The Guardian (Callista Ryan Series) (30 page)

             
She felt warmed by the sun and the memory, and proceeded to jump down from the boulder, onto the fine sand below. She walked towards the forest, knowing that Alex wouldn’t like what she was going to do. But she also knew that if the purple eyes had been watching her yesterday, they probably hadn’t stopped watching her. And so, armed with recently acquired knowledge, she began to explore the floor of the forest, knowing it wouldn’t be long before Adeline found her.

             
In the quiet space of that time alone, Callie was reminded of all the afternoons she had spent in the empty house while Maggie was at work. Maggie’s face brushed through her mind in a whisper, the outline blurred by separation. She felt a twinge of guilt as she pictured Maggie at home alone, these past nights no doubt spent in drunken oblivion. And now Callie wasn’t at home to make sure that she was in bed in the mornings, or that she was breathing evenly as she slept. The thought made her yearn for her home again. But, surprisingly, the feeling was coupled with another, more foreign tug at her heart. She realized that a part of her didn’t want to leave. At least, not right away. As she glanced up at the canopy, settled so high above her now, she thought about how dear this place had become to her. These people, so alien to the rest of the world, almost magical in their rarity, had become important to her. She didn’t know if she would call them
friends
. Most of them still wanted to drop her in the middle of the ocean. But she had seen their vulnerability. She knew that they felt the same things that she felt: loneliness, fear, love. Being in this place was somewhat like being in a terrifying, exhilarating dream, and she had the chance to help keep it alive. She couldn’t recall when she had become so accepting of the mystical; but there lived a certain enchantment in this forest. And the urge to stay was growing stronger.

             
Which, of course, made the guilt fresher.

             
She stuck close to the outer rim of the forest this time. If she went in too deeply, she knew she would get lost again, and so she stayed in the sunny patches of tree trunks and weeds. The fog wasn’t present in these outskirts. Callie saw a colorful bird dive in front of her, and then dip back up towards the canopy once more. And all of the animals that she saw here were small, most no bigger than the squirrels back home. It was a happy picture, really.

             
At least, it was happy until the leaves in front of Callie began to sway and shake, something Callie knew to be the warning of an arrival.

             
Almost as though she were surreal, Adeline broke through the low-hanging branches, her glorious silver wings stretched wide in unabashed power, beating against the air as she sank to the ground. Callie felt her breath hitch.

             
The violet eyes which had been so caring and playfully quick-witted in Serena’s memory regarded Callie with cool intelligence. Her fiery red hair hung in wild curls around her shoulders, ruffled by the wind. She approached Callie leisurely, an appraising look in her eye.

             
Adeline glanced towards the sky. “So,” she began, her voice familiar though plagued now by a bitter cruelty. “He finally left you alone, did he?”

             
Callie saw that Adeline had remained unchanged in the physical sense. Except for the silver wings, she was exactly the same. But the years had lent a certain harshness to her appearance, born of hatred and etched into her features. She was harder now, less willing to see the world as she had once known it.

             
“Why are you here?” Callie asked, hoping that Adeline didn’t hear her words falter in her fear.

             
Adeline grinned slightly, the corners of her red lips curving up. She lifted an eyebrow and replied, “I could ask you the same question. I could also ask what you were doing intruding on our island yesterday, or why Alexander seems to take such acute interest in you.” Her purple eyes narrowed, and she took a step forward. “You wouldn’t be willing to answer any of those questions, would you?”

             
“
That’s
why you’re here?” Callie asked, slightly amazed. “You’re checking up on a human? I thought you were such powerful people.” She couldn’t resist letting a mocking edge slip into her voice. “What could I possibly mean to you?”

             
Adeline’s smile froze in place. “We tend to take spies seriously,” she replied coldly. “And we don’t easily lose our edge by ignoring threats.”

             
Callie hesitated, and then tried to concentrate on Adeline’s mind. She wondered what the real reason was for Adeline’s presence in the forest, and so she projected herself into the memory that Adeline was focused on.

             
She was thrust into the scene with sudden force, having thrown herself into the task with more vigor than she usually did. She landed roughly at the top of a waterfall, braced on her hands and knees, her fingertips at the edge of the stone plateau. Water rushed forward, splitting around her and falling in dramatic white clouds below her.

             
Gasping at how closely she had landed to the edge of the falls, Callie stood up and jumped backwards, thankful that the wide stream at the top of the waterfall was shallow and laden with stones. She nearly walked through Adeline, who was standing immediately behind her.

             
Adeline stood at the top of the falls, her arms crossed tensely over her chest as she watched something in the distance. Callie turned to see what she was staring at, and was surprised to find Alex and herself standing on the rocks. It was the scene from yesterday. They were sitting on the ledge outside of the cave. Callie’s vision kept getting pulled back to  Alex’s face, honing in on the mixture of amusement and affection she saw there. But she knew that it wasn’t her own will which made her focus so intently on Alex now; it was the nature of the memory itself. Adeline watched him jealously, the mood almost protective. Callie looked at Adeline’s expression. She looked heartbroken, unguarded now because there was no one around. A tear spilled over the brim of one eye.

