Dara, Page, and the Secrets of the Multiverse

▷ 12.3

A scream built in his gut, ready to be released in a torrent, when a hand clamped on his mouth. Dara, or at least some strange hallucination of her, sank with him on the floor, pressing a finger to her lips. Page's eyes were wide and unblinking as he took in the woman in front of him. Lithe, pale, and complete with the button nose and the pouty lips. She was every fantasy heroine's self-image of themselves. Give her a bow and arrow, perhaps a sword, and she'd be ready to take on the forces of evil in no time.

Her dress resembled what the Dara from the book wore. It was as if he brought to life the entire Comic Con in his room. Would her party members be here? What would Page do to Kalasta? He couldn't take on a warrior elf from a rival clan even if Dara was on the line. He was just a scrawny college kid who couldn't even swing a bat in baseball without breaking his arms.

A minute passed. No warrior elves barged through the door of his room and demanded Dara to tell him she loved him. It was just him and Dara. Him...and Dara.

That wasn't weird. No. Page was still sane. The finals fever hasn't gotten to him. Not yet.

"Do not return to the shop," Dara said again, bringing Page back to reality. Or at least, the bonkers version he lived in now. Maybe this was a dream? "That woman is an abomination."

Page frowned. "Who? Iris?" he said. "She's a sweet lady. Quirky and a little bit eccentric, but otherwise harmless. Why can't I return to the shop?"

Dara drew away from him and sat on the floor. Page clenched his jaw on the months-old layer of dust littering the floorboards. He should have listened to his mom when she pestered him about cleaning his room. "It is too dangerous," she said. "I cannot have you undergoing the same thing I did."

"What did you go through?" Page inclined his head. Having a conversation with a character he read just a while ago was beyond bizarre, but he was living it. Not many readers got to have this experience. "Tell me, so I can avoid it."

"I was trapped in that book," Dara answered. "Forced to live out a tale I have no desire to be in. I do not even find Kalasta palatable, much less someone who I want to spend my life with. And who cares about killing beasts?"

If anything she was saying were true, it implied she wasn't from the book, but somewhere else. Was there a magical land in this city that Page didn't know about? Was he about to become part of a paranormal society of mythological creatures? Sweet.

"You seem calm about this," she blurted a couple of silent seconds later.

Page waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Oh, I'm a reader," he said. "I'm used to it."

She frowned. "Have you slayed a dragon?"

"Multiple times." He shrugged. "In theory."

Confusion marred the fairy's face. "And not in theory?"

"Well...no," he admitted. His eyes landed on the set of translucent sheets with silk-like luster folded behind Dara's back. Wings. Oh. Maybe he wasn't dreaming after all. "I am more of what people call an imaginative learner. I just...picture things."

"All the more reason to not go to the shop," Dara said, shaking her head. "My contract is not up until that woman has freed me, but with you breaking the curse, I am able to step foot outside the story for a few hours."

Page jerked his chin at the book. "You mean, you'll go back there?"

"Eventually," came Dara's clipped answer. A cloud of darkness passed across her face like a real main character.

"Also, what curse?" Page scratched his head. "What did I do to set you free?"

Dara sighed and braced her knee as she stood up. "You told me you love me and meant it," she said. "That was the first clause of my bondage to that infernal book. Someone has to see me inside it and...as fairytales go, declare their undying love for me."

His eyes widened, drawing up. "Okay, hold up. I am not—"

"Save it for tomorrow, lanky lord," Dara said. "Bring me out tomorrow, and I will try to fix my curse without involving you with it. Is that a deal?"

Page had a thousand realizations running through his head, but he nodded at Dara just to pacify her. "Yes, ma'am."