Page 76 of The Beauty and the Griffin

My mind spun. He wasn’t using magic on me, but the power of his words and will were concerning enough.

“Beatrice,”—his voice deepened further—“I cannot predict the exact date you’ll see me again, but it will be close to the time of this dream. Be looking for me.”

“But something must have gone—”

Eyes flaring wide, he vehemently shook his head, and his grip on my hands almost hurt. “No! No!” He sounded and looked both frightened and determined. Something like fire in his eyes and voice set my heart racing even faster. “Don’t tell me the future! If I knew, I might do something to alter it, and that could be disastrous.”

When I twisted my hands, he instantly released them, leaving behind the heat of his touch. “Oh! No, no, no! Did I hurt you?” He stood with his fingers outspread as if he were afraid to touch me again, and his lips moved as if seeking the right words to reassure me.

“No, I’m all right.” I rubbed my upper arms, trying not to shiver. “I promise to look for you. In the future.” I didn’t dare say more for fear I might accidentally ruin everything with a slip of the tongue. Maybe I already had. Or maybe he had. How could we know?

“You will? You’ll keep waiting?” Hope returned to his eyes, and he tugged and twisted his little finger. “I nearly forgot. This is for you.” He held out a dainty ring. “I’ve beenprepared for a third meeting—magic tends to work in threes. It’s a promise ring.”

A promise ring? How could I promise him anything when I had no control over the future?

Nevertheless, with trembling fingers, I accepted it. White and red, its stones glittered against my palm. “It’s the most beautiful ring anyone could imagine.” I glanced up but couldn’t hold his burning gaze.

“Will you wear it to remember me?”

I slid it onto my right-hand ring finger. It fit perfectly. “Yes, but you know it will vanish when I wake up from this dream.”

“You’ll still have it. I know you will.”

When I looked up, I could see the wardrobe through his body. When I reached for him, my hand passed through his arm.

His expression mirrored my shock. “No! No,no!It’s too soon— Beatrice!” Even as he spoke, his voice faded into a distant echo: “Don’t forget:I love you!”I stared into his hopeful, anxious eyes until they vanished, then rushed to the wardrobe. But its mirror revealed only my own desolate face. “Niel,” I whispered.

I felt . . . numb.

Dazed, I climbed into bed, still fully clothed. Chicky rested her neck and head on the pillow beside mine, her feet still on the floor, and gently preened a lock of my hair as if it were a feather.

My bedside lamp was still on, but I’d dreamed of Niel, so I must have been asleep. “Was I sleep-walking?”

“No, Beeetrice was awake. You frightened the king.”

I sat bolt upright. “What are you saying?”

“Chicky helped you pull the king here.” She tugged my hair as if to illustrate how I’d pulled Niel’s hand. “But the past pulled him back.”

I flopped down on my pillow and turned to look directly into her eyes. “You helped him come into our time? With your dream magic? But how? I was awake!”

Looking smug, Chicky said, “I’m a golden griffin. I havedaydream magic too.”

“Did he see you?”

“Maybe.”

I lay very still, trying to wrap my mind around the strangeness. “I’ve been dreaming about Niel because of you, even when you were still inside your egg! How did you know how to do it?”

“When you touched my shell, I see pictures of you, very young. You walked into the king’s time through your auntie’s magic gateway. So, I use your magic and mine to help you get more memories. I don’t think the king knows how I borrow his magic, but maybe.” She sounded slightly guilty. “He loves you, so I help him too, but I can’t tell you his secret.”

I rubbed my forehead. “I’m afraid his magic plan, whatever he was trying to do so that we could be together now . . . it didn’t work. Something must have gone wrong nearly a hundred years ago.” I swept my arm to indicate our surroundings. “And here we are in his dying palace.” I couldn’t bring myself to mention the Beast.

Chicky tilted her head, looking quizzical, then backed off my bed, retreated to the hearth, and settled down, heaving a massive, almost resigned-sounding sigh. “Chicky and Dodger do all we can to help him.”

My griffin said nothing more, and soon I heard a soft snore. Asleep that quickly? What a strange creature she was! I reached to switch off my lamp, but something on my hand twinkled in its light, and I froze, staring in disbelief. The promise ring was still on my finger. How could that be? Clenching my fist, I studied it up close. Maybe it had stayed with me because Chicky pulled Niel and the ring into my time?

Dainty diamonds framed an exquisite red stone. A ruby? An engraved pattern in the platinum setting of tiny twining vines and leaves completed the ring’s beauty. I knew little about jewelry, but I knew what I liked, and the ring was perfection. I pressed it to my lips and sighed, my heart quietly breaking.

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