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Chapter Thirty-Seven

T he next morning, I was walking through the flowering gardens after an affinity studies session with the florals. After all the rain the previous night, the flowers were extra vibrant, and it had been a good time to conduct a study on nectar dilution.

As I neared the edge of the flower garden, the petals of a nearby honeysuckle began to shake, sprinkling pollen dust over the front of my dress.

“What on earth?” I looked around as I wiped the pollen from my outfit. Seeing no one, I turned back to the bush.

And that was when I saw the tiny piece of paper, folded into a flower shape and nestled into the plant. I carefully withdrew it and unfolded the paper. The typewritten font was familiar.

Come now. The usual place.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I hurried to the first petal portal. As I was getting ready to climb, Hollis appeared.

“Can I join you? No tree affinity.”

“Sure, but how did you do it the first time? ”

“My lights led along the ground the whole way after I crossed over the wall. Tree walking is faster.”

Together, Hollis and I tree walked the path I had taken before, him walking close behind me to catch the tree trail that was created for me.

“We were all impressed with your potted fern costume last night,” I called over my shoulder.

I could practically hear Hollis’s chest puffing out. “Who is ‘all’?”

“Me and my friends Yasmin, Aurielle, and Coral.”

“Good. It takes a fern affinity to truly appreciate the level of detail I went into.”

“I think Coral will be talking about the symmetry of your fronds for days.”

“That’s one compliment I’ll never forget.”

“What did you get for your artifact?” I asked. “It must have been something from outside, given the state of your costume at the end of the night.”

There was a soft clinking noise behind me, and I glanced back to see Hollis holding a velvet pouch. “Gemstones.”

My eyes widened. “Wouldn’t those come from Professor East’s office?”

“Not if you know where the gemstone cave is.”

“I’m sorry. Gemstone cave ?” I asked, incredulous.

“You didn’t think these were ordinary gemstones, did you? They’re all formed here on campus.”

I whistled. “Nice going.”

“How about you? Ahh, fronds,” Hollis moaned.

“What is it?” We had reached the waterfall, and I paused to look at the sunset that was blooming brilliantly around us like a field of poppies and zinnias.

“My path goes over the rocks on the side over there, but they’re all slippery and treacherous.”

“Maybe I can make a water bubble around you if you want to pass through the pool instead,” I offered. I had made a few small ones during my aquatic affinity studies the previous year. “It would keep you and the gemstones dry.”

“Um, yes please,” Hollis said, moving to the edge of the water.

“Okay, just give me a second.” I recalled the Floracantus for trapping a bubble of air in water. “ Aqua tegmina ,” I said firmly, swirling my hands to scoop the water around Hollis. I was concentrating too hard to smile, but Hollis’s face broke into a grin as a shimmery screen formed around him.

“Hot fronds!” he exclaimed, and he sounded like he was underwater.

I laughed, then I dove in next to him.

We were the first ones in the cave, aside from Kaito. Callan was nowhere in sight. I felt a twinge of nerves, hoping everyone had managed to collect an artifact without getting caught.

Hollis—perfectly dry from my bubble—was the picture of confidence as he sat on a large boulder, legs crossed at the ankles in front of him, studying the eclectic assortment of plants in the Evergreen Conservatory.

Other students began to emerge over the rocks on the sides of the waterfall—or from the pool, in Nalin’s case—the tension increasing as we waited for the final recruits to arrive.

Five minutes later, Callan finally joined us. Hollis stood and fist-bumped him as if he was already an accepted member of the club. Then, at last, Kaito got started.

“Welcome, everyone. We received each of your messages—well done on that,” Kaito said. “Now, you’ll each share your artifact with the group. Any volunteers want to go first?”

Hollis raised a lazy finger then poured some of the gemstones into his palm, where they glimmered by the fireflies and moonlight. There were many appreciative exclamations, and it was clear that the other non-founders’ descendants hadn’t known about the Gemstone Cave either.

Heath went next. “I brought the Wisteria Wind Chimes. Floral affinities swear they can calm any situation, and there’s only one set on campus.”

Kaito nodded. “Could be useful. Who’s next?”

Ravenna, the grasses affinity, stepped forward. “I got the list of all field studies assignments from Professor Tenella’s office.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering if my classified assignment was on there.

“Good find,” Callan nodded appreciatively. “Those are valuable connections to know about.”

Nalin from aquatics shared next. “I took some of our most sensitive research from the greenhouse research labs. I thought it could be used as leverage, at least.”

Laurus lifted a slim book from inside his coat. “ Recipes for Deception . It’s an old book, and we’re not really supposed to use it. It contains herbal recipes that can alter someone’s response times, among other things.”

“Devious,” Callan said. “I like it.”

“I also selected a book.” Meadow pulled a much larger tome from her bag. “The collected histories of the founders.”

Kaito’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

Meadow’s voice was even as she said, “Professor East’s office.”

We all whistled appreciatively.

“Nice work,” Kaito said. “Callan and I also wanted to contribute. I collected our contracts with local businesses.”

Callan looked at me as if assessing whether I wanted to go next.

When I shrugged, he walked to a dark portion of the cave and returned with a collection of small nursery pots with green sprouts growing from the soil.

“Scouting vine seedlings. I think we should be prepared to set up our own countersurveillance.”

That garnered a round of “Hear! Hear!”

All eyes turned to me. “Okay, I don’t have anything physical to share, but I do have a location that could be useful.”

“Location?” Kaito asked.

“There’s another petal portal on campus.”