Free Vital by Jamie Magee Page A

request and love the man he’d chosen for her, a guy named Alazar – I think.”
    I nodded, letting her know that I’d heard that name before. She smiled and let an anxious breath out. “Tyless worked side by side with the priest and built the glass, but he also built a loop – as my father called it. This loop would circle Aliyanna back to the moment her course for the worse began.”
    “Have you told Marc any of this?” Landen asked, confused as to why no one had brought this to our attention before.
    “Marc knows I have the book. I told him it was to protect Aliyanna and Guardian from the power of the looking glass. But when I told him you’d just destroyed it, it didn’t seem to be needed anymore. Now I keep seeing fairies, though, so I wonder if the words of the blind have another purpose...I wonder what the pages say.”
    August began tracing the raised dots, turning the pages delicately.
    “Fairies?” I questioned, almost fearing her sanity.
    “Yes, fairies – they’re everywhere,” she said, standing and walking to the window and pointing at the mass number of butterflies around the porch.
    “Butterflies,” I corrected, smiling at her warmly.
    She nodded and mouthed the word, trying to commit it to memory.
    “You think there’s something more to the butterflies?” I asked August.
    He didn’t hear me; he was staring into nothing as his fingers read a secret passage to him.
    Stella tried to answer for him. “My father said that fairies with beautiful, colorful wings represent Alyianna’s power; that they’d serve as the doorway home for her, guide her to what her soul craved. He said that when she went back to the moment that she needed to change, they’d be her protectors and take her home again. When I was little, he would tell me stories of the prophecy that Tyless had recorded. He said they’d come when they were needed and not a moment before, then line up like soldiers and defend the purity of the innocent heart of Aliyanna. He said the fairies were strong because inside their tiny bodies they held the souls of those that Aliyanna and Guardian had helped along their path, who would fight for them to repay the debt.”
    A chill ran down my spine as I remembered what Rose had said this morning: that some believe that butterflies were old souls.
    “I don’t understand,” Landen said, squeezing my hand and looking at August. “You said that Stella’s father said it would help Guardian, but Stella is saying Aliyanna...this already sounds too unclear to chance.”
    August shook his head no. “It is more clear than anything we have,” he said, retracing the words he’d just read. “Tyless knew that Donalt had protected himself from any loophole that Guardian could find. In Donalt’s mind, Aliyanna was useless without loving a man. Tyless created the path for Aliyanna, knowing it wouldn’t be stopped by Donalt. Tyless was a very wise man; it seems he had respect for women in an age that didn’t see them as having any power at all.”
    Stella nodded eagerly at August’s revelation. “In his mind - in all of our minds - Guardian and Aliyanna were one person, so if one had the power, then they both had the power.”
    Landen stood and began to pace the floor again. “Then you’ve found a protection for everyone’s life except Willow’s - and frankly, her life is the only one that matters; I can’t survive without her.”
    As I felt his grief come back to life, I wanted to stand and hold him, but I felt his intent to work this out on his own. He always seemed to pace when he wanted to think clearly. I kept my eyes on him, waiting for his intent to change, for his wall to come down so I could go to him, embrace him.
    “I think this should give you hope. What Stella said about the butterflies is also written here. They are to serve as an omen, warning her that the time when she’ll need to use this power is near. I would think that would mean that her life isn’t in any immediate