Page 16

SIXTEEN

Lee

The sun casts a golden hue through the forest when we pause our quest to find Wren for a short break. The five Scorpios, one of them leading the way, tracking Wren through the forest with a speed that’s difficult to maintain, aren’t even winded. They’re stopping for us, Rottingham, Luke, and me, and I’m just thankful we’re stopping at all.

Luke joins me, sitting down on the rough bark of a fallen tree, and passes me a half-empty water bottle. Even as I take a swig, my eyes dart out over the forest. I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched. I know they’re out there, the wild Elementals, lurking at the edge of my vision, shadows just beyond reach.

“I feel like I’ve run a marathon,” Luke groans, but I barely hear him over my own heartbeat.

“Thanks,” I say, handing him back the water bottle.

“Where you going?” he asks, but I only motion for him to stay there and stay quiet.

“Suit yourself!” he calls after me, completely ignoring half of my directions.

Up ahead, the bushes rustle, and I approach with the silence of a jungle cat. I shouldn’t wander this far from the group, not out in this Elemental realm, but curiosity has me firmly in its clutches.

I’m quiet, but not quiet enough. A single moth, the size of my hand, flutters up from the bushy fern fronds. Seafoam-green and pink wings are marked with the phases of the moon and sprout from its furry white body. It’s mesmerizingly beautiful, and as I reach out, hoping its clear, spiked legs come to rest on my fingers, the fern comes to life, erupting into a billowing cloud of ethereal moths.

I cover my head and sink down to my knees as they chitter and whirl around me before they fly away—all except one. It sits on my shoulder, staring at me with its glowing citrine eyes, trilling so rapidly that I feel like it’s intent on telling me a story. I offer it my finger and it scoots onto it, fluffing and preening like a bird. “What is it, little guy?”

It stops its chiming, tinkling noises and seems to stiffen, its wings outstretched and ready for flight.

Rottingham’s voice breaks the silence, his words a cold splash of reality. “She is making allies,” he says, his footsteps bringing him closer.

I hunker down with the moth, stroking its fuzzy body to ease it as we hide beneath a covering of fern fronds nearly as big as I am.

“Yes, I know we don’t have much time and must stop her, but Wren Nightingale isn’t a problem; she’s a symptom.”

A shadow falls over me, and I hold my breath as the Water Elemental’s cloak brushes the massive plant. I let out a slow, soundless exhale and hope the magickal moth understands the importance of keeping quiet.

Rottingham releases an exasperated sigh as the fern quakes with the towering Elemental’s erratic and agitated movements.

“I also answer to Celeste,” the dean snaps. “I know what needs to be done. I am simply saying that we don’t need to kill three more students. We’ve kept the parents out of it. If three more students die, there’s no way to keep them from rushing to the island. Besides, if Wren and her band of merry followers somehow make it through this realm without the aid of the book, they will never find the elder.”

A spray of water rains down over the fern as the Water Elemental shoots several feet into the air and swells, dark and thunderous as a storm cloud. The beautiful moth quivers and twitches the rain from its wings as I soothingly pet its fuzzy chest.

“I am aware the elder’s survival is a myth!” Rottingham’s voice is laced with venom. “I am making a point.” He pauses for a moment, and I hear the swipe of his palms along his jacket. “As to yours, yes, the Elementals will be an issue, but we can get them under control. The Lunar Council has done it before. We must concentrate on controlling the damage, not inflicting more.”

Unsatisfied, the Water Elemental zips back to the rest of the party, leaving a torrent of rain in his wake.

Rottingham’s groan is even wearier than Luke’s as he shakes off the water and heads back to join the rest.

“I have to get back; I have to tell Luke what the Elemental has planned.”

The moth’s citrine eyes sparkle as it twitters another lengthy reply before taking off. I do the same, my measured strides eating up the forest floor as I make my way back to Luke while hiding the fact that I’ve overheard something I shouldn’t.

“You’re sure you heard Rottingham tell that Elemental not to kill my sister?” Luke whispers as we trail behind the five Scorpios and Dean Rottingham.

“Yeah, but it didn’t seem like the Elemental agreed.”

Luke’s jaw sets, and he brushes his hand through his hair. “I’m not surprised.”

“But we’ll fix it. We’ll find an opportunity to split off, and we’ll get to them before the Scorpios and the Elemental can.”

Luke mutters a string of curses and eyes the Water Elemental as he glides past us toward the front of the pack, his form shimmering like an aquamarine mirage beneath his cloak.

“One of them killed Sam,” Luke says, his gaze never leaving the Elemental.

I’ve been waiting for this. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken so long to come up. “What do you mean?” I ask as though I don’t already know the answer.

“The Air Elemental—the one that’s out in this realm with my sister—it killed Sam.”

“Why? What would it gain from killing her?” I slow down and look over my shoulder at him. “And there’s no way Wren, Lily, or Ruby would ever trust it if it did something so heinous.”

“Maybe they don’t know.”

I shake my head. “You’re not giving them enough credit.”

“No, I mean, seriously, Lee. What if it’s lying to them? You told me it approached Wren before. It saved her life. What if it’s been lying to her this whole time?”

“Why?”

Luke’s temples pulse as he clenches his teeth.

I grab his shoulder, stopping us both. “Say whatever it is you have to say. We’re way past keeping secrets.”

“I heard Celeste, Rottingham, and your dad in one of their hush-hush meetings. I probably shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but let’s face it. It’s me, so I did.”

“ And? ” I prompt, clenching my own teeth.

“On the Fourth, when those wild Elementals tossed Wyatt around like a scrap of meat before dropping him onto those rocks…” He looks down at his feet, his Adam’s apple bobbing with a swallow. “Celeste said the same thing happened with Sam. But, instead of it being a group of wild Elementals, it was one the Academia thought they could trust.”

“Or it was someone who wanted to make it look that way,” I say, my voice hushed.

Luke combs his fingers through his hair. “So, what, the whole thing was staged? Someone somehow convinced a bunch of timeless beings to murder Wyatt all to cover up the fact that they were going to do the same thing to Sam?”

I take a deep breath and throw my hands in the air. “Wyatt has nothing to do with this.”

“Of course not.” Luke stands a little straighter. “He wasn’t in Leland Young’s orbit, so there’s no way he could be important.”

I sigh. “That’s not what I mean, Luke, and you know it.”

“What I know is that my friend is dead. Killed by those… monsters .”

“Yeah, Sam is dead, too,” I mutter.

“Dammit, Lee, this isn’t a competition.” Luke pulls away from me and continues forward.

“I’m not trying to make it into one,” I say, stepping over ferns and clumps of trilliums. “I need to know you’re on my side even if that means you’re against the council.”

Luke stops and a seriousness hardens his expression in a way I’ve never seen before. “I’m not just here for the ride, Lee. Since we started hanging out and got into this whole mess, it’s been like, I don’t know…” He shrugs and the corner of his mouth lifts in a grin. “Like finding out I’ve got this brother from another mother, you know?

“And, no matter how much serious sci-fi-movie-level bad-guy stuff we come up against, I’m with you. When I say that, it means more than just backing you up in a fight. It’s like, I trust you with my life, man. And I hope you feel the same, ’cause this , it’s bigger than us.” He slaps me on the back before pulling me into a brotherly hug. “It’s you and me, bro, all the way. No backing down.”

“Thanks, man. You don’t know how much that means.” I hug him back, and for the first time since Maya died, the wound she left on my heart doesn’t hurt so badly.