Reflection Pond (20 page)

If you knew a fae’s true name, you had absolute control over them. Of course, he was being ridiculous, but Callie wondered
what
Rowan’s true name was. She had a hard time picturing him as Jonathon or Matthew or Keith. Rowan just fit.

“No. I just want you to do it,” she said.

“Fine. Tomorrow.” They stopped at the porch of the palace. “Do you want me to come up?” He didn’t look at Callie as he asked, and like usual, she got the impression that he expected her to say no.

One battle at a time,
she reminded herself. He’d agreed to hand-to-hand, maybe tomorrow she’d work on their friendship. “I have homework,” she said, leaving it at that.

He walked away.

She waited for Jack and Hawthorne to catch up before entering the palace, watching Rowan until he disappeared between the buildings.

“Tired?” Hawthorne asked with a smirk as they climbed the stairs.

Callie groaned, making her feet move. Every step jammed into her sore muscles like a knife. “Shut up.”

Jack chuckled and held up his hand. “You are badass! You took him
out!”

She laughed and slapped her palm halfheartedly into his. “Thanks, but I think he won that round.”

Jack mimicked Callie’s attack. “You were like
bam!
Take that!” He shoved Hawthorne, who lifted his eyebrows.

They climbed the mountain of stairs to the second floor, Callie lagging behind. She still thought the palace needed an elevator. Hawthorne went inside to scour the room while Jack stayed in the hallway with Callie. It seemed unnecessary for them to search the rooms when the palace
was locked down like a fortress. Guards stood at every entrance. Very few were allowed inside.

Willow was on the shortlist, and sprawled across Callie’s bed when she finally entered the room. Callie shut the door, leaving Jack and Hawthorne outside. If she couldn’t see them, they didn’t exist.

“I have news from the human world,” Willow said, tossing Callie the fashion magazine she was reading. Whenever the trackers went into the human world, Willow bribed them. She always had books, magazines, and music brought back for her.

The glossy pages hit the floor and Callie debated leaving it there. She groaned the entire way down to pick it up. She took it to the
bed, a four poster swathed in white linens and gold trim, and collapsed next to Willow.

“I’m
tired.”

Willow frowned and propped her chin on her hands. “I don’t know why you bother with all that. For one, women aren’t su
pposed to be warriors, and two, we don’t have anyone to
fight.”
She blew strands of unruly hair from her forehead. “In case you haven’t noticed, the people of
Eirensae
are pretty mellow. We’re not like
Fraeburdh.”

Callie had studied the other cities,
Fraeburdh,
the City of War, possessed the sword,
Macántacht,
the City of Honor, had the spear, and the fallen city of
Cloch
, had once possessed the stone of truth, but it was lost during the last war, along with the city. And
Eirensae,
the City of Fertility, had the cauldron. Long ago, the four cities were one magnificent city,
Aontaithe
, where the fae lived in peace. Over time, discord grew between them. The fae books taught that every faerie has the ability for good or evil inside of them. As time passed,
Fraeburdh
became known for its cruelty,
Eirensae
for its indolence, and
Macántacht
for its inability to choose a side. Rarely did the fae of the cities mingle, and as far as anyone would tell her, no one had seen someone from
Fraeburdh
or
Macántacht
in many decades—since the last war.

“Elm wasn’t mellow,” Callie said. Her mouth tasted bitter every time she thought of him. Though she knew he was gone, banished to the Fallen, Callie couldn’t help looking over her shoulder. No matter how far she went, the shadows always remained.

Willow made a noncommittal sound and went back to the magazine. Now that Callie lived in the palace, Willow visited every day. Callie suspected Willow liked it better than her apartment. Callie had a walk-in closet filled with more clothes than she could hope to wear. Her bathroom featured a giant claw foot bathtub and double sinks—like she really needed two. The fireplace across from her bed was large enough to walk in when it wasn’t occupied with flames.

And everything
was trimmed with gold.

The unfamiliarity made Callie’s skin itch. She understood now why Sapphire had stayed in the cottage when she could’ve moved into the city. It was
ostentatious, and far more than Callie needed to survive. She would’ve gladly traded Willow places, if Hazel allowed it.

Plus, she missed Sapphire. She’d only seen her sister in passing over the past two weeks. Callie was always busy, but what she really wanted was an evening of doing nothing with Sapphire.

It’d never happen, of course.

Willow flipped a few pages. “I saw you practicing with Rowan today.”

“Spying on me again?”

“Hardly.
More like spying on Rowan. He is
hot.”
She speared Callie in her green-eyed gaze. “Tell the truth. You’re into him.”

Callie rubbed a knot in her calf. “He’s alright.”

“You’re into Ash, too,” she said, smug. She took Callie’s silence as her answer. “I knew it. You slut!” She clutched the magazine to her chest and made stupid girly noises. “So which one are you going to choose?” She said it like it was the most important decision ever.

“Neither.” Callie slid off the bed, not in the mood for conversation with Willow. She only had an hour before Ash would show up with more homework.

Willow scowled. “If you’re not interested, I’ll gladly take him off your hands.”

Callie froze, mid-stretch. “What would Sai think about that?”

“Sai?” A pause. “I have no idea what you mean.” Her face flushed pink.

The knot in Callie’s calf refused to relent, so she gave up and worked the stiffness out of her arms. “He’s interested.”

“Well, yes, but—” she sputtered.

Callie laughed. “Not being able to lie sucks, huh?” She went to the bathroom and shut the door, but not before catching Willow’s look of frustration.

