Rapunzels and Powers

1. Grayson

Pop!

Pop!A bubbling noise wakes me up. Blinking, I focus my sleepy thoughts. Where am I again?

Where am I again?Pop, pop!

Pop, pop!Oh, that’s right. Hours ago, Dex and I dozed off in his cabin. Now we’re resting nose-to-nose under heavy blankets.

Oh, that’s right.Maybe it’s from being a wolf shifter, but Dex is an expert cuddler. He angles his left arm so it serves as my pillow. At the same time, Dex cups the back of my head with his right hand. I sense every other place where we touch. Chest. Hips. Thighs. Although Dex remains asleep, he gently strokes the edge of my ear with his thumb. The moment is too perfect to shatter.

Chest. Hips. Thighs.So, I won’t.

So, I won’t.After all, I probably dreamt those sounds anyway. Closing my eyes, I try snoozing again.

Pop, pop, pop!

Pop, pop, pop!Ugh. That was no dream.

Ugh.Reopening my eyes, I stifle a groan. There’s no mistaking that series of noises. A magic mirror is appearing nearby. And I know this stuff, too. My people are osmos fae. We make the best magic mirrors in all of Faerie.

A magic mirror is appearing nearby.It almost hurts to remove Dex’s arm from over my shoulder, but I gently slide his limb aside. Dex’s cabin is made from rough-hewn wood. The bedroom is a small space that holds a mattress as well as a few armoires for clothes. Since Dex rules more than a hundred shifter pups, he goes into lone wolf mode sometimes. This place is his retreat.

lone wolf modeSure enough, I spot a new mirror on the far wall. The frame shifts between green and red, which means it’s not only magical, it’s also meant for communication and seeing the future. My guess? Someone from the past wants to reach Dex. Which makes sense, considering how he’s the Alpha of the Wulfhelm pack.

A memory appears. I picture a painting from the house of Professor Tallon, the Wulfhelm Rune Druid: it shows the pack during a werewolf commitment ceremony. In other words, a shifter wedding. A shiver twists down my back. Since Dex is a werewolf—and I’m his mate—this ritual requires that Dex and I bind our souls by biting each other’s shoulders.

And that’s just for starters.

As leaders of Wulfhelm, Dex and I must also recharge the pack lands with magic. Otherwise, our population of young shifter orphans will be destroyed by a nasty elf called the Prism Master and my just-as-evil sister, Lady R. Worry tightens up my neck. Fighting evil fae? Casting mega spells? That isn’t me. I’m the girl who spent her life locked up in a cabin-prison. Icy alarm chills my soul.

Stay calm, Grayson.

Stay calm, GraysonThis new mirror must be another message from Professor Tallon. What’s the harm in that? Once Dex takes a look, it will all vanish.

Which means I need to wake Dex up. Such a shame.

Which means I need to wake Dex up. Such a shame.Dex opens his right eye. “Don’t worry about disturbing me.”

“How’d you guess?”

“When you’ve been with your fated mate as long as I have, you just know.”

I smile. “It has been all of ten hours.”

“Nine hours and forty-seven minutes since we agreed to official coupledom, but who’s counting?”

Dex is a wolf shifter. Although I’m osmos—that’s part fae and troll—I’m still Dex’s fated mate. Although I do feel wolfy sometimes, I won’t take my beastly shape until Dex and I exchange bites. Every once in a while, that idea seems exciting.

As of this moment? Not so much.

As of this moment? Not so much.“A new mirror has appeared,” I declare. “I think it’s from Professor Tallon.”

“Better check it out.” Dex slides out of bed. He looks beyond handsome in a pair of leather pants and nothing else. Dex is tall and broad-shouldered with long dark hair, a full mouth and a strong jawline. I’m still in my calico dress from yesterday. I’ve red hair, green eyes, freckles, and a slight frame. In elf-world, that makes me hella plain.

Rising from bed, I move to stand before the mirror. Once there, I realize my mistake. Because of a blindness spell, Dex can’t see where I’ve gone.

“Do you need help finding the mirror?” I ask.

Dex shakes his head. “Lady R may have taken my vision, but her spell doesn’t block anything magical.”

Sadly, my awful sister cast a blinding spell on Dex. Although you wouldn’t know it based on how Dex confidently strides across the room. When he pauses before me, Dex is so tall, I must tilt up my head to see his face.

