Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
“I’m going to try one more time,” I said, raising my hands.
Callan and I were in the Evergreen Conservatory a few days after my meeting with Wyatt. For the past thirty minutes, I had been trying to create a version of the verdant shield that wouldn’t evaporate.
“Terram protege,” I said, focusing as hard as I could on all the plants in the area. A tiny shimmering dome formed around us. But a few moments later, it dissolved, as I had come to expect. Every attempt had the same result.
“I can’t seem to make it stick. If I can’t do it here, how am I going to manage to cast one that goes around the entire academy?”
Callan looked contemplative. “That dome was larger than the last one. Maybe the practice is working. Plus, you’ll be inside the charging circle, and you’ll have the Dandelion of Desire to boost your powers.”
I sighed but nodded. “I hope you’re right. I’ll keep practicing. I have my first field study with Wyatt tomorrow. Should I see if he has any ideas?”
“Couldn’t hurt,” Callan said.
He used his powers to dust the soil and remove any sign of our being there, then we walked to our tree house. “Can you ask him about Professor East? I’d like to know when we can talk to him. He might know more about the shield than most, having been the director here.”
“I’ll ask. Do you think I should tell Wyatt the last part of our spring equinox plans? How I’m getting into the charging circle?” I was curious to hear his response.
I knew Callan still didn’t fully trust Wyatt, but I had seen the way Wyatt looked at his brother, with affection and protective instincts.
I didn’t think he could do anything to harm Callan, and by extension, he wouldn’t do anything to harm me.
Wyatt might even truly be trying to help by saving me from whatever Feathergrass might have had in store for me by overseeing my new field studies assignment.
And it was possible that Wyatt could prove to be an asset to the Root and Vine Society. Having a DBI agent in the area could be helpful with what we had planned for the spring equinox.
Callan contemplated it for a moment. “What are your instincts telling you?”
“I think he should know. He and the DBI kept us in the dark this year, with the shield and Alex and all of that, but if you see it from their perspective, why would they tell college students their plans? Wyatt is the only one who has shared anything with us. Maybe if he’s present when we reset the shield, he could help us somehow. ”
“That’s true. As long as he doesn’t have another angle.”
“Callan.” I rested a hand on top of his. “Can we assume he doesn’t?”
He studied me for a moment then nodded. “I guess so.”
“I also think perhaps we should return the quill to him so he can stealthily return it to its rightful place. It’s not like we need it anymore, and no one can use it without having all the affinity powers.”
Callan twined our hands together. “That’s a good idea.
And if it seems right to tell him about the charging plans in one of your meetings, I’ll leave that up to you.
So,” Callan said slowly, and I could sense the conversation was about to change direction.
“College acceptance letters should start arriving soon. I’m hoping to hear from my top-choice medical program. ”
I squeezed his hand. “There’s not a school on this earth that wouldn’t let you in, not with the research profile you submitted. You have to be leagues ahead of the other candidates.”
“Well, if not, maybe I should become a senator after all. My mom would be happy for about ten minutes, until I started voting against all of her policies.”
I tensed. I knew he was joking, but the idea upset me. “No way, Dr. Rhodes. Leave that job to someone who wants it.”
“Did I tell you that most of the ivy leagues have special tracks for magical botanists?”
My heart rate sped up. “They do?”
“We do some of our classes with the rest of the students and other, more accelerated studies with other botanists.”
“That sounds… incredible,” I said.
“We’ll find out soon enough. Have you made any decisions about art school now that you’ve been accepted?” He seemed gently hesitant.
I sighed. “I don’t know. It’s the strangest thing. For so long, I wanted nothing more than to follow in my mom’s footsteps. But now I’m not sure that’s the best path for me. The campus she went to is beautiful, but there are hardly any plants there. How would I use my powers?”
“There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind. But I support whatever you want to do.”
“It seems a silly thing to be concerned about right now,” I said.
“Maybe it’s exactly the thing to be focusing on. If we succeed on the spring equinox, your future is going to be a question everyone has for you.” Callan took my hand. “Some of the schools I applied to have top-tier art programs.”
“Are there secret artist tracks for botanists?” I asked, only slightly joking. The idea had piqued my interest more than I was willing to admit.
Callan’s mouth quirked. “If there aren’t yet, there could be.”
I pulled back. He was serious. “Are you asking me to go to college with you, Callan Rhodes?”
“If we can get everything sorted here and I don’t have to become a senator and you don’t have to go into hiding from my power-hungry parents, then… yeah. I want to go to college with you, local.”
“I mean, technically we’re already in college together.” I waved around at Evergreen Academy’s campus.
He bumped my leg with his. “You know what I mean.”
I stopped joking then and squeezed his hands, looking him directly in the eyes. “There is nothing I would like more than to continue going to college with you.”
We sat in silence for a few moments as I considered the new possibility. I ran my fingers along the swirling leaves-and-vines tattoos on his forearms. His skin was warm beneath my hand.
“When did you get these?” I asked.
“When I was sixteen. Right after Wyatt left for Evergreen Academy and I was still home with my parents. They’re made from plant-derived ink and were done by a magical botanist.”
“Do they have a special meaning?”
“They’re a reminder.”
“Of?”
Callan hesitated then spoke in a deep, quiet voice. “That I’m not powerless.”
I swallowed at the intensity in his voice and remembered the binds of wind that had swept me between two trees and held me in place at the tree conservatory.
I remembered the way we had sparred during Capture the Roses.
He could dispel strong vines with the flick of his wrist and lift logs on a gust of wind. He was the definition of powerful.
When I moved my stool closer to Callan’s, he slipped his arms over my shoulders, and I rested the back of my head against his chest.
“The tattoos must have worked. You seemed like the most powerful person I knew when I first met you.”
He let out a little laugh and squeezed me closer. “You’ve always seen the best in me. Maybe I did seem confident when we first met, but in reality, I was… curious.”
“Curious?” I turned my head upward to try to get a peek at his face.
“I could sense something about you very early on. Not your power exactly. That was locked away. But… something. And you were the picture of ease. Posing in front of the academy and about to put your hand in a charging ring like a founders’ descendant.”
“I had no idea I caught your eye so much at that first encounter,” I teased, turning fully to face him.
“You caught more than my eye. And you have every day since.” His voice dropped an octave, and my breath caught at his sudden seriousness.
“I didn’t know it then, but the day I met you was a day that would change my life forever.
You brought a lightness into my world that I could never have imagined.
” He touched a finger to my chin and tilted my head upward.
“What I’m trying to say is… I love you, Briar Rose. ”
I sucked in a breath. I had loved Callan for so long I couldn’t even pinpoint when it had started. “You do?”
“It’s been true for a while, local.” He tucked my hair behind my ear.
“How long is a while?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Remember the first Floral Fete, where you displayed your painting, ate those laced cookies, and became extra… talkative?”
“Yes,” I said, cringing at the memory, though not even it could dampen the moment.
“I think it started then. The idea of someone poisoning you, even if it was just with truth serum…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“Just truth serum. That was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, thank you very much.”
But I stopped teasing and leaned in, and he followed my lead. I touched a hand to his cheek. “I love you back, Callan Rhodes. And in case no one has told you, you are powerful and kind and generous and clever, and—”
I didn’t get to finish before a whip of wind rushed up and shuttered the wooden windows on the tree house. Then Callan leaned forward, slid his arms around my waist, and kissed me.