She turned the water hot as she could stand and undressed in front of the mirror. Her arms and legs looked the worst, covered with all shades of blue, purple, and green. A long, linear bruise spread across her ribs and even the gentlest touch sent fire across her skin. Beneath the battle wounds, Callie saw the beginnings of muscle swelling in her arms and shoulders. She’d thrown everything into training for the past two weeks, and it was finally paying off.

Callie pulled the band from her hair and reached for her brush, dropping it when a spider scuttled from underneath. Black fur covered the tiny body, interspersed with yellow spots.

She screamed.

The spider froze, mid-scuttle. Its hairy legs twitched, and then the entire thing exploded in a firework of guts that left a gooey smear across the counter.

Callie screamed again.

Willow threw open the bathroom door. “What is it? What’s wrong?” She looked Callie over, eyes lingering on the bruises.
“Holy shit! Rowan beat the crap out of you.”

Callie waved an arm. “No.”

“No? Look in the mirror. Clearly that says,
I’ve been beaten.”

From the depths of her
room she heard Hawthorne and Jack approach. “Callie?” Jack yelled. Their stomps carried into the bathroom.

She took a breath to calm her racing heart. She’d exploded the spider. Blown it up like a grenade. “There was a spider,” she called to her guards before they came charging in
to the bathroom.

“You screamed like that for a spider?” Willow said, incredulous. She shut the door in the boys’ faces. “She’s naked you perverts.” She searched the floor and ceiling. “Well, where is it?”

“I—uh…I killed it...”
with my mind.
Callie swallowed the bile in her throat, horrified at what she’d done without even
trying
. “It’s definitely dead.”

Willow scrunched up her face. “Gross.”

***

“Wait outside,” Callie said to her guards as she knocked on the doorframe of Hazel’s study.

Eirensae’s
leader sat behind a sprawling raw wood desk, parchment spread before her. She gathered up the papers and shoved them into a drawer as Callie entered. “What can I do for you?” she asked with a smile.

Hazel gestured to the couch that sat facing her desk and Callie perched on the edge of a cushion. Hazel folded her hands, watching Callie with bright, violet eyes.

Callie hesitated.

“Go on, child,” Hazel encouraged.

“I’ve been training with Ash for a while now,” Callie said, trying to organize her words into something that wouldn’t sound whiny.

“I hear your progress is phenomenal.”

“Yeah. About that. I need to know how to control it. Every time I think I have it, I end up exploding something,” she stopped there, hoping Hazel wouldn’t question her further.

“Exploding something?” Hazel lifted an eyebrow.

“It’s not just people,” Callie said. “It’s things, too. A mirror, a spider. I never know when it’s going to happen.”

Hazel leaned forward. “Can you demonstrate for me?”

Callie waved her hands helplessly. “I’ve never done it on purpose. Besides, I don’t want to hurt you. Can’t you bind my powers like you bound me to
Eirensae?
”

“Hm,” Hazel said. She sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “I think your powers are something that
need to be cultivated, not oppressed.”

“So you want me to keep breaking things?”

“Of course not. What I want is for us to understand the scope of your power, Callie. With Elm, it seemed to be attached to your fear. Is that a safe assumption?”

Callie thought about the spider, the mirror, and the time she’d attacked Rowan. “Fear,” she murmured. It fit.

“It’s not your magic that needs controlling, child, it’s your fear.” Hazel stood and came around the desk to sit next to Callie. She draped a gentle arm around Callie’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Embrace your life here, Callie, and let go of your fears. Elm is gone, you’re safe now. All that’s left is finding your amulet.”

“How am I supposed to find it when I’m always stuck inside the palace?” Callie grumbled.

“Jack,” Hazel called and the boy appeared in the doorway as though he’d been waiting to be summoned.

“Yes, Hazel?” His cheeks were red as if he was guilty of eavesdropping.

“Take Callie to search for her amulet.”

***

“I’ll just
know
where it is?” Callie said, hand resting in the crook of Jack’s arm. The river gurgled next to them, the sound of a million voices in a high ceilinged room.

“It’s hard to explain,” he said.

Her feet sunk into the soft bank, toes squelching. Though she knew the fae couldn’t lie, she trusted Jack above the others. His pale face was honest, his eyes clear. It was easy for Callie to avoid being sucked into his mind as she had been with Ash. Besides, she decided, she didn’t want to know what went on inside others. Dealing with her own emotions was enough.

Speaking with Hazel hadn’t helped Callie know how to stop hurting people, but at least it’d gotten her outside.

“Does it hurt—the imprint?” she asked.

Jack shook his head.
“Not exactly. It’s warm and tingly. The marks aren’t a tattoo. It’s not a scar; it’s more of a birthmark.”

Callie slowed now. The forest rose in front of them. She knew if they continued on this path, they’d reach the northern gate to the city.
Eirensae
had two entrances, the one she’d come through beneath the reflection pond, and one to the north that exited in Ireland. Part of her was deeply curious to step through the portal into the countryside—not that the binding spell would allow that. She imagined rolling hills and clear blue skies. Pretty much, she envisioned
Eirensae,
but
bigger
. The faerie city existed somewhere in Europe, the exact location a mystery hidden by magic. So technically, she could already be in Ireland—though she’d never stepped foot on an airplane.

They stopped, toes nearly in the edge of the river. From what she understood, imprints were deeply personal to the individual. Curiosity won out over common courtesy. “Show me.”

“Bossy much?”

Jack’s face pinked and Callie felt stupid for asking. He lifted the hem of his tunic until his chest showed, revealing a light dusting of blond chest hair and a flat stomach. Green lines twisted there, shaped a naked, elegant tree.