Page 20

Chapter Twenty

“ T he what and what society?” Laurus asked, clearly skeptical about what was going on.

I couldn’t blame him. We were in a cave, after midnight, under circumstances cloaked in mystery. It was captivating, and I was brimming with excitement.

I waited for an answer with bated breath, glad someone else had asked.

“The Root and Vine Society. A tradition of Evergreen Academy that has been dormant for some time. We decided it was time to revive it,” Kaito said.

“What does this society do?” Laurus pressed. I could see the wheels in his brain spinning, trying to process a new facet of the academy he hadn’t been aware of.

“We hope that you all will be able to help us determine that. Our primary motivation is to protect the integrity and beauty of Evergreen Academy,” Kaito said.

“Is this about the changes happening with the school and the board?” This time, it was Meadow who spoke. Her face was bored, but there was a sharpness to her posture that betrayed her. She was interested .

Kaito nodded. “We know there are students here that feel… less than satisfied with the changes that are occurring. We would like to help give the original purpose of the school the upper hand.”

“How will we do that?” Laurus asked.

Callan stepped forward. “By acquiring something that the board has long sought but so far has been unsuccessful in getting.”

“Such as?” Meadow asked. I noticed that Hollis was watching quietly and I wondered if, as Callan’s best friend and a founder’s descendant, he already knew where this was headed.

Callan spoke again. “The Root and Vine Society was originally founded to track down an object of great value. They were unsuccessful, and eventually the group disbanded. The object we seek is a book. We do not believe that the Compendium Floracantus we study here is the only book of Floracantus in existence. In fact, we believe another was penned at nearly the same time.”

Beside me, one of the other students gasped, though I didn’t fully grasp the significance of his words.

“You’re not talking about”—Laurus’s eyes widened—“the Vanished Compendium ?”

“I am,” Callan said.

“That’s just a fairy tale,” Ravenna, the grasses affinity student, said.

“Or maybe the fairy tale was invented to keep the truth alive,” Callan countered.

“But how long has the society been looking for this… Vanished Compendium ?” I asked. “The Compendium Floracantus is hundreds of years old, right? If this other book exists, why hasn’t anyone found it by now?”

Kaito spoke first. “There is reason to believe the book has been found a few times throughout history, but information about it was tightly controlled. Historical documents, and lore”—he nodded toward Ravenna—“indicate it disappeared again for good about one hundred years ago. Various groups have been searching for it nearly ever since. ”

“What historical documents?” Ravenna asked.

“There’s a top-secret letter, copies of which are stored in the vaulted areas of some of the libraries at the magical botanical conservatories, which reference the book. Scholars of the Root and Vine Society have authenticated the document,” Kaito explained.

“Can we see a copy of this letter?” Laurus asked.

“Perhaps in time. There are no copies here,” Kaito said.

“So, you invited us here to… what? You think we can help find the Vanished Compendium ?” Laurus asked.

“The school is at a crossroads. We can accept the new changes that are already being implemented, or we can fight for what the school was and what we want it to be. With a tool like the Vanished Compendium , we would have leverage. At a minimum, our goal is to keep it out of the hands of those who would use it to consolidate their power even further. Intel says they have increased their search efforts,” Kaito said.

“How were we selected?” Heath, the floral affinity botanist, asked. “I know they’re founders’ descendants”—he nodded toward Meadow and Hollis—“and she’s got all the affinities”—he waved toward me—“but how were the rest of us chosen?”

“You’ve all been carefully observed and found to be the strongest in your affinity groups, under various criteria that we will not disclose here.

Suffice it to say that we believe each of you would not only be a benefit to this cause but would be a trustworthy member of the society,” Kaito explained.

“Can we invite others?” Laurus asked.

“We have deliberately chosen to keep our group to one person per affinity now, like it was with the original Root and Vine Society. Each of you has influence within your affinities. Plant the seeds, and we’ll grow our group if and when the time is right,” Kaito said.

The grasses affinity botanist, Ravenna, held up her Shasta lily pendant. “Are you going to explain how these work? How were we able to climb over the wall without setting off any alarms?”

I cast a look at Meadow, remembering when we’d used the pendants together months before.

