My good humor faded at the first sight of the pale figure that lay on the bed. I tiptoed over to the bedside and leaned over. Dadan’s breathing was a little quicker than I would have liked to have seen but some color had returned to his cheeks. A quick look at the arm bandage told me his bleeding had stopped.

  I scooted the chair to within a few inches of the bedside and eased onto the seat. My heart ached to grab his shoulders and cry out that I was Anna and his beloved pet. Maybe that would bring him some strength to open his eyes. However, prudence sealed my lips. Not just for myself but for my friends, as well. They were harboring a fugitive from the king of heaven. I wasn’t sure if the king would show mercy if they pleaded ignorance.

  So I stilled my tongue but not my eyes. Those glided over his handsome features and took in the beautiful sight. His long, glistening red hair. That wonderful subtle nose. How I wished I could have seen those vibrant red eyes.

  A cluster of elegant red hairs had fallen over the right side of his face, marring my view of his perfect features. I leaned over and brushed aside the insolent lock.

  He stirred and I jerked my hand back. My heart pounded in my chest as I awaited a flutter of his eyes but it never came. His face scrunched up and he grasped the sheets with the hand on his wounded arm.

  A single hoarse and whispered word escaped his parted lips. “Fusha.”

  I cocked my head to one side. It sounded like a name but I wasn’t sure.

  And speaking of names, he would definitely know mine if I didn’t pop a pill. Having been unconscious the last time the magic wore off, I didn’t know if there were any warning signs. I drew out the glass and popped one of the peas into my mouth. A faint tingle ran through my body but otherwise nothing changed. Just the way I wanted it.

  The next thing I wanted was a long nap. I glanced at the window that, like in my bedroom, looked out on the ‘backyard’ of the royal lodge. The dark night sky with its twinkling stars told me day was a long way off.

  My weary bones ached and I still smelled of dirt, but I could relax in the thought that everyone was all right. A yawn escaped me and my eyelids suddenly became very heavy. The weight of the night’s events fell on me like a pallet of bricks. I settled back in my chair and closed my eyes. Just a little nap.

  You have to wake up in three hours to take your pill! my inner voice reminded me.

  I flopped one of my hands across my lap. I know! I know! Just lemme get some sleep!

  Just don’t forget to wake up!

  Yeah, yeah.

  Wake up! Anna, wake up right now!

  It was less the voice than a faint tingling all over my body. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself staring into the bandage wrapped around Dadan’s arm wound. I had slumped forward sometime during my slumber and I was now draped over the side of the bed. One of my hands even laid upon his.

  I lifted my head and beheld a dark night outside the window. The quiet room was shrouded in shadows. Not a creak was heard from outside those four imposing walls.

  Something fell in front of my face that made me freeze. It was a slender thread of silver hair.

  A strangled gasp escaped me and I grabbed two handfuls of my hair and yanked it forward. Silver. All of it was silver. The three-hour limit had passed without my knowing.

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  I stuffed my hand into my pocket and came out with the vial, but in my rush, the glass slipped from my hands. The container juggled between my fingers until it clattered to the dark floor.

  I dropped to my hands and knees with panic in my heart and desperation in my eyes. The bottle was nowhere to be seen in the deep shadows of the room.

  “You have to be somewhere around here. . .” I muttered to myself as I crawled across the wood planks, patting every inch. My searching hands and eyes didn’t touch or see anything in the gloom. “Here, bottle bottle. Here, bottle.”

  “What are you doing down there?”

  I froze and my eyes bulged out of their sockets. That voice. That wonderfully stoic voice.

  I swallowed hard and crouched lower against the floor. Maybe it had been my imagination.

  A faint flicker of firelight appeared from above me. Dadan had lit his magic. I squeaked and rolled underneath the bed where I stopped on my chest. My arms were pressed tightly against my sides and I stared at the dusty floor boards with large, unblinking eyes.

  “Who are you?” Dadan persisted.

  My voice. He’d known my voice. Maybe. Possibly. That risk meant I had to conceal it until I found that blasted bottle. I cleared my throat and deepened my timbre to try to mimic my magically disguised voice. It made me sound like a lumberjack with laryngitis. “I’m not doing anything.”

  “Come out,” he commanded.

  I desperately wanted to fulfill his wish but a lock of silver hair dropped in front of me, dangling there as a reminder that I couldn’t be seen as myself. “One minute!” I chirped as I fumbled along the dark floor.

  The bed creaked and the light grew brighter. Any speck of me that exited from beneath the bed would quickly and completely be seen. “I will light this bed afire if you do not come out.”

  I stiffened and my mouth dropped open. My voice took on a high-pitched tone. “But you’d kill yourself!”

  “I am immune to fire.”

  Of course he is I grumbled as I resumed my frantic search.

  My right hand knocked against a familiar cold glass and the container tried to roll away toward the light. I ended its hopes of escape by snatching it on the border of shadow and brilliance. “One minute!” I shouted as I fumbled with the cork and managed to yank it off. The peas tried to escape but I rolled one onto my palm and plugged the hole. I popped one of the peas and felt the familiar tingle, but I wasn’t sure how long the whole process took. A couple of seconds? It’d have to risk it or risk being well-done.

  The bed creaked. “I will give you one last warning. Come out or-”

  I rolled out from beneath the bed and popped my head up above the bed. “Hello there!”

  Dadan had been leaning over the side searching for me and I ended up shoving my face into his. We both froze, lost in each other’s faces. I only wished mine would have been my real one. His brilliant scarlet eyes were stern but there was a twinkle of some other emotion within those depths. Amusement, perhaps? Or maybe there was some of that teasing nature he’d shown me when I was a cat.

  The moment was all too brief as I instinctively and sheepishly shrank closer to the floor. “Sorry about that. I, um, lost something down there.” I tucked the vial into my pocket as I said that.

  He leaned away from me and his sharp eyes continued their examination. The light I had seen came from his upturned palm which he held close between us. “Who are you?”

  “I, um, I’m-” What was that name Dian gave me? “I’m, um, I’m Fie.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “That’s an unusual name among the-”

  “Fei!” I shouted as my mind suddenly clicked on to my mistake. Oh God, if you were up there beyond the heaven realm than I really needed some help right now.

  “Fei?” he repeated.

  I bobbed my head up and down. “Fei.”

  The corners of his lips twitched upward, or did they? “Are you certain?”

  A sheepish, shaky smile brightened my face and I shook my head. “I’m not sure of anything right now.”

  He gestured to the chair I had abandoned in my search as he set his flaming hand in his lap. “Then sit before another forgetfulness spell strikes you.”