Reflection Pond (22 page)

Callie’s gaze found his. “Hazel told me that’s forbidden. I’ve asked to see her dozens of times. How is it that she allows you—”

“I wasn’t allowed. It doesn’t matter. She’s had visions of your future, of
Eirensae’s
future. There is war coming to the city and Hazel plans to use your powers to defeat our enemies. She has you exactly where she wants you. She had Orchid killed to set this plan into motion. She has Sapphire under her control, and by default, she has you.”

Callie absorbed his words like a blast of ice water to the face. “The prophetess was killed because of me?”

“You are what she’s been waiting for, a power strong enough to defeat King Arol and
Fraeburdh.
But she’s overconfident, because Sapphire sees you with King Arol.” Rowan moved closer to the bed. “She can’t win against him, his city is too powerful. They have training that we don’t. He will pluck you from her hands as though you are nothing more than an infant. He will use you to destroy
Eirensae.”

“How can you know this? Hazel wants nothing more than to protect me.
I saw her this evening, she was nice to me. She wants me to be at home here.”

“She wants to use you. Can’t you see it? She bound you to the city. She has your sister as good as captive. You are right where she wants you, and you’re falling further and further into her hands every day.
Fraeburdh
will attack
Eirensae.
It’s only a matter of time.”

Callie pushed to her feet and went to the window, gazing out over the city. A few candles still burned in the windows of the apartments where Ash lived. Much farther out, she could see the dark roofs of the cottages. “I can’t believe this,” she said, voice hitching. She was supposed to be safe, here in her new home beneath the reflection pond. She finally had a family. She was supposed to belong.

Rowan came to stand beside her. “It was her plan all along, Callie, something she plotted with Elm, and when she went against his wishes, he tried to kill you. He knew you could give Hazel everything she wants.”

She shook her head. “That makes no sense. Why wouldn’t Elm want the same things as Hazel?”

“He was her right hand, but when you showed up, you threatened his position. He knew you were more powerful than him. He knew that Hazel would lose interest in what he could give her. He tried to control Hazel, and she banished him for it. Elm is greedy, Callie, but so is Hazel. The difference is, she already had the status, where Elm had nothing.”

Callie frowned and rubbed her forehead. “I want to see Sapphire.”

“You can’t. Hazel is watching her.”

“I need to ask her what to do. I need proof. If this is true—” she broke off, turning to face him.

He touched her shoulder. “It is true. You have to decide what to do. If you stay here,
Fraeburdh
will attack. If you leave, the Fallen will find you.”

“So I’m dead either way?”

Rowan’s face softened. The moonlight turned his skin pale and deepened the blue of his eyes. “I promised Sapphire that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’m going to keep that promise.” He looked away and dropped his hand. “There’s something else you should know.”

Callie’s insides froze.
More bad news? She could hardly comprehend what he’d already told her.

“I don’t belong in
Eirensae
. Because of the magic used to make her prophetess, Sapphire can’t speak freely to me, so I only know that I don’t belong here. She couldn’t tell me anything else.”

Realization spread through Callie’s gut, as caustic as a tidal wave, destroying everything in its path.
“Where?” she whispered, though she already knew.

“Fraeburdh.
I’m not certain—”

“But how would you end up here? The wards wouldn’t admit you.”

Rowan shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. You’re here, after all.”

“Maybe if I speak with Hazel,” Callie said, waving her arm. “Maybe we could figure this out. It could just be a misunderstanding. Sapphire told me she’s wrong sometimes. The future can change. It’s not set in stone.”

His hands were hot on her face, forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me. You need to stay away from Hazel and tell no one about this. We’ll find a way to get you to Sapphire, but Callie, you have to be careful. You don’t know who is loyal to her.”

Tears formed behind Callie’s eyes. She swallowed hard.

“You can trust me,” Rowan said.

“And if you belong to
Fraeburdh,
what then? You’ll find your amulet and join them?”

Rowan closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were hard as flint, determined. “I will do whatever will keep you safe. I swear it. You’ll never be alone in this.”

She moved out of his grasp, stomach churning. She wished he’d never come to her door, that she was still lost in oblivious dreams. “I need to think,” she said, going to the door and holding it open. Jack waited outside.

Rowan nodded once.

“How much time?” Callie whispered as he slipped into the hall.

“Until I have to leave,” he said. “You can come with me. It won’t be easy, but I promise—”

Callie closed the door, shutting out the boys, and returned to her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin and shut her eyes. Sleep took a long time to come, and when it did, she dreamt of death.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the morning, Callie found Hawthorne standing outside her door. He nodded in greeting. His eyes swept over her, making her stomach turn cold. Callie didn’t like the dark-haired boy. He seemed out of place in the city, too distant and cool to belong.

It kind of reminded her of Rowan.

“Where’s Jack?” she asked, smoothing the skirt of her dress. She wanted to talk to him about what Rowan had told her. She needed another opinion, and she was limited on people she could trust.

“Sleeping, I’m sure,” Hawthorne said.
“Just me until this afternoon. We’re short until the trackers return.”

Callie squashed her moment of excitement over a newcomer. She’d heard that there was another child scheduled to return home. The city wasn’t safe for her. She should be planning, not worrying over some fae child she’d likely never know.

Not that she’d made any kind of decision. Rowan’s warning rattled around inside of her brain like the ominous breaths that preceded death.

She had options, of course, but none of them were very comforting.

“Shall I escort you somewhere?” Hawthorne asked, offering an arm.

