"What am I doing here?" I asked, looking across to where Zach sat.
I stood to cross to Opal but paused as my body swayed, my balance shifting until a wave of dizziness swept through me. Reaching out, I felt the seat behind me and focused on the stillness of the bench to overcome the unsettling feeling until it passed. Looking down, I gasped and crawled onto the bench until I was hunched over and watching the mosaic below swirl its colors until it was unrecognizable.
What the...?
My eyes flitted to Zach, then down again.
I watched as the floor swirled, leaving only a foot untouched before the seating began. The mosaic's colors swirled faster and faster. The colors became unrecognizable, merging to black. It was strange. As quick as the tiles moved, not a ripple appeared on the surface. It was as though I was looking at a lake of churning murky water that was held at bay beneath a hardened surface of epoxy.
Across from me, Zach stood with his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, pacing back and forth across from me, seemingly undeterred by the possibility that he might fall of the ledge and into the sinkhole in front of us. He watched as the floor began to appear like a looking glass. Zach glanced up and then nodded to the nothingness separating us.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Watch," he said and gestured with his chin to look down.
"What—?"
I looked down as an image of my mother appeared, though she looked almost twenty years younger than I remembered. The image was faint at first, like a photograph becoming clear as it developed. As the contrast became sharper, I felt an overwhelming sense of urgency. Panic filled my chest, stealing my breath.
Suddenly, the picture began to play out its scene. I lost who I was, and I felt as though I'd been thrust into my mother's body. I felt her urgency and, even more potently, the power that coursed so freely through her body. It was like the magic had replaced her blood to course through her veins, making me feel like I was pure energy—so unlike how I thought she appeared before she died.
I blinked, taking a deep breath, and when I opened my eyes, everything but the scene had disappeared.
Rushing into the room, Vavila didn't bother turning on the light. Her eyes swept the corners, ensuring there were no shadows Devland could call upon to share what she was doing. Using the sliver of light that shone through the single window, Vavila grabbed a bag from the closet and began rushing around the room that, as the only one in the Manor Devland didn't enter, had become her sanctuary.
She jumped as the door opened softly behind her, and Vavila turned quickly as she tried to hide the bag behind her back.
"It's just me," Zachariah said, appraising Vavila.
"You scared me!" she whispered, letting out a deep breath as she brought her bag back in front of her. "I-I'm just packing."
"It's time to leave."
Vavila glanced at Zach quickly and saw the grim set of his mouth, and the urgency she felt was so potent, she could taste it. She grabbed a few trinkets from on top of a dresser and shoved them into the bag—if she couldn't bring the furniture gifted to her from her late parents, she would at least bring the mementos that reminded her of them.
"I know." Vavila wiped an invisible tear from her cheek and tried to keep her voice steady. She knew she had more than enough and none of the items truly mattered, but she despised the thought of leaving them for Devland to touch. She didn't want him to have any part of her, even knowing she was leaving with a part of him that he didn't even know she possessed. After everything she'd pieced together that evening, she would do everything in her power to ensure that he never learned of it, either.
"Will you return home?"
Zach's voice brought her head up, and Vavila fought a fresh wave of tears that began to skew her vision. Shaking her head, she swallowed. Home. How could she return home without her parents there? They'd abandoned the safety of their home in order to warn her. Now, before they could even meet, they were dead. She couldn't return home knowing that she was the reason... No. Home was empty.
"I..." Vavila cleared her throat and turned to face Zachariah as she clutched the bag to her side. She raised her chin, knowing what was expected of her despite feeling like she no longer deserved what made her better than her mentor. "I will be starting new, Zach. I-I can't go... home."
"That is a mistake," he said softly but without anger. "The tests are complete, Vavila. Even though your parents—"
"Are dead?" she bit out.
Zach winced and Vavila felt bad because she knew it wasn't his fault. Technically, it wasn't hers, either, but she hadn't been there. With every generation growing stronger, she could have stopped their death from happening. If she'd been home, they never would have been open to an attack in the first place.
"Vavila." Zachariah took a step forward, grabbing her by the shoulders to keep her from moving away. He caught her gaze, refusing to look away until Vavila stopped looking everywhere but him, and her breathing slowed. "The tests are complete. Even though your parents aren't there, you have to return home in order to accept your role."
"Zach..."
"The wrongs committed have to be corrected, Vavila, and your are the only one capable of fixing the mistakes that had been allowed. You know this," he said, speaking slowly.
Vavila looked down and covered her stomach with her hand. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "I can't be what they need, Zach. I'm going to be a mother."
Looking up, she smiled wistfully. Her unborn daughter would be the calm the community was waiting for, and Vavila would raise her right—no power-grabbing, magic-is-life mentality—before ever allowing the Craft to affect her. Every generation was stronger than the last in her family, and Vavila had a duty to ensure that her daughter was the leader she couldn't be.
Vavila cleared her throat and started out of the room, a sense of calm coming over her as she called back to Zachariah, "My destiny has changed."
The door shut behind them and the light from the window faded until everything was once again black. Still.
I blinked, once again feeling like myself, and took a deep breath, the cool air hitting my lungs as giving me a burst of much-needed reality as my mother's voice continued softly in my head as though only for me to hear: I'll stay connected through Islene, but I can't stay another night under the same roof as that man. No, I need to get as far away as possible and keep my daughter safe. Keep her away from him for as long as possible. When the time's right, I will return and current the chaos with my daughter by my side.
