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“So you’re telling me Leo got his healing magic by bonding with a hawthorn tree?” No wonder he has all that grounding, relaxing tree energy.

“Actually, we call it weaving , not bonding, but yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”

“And does that mean—” No, it couldn’t. “Does that mean he can talk to trees?”

“In a sense. And all plants, not just trees.”

Foolish me, I was picturing Leo healing Avery’s plants by babbling and cooing at them like my grammy did. But he was using faerie magic. And on our hike, when we were hugging trees, he must’ve been sensing their energy on a whole different level than I was.

Wait. Can he hear trees scream? Was that why he reprimanded me for ripping off their leaves?

My cheeks catch fire. What an absurd question.

Or is it?

I can barely comprehend what Rime is telling me. Thoughts and questions buzz in my mind like a swarm of bees. I catch the closest one and let it go, “What’s a Subworlder?”

Rime shrugs. “Someone from the Subworld.”

“Duh.”

He laughs. “Duh? Hmm. I like that one. Duh. Duh, duh, duh.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, then, what’s the Sub world ?”

He stops practicing his duhs and answers. “It’s short for Subjugated World, what we call the realm of humans.”

So a Subworlder is a human. I ask, even though I already know, “Subjugated how?”

Rime thinks for a moment, probably trying to find a way to cushion the blow.

“Like I said, in Nàdar we believe everyone is equal. No one living thing is more important than another, so no one tries to wield power over anyone else: the fae, the birds and animals, fish and plants, the earth itself. We live in harmony because we’re all the same. ”

“And humans do the opposite. ”

We both sigh.

I think aloud, “What is it the Bible says? ‘Subdue the earth and have dominion over it?’” Something like that.

Whatever the exact words, we humans have taken them to heart, and twisted, contorted, and molded them into a way of life that only serves us.

“Nàdar sounds like a wonderful place. Better than here.”

“It is, most of the time.” Rime’s mouth turns down. “But not right now.”

“How come?”

He sets down his cup and licks his lips. “An egalitarian society only works if everyone thinks we’re equal. But every now and then someone rises up who believes they’re better, smarter, more powerful—and that they should rule over all of Nàdar.”

“Are you talking about Brier?”

“You’re smart, little psychic.” His smile is tight.

“It’s happened twice in our history. Centuries ago, and right now.

Brier has already taken control of our capital.

He’s building an army and hoarding resources.

He says he’s unifying and strengthening Nàdar, but what he’s really doing is destroying it from the inside out. ”

“Avery said you’re searching for something. Something that’s hidden here.”

Like a documentary interviewee, Rime nods and folds his hands in his lap. “Yes, something dangerous. Most likely some sort of weapon.”

At the word weapon, I nearly fall out of my chair. Did somebody bury a nuke in the Blue Ridge Mountains?

Nervously, I eye Rime. “One of our weapons?”

“No, one of ours. But nearly as powerful.”

I gulp. “And it’s here? In North Carolina?”

“Within five miles of where we sit.”

I can’t keep myself from glancing around, like our table could be standing right over it. A weapon almost powerful as a nuclear missile. What if someone drops a spoon on the floor and the reverberations cause it to blow?

Rime bends closer and quietly says, “It needs to be wielded, Betts. You’re safe. We’ll all be safe if we can keep it out of Brier’s hands.”

“So that’s the goal?” I ask. “Find it before Brier does?”

“Yes, that’s what we’re trying to do. Until a month ago, we weren’t sure if Brier even knew the weapon existed, much less where to find it. But hearing the news that he’s sent a search party to the Subworld—” Rime shakes his head. “We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

Which Leo has done, by getting too deeply involved with me. When, shamefacedly, I look away, Rime gently insists, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know.”

Because Leo told me absolutely nothing.

Refusing to indulge my wounded heart, I shift my thoughts back to Nàdar.

And I know, without a doubt, that the horrible feeling of vulnerability and impending evil that I felt that morning in Leo’s apartment was the three faeries’ fear of this weapon.

