Free Crystal Keepers by Brandon Mull

coast. She was going into a downward spiral like I’d never seen. It wasn’t clear in most of her e-mails—mainly the ones to her sister, and hints in the messages to her mom.”
    â€œDid you feel bad spying on her?” Jace asked.
    Joe rubbed his face. “Well, yeah. But it was my only form of contact. I couldn’t resist. As time went on, I realized that she felt alone. Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but I thought maybe even though she couldn’t remember me, a part of her was grieving my absence.”
    Suddenly Cole was fighting back tears. Were his parents like that? Could they feel something was wrong, even though they had forgotten him? Were they depressed without knowing why? Even if it caused them pain, Cole couldn’t help hoping that some part of them deep down remembered him. He had to believe there was some hidden refuge of memory that might be wakened somehow.
    â€œThat must have been difficult,” Mira said tenderly.
    Staring at the floor, Joe folded and unfolded his arms. “Itwasn’t a picnic. The longer I watched, the clearer her sadness became. I couldn’t take seeing Gwen like that, unable to help her. It led to a crazy, stupid plan.”
    â€œWhat?” Cole asked, fascinated.
    â€œI decided to bring her here,” Joe said.
    â€œDid you do it?” Dalton asked. “Did it make her remember you?”
    â€œI’m getting there,” Joe said. “I checked with a Wayminder. Not Sallanah. She was long gone. He told me that bringing Gwen here wouldn’t make her remember me. But Gwen fell in love with me once, right? I’d woo her again. I’d fix the emptiness I saw in her. And maybe fill the void inside of me.”
    â€œBut she’d be stuck here too,” Cole said.
    Joe nodded, rubbing his hands together. “I thought that through. If you’re not a slave, and you live quietly, keep your head down, it isn’t so bad here. We could live fulfilling lives, especially if we had each other. What I had with Gwen was epic. Whether or not she could remember me, I knew we’d figure it out. I convinced myself that if given a choice, Gwen would want to be with me. So I hired the Wayminder. My plan was to kidnap my fiancée and bring her here.”
    â€œHow’d that work out?” Dalton asked.
    Joe winced. “Could have gone better.”
    â€œTell us,” Cole urged, completely hooked.
    Gazing down at the floor, Joe wiped a hand over his face. “I knew it was a risk. That she might see me as a villain. But I thought we could overcome that. She was still Gwen, right? And I’m still me.” He fell silent.
    â€œIt went badly?” Mira guessed.
    â€œImagine this. We open a way to the street in front of my fiancée’s apartment. Ex-fiancée? Anyhow, I knew she was bad at locking the back door, and sure enough, I hop the fence into her little yard and find it open. I creep across her kitchen in the dark and up the stairs. It’s all way too familiar. Almost like I never left. I’m going quietly. I know that to her I’ll seem like a burglar. By the light coming through her window from the street I can see her sleeping. She’s so pretty. Without the worst luck ever, she would have already been my wife. We would have been married for years.”
    Joe folded his arms. “There I am, in her room. I just have to get her down the stairs and out front to the way. She’s no weakling, but neither am I. I was sure I could get her there.”
    â€œBut,” Cole inserted.
    Joe grimaced. “But there she was, snug and safe in a city without slaves, a place where she was free to live however she chose. How could I take that from her? Take away her home. Her family. Her job. Her life. Without permission.”
    â€œWhat a nightmare,” Mira said.
    â€œI couldn’t do it,” Joe said. “I wasn’t just worried about her thinking I was a villain. I