Callie frowned at it before shaking her head. “No, thank you. I’ll just wait here until Ash comes for me.” She moved to shut the door, but changed her mind. “Actually, I’d like to get a head start on my studies. Would you mind taking me to the library?”

“As you wish,” Hawthorne said.

Callie made her way out of the palace with Hawthorne on her heels. She could feel his gaze on the back of her neck the entire way, much colder than the cheery yellow sun above her. She couldn’t wait for Jack to come back. Perhaps she would request a different guard.

Except, that would mean talking to Hazel.

She drew a deep breath, frustrated. The palm of her hand tingled where Hazel had bound her to
Eirensae.
Rowan’s words made sense. They fit like the final pieces of a puzzle snapping into place.

Still, Hazel had been nice to Callie.
Accommodating. She’d stood up to the Elders when they’d questioned Callie’s sudden appearance. She’d made Callie feel safe.

Was it all part of Hazel’s master plan?

Callie stepped through the portal into the caves. Hawthorne appeared beside her. For the briefest second, his gaze moved to the tunnel that led to the cauldron.

“What do you know about the wards?” Callie asked, turning toward the library.

“Trying to break Hazel’s binding spell?” Hawthorne asked.

Callie went still. She hadn’t thought of that.
“Of course not. It’s not a secret that Rowan can’t locate his amulet,” she said. “There has to be some sort of explanation why he’s here.”

Hawthorne’s breath lifted the strands of hair at Callie’s neck when he spoke. “My guess is that the prophetess saw him bringing destruction to the city. Sometimes their amulets are destroyed and the faeries are banished to the Fallen.”

“But Rowan has done nothing wrong,” Callie argued. “And the future can change, anyway. Nothing is certain.”

He shrugged. “I’d say that only death is certain, but not for a long, long time. As for your boyfriend, there are likely many things we don’t know.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

Hawthorne’s face split into a bone-chilling smile.
“My mistake. You two seem rather fond of each other.”

Callie opened her mouth and then shut it again. She didn’t have to explain herself to Hawthorne, or anyone for that matter. They reached the library a few seconds later.

“Wait out here,” she ordered Hawthorne.

His smile widened. “I must first check for your safety, Calla Lily,
then I will stand guard.”

She waited, fingers tapping against her leg, while Hawthorne did a sweep of the library. He nodded when he returned. “It’s empty. Enjoy your studies. I’m right here if you have any more questions.”

Callie went to the stacks, running her fingers over the bindings. So much knowledge in one room. Of all the places in
Eirensae,
she liked this one the best.

She found a book with
Fraeburdh
written along the spine and pulled it from its slot. Rowan thought he belonged to the City of War. Callie refused to believe it. She flipped through the pages with shaking hands.

Weapons, blood, devastation, death.
Each page was more horrific than the last. Their history was black as the infinite depths of the ocean, scattered with torture and an insatiable hunger for power.

She slammed the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf, fingers finding a book about the City of Honor.

A fine filigree of gold lettering caught Callie’s attention and her hands moved of their own volition to remove the book from its home. The rich, dark leather warmed her skin as she squinted to make sense of the looping calligraphy which rose from the branches of a tree. Instead of a trunk, the golden leaves crowned a woman’s head. She held her arms outstretched and four objects spanned the top edge of the cover. A cauldron, a sword, a spear, and a stone.

Callie’s insides began to buzz.

The Four Treasures and the Divergence of the Fae.

The cover sent electricity through her hands, as though it carried faerie energy within its pages. Callie’s heart thudded in her chest, pounding out her anxiety. She touched the edge, hesitant, and finally opened the cover.

There, nestled just inside, was a brilliant blue stone about the size of Callie’s palm. It was the sky over
Eirensae,
the color of the night roses that lined the river, the exact shade of Callie’s energy. A fine latticework of iridescent white shot through the stone and undulated, so that the surface looked different from every angle. Knotted through a hole in the top, was a simple leather cord.

Callie exhaled.
Her amulet.

From the entranceway, Hawthorne began to whistle and Callie jumped. The amulet slid against the thin parchment of the pages, almost touching her skin.

“Ash is coming,” Hawthorne called.

Callie eased the cover shut, trapping her amulet inside, and slid it back onto the shelf. She should tell Rowan.
Everything inside of her screamed to tell him, to tell Sapphire, to tell
everyone.
She swallowed, feeling the non-truth lodge itself in her throat.

Up until last night, this had been everything she wanted. Now, she wasn’t sure. If Hazel found out that she knew where her amulet was, she’d force Callie to put it on. If that happened, Callie would have no choice but to accept Hazel’s rule.
To be her weapon.

She didn’t want that, but she didn’t want to run from the city, either. What was she supposed to choose when all the choices were bad?

Callie made sure her hands were steady as she stepped out of the stacks to greet Ash.

“There’s my student,” Ash said, his grin darkened by the bruise from Rowan’s attack.

She forced a smile, anxiety eating away at her gut. “What are we learning today?” she asked, accepting the kiss that Ash planted on her cheek even though it made her nauseous.

“I thought we could get into faerie history, when the fae diverged, the qualities of each city.”

“How about we work on mind control?” Callie blurted. He’d see her amulet and then he’d have to tell Hazel. Ash was good, through and through, Callie knew, but he was also loyal.

Rowan had told her to trust no one. Did that include Ash?

Ash’s face brightened at her suggestion. “I knew you’d grow to accept your powers.” He gestured to the passageway where Hawthorne waited. “Let’s go to the training room.” He reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.