             
Callie sucked in a breath, focusing on the feel of dirt beneath her toes in the present, and stepped out of the memory. When she opened her eyes, Adeline was still staring at her, her purple eyes regarding Callie curiously. Callie blinked, stunned.  “You still love him, don’t you?” she asked with amazement.

             
Adeline’s eyes widened. “So it’s true,” she whispered.

             
“What?” Callie asked, taking a step backwards at the sudden intensity.

             
“You can
Perceive
?” she hissed. She took an urgent step closer to Callie, and roughly grasped Callie’s shoulders. She turned Callie around and pressed flat palms to her back, probing  once more for wings. “I didn’t believe it before,” she mumbled to herself. “But yet there are still no wings.”

             
She twirled Callie roughly so that they faced each other, and stared with imperative alarm into Callie’s eyes, her own purple irises bright with shock. “How is it possible?” she asked.

             
Callie returned her gaze with an icy stillness, unwilling to answer the woman while she was pinching her skin so roughly. Sensing this to be the case, Adeline raked her fingers up the back of Callie’s skull and clutched a handful of hair, yanking it backwards so that Callie’s head jerked back. “You would be wise to answer my questions, human,” she spat.

             
Callie bit back the tears that sprang automatically to her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

             
“You’re lying,” Adeline said assuredly, though she released Callie by pushing her head forward.

             
She stepped backwards, looking Callie up and down. “How old are you?” she asked.

             
Callie bit her lip so that her mouth didn’t tremble as her scalp began to throb. “Seventeen,” she said.

             
“Seventeen,” Adeline repeated thoughtfully. “And no wings yet.”

             
She began to speak in low mutterings, talking too quickly for Callie to understand. “It isn’t inconceivable that….And it would explain Emeric’s….”

             
Callie tuned out, massaging the back of her head. Truth be told, she didn’t much care what Adeline was prattling on about. She was beginning to understand why Sirens had been banished in the first place.

             
A thought struck Callie then. “How are you even here?” Callie asked. Adeline’s attention snapped back to Callie. “I mean, isn’t it dangerous for you to be around this place? Doesn’t it make you crazy or something?” And then, as an afterthought, Callie mumbled, “Well, crazi
er
.”

             
Adeline seemed annoyed. “I see you’ve been doing your research. But no, it is not dangerous for me to be here. For now.”

             
“No?” Callie asked. “I thought being around this place caused insanity for you guys.”

             
Adeline laughed bitterly. “Four thousand years I have been alive. I haven’t gone insane yet.”

             
“But what about the whole frequency thing?” Callie asked. “The Guardians’ feathers are supposed to…I don’t know. Do something to your nervous system. Make you lose your mind.”

             
Adeline scowled. “Is that the word around the forest these days? Shay’s concoction, no doubt. And Milo not around to explain himself....”

             
Callie frowned, unsure about her meaning. Adeline took another step closer. She tipped her head with mock sympathy.

             
“You don’t belong here, do you?” she asked, her words falsely sweet. “I’ll just bet Emeric is saving you for himself, though. Oh well. At  least we’ll be able to pinpoint their weak spot.”

             
“What are you talking about?” Callie demanded.

             
Adeline took a breath, as though to explain. But then a warning breeze passed through the leaves, kicking up debris on the ground. Adeline’s smile grew wider, and she began to laugh maniacally. Callie felt as though she were trapped here, unsure of how to get out of this situation. Clearly something was about to happen.

             
But she didn’t worry for much longer. Even as the tornado of strong wind circled around them, and even as Adeline’s laughter frayed Callie’s nerves, a white-winged warrior descended from above, landing between the two women with grace and authority.

             
“Adeline,” Emeric said, polite as always. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”

Chapter Sixteen

Undue Company

             
“You tell m
e
,” Adeline replied, cocking an eyebrow at Emeric. “Accepting humans into your village now, Emeric?”

             
“I am certain we are
not
accepting Sirens,” Emeric replied. “You should be on your way now.”

             
Adeline chuckled. “Just as hospitable as ever, I see.”

             
Emeric smiled with cold civility, though there was cruelty behind the expression. Adeline sighed.

             
“Well, I suppose you’re right,” she said. And then, with a glint in her eye, she added, “And now that I know your secret, there is no longer reason for me to stay.”

             
She flicked her gaze to Callie and, with a warning grin, said, “I am sure we will meet again soon.”

             
“Adeline,” Emeric said calmly. “If you even consider harming this girl, I will know. And I will rip your wings from your back before you ever even leave your island.”

             
Adeline frowned, and Emeric stepped closer, his height growing more intimidating by the second. “Now
get out of my forest.
”

             
Within the space of a second, her silver wings shot outwards, and she stole into the sky. The trees rippled with the aftershock of the movement, leaves falling from the branches, dipping and diving on the current of the air.

             
Emeric closed his eyes, his face falling. He shook his head. “They are becoming more difficult. Braver,” he said. Returning his gaze to the skies, he said solemnly, “It won’t be long now.”