I stared at the floor as my mother's voice faded. Confusion and sadness warred within me, and I swiped under my eyes to clear the wetness I felt. As I watched in silence, the tiles began to reform, connecting like Lego pieces until the Celtic mosaic was reformed. Looking up, I found Zachariah already watching me. My gaze darted between the floor, Zach, and Opal. Finally, when he didn't comment, I settled on Zachariah.
"What was that?" I swallowed. Had he heard my mother's last thoughts? "My mother wanted us to come back to Wickenton to fix the problems here?"
"Yes." The movement was nearly imperceptible as Zachariah nodded.
"But... You didn't show me why she left."
He shook his head, this time more conspicuously. "No. I can't tell you that. Not yet."
"So, even though she's dead, you expect I will be able to fix it on my own?"
"That's right."
"That's ridiculous!" I laughed, quickly sobering as I realized I could share Devland's hidden treasures with someone. Whether Zach would help, I didn't know, but it was worth trying to get answers. "I'm sure you saw what I found tonight. What did it all mean? Did you know Maible was my half-sister? Did my mother know? And, aside from the fact that you were dead and now aren't, how come you never age?"
"Yes, I did see." He sighed. "Thankfully, your mother did not know about Maible."
I groaned, despite feeling grateful my mother hadn't had to feel that kind of betrayal on top of everything Zach had just shown me. Still, I was frustrated that he never seemed to be able to just answer my questions. "And the things I found tonight?"
"Will make sense soon."
"That's too vague! You can't expect me to continue on your mission without telling me what it is, Zach. I want to know everything." I gestured to him. "You're the one who told my mother that I needed to learn the truth before I would be able to protect myself. You can't go back on that now."
"I can't tell you now, Nora."
"Why?"
"Because I have to show you."
"So? You just showed me a scene of my mother leaving. Why did she leave? What tests did she complete? Why couldn't she go home? Where were her parents?"
"I showed you that so you would know that what you've done is as she wished once you had grown enough to help," he said. "Once I am stronger, I will come for you and show you the rest."
"Why is that important and not the rest?"
"Because you need to trust your instincts now more than ever, and you were starting to doubt them. You still have a lot to learn and even more to do."
"I..." I shook my head as Zach began to fade.
"Keep searching, Nora. I'll see you soon."
I opened my mouth but barely a sound escaped before he was gone entirely.
I blinked and sat up, once again in bed with Onyx at my side.
"Come here, girl." I pat the covers on my lap, then began scratching between her ears when she rested her head on my legs as I stared at the ceiling. "What do you think? Is Devland up to something, Onyx? Hmm?"
As I continued to scratch Onyx, I went over everything I'd discovered since coming back to the Manor and the dream with Zachariah. How did they connect? What did all the things in Devland's dungeon mean? Was it safe for me to stay here to find out?
I snorted.
Staying at the Manor was about as safe for me as practicing magic had been in Briarville without a fire extinguisher nearly five years ago.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and texted Calin to come to the Manor early for school so we could stop at Celestial Java. Zachariah had said to trust my instincts. Those told me not to trust anything about Devland, no matter how much I wanted to stick around to discover what he was up to. While Zach had shown me that my mother thought I would be able to 'right the wrongs' in Wickenton, I'd also seen that whatever Devland was up to before I was born was enough to make my mother run away from her life here.
If she ran, how did anyone expect me to fix things?
I wasn't anywhere near as strong as Vavila Fallamhain even if she'd thought I would be.
*****
As soon as I heard the front doorbell, I ran down the stairs to meet Calin.
"You came!" I barrelled into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. "You didn't text me back, so I wasn't sure you got my message."
Calin smiled and looked down, kissing my forehead. The warmth that tickled my bare skin as his lips met it was nothing compared to the heat that burst along my sides as Calin put his hands on my waist and pushed me a step back so that I would be able to meet his gaze. "I saw that you texted in the middle of the night, so I quickly showered and came right over. Is something wrong?"
"Uh..." I glanced behind me and then towards the dining room and shook my head. "I want to... go to Celestial Java before school."
"Okay?" His brows furrowed.
"Yeah, uh. I'll take my car and meet you there."
"Then why did I have to meet you here?"
"Well, I filled my car with some bags and stuff. Your mom said I could stay at your house and I talked to Mrs. Renaldi first thing this morning. She'll drop Onyx off at your house for me while we're at school."
"What happened?" Calin straightened and looked away from me to examine the hallway as though he'd find what was bothering me.
I placed my hand on his cheek and pulled his attention back to me, forcing a smile. "Nothing happened, Calin. I just need time away from here."
"But you said—"
"Why don't we go eat the breakfast Mrs. Renaldi has made? Then we'll go get a coffee and I'll explain things a bit better." I nodded without blinking, hoping that Calin would understand that I didn't want to discuss anything else within the walls of the Manor.
After finding what I'd seen in the dungeon, then the scene Zach showed me, I was uncertain how private my conversations had been within the Manor. Hell, with how Devland tracked my movements, he could have been listening in to what I said with others from the day I arrived in Wickenton. The more I thought about it, the more paranoid I became, which is why I never went back to sleep after the dream with Zachariah.
Instead, I'd spent the entire morning packing up my necessities that hadn't already been brought to Calin's and arranging my stay with his mother. Mrs. Renaldi had promised to bring Onyx over when taking her for her daily walk so that Devland wouldn't yank me from class to interrogate what I was doing.
Calin's hands dropped from my waist and he twined our fingers together as he turned us towards the dining room. "That sounds great. Obviously, I skipped breakfast."
I smiled, feeling our connection burn strong like a newly lit fire deep within my belly.
Even if I didn't know what Devland was hiding, I knew exactly where I stood with Calin.