Little by little, Dex reaches out to touch the pendant around my neck. “I detect more than what hangs on the wall. This mirror pendant holds your magic. I can see it, too.”

Part of me is thrilled that Dex can detect my spell. More is freaked out that I made this jewelry in the first place.

This little mirror pendant magically entraps two people: First, there’s Dex’s Beta, Taryn, who’s perma-stuck in a half-shifted state between man and wolf. Second, there’s the witch, Jocasta, who always waits in the shadows. I didn’t mean to imprison them—and I’m not sure how to get them out—but at least they’re alive. Otherwise, Taryn and Jocasta would’ve died in a fire.

Where the pendant should show a reflection, a small scene plays out instead: Taryn sleeps in what looks like the Bartlebee—that’s the cabin-prison of my childhood—while a dim figure sets bandages on his many burns. Jocasta. Not sure where this version of the Bartlebee came from, but then again, I don’t know how I got these two into a mirror pendant to begin with

Jocasta.Pop, Pop!

Pop, Pop!The new wall-mirror grows larger until it’s almost as big as Dex himself. The reflective surface shows white mist, which means the mirror is still forming.

“How much longer before we see anything?” asks Dex.

Growing up, the Prism Master forced magic mirrors to appear in the Bartlebee. Tutors showed up in the reflections… eventually. I’ve a lot of experience in waiting for mirrors to come into focus.

“Every mirror is different.” I scan the surface. “This one has a way to go. Either the caster is very junior… or they’re really far away.”

Dex brushes his fingers along the mirror’s heavy frame. “I can see the magic inside the wood—it keeps changing from green to red. What does that mean?”

“Osmos mirror magic has four levels. The first and easiest type is colored saffron yellow. It lets you see the past.”

“And that only makes mirrors?”

“Saffron power can also make a kind of mist bomb. When you chuck it at someone, you’ll erase their memory.” A weight of sorrow settles inside my bones. When I next speak, my voice breaks. “That’s how Lady R wiped out my life before the Bartlebee. I don’t remember a thing before six years old.”

“You’ll get those recollections back,” says Dex, his voice low and soothing. “Just like I’ll regain my sight.”

My throat tightens. Lady R is so powerful and determined. Even worse, she’s set on destroying me and taking Dex as her so-called prince. How can we hope to stop her, not to mention her partner in crime, the Prism Master?

Focus, Grayson. Think about the mirror.

Focus, Grayson. Think about the mirror.I clear my throat. “The second level of osmos magic is colored emerald. This green power makes mirrors which allow you to talk to someone in the present. You can also them to spy on people.” I can’t help it. My face burns red at the memories of all the times I spied on Dex. He can’t see that, though.

Dex inhales. “You’re embarrassed.”

Then again, maybe Dex doesn’t need to see—his shifter sense of smell does all the work. I’m not used to someone reading me so closely. I clear my throat again and keep going. “Level three is crimson magic. It shows the future. The fourth and final level is silver power. It can be used for almost anything. Only the osmos king or queen—the quintessence—can wield that energy.”

A long pause follows while Dex keeps inhaling. I sense he’s debating whether to push me on the spying thing. In the end, he keeps with my change of subject.

“So, flipping between green and red means the magic is moving between the present and future… for whoever’s casting this mirror. How long before we see them?”

Inside the mirror frame, the white haze gets heavier. “If my guess is right, they’ll show up in a few seconds.”

Sure enough, the haze clears. An image comes into focus, showing a great green door in a darkened room. Inch by inch, the entrance swings open. A girl peeps out. She’s a fae whose red hair is tied back into puffy pigtails. There’s no missing her special combination of green eyes and a heart-shaped face. My pulse thuds so hard, I feel the beat against my rib cage.

The mirror shows me. And I’m six years old.

The mirror shows me. And I’m six years old.My skin prickles with shock. I don’t remember anything before I woke up in the Bartlebee. And the green door in this mirror? The Bartlebee doesn’t have anything like that.

An electric realization moves through my mind. This is no message from Professor Tallon. It’s outreach with my younger self. Questions zing through my mind.

How could I wield any magic back then, let alone cast something so complex?

How could I wield any magic back then, let alone cast something so complex?Someone must be helping Young Me create this mirror…who?

Someone must be helping Young Me create this mirror…who?And most of all, why am I seeing it now?

And most of all, why am I seeing it now?