Sleeping Beauty (Not Quite the Fairy Tale Book 7)(4)

Hugo Ross’s arrest had been an unbelievable stroke of luck. Ross was a long-removed, very distant relative of the King – his uncle’s cousin’s great-grandson, or something of the sort – and even she had to admit that they looked alike: similar features, same height and weight.

A few years older than Aurora, he’d been a character in the posh boarding school everyone with a drop of noble blood attended in Ferren, so she knew him, by reputation at least.

She also knew his family had long since turned their backs on him, and while he had the money, he had no connections to use to wrestle out of his imprisonment.

When she’d gone to visit him, he had been a far cry from the charming, charismatic boy she recalled. Ross seemed desperate to get out.

“I have to go back. You don’t understand – he’ll hurt her, eventually. He hurts everything he touches.”

He’d barely been coherent but Aurora had understood enough.

“Hugo, we can help each other. If everything goes as planned, I’ll have a meeting in a couple of years, three maximum. I can get you out much sooner than your ten years.”

He’d just nodded, darkly, both of his hands bundled in tight fists.

“It’s Hook.”

“Mh?” she’d asked, confused.

“You called me Hugo. My name – it’s Hook.”

It had been; she recalled he’d been given that nickname because his left hook had been legendary, knocking out any adversary in one punch. They both knew it was gone now, replaced by his prosthesis.

“Okay. Okay, Hook. Now, I’m not saying there’s zero danger, but honestly, we’ve done human trials and there has been no loss, no permanent damage. You should be as good as new. Some people said they dreamed, others said that they just closed their eyes and felt like they woke up immediately, although they were awakened days later. There are also those who say they caught words, glimpses of things happening around them. I can’t tell you what it will be like for sure; think of it as a sort of coma. I’ll read to you. When you wake up, let me know if you remember it.”

“Fairies,” he’d said.

“Come again?”

The man definitely had a few screws loose.

“Read to me about fairies. Factual information. History, biology. Pixies, in particular. I want to know what makes them tick.”

“I can’t guarantee you’ll hear anything I say, Hook.”

“I will. Before you speak to me, just say ‘Tinks.’”

She wondered if she should make a note or two about his psychological instabilities before the trial started.

“Tinks,” she repeated.

“Yep. Tinks should do the trick.”





Chapter 3





An Experiment





She could have awoken Hook a few days before and filmed it, but to nail it in the councilmen’s thick skulls that her process was absolutely perfect, she chose to give them a demonstration.

She led them to her lab, facing away from the King and his daughter, towards Hugo Ross’s capsule. Edgar, Jenny, and Bastian, her colleagues, were already ready; they’d injected anticoagulant and prepared the plasma where she liked the subjects to rehabilitate. None of it was entirely necessary, but come on, the guy had been frozen for a long-ass time, he deserved a bit of TLC.

Despite all of her confidence, Aurora was trembling when she pressed the enter button of her keyboard and saw bluish lights flare up either side of the capsule, telltale signs of the program activating. This was it: her ultimate proof, the one thing that was going to determine whether Rupert Evermore was going to open his eyes by morning.

If they gave their okay, she had no intention of adding any delays; everything was ready for a second subject.

Come on, Hook.

His skin progressively lost the greyish hue but his eyes remained resolutely closed. Aurora found herself pacing from her desk to Hugo, observing charts first, then the subject himself. Nothing. Not a movement, not a single blip on the medical equipment attached to him.

For the first time, she wondered what would happen if she failed. It wouldn’t be good. Not only would she most definitely lose any hope to ever reawaken the King in her lifetime, but she’d also earn herself a set of considerable enemies she didn’t need.

She’d researched Hugo before coming up with an offer for him; he had a whole troupe of people who openly claimed their willingness to die for him. Dangerous people.

Shit. Had she killed Captain Hook?

Bip.

The first noise coming from her computer resonated through the room like a fire alarm. Soon, it was followed by a few rhythmic, steady beats, getting stronger each minute.

“The subject is at an adequate temperature,” Jenny said enthusiastically.

The girl had never hidden her humongous crush on Hook, not that Aurora could blame her. She wasn’t the only workaholic half in love with a frozen subject.

“Brain functions?”

“Regular.”

Yet the man’s eyes were still closed behind the translucent capsule protecting and preserving his body. The others had always opened them right away.

“If you intend to stare at me all day, the least you could do would be to give me a shirt. I’m not a piece of meat, Stephenson.”

The words were weak but she’d never heard anything more comforting. He was okay. She sighed in relief as her heart restarted.