Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
My head was spinning as I tried to casually keep up with the small talk my aunt initiated as we prepared a batch of camellia-infused cookies. The flowers in the vase on the bakery counter were split into two bunches, half stretching toward her and half fanning toward me.
I attempted to piece through the timeline of when my aunt’s magic had been activated. If her powers worked the way mine did, they would have had to be unlocked by touching one of Leonardo da Vinci’s books. It wasn’t like those were just casually sitting around.
I sifted through everything Aunt Vera had said as we prepared the new and unusual recipe. The interest had seemed to start after the wedding, which made me wonder if it could be tied to the wedding somehow.
I continued to rack my brain, scavenging through the memories of that day and night. I had used my powers to put together the floral displays for the wedding. Could that have had some kind of downstream effect on my aunt? Did the massive bouquet she carried activate her powers?
I shook my head as I aggressively rolled a cookie into a ball.
The camellia fragrance was so strong that I almost wanted to leave the room.
No, the bouquet theory didn’t track with what I knew about my magic.
Professor Tenella had explained that some magical botanists of the Renaissance period had tied their power to their journals.
There was no evidence that the magic could have filtered through me and into the flowers.
Plus, I had given my aunt magically enhanced plants before, like the poinsettia at Christmas a year earlier.
The wedding… The beautiful ceremony ran through my mind.
I’d been surrounded by the friends and family of Bryce and Aunt Vera.
Then there was dinner, speeches, and cake.
I had taken the elixir of bliss with Callan, and we had danced the night away.
Even the presence of Alex as Maci’s date hadn’t put me off as much as I thought it would.
Wait… Alex had been there.
Alex, who I saw at the tree conservatory last week. Alex, who had never given so much as a hint that he was a magical botanist until I saw him among the other tree affinities.
Could he have… no. I slapped the cookie ball onto the sheet.
“Whoa there. What’s going on with you, Briar Rose? You’ve been distracted this whole time. And now you’re attacking the poor innocent dough.”
I tensed then immediately softened at the teasing look on her face, not quite masking a hint of concern behind her brown irises. “I just have a lot going on,” I said.
“Things with Evergreen Academy? Or with that handsome man I saw leaving the shop as I pulled up? That was Callan, right? The one with the scary parents?”
I couldn’t help it—I let out a sharp laugh, and my shoulders relaxed.
“It might be a little about him,” I admitted, unable to explain that my primary concern had become about her.
Callan and I had told Professor East about Alex, and he promised to do some digging, but it had only been a few days since the discovery, and I hadn’t seen Professor East at all in that time.
The only thing keeping me sane was hearing from Maci, his kind-of girlfriend and my best friend since childhood, that Alex was still out of town. Figuring out what to tell Maci about Alex was a problem of its own.
I wondered if Alex planned to be back to start the new semester at Siskiyous Community College. Was it possible he knew we were onto him?
My aunt took the cookie tray and slid it into the commercial oven. “All right. Time to spill.”
I took a deep breath. If I couldn’t share anything else, I could at least share this. “We kissed,” I said, the words coming out as a squeak.
Aunt Vera nodded and smiled knowingly. “When did this happen?”
“Just recently. Over the winter break.”
“And that’s why you’re pounding cookies into oblivion? Was the kiss that bad?”
I laughed again. “The kiss was that good.”
“Ahh. So, I take it you two aren’t dating, or else my dough might be less beat up.”
“He’s concerned about those scary parents you mentioned. He feels like he needs to protect me from them.”
“Umm, has he even met you? No one scares off my Briar Rose.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” The relief at discussing this important piece of my life with my aunt was so great that the words poured out of me.
“His parents are… powerful people in his community. They’re part of a board that oversees Evergreen Academy.
Callan thinks they might try to dictate my future, so he’s keeping me at arm’s length. ”
Aunt Vera’s smooth forehead wrinkled a little. “Dictate your future? What is that supposed to mean?”
I measured my words carefully, determining what I could safely tell her without breaking my agreement with Professor East. Though if my aunt was a magical botanist, that rule about not telling her might not apply.
“Evergreen Academy has a field studies program. Historically, these were assigned by the school. This year, though, the Board of Regents took over the assignments.”
“Why does that make you a target specifically?”
I chewed my lower lip, unable to tell her that representatives from each of the affinity groups were trying to court me as the only known living botanist with all the affinity powers.
Was that still true if my aunt’s powers had been activated?
Could she have all the affinity powers too?
“They think I could be… useful in certain fields.”
My aunt Vera was quiet, digesting the revelations. This was possibly more than I had ever told her about Evergreen Academy, and for a moment, I wondered if I had gone too far.
Finally, she said, “Well, trust your instincts. Is there anything I can do to help?”
I considered her words. That would have been an easy no only a day ago, but since she was exhibiting a floral affinity, maybe things were different.
“Not at the moment,” I said. “Except for tasting this recipe before me. I’m not sold on camellia-flavored cookies.”
Aunt Vera tossed her long, dark ponytail over her shoulder and laughed.
“Back to the brunette heartthrob. If he’s the one responsible for the look I’ve been seeing on your face for months, I hope you two will be able to find balance with boundaries with his parents.
Because if I had found a guy that made me glow like that when I was your age”—she flipped a dish rag across her shoulder—“let’s just say I would have had to kiss fewer frogs before finding Bryce. ”