Beyond: Snillotia Trilogy Book One by Donna Wagner (books you have to read TXT) 📕

Without her even realizing it, Tim guided her so that she was lying down. When he let go of her hand, she was fast asleep. He lifted his concentration from Anna and looked at their grandparents and her parents, all staring at him. He held up his hand, stopping the questions he knew were waiting. “Save your questions. Let me explain first. Anna is fine. She’s just sleeping. You’ll understand why in a moment.”

As he was talking, he also sent his memories to each of them, like a flashback on a tv show, clips of everything that had happened since they were first separated. He knew when they saw what happened with Aaron. He introduced them slowly to the fact that for him and Anna, years had passed. As they came to and end of seeing what he wanted them to see, he let the perceptions of his and Anna’s old selves that he’d been holding onto go and waited.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Everyone was silent. The questions they had before disappeared as they took in the fact that Anna and Tim had gone from kids to young adults in, for them, two weeks’ time. They stared in wonder at Tim, because they had never known of someone who had been gifted with so many different powers. They stared in wonder at Anna, because they knew her power was great and dangerous, as well. Tre was the first to speak. “Anna didn’t want to come back here, did she?”

Tim sadly shook his head. “She was happy. I showed you some of it. She has friends and a boyfriend, and she completely refused to talk about Snillotia with me. I, ah, tricked her into coming back here,” he explained, knowing he hadn’t shown them a memory of that.

Anna crying, in his arms, felt too private a memory to share. “It scared her,” Einna said, knowingly.

Tim nodded again. “It drained her. She slept for two days afterwards. The only thing I could get her to do that was even remotely connected to this world was talk to me telepathically, but after a while even that stopped. She put up walls in her mind that were pretty strong. I know she probably has other powers, just like I do, but I couldn’t even get her to try. When I first discovered I could do something other than go through the wall, I tried to tell her. She didn’t want to hear about it. I don’t know what she told herself, but she threw herself into school. She let it become her life. I don’t know if she ever thought about Snillotia on her own. If she did she never told me. She did not want to talk, even to you guys, about what happened. She said she couldn’t relive it, which is why I made us look like we did the last time you saw us, so the questions wouldn’t start immediately.  I also didn’t know who the man you followed was and I didn’t know where Goldie was taking us.”

“I thought it best you explained yourselves, Your Majesties,” Goldie piped up.

“I agree, Goldie. Good idea,” Grandma An said, patting Goldie on the head.

“Now for the next part of my plan- we need to know if we can trust Ronnoc and his family. Have the rebels attempted to get to you here? Ronnoc’s house can’t be protected like the castle was. Since you’ve left the castle, the rebels have to know you’re all alive,” Tim said.

“It’s strange,” Grandpa Leumas said, “Since we’ve been here, there’s been no sign of them. We haven’t really thought about them much though, so I’m only beginning to find it strange now.”

“Arat’s power,” Tim stated, frowning, “I didn’t feel any different when she was in the room. I was able to focus on everything I needed to. Could it be that her power doesn’t work on me?”

“I didn’t feel anything, either.”

They all turned to look towards the bed. Anna was sitting on the edge of the bed again. She stood up, next to Tim. Thank you.

Sure, no problem.

Tim gave her a smile and she squeezed his hand quickly and let go. Grandpa Mit and Grandma An exchanged a glance, as well. “I don’t think we can stay here. I feel uneasy,” Anna stated.

“That’s how my power felt at first,” Einna said.

Anna nodded, not surprised. She’d come to accept that fact that if Tim had multiple powers, she probably did as well. “I think you all need to come with us to Adam’s house.”

The grandparents were hesitant at first, but Anna explained. “Goldie can bring people back and forth. As long as we’re connected with her and she’s connected to Storage at the Y, then we can always get back. I just think it will be safer there. The rebels won’t know where we are.”

“We’ll try to find out what we can about Ronnoc, first,” Tim looked at his grandparents, “I’m sorry, but until I can talk to him, away from his wife, I don’t know if he’s under her influence or not. I don’t know him so I can’t trust him yet.”

Grandpa Cire nodded. “We understand, my boy.”

Grandma Eilime gasped. “That’s quite shocking!”

Anna looked confused until she saw herself in the mirror. Tim had made it so they looked thirteen again, in clean clothes. “I think we should go back downstairs and eat dinner with them. We don’t want to let them know we’re suspicious, just in case they can’t be trusted,” Tim explained, “I also don’t want them to know about us yet- that we’re older than they think, or about the powers.”

Grandpa Mit nodded. “I understand, son.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and everyone left on their own to freshen up, for real, before dinner, leaving Anna and Tim alone in the room. Anna started to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Tim opened the door. Arat was standing there, with