return to school till the end of September. During the time he was away, Dana prepared for her mission. At home in her room, she practiced calling up the light. Her first efforts were miserable, as if she was drawing power from a broken circuit. Refusing to despair, she persevered until slowly but surely the connection was made. Her light grew stronger, brighter. When at last it welled up like a pool of gold in her hands, she bathed her face in it, laughing and drinking and eating the pure light. Like fairy food, it nourished her spirit. And even as the light grew stronger, so too did Dana. She began to delve deep to discover her powers, though she wasn’t always sure what she might find. She had never asked her mother about her birthright. Edane preferred to play games and dance and party, and her daughter was of like mind. Oh, how Dana regretted rejecting the High Queen’s offer to tutor her! Given that Honor herself had had to learn fairy arts, she would have been a perfect teacher.

No use crying over spilled milk, Dana told herself.

Alone and without guidance, she explored and practiced. Certain fairy gifts were familiar to her as she had used them occasionally in Faerie:
glamore
, flight, enchantment, and shape-shifting. But they were far more difficult to wield in the Earthworld. On top of that, her skills were halved due to the fact she was part human. Still, she had enough to work with, and as her powers increased, so too did her hope that she might succeed in her mission.

All the time she was training, Dana kept on guard. Since the attack at the hospital there had been no sign of Crowley. While she wanted to think he had been defeated, her dream warned her otherwise. The sickly green mist had undoubtedly come from him. He seemed to be able to find her wherever she was. That realization would have terrified her if she wasn’t also aware of other presences around her. There were times when she felt oddly safe and secure, as if someone was watching over her like a guardian angel. Was it Lord Ganesha?

At school, she had become adept at avoiding her new teacher. Though Ms. Woods appeared to be kind and good-natured, Dana had already made up her mind. There was only one person she intended to trust on her mission, and she was waiting for him.

• • •

The day Jean returned he walked slowly into class, avoiding the curious stares of the others. Though he bore no evident scars from his ordeal, there were shadows under his eyes, and he looked pale and thinner. He didn’t glance once in Dana’s direction, nor did he respond whenever she tried to catch his attention. She finally had to accept that he was ignoring her.

Dana was crushed. Had he forgotten their time in the Brule together? Perhaps he only remembered the night on the road, when she had left him to die? There was also another possibility: he might well have no memory of either event. Her heart sank at the thought. That would be the worst case of all, for then she would mean nothing to him. She would just be another girl in his class. Dana couldn’t accept that. She wanted,
needed
him to join her. There was no question of what she had to do. She needed to convince him somehow. Her heart sank further. What could she say to him?

• • •

After a long morning spent mustering her courage, Dana confronted Jean in the hall between classes.

“
Ça va
?” she said, unsure how to begin.

Jean frowned and shrugged, then tried to move away.

She blocked his path. “Wait. Please,” she pleaded. “I know it was my fault you were hurt. I’m really sorry, believe me. It’s no excuse, but I honestly didn’t know what was going on. I thought you were my enemy or at least on his side.”

Jean’s frown deepened. She saw the wariness in his eyes. There was anger there too, but also confusion. Did he or did he not remember? The moment had come. It was now or never. She moved closer to him. Then, turning in such a way that he could see her hands, though she shielded them from others, she called up the light.

Nothing happened. She was too nervous. She had never shown her gift to another human being before.

Jean made an impatient noise and was about to leave when at last the light shone. His eyes widened. But he didn’t look as shocked as she had expected. He grasped her hands and stared at them.

“What are you?” he demanded quietly.

“You asked me that before,” she answered, in the same low tone. “I’m more than I seem. I’m something … different.”

“
Le Brûlé!
” he swore suddenly. “
Les feux follets!
It was no dream!
Maudit, c’est incroyable!
” The green eyes flashed. All the anger and confusion vanished. Excitement lit up his face. “
Dis-moi.
What is happening? What
aventure
is this?”

Dana was abashed by his intensity. She could feel the full strength of his personality concentrated on her, and it threw her into a muddle.

“The w-w-olf,” she stammered. “The … the one that follows you? He tried to save me that night. I want to thank him and maybe … could I meet him?”

It was as if a mask was clamped down on Jean’s face. His eyes went cold. He backed away from her.

Dana understood. She, too, was protective of her otherworld friends. She, too, guarded her secrets. But, as she herself had learned only recently, sometimes you had to open up. Sometimes you had to share your secrets. He was the one person she was ready to trust, and she needed him to feel the same way about her. Casting aside her usual shyness, she rushed out her words.

“I’ve shown you my light. It’s a gift from my mother. She’s a fairy queen. A sky-woman. But I think it’s my human side you’ll accept more. My last name is Faolan.
Faol
is the old Irish word for ‘wolf.’ My father’s people are the Clan of the Wolf. We belong to the wolf. She’s our guardian.”

It worked! He was caught, she could see it. A strange delight shone in his eyes. He grinned with a sudden flash of white teeth.

“
Alors
, the wolf in you wish to meet my wolf?”

She nodded vigorously.

“And you don’t fear?”

“No!” Dana declared from her heart. “I love the wolf!”

“
C’est vrai?
”

Jean’s grin widened. Mischief sparked in his eyes. He was so hugely amused, she was nonplussed. Was there some joke she was missing?

Jean leaned toward her. His grin seemed to stretch from ear to ear. Disoriented, unsure what she was seeing, Dana found herself staring into a maw of white canines.
Grandma, what big teeth you have.

A laugh growled low in his throat. “Like you, I too am more. I too am
différent
.”

A yellow-gold color seeped into his eyes, drowning the green irises. Now the amber glare of the wolf stared out at her.

Instinctively Dana backed away.

“You!” she gasped. An unreasoning fear gripped her. This was more than she had bargained for. This was not the wolf she knew. “You’re a werewolf!”

His grin was wicked. “So, not all wolves you love, eh?”

Dana recovered quickly, ashamed of herself. “I’m sorry … really … I … I never met a werewolf. Not in Ireland or Faerie.”

Jean shrugged good-naturedly. The wintergreen color returned to his eyes.

“I am not werewolf,” he said. “I am
loup-garou
. You know what is this?”

She shook her head.

“It’s a French-Canadian thing. I tell you later.
Maintenant
, we go with chemistry. You know how to do this?”

For a moment Dana was totally confused. Her face flushed red. Did he mean—?

“Oh,” she said with sudden understanding. “Our science homework? Yes. It’s an experiment with hydrogen. I’ve done the first part.”

“
Bon.
I sit with you.”

• • •

Dana entered the science lab in a happy daze. New and peculiar feelings were bubbling away inside her. She felt as if she had taken a turn in the road and was now wandering through exotic territory. It was exciting and disturbing and promising and terrifying all at the same time. For better or worse, she was no longer alone on her mission. A new kind of magic had entered her life and with it, a boy. She wasn’t sure which was more fascinating.

There was a lot of laughing as they struggled with a Bunsen burner that refused to light.