“Holly, dear, how are you?” Lumi signaled to someone behind the counter, and they brought over a pastry and placedit on the table in front of Holly. It was one of her favorites, but she resisted taking a bite for the moment. She wanted to get the conversation out of the way.
Holly studied Lumi. Her golden eyes were hidden behind her glasses, and her elvish ears were suspiciously missing. “It’s a little strange being back here now that I know…” They weren’t the only ones in the café.
“I’m still me, Holly. I’m glad you came. But what brings you to Finland? I wasn’t sure if you’d be back here now that you don’t need to travel to collect Cheer.”
Holly’s brow furrowed. “It’s about something you said last year when you were teaching me how to snow tunnel.”
Lumi leaned forward slightly. Her expression was serene, but Holly could sense that the question had surprised her.
“What about it? You haven’t had the need to snow tunnel again, I hope? The reindeer can still fly?”
“They can. Everything’s fine with my magic and the North Pole, as far as I know. I remember you said something about making sure that no humans were nearby when I snow tunneled. That there could be unwanted effects if there were. What did you mean by that?”
Lumi’s expression tensed slightly. “Has something happened?”
“I’m not sure.” Holly took a deep breath and decided to share everything she knew so far. “On New Year’s Eve, my friend Sofia found a man in the woods, lying in the snow. He didn’t have anything with him, and he didn’t remember where he came from. We’ve been searching but haven’t come across any missing persons reports. It’s like he just fell out of the sky. I went to the spot in the woods where he was found, and the strangest sensation came over me.” Holly shivered, the memory of the feeling creeping up her spine. “It felt like magic, but something was off about it.”
“Mother of bells,” Lumi said quietly.
Holly was instantly alert. “What is it?”
Lumi sighed. “I think some of the elves must have started snow tunneling again.”
Holly nearly jumped. “But how? You said only the oldest elves knew how to do it. I assume you all know how to do it responsibly.”
“Of course we do. But last year, when I taught you how, maybe…” She let Holly fill in the gaps.
“You think someone overheard?”
Lumi nodded. “It’s possible. There could be another explanation for the man losing his memory in the woods. But the way you described the magic feeling off in that area… That’s what used to happen before, when elves were snow tunneling irresponsibly and humans were affected. It’s the reason we stopped passing on the method to the younger elves.”
Holly’s heart raced, her mind on Isaiah and Sofia. She remembered her first and only time snow tunneling at Christmas the previous year, the feeling of the snow swirling around her and passing through the tunnel, her reindeer at her sides. There had been no humans around then. She’d made sure of that. But maybe a young elf was snow tunneling and didn’t know about the side effects to humans.
Her stomach sank. It was all her fault.
There hadn’t been a snow tunneling incident in decades. But then she’d asked Lumi to teach her how a few months ago, and this had happened. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Is there a way to undo it?” she asked, hoping Lumi couldn’t hear the degree of desperation in her voice.
Lumi nodded, and Holly relaxed slightly. “We need the elf who cast the snow tunnel the young man experienced the lingering effects of. They can create another tunnel for him to pass through, and that will essentially reverse the process.”
“But how? We don’t know who did it. Do we put out an announcement at the North Pole and ask whoever did it to come forward? The elves who still don’t know about the snow tunneling might be angry that it was kept from them.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with humans, Holly. Do you really think the elves would be angry if we explained why we haven’t passed on the snow tunneling secrets? You have a prime example of the consequences there in Emerald Hollow.”
Holly took a deep breath, forcing herself to trust Lumi. She knew Lumi was right. The elves’ temperament was much different from humans’. And they had no other choice. If Isaiah was ever going to have his memories restored, that was the only way. “Okay, so what next?”
“You go to the North Pole and find out who’s been snow tunneling.” Lumi stood. “And I’m coming with you.”
Chapter Forty
ISAIAH
Isaiah had fallen into a routine in Emerald Hollow before the overnight trip to Ashland with Sofia. He woke up and went for a run then did some push-ups and pull-ups in a usually empty park playground. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d had a gym membership before, because his desire to work out daily was as natural as the sun rising in the morning. After he’d showered, he did some work around the Emerald House, whatever Ash assigned or something he saw needed to be done.
On days Sofia worked, he grabbed some food at the restaurant during her shift, then they went to the library together. He wasn’t sure if Sofia was going to continue joining him on his daily library trips, since he’d thrown the ball of whatever was between them into her court. He hadn’t seen her since they’d arrived back in Emerald Hollow the previous day, and he decided maybe he should skip his usual lunch at the café during her shift.
He couldn’t decide whether he was skipping seeing her that day because he wanted to playfully keep her on her toes, or if it was something deeper. Sofia had said the real him wouldn’t like someone like her. Isaiah had sensed it came from a previousexperience of hurt. But her musing had cracked open something that hadn’t occurred to him.