“We won’t be explaining their mechanism,” Kaito said. “It’s enough to know that as long as you have it in your possession, you may safely cross through the petal portal and enter the Evergreen Conservatory . This should only be done on official Root and Vine society business.”

Petal portal . I absorbed the term. Callan hadn’t given me much detail about it on midsummer, but for some reason hearing its official name made it even more intriguing.

No wonder he and Meadow hadn’t answered my questions about the pendants before.

They were members-only privileges for a secret society.

One Meadow apparently knew about before she was even invited.

“There are only nine of these pendants in existence,” Callan said. “One for each affinity group.” He, too, cast an eye at Meadow, and I wondered if he had already figured out how she had gotten her hands on the moss pendant early. “Lose yours, and… don’t lose yours.”

The cave was silent, and I felt for the pendant in my pocket. I would have to place it on a necklace or something more secure than the small clasp it was currently attached to.

“What happens now?” Meadow asked, seemingly over the small details that she was obviously already privy to.

“Now”—Callan stepped forward—“you decide if you want in.”

“But we’ve already seen and heard all this,” Ravenna said. “What if we say no?”

“We have ways of helping you forget this, but we don’t think that will be necessary,” Kaito said, and I raised my eyebrows as the cave became eerily quiet once more.

I would have to press Callan on what that meant later.

“Now, if you do not wish to proceed with initiation tasks for the Root and Vine Society, you are free to leave.”

No one moved. Including me. My curiosity was working overtime, and I had been hoping for a way to get involved with protecting the school for weeks. There was no way I was turning back now.

“Excellent. Now, for your next steps, initiation requires each of you to complete a series of tasks. These have been revived from when the society was previously active. There are four pillars to our work: stealth navigation, distractions, communication, and detection. When you get a message with our insignia, you’ll know your tests are about to start.

But first…” Kaito nodded to Callan, who waved a hand.

A floating tray of leaves brought a small metal cup to each of us.

“A toast. To celebrate our newest recruits.”

“Do you think it’s spiked?” Hollis leaned toward me to whisper, a merry expression on his face. It seemed like he was excited about the prospect of a little extra something in this mystery drink.

I sniffed the tiny cup, which contained no more than one swallow worth of a citrusy liquid. I began to prod it with my affinity powers to determine its origins.

Callan caught my eye and gave me a quick nod.

Around us, the other students began to drink, so I tilted my head and tossed the liquid back. It was sweet with an aftertaste of something spicy, and it went down smoothly.

“Spike free. What a shame.” Hollis winked, and I rolled my eyes, though I was secretly appreciative of his humor taking the edge off the situation. Everyone else in the room was stock-still, except for Meadow.

Callan’s leaf tray collected the empty cups, and Kaito grinned. “Okay, that’s it for tonight. Thank you for coming, and we hope to officially welcome you all into the Root and Vine Society soon.”

My fellow botanists began to leave, but I examined the cave, wondering if any more surprises were lurking within its damp interior. Evergreen Conservatory .

My eyes sought Callan, but he was having a whispered conversation with Kaito. I decided it was better not to try to talk to him now. For now, I was just another recruit. I’d grill him later .

I swam the reverse direction under the waterfall and tree walked back to the campus wall then surreptitiously made my way through the forest and back to the academy. I was tiptoeing through the silent central atrium when I spotted Hollis about to head up the stairs.

“Well, this was an interesting turn of events.” He was whispering, but the volume was still much too loud for my comfort level. I was intent on sneaking back into my room completely unnoticed by others at the academy.

“Did you know about it?” I asked.

“I had a suspicion this might be coming. We grew up hearing lore of the Root and Vine Society but heard it was defunct. It’s not surprising that Rhodes revived it. Okay, I’m off to get my beauty sleep.”

“We’ll be lucky to get three hours shut-eye tonight,” I replied with a yawn.

“Worth it. You’re in the big leagues now.” The excitement in Hollis’s voice was infectious.

Our school had a secret society, and I had been hand selected to be a part of it.

The idea of finding a book that had been lost, possibly for centuries, had my curious mind intrigued.

But more than anything, we finally had a way to fight back against unwanted changes at Evergreen Academy, and that, more than anything else, stirred a fire deep in my soul.