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CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Ellery

Callan opened a portal inside the Veiled Rock. Thankfully, no children were playing in there when we emerged into the small, domed space, and we probably would have scared them if there had been.

Inside, the rock was big enough that I could stand, but Callan hunched over to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. The small lantern I carried cast shadows around the cozy space and dirt floor. The rocky bottom of the cave was buried beneath a layer of earth.

Most children brought their own source of light into the rock when they came to play. Some supplied torches, and others arrived with lanterns.

My favorite way to illuminate the space was when Scarlet and I would catch glow bugs the night before coming to town. The bodies of the bugs would light up for minutes or sometimes hours at a time every time they glowed.

We’d place the inch-long, furry insects into jars, seal them off, and poke holes in the top. That night, we’d fall asleep watching them, talking about our dreams, telling stories, and listening to the sounds of the night as we often slept on my porch or hers.

The next day, we’d bring the glow bugs with us to the Veiled Rock and carry them inside. Their soft glow made the place more magical. Afterward, we would take them to the edge of the woods and turn them loose.

Lifting the lantern high, I illuminated more of the gray walls and the thousands of names etched onto them. Over the years, so many kids in Nottingshire and the surrounding farms had found their way into this rock and left their marks on its surface.

I walked over to the far wall and knelt to examine the names before finding mine and Scarlet’s. On the day one of the boys from town introduced us to this magical world, we left our names on this spot.

It had to be another child who brought you to the Veiled Rock. While most adults knew of its existence and once played within its walls too, only a child could bring another kid here. That was how they passed on the secret.

Rising away from the wall, I lifted the lantern to examine the rest of the names. So many hopes and dreams were etched into this stone, but how many of those who’d stood here and laughed while carrying on this tradition were still alive?

The Ghoul War and recent events had devastated Tempest and so many lives. My mother’s and father’s names were here too; I’d found them before, but I didn’t hunt for them again. I knew the answer to their fate.

When I shifted my attention away from the names, I discovered Callan running his fingers over a separate set of names. “Yours?” I inquired.

“And Luna’s.”

“We’re a little early. There’s still time for her to arrive.”

Callan shifted so he slid down the wall with his back against it. His skull thudded against the stone as he rested it on the rock. Mr. Fletcher had given him some clean clothes to wear.

After the disastrous ball, I was so caught up in my anguish over losing my mother and the stress of having to reclaim her body and bury her that I hadn’t thought about much else. But now, in this sacred place of children and fantasies, something occurred to me.

“Why didn’t you warn me about what was coming when we talked at the ball?” I asked.

Callan closed his eyes and winced as he rested his hands on his knees. “It wasn’t supposed to go like that.”

“How was it supposed to go?”

“We were supposed to swoop in, take them by surprise, and subdue them right away. We were supposed to take control before they had a chance to put up a fight against us.”

“So, you all had this perfect fantasy in your heads and decided nothing could ever go wrong with it.”

“I can’t speak for the others, but that’s what I believed. Maybe some of them weren’t as na?ve as me, but I was so convinced we could take them without any issues. I was certain our element of surprise would make us succeed.”

“My mother’s dead. Was that part of the plan?”

Callan winced, and his fingers dug into his knees. “Of course not. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I asked you to save me a dance and looked for you, but you weren’t in the ballroom.”

The blood drained from my face, and I swayed a little as a wave of dizziness hit me. With everything that had happened, I’d forgotten about Callan asking me to dance with him later when he was on his break.

I’d forgotten about my fight with Ryker, our dance, and subsequent meeting in the garden. Callan had asked me to dance, and I’d gone to see Ryker.

“Were… were you going to tell me what you planned during that dance?” I whispered.