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This is my first chance to get something on Lilian, and I’m locked out. Rune got animal speech from the unity bond. If I had teleportation or invisibility, maybe I wouldn’t just be sitting here with my thumb up my?—
“Psst.” I glance down to the ground below my place in the tree and find Lilian’s teenage niece looking up at me. “Are you spying on Aunt Lilian?”
“Spying might not be the right word. Your aunt asked us for help and I’m here to make sure everyone is playing by the same rules.”
“Because you love your Sun Witch and you want to protect her, right?”
“Exactly right.”
Her cheeks crease with a wide smile. “I knew it. True love. Aunt Lilian doesn’t believe in the bonds, but I think Gaia knows exactly what she’s doing.”
“Aye, well, in our case, it worked.”
She looks off into the distance and sighs before turning her attention back to me. “Come with me.”
She doesn’t give me time to consider before she jogs off through the long grass.
Am I really going to follow this kid?
Have I got any other options?
I drop thirty feet to the ground and land in a soundless crouch. Then I race with vampire speed to catch up with the kid as she disappears behind an overgrown bush.
Where did she…
I groan and get down on all fours to crawl into the mouth of a narrow tunnel. It’s long and dark, but the shuffle of Violet moving in front of me and the distant murmur of voices keeps me going.
I run my hand along the smooth surface of the tunnel as I crawl. The rich scent of earth is pervasive but not unpleasant. Did she dig this tunnel herself? How long did it take her?
“How old are ye, Violet?”
“Fifteen.”
“And ye created this tunnel on yer own?”
“Yep.”
“Impressive.” Especially considering witches only come into their full magic at thirteen.
“When you grow up trapped in a land of mud, vines, and swamp, you learn to adapt.”
“Ye have to work with what yer given.”
“Exactly. See, you get it.”
We continue to crawl until the tunnel ends and we’re under the supports of the cabin. The floor of the secluded home is above us and the voices are now clear.
“I didn’t agree to compete against Josephine Dumont. She wasn’t supposed to be a part of this,” Summer says. “You said this would be easy.”
“And what would you have me do? She’s here now and has earned the right to take part in the last trial. There’s nothing either of us can do about that. You’ll just have to be better than her.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say. She’s a fucking Dumont! She practically ebbs with Gaia’s grace.”
You bet your witch bitch ass she does.
“Then you’ll have to handle her,” Lilian says. “We’ve come too far to lose focus now. Just stick to the plan and we’ll all get what we want.”
Summer doesn’t seem contented with that pep talk, but she doesn’t stick around long enough to give me any more than that.
