Looking into the past to find answersThe mysteries of Alicia's history only begin to deepen as she and her Grandmother spend an afternoon sorting through old photo albums. Alicia has always sensed a deep sadness in her grandmother, and assumed it was over the loss of her husband. Alicia had never had the opportunity to meet her Grandfather, but she knew from the way her grandmother smiled when she thought about him that he meant quite a lot to her. Alicia had never really thought about what he might be like, in fact she never thought about much other than her friends, cheer leading, and the occasional cute football player. She did her best in school, but she had no desire to pursue any certain subject.When her grandmother closes the photo album before Alicia has the chance to see the last page, she knows that she is trying to hide something from her. Normally she would let it go, but she cannot ignore her curiosity. When she opens the photo album to the last page and discovers a newspaper clipping about her grandfather's death, she discovers for the first time that there is a family secret. Her grandfather had not passed away because of illness, but had been murdered. When her grandmother catches her looking at the clipping she insists that Alicia not look any more into it. Alicia finds it incredibly difficult not to ask more questions, but she can see from the pain in her grandmother's eyes that it is too difficult for her to talk about. As exhausted as Alicia is, she decides to let it rest.To make matters even more exhausting Alicia finally receives her history assignment. Not only is it a research paper that involves interviewing her oldest living relative, she has to do it with a boy whose name she does not even know. She knows her grandmother will not be very willing to answer questions after she had made it clear that Alicia was not to look further into her past, however she cannot afford to get a zero on her assignment either. The boy she is paired with is about as interested in her as she is in him and offers nothing but a cold shoulder when she awkwardly asks him his name. He refuses to tell her and insists that they work on their assignments separately. Alicia is too tired to protest. She is too tired to put on a smiling face for her friends, or to even beg out of her cheer leading practice. All she can think about is sleeping. She can only hope that when she finally does get some rest she won't have Matthias' angry face waiting for her.Just more questions...When she falls asleep, she finds herself being roughly awakened into the world of her dreams. She struggles at first to remember who she is, where she is, but soon the danger of their circumstances outweighs the mystery. One soldier in particular, a dark and dangerous man named Quinn has targeted Matthias and his family. Alicia discovers along the way that her magical abilities go far beyond just turning pebbles into emeralds. She is as mystified as Matthias is by how she is able to evade the soldiers. Even though she has protected his people once more, Matthias' suspicion of her only continues to deepen.Alicia has no explanation for her abilities, or even for where she has come from. Will she ever convince Matthias that she can be trusted? Will she ever understand why she keeps returning to such a vivid dream?
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