Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Thirty Nine

Warm. It's so soft and warm here.

I'm curled up on my side, cozy as a caterpillar wrapped up a cocoon of velvet sunshine, sleepily waking up to greet the new day.

It's a new day.

I bolt upright in bed, the events before I passed out rushing back to me.

I was in a clearing in the forest with Felix. He kissed me. And he changed, or at least he appeared to – he became the figure from my dreams, the dark prince from Gran's fairy tale.

What the hell is happening to me? Was I hallucinating? Having some sort of vision?

He called me a name – Odin or Onion or something – and then... nothing.

It all went black.

And now I'm back in my bedroom at home, far from the forest and the cabin and (hopefully) Felix.

He must have carried me here after I fainted.

What about my things though?

I toss the covers away, jumping out of bed as I stumble to my ensuite bathroom. I'm relieved to see I'm still wearing the same clothes I was when I fainted – my lacey white pajamas and a woolen shawl.

I almost trip over something on the floor.

My overnight bag.

Unzipping it with bated breath, I find my belongings from the cabin inside.

My change of clothes. House keys. Toothbrush. Wallet. Phone charger (useless, seeing as my phone's still missing).

And at the very bottom, the sparkly silver clutch bag and matching stilettos Kitty bought me to wear with the silver dress, which is folded carefully and wrapped in a thin sheath of white tissue paper.

I pull away the paper, unfolding the dress with the dreadful fear that it may have creased, or some of the sequins might have fallen off.

The silky silver fabric pools and shifts like molten metal, perfect as ever, not a crease in sight.

I fold it up and place it back in the bag. I probably won't come home before the concert – I'm meant to meet up Alix and Micah at the Zavaras' garage at 10am, so we can practice ahead of the July Jubilee – and then Grace and Jamie are coming over in the evening so we can all get ready together.

10am... and the time now is...

Dammit. I have no clue.

This is why losing my phone is the worst. I'm clueless without it.

I go over to my desk in front of the window and power up my MacBook, surprised by the unfamiliar feeling. This is where, over the past few years, I've sat until the early hours of the morning finishing homework. It's where I'd spend hours watching Fable vines, where I used to spend way more of my time than should be considered healthy.

But somehow, it all feels so strange now.

This room, this house, this aloneness.

I've gotten used to spending all of my time with them.

And in a few days time, they'll be gone.

The laptop screen blinks to life, and I push the thought from my mind, noting that it's only 8.50am, so I have plenty of time until I need to be at Zee's house.

After checking my emails (nothing new), messages and notifications (lots of new stuff but nothing really important) and looking at the latest #fable tweets by fans (plenty of rumors and speculations about where they are, but nothing mentioning Portland, so their secret is still safe), I jump in the shower, washing away the worries of the past few days.