I know because I’m feeling it again, weighing down the space around me and Rime.

I ask, “How did one of your weapons get here ?”

“Fae rebels brought it centuries ago and gave it to humans to hide. They thought that if it was in a remote area in another realm, it would be impossible to find. Even they didn’t know where it was ultimately hidden.”

“Why hide it? Why not destroy it?”

Rime shakes his head. “It can’t be destroyed. The results would be…cataclysmic.”

In other words, to destroy it, you’d have to deploy it. I fiddle with the handle of my coffee cup. “How did Brier find out about it?”

“We’re not sure. But we know he’s very charismatic, the type who can persuade others to spill secrets. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to find out if a rumor was actually true.”

The gears in my brain are grinding so hard they’re starting to smoke. I get to my feet. “I’m gonna get more coffee. Do you need anything? ”

Rime looks up at me with those puppy-dog blue eyes—eyes that aren’t real but a glamour. “No, thank you. Take your time.”

He knows I need a moment to process all he’s said.

And I make the effort, I really do. But it feels like I’m trying to learn Chinese in an hour.

Two weeks ago, I was a typical human being, believing mankind was the center of the universe.

Now I’m sitting across the table from a faerie, discussing a threat to both our realms. My bubble has officially burst. What else is out there?

Nymphs, demons, angels, vampires? The living dead?

No, I’m not going there. No snowballing, Betts. Focus.

From what Rime is saying, Nàdar is in big trouble. This Brier sounds like a potential despot to me. If he’s trying to get his hands on some sort of weapon of mass destruction, then he certainly isn’t planning to rule by reason and justice.

As the barista refills my cup, I peek over my shoulder at Rime. He’s not exactly trembling in his black boots. At a nearby table, three girls keep looking up from their books to ogle him. When I return with my full, steaming mug of coffee, he’s smiling at the redhead directly across from him.

I snort. “Do I need to put blinders on you?”

He sits back in his chair and grins. “Human women are lovely. Much more delicate than Nàdarian females.”

Interesting. Perhaps that’s why Leo always felt the need to protect me. “Don’t be fooled by our appearance.” I say. We may not be trained with swords and daggers, but we still know how to cut deep.

When I hear a giggle behind me, I roll my eyes at Rime. “Can’t you glamour yourself to be ugly?”

“You’ve seen my red eyes.”

“They’re not ugly, just shocking.” They’re beautiful actually, like the faes’ unglamoured faces. A beauty that sets your heart racing and plunges you into that narrow gap between fascination and fear.

I stir three packets of sugar into my coffee and rest my chin in my hand. “If you’re so close to finding this weapon, then why do you need us humans?”

“We’ve gotten as far as we can get with our methods. Leo and Robin have read all the old journals. They’ve done the research and geographical…”

“Wait a minute.” Coffee sloshes as my cup slips from my fingers and nearly misses the saucer. “Does any of this have to do with the Roanoke Colony?”

Rime blots the light brown splatters with our extra napkins. “It was a settler from the Roanoke Colony who was given the weapon and charged with hiding it.”

My jaw nearly hits the table. “How? Why”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the details.”

But Leo does.

I’m not sure why it’s taken me this long to put the pieces together—information overload, perhaps—but suddenly it all makes sense.

Now I know why Leo was always camping out in the library by the sixteenth century history books.

Why there are a bunch of names and email addresses stuck to his freezer door.

Why he was always needing to “help Robin with something.”

What I thought was a scholarly fascination was actually a hunt. He and Robin have been searching all this time, trying to get ahead of Brier.

I prompt Rime to continue, “And they’re absolutely sure this weapon-thingy is here ?”

“Yes. But within this area, it could be anywhere. Tucked away in a bookcase, buried in a hill or at the bottom of the river.” He shrugs. “We’re not even sure where to start looking.”

I think of the French Broad meandering for miles through the forest and between the mountains. “And we psychics do?”

