Page 60

Chapter Sixty

“ I t’s official, then?” Hollis asked. “The mosses will be putting founders’ descendants or their designated appointees in charge of all major operations?”

Meadow nodded. She had brought a chunk of moss with her, and she was now growing it up and down her arms.

“What does that mean for your mom’s job?” I asked.

“She gets to keep it, for now. They’re considering her a ‘designated appointee’ based on her relationship to me. If only they knew how little I sided with them,” Meadow said. “But this probably means changes at the academy.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, invested as always in anything to do with our beloved school.

“The teachers aren’t founders’ descendants.

Those positions have historically gone to people who have achieved top research achievements in their fields.

The school has had a good balance of power between the instructors and the founders’ descendants who charge the shield.

If these changes go that far, they could be pushed out in favor of members of founders’ families,” Callan explained.

A shiver passed over me as I thought of all my teachers.

Each of their faces flashed through my mind, ending on Professor East. I couldn’t imagine the school without them.

A cold resolve solidified in my chest. This threat might not come to fruition, but if it did, I wouldn’t let my instructors be pushed out without a fight.

“Woah. You okay there?” Meadow’s voice broke me out of deep contemplation.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re stealing my moss.”

I glanced down and saw that the fluffy green clump that had been on her arms was slowly inching across the seat in my direction. I unclenched my hands, and the moss ceased its movement.

Meadow scooped the fuzzy material back onto her arms. “Hold onto that feeling,” she whispered. “It might come in handy.”

I was startled at whatever had just happened, but I forced myself to relax.

My aunt had always taught me that there was no point in stewing about something that might happen.

Instead, focus on what I could control now.

And currently, we had the quill, and I had my field studies where I could continue to work on un-poisoning my powers.

I pulled up a mental image of a field of wildflowers and took a few calming breaths.

The rest of the flight back to California was uneventful, except for the quill seemingly burning a hole in my backpack as we went.

The group had decided I should be the one to hang on to it for now since I was the only one who could use it.

I had now officially smuggled stolen goods across state lines.

Did that make me a felon? Did the magical botanist community have felonies?

Shortly after we landed in Weed, it began pouring rain.

Water slammed the windshield of Callan’s truck as his wipers worked incessantly in a futile effort to keep the glass clear.

In the woods before we reached the academy grounds, Meadow yawned and asked, “Should we try the quill here just to see if it still behaves like it did in Washington? Then I’m calling it an early night. ”

I glanced through the windows of Callan’s truck. While it was hard to see beyond the pounding rain, the forest around us appeared empty of other humans. The bit of frost that had been on the ground when we’d left had been washed away, replaced by mud.

“Good idea,” Callan said. He nodded to me.

I removed the quill from my backpack and its protective bag and unraveled the defensive charms I had placed on it at Meadow’s house in Washington.

“Do it, B,” Hollis said.

I turned my attention back to the quill and said, “ Simul sumus .”

We all watched in rapt attention. Even Meadow, despite her proclaimed exhaustion, was leaning over the front seat to have a clear view.

The quill began to spin just as it had in Washington, though this time, it was spinning even faster and more erratically.

I reached out and sensed for the blocking spell. “The block seems to be even stronger here than it was in Washington.”

“Maybe we’re closer to whatever is blocking it?” Meadow suggested.

“That’s a good hypothesis,” Callan said. “Something to investigate when we do our research. I’ll start tonight.” He didn’t have to say what we were all thinking—with a stolen quill in our possession, the clock was ticking to get it to work.

Callan drove us onto the academy grounds, and Hollis and Meadow collected their bags and headed straight to the glass building, Hollis shielding them from the rain with two large fern fronds.

“I’m impressed that you sensed the increased strength of the blocking spell,” Callan said.

“Well, I have been working on my defensive plant powers in my field studies. In case you thought I was just messing around and burning time once a week,” I said, adding a little teasing to my voice to break the tension I felt building.

We were alone in the truck now, and my mind was, annoyingly, reminding me of another time we’d been alone together. And I could still smell that darned cologne. The one he had created just for me.

I jumped at a sound behind us and turned to see Hollis opening the back door. He put his hands up. “Sorry, forgot my wallet.”

When I swiveled back around, Callan had opened his door. “We better head back too,” he said softly.

I wanted to protest, but I didn’t. Callan wasn’t the type of person you could push.

“I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Of course. We’ll talk to Professor East about Alex first thing.”

As I lay in bed that night, all the revelations of the weekend preventing me from sleeping, I had one calming thought.

Callan had told me he had the patience of trees, and he’d proven it to be true over and over again. He was protective of me, but I was getting stronger and better at using my powers by the day. We had the quill, even if we couldn’t use it to lead us to the book yet.

If I could get full access to my powers or if we could figure out how to undo the blocking spell, maybe, just maybe, he would forget about protecting me and give into the connection between us for good.