“The three of you can feel and hear and see what no one’s written down.”

I play back in my mind Avery’s story about the baby blanket.

There was no written record that the girl had made it, but Avery saw her sewing it in her shabby slave’s quarters.

Aaron heard his parents arguing a hundred miles away, heard an entire musical composition in his dream. Neither of which was recorded.

And me? I felt a tragedy that was happening one floor below me, and another that had happened over a century ago. I can read the energy of Tarot cards, crystals, rings, and plants. And I can pick up the emotions of everyone around me.

Rime lets his spoon drop onto his saucer with a clink. “This is why we need you, Betts. You might even be able to sense the weapon itself.”

“I don’t know,” I mumble, looking past him and into space, searching for some sign from the heavens that will tell me what to do.

I’m flattered that everyone believes in me.

As someone who, until recently, has always tried to run away from her ability, seeing it in such a positive light is validating.

But am I as strong as they think I am? I might be able to deliberately draw and harness emotions, but I haven’t had nearly enough practice disassociating from them.

This mission is way above my pay grade. It’s like asking a kid who’s had one driving lesson to race in the Indy 500.

In a beat-all-to-hell race car.

Because that’s what I am. I was never well-built to begin with, but the past few months have left me scratched, dented, and leaking oil.

I don’t know who I am or where I belong, what I’m capable of, or how dangerous I might be.

And I don’t know if I can be trusted to work alongside Leo.

Not when my stupid heart can’t seem to let him go.

I dare to ask, “Why didn’t Leo just tell me?”

Rime’s features soften. “My guess? He was trying to protect you.”

“From what?” What could’ve hurt me worse than all the lies?

“We try not to involve humans in our affairs. We rarely even come to your realm, and when we do, we avoid forming relationships with you. For your own safety and peace of mind.”

Peace of mind? I almost choke on my coffee. That’s exactly what Leo so callously stole from me. If he cared for me even one little fig, he would never have let our relationship go as far as it did.

Rime meets my eyes. “Leo’s idea to use human psychics was a radical one, and I’m not sure he anticipated all the repercussions.

He should’ve been upfront with you from the start, with all three of you, so you could’ve chosen to help of your own free will.

But it seems the longer he waited, the harder it was to tell the truth.

I honestly don’t know when, if ever, he intended to confess. ”

“So how did he expect us to help him if we didn’t know what was going on?”

“A fun adventure? A mystery to solve?”

The world’s most twisted Escape Room?

Leo had all three of us enthralled. By the mystery of the Lost Colony, by our own powers, by magic.

“And then what?” I ask, biting off my words. “He would just go back to Nàdar and we’d never hear from him again?”

“I think that was his plan, before—” Rime’s voice drops off.

Before what? Before he got emotionally involved? Or before Avery and Rime outed him against his will?

Rime sighs and leans back in his chair. “It’s nearly eight.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you need someone to walk you back to the dormitories?”

“No, but thanks. I’m going to finish my coffee.”

He rises and slides his long arms into his coat. Out of the chest pocket, he pulls a phone. “Leo got me one of these. I don’t know how to make it show movies or play songs.” He grins and shrugs. “But I can answer calls.”

I take the phone to get his number and call it, then help him put my info in his contacts. His list is short: Leo, Topaz, and Avery. For fun, I reclaim his phone, get on YouTube, and start a search for funny cat videos. “There,” I say with a giggle. “Something to entertain you on the ride home.”

He bursts out laughing at a calico gagging on broccoli.

See, we humans have our own form of magic .

“Call me, please,” he says, “if you want to ask me any more questions.”

I offer him a smile. “I’m going away this weekend, but I promise I’ll think about everything you told me.”

He nods as he studies me, no doubt trying to figure out how sincere I am.

The going away part is a bit of an exaggeration.

I’ll only be twenty miles away in Asheville, and only for one night.

But I’m telling the truth about the thinking part.

Rime, Nàdar, Brier, and Leo will be on my mind all weekend. Whether I like it or not.