Chapter 17
17
W e dressed and hurried back to Ashguard, the creature having fled after being blasted away by my stolen power. Callum was silent the entire trek back, deep in thought.
When we finally returned, he opened my cell wordlessly and we both slipped inside.
A moment passed as we both stood facing each other.
“What was that thing?” I asked, my mouth still dry from the encounter with the creature born of leaves and nightmares.
“It’s a Root Dancer,” Callum said, still looking shaken. “It likes to force its branches into its victims, replacing their blood vessels with wood. It wears flesh like a costume until the body fully decays.”
I shivered. “Your Illumia Crystal…”
“Doesn’t work on monsters who are commanded by the gods.”
“That monster was sent by a god?”
Callum shook his head. “I don’t know for sure. The gods have all sorts of creatures that are meant to protect their sacred burial grounds.”
“There’s a god buried near here?”
Callum grimaced. “Yes. Six gods are buried on this island, having been contained by our ancestors. But you don’t have to worry about them right now—do you know what you just did?”
I blew out a breath. Here we go . “I know about the prophecy, Callum. Am I… am I the Siphon?”
Callum lunged for me, his hand covering my mouth as his eyes glittered with fear. “Don’t say it. No one can hear you. No one can know.”
I wrenched his hand off my mouth. “I need to know what I’m capable of in order to stay alive in the trials, Callum.”
Callum winced. “You can’t be the Siphon.”
“Why? Because you think I’m still a hollow?”
“Because I just got you back!” Callum yelled.
I blinked at his sudden anger.
“I’m sorry. I—I’m so sorry, Saffron.” He took in a shuddering breath. “When he… when Tristen took you from me that day, I made a vow to find you. To protect you. And I can’t protect you if you’re the Siphon. The King will steal you away. Make you his… and I’ll have to watch .” At the thought, his jaw flexed so hard it could have bent metal.
My memory flashed back to the dance I had with the King. His mention of looking for his Warrior Queen. The gilded cage that still lay yawning open before me even if I did win. But I shook my head. I was not defenseless—even less so now.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I won’t let him. I have a say in this, too.”
But Callum shook his head. “The King and Cassandra will kill anyone who tries to keep you from them. I’m not powerful enough to fight them. I’ll lose you if they find out. And that can’t happen. Because you’re mine.”
“How am I supposed to be yours, Callum?” I asked, softly. “How am I even supposed to make it out of these trials alive, especially if I can’t use this power?”
His eyes looked sad as he gazed at me, as if he was trying to figure out the same thing. “I’ll fight until my dying breath to ensure your survival. I swear it.”
I pursed my lips. “If I win, I belong to the King, even if he doesn’t know about my powers. If I lose, I belong to a grave. Shouldn’t I try and learn what I’m capable of?”
Callum grabbed my hands. “No. You can’t use your power. You can’t train it or tell anyone else what you can do. Doing so will ensure your death sentence. Do you understand me?”
“I have nothing to go back to,” I said, the truth of it ringing in my ears. “Only a future to win.”
The next day, Rachelle stole me away to the library once more. I filled her in on what had happened the night before.
Rachelle had a thoughtful expression on her face. “You were out with Callum… and you were able to call upon the shield when you two were attacked?”
“Yes.”
Rachelle’s expression hardened. “He reports to the King, Saffron.”
“He’s loyal to me,” I said. “He’s shown me he’s willing to risk treason again and again.”
Rachelle frowned. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. He’s gone against the King for me on several occasions already. I trust him.”
Rachelle sighed. “Jesus, Saffron. What part of ‘keep this a secret’ did you not understand?”
I shrugged, but Rachelle just rolled her eyes at me. “And you touched him? Before using the shield, even with your bands on?”
My face heated at the memory of his skin on mine, and I tried to shake it off to keep my clarity. “I did.”
Rachelle grinned, a flicker of her mischievous side coming back as her anger subsided. “And…?”
I looked away from my friend, my face flushing. “And… he kissed me. Again.”
Rachelle’s eyes danced. “One of the last times he kissed you—that didn’t happen to be right before the second trial, was it?”
I bit my lip. “It was.”
“I knew it!” Rachelle crowed, the candles flickering around us in our dim corner of the cavernous library. Rachelle sighed, putting her face on her propped up fist. “How sweet. Is he good in bed?”
“I didn’t say we slept together!”
I swatted at my friend, but Rachelle pulled back with a smirk. “It’s only a matter of time, dear Saffy. How long were you touching him before you wielded his shield last night?”
“Seconds. Minutes, maybe,” I said.
“Time flies, eh?” Rachelle teased.
“Get on with your point,” I growled.
Rachelle leaned closer to me, her pale blue eyes sparkling. Rachelle’s soft hands went to roll up the sleeves of my tunic. “So I have two experiments we should try. The first—time spent with bare skin on skin.”
My hands curled around Rachelle’s forearms as our bare skin touched, our cool metal bands the only interruption of skin-to-skin contact.
“And the second?” I asked, suddenly a bit breathless as I caught Rachelle’s light lilac scent.
A wicked smile flashed across Rachelle’s face. “Play along with my game, Saffron. I’m trying to save your life here.”
And with that, Rachelle leaned in and kissed me. The surprise that shot through me melted as my friend gently cupped my face, pulling away slightly to search my eyes, her smile still wide. When I didn’t pull away, Rachelle kissed me once more, a smile still on her lips as she dipped her head to kiss my neck, and I yelped as Rachelle bit a sensitive spot on my neck.
“Tell Callum you like that,” she said sweetly, leaning in to kiss me once more. I wasn’t sure if I had kissed another woman—or someone as lovely as Rachelle—in my past life, but I was surprised at how natural it felt.
But once more, that molten sensation underneath my skin started to move. Started to flow from Rachelle to me, and I finally felt that loop of power and pulled it toward me.
Rachelle pulled away, her eyes wide.
“You’re glowing again,” she said.
I felt like I was in a haze. I looked down at myself, and realized that yes, I was glowing like the orange of the flickering candles around us.
“Shift,” Rachelle commanded. “Try it. Shift.”
I looked at her, eyes wide, unsure how to will that kind of transformation. “How?”
Rachelle reached out and brushed a hand through my hair. “Reach within. And pull out the form you want to be in. It’s like flipping a switch. Or turning a door handle. Reach out. And pull .”
My eyes fluttered closed. I wanted to be something proud. Dangerous. My blood turned molten as I stumbled back from my chair, rising from the table.
My body fell to the ground, my bones and muscles groaning and stretching…
…until I cried out with a yowl.
I raised my gaze to Rachelle, who stood with a self-satisfied expression. “Look,” she said, pointing at an antique floor-length mirror on the wall behind us.
And I prowled—on all fours, I realized—to the mirror. Looking back at me was a majestic—and terrifying—creature.
I was a panther. A thing to be feared in the woods—just what I had wished to be.
But as I gazed at my reflection, turning my dark black head and watching the panther in the reflection do the same, the glow returned. My vision went slanted and the stretching feeling came over me. I tumbled out of the form of the panther, breathing heavily as I gasped in front of the mirror, drawing lungfuls of breath back in my human form as I cradled myself on the floor.
“Saffron…”
I looked up to see a shocked Callum in the doorway.
Rachelle had already risen and walked to my side. “You saw nothing, Commander.”
His eyes hardened. “And neither did you, prisoner .”
Rachelle helped me to my feet, and I struggled to stay upright. “No fighting,” I said. “Nobody’s going to tell anyone.”
Callum opened his mouth, and then closed it, his jaw tight with tension as he glared at Rachelle. But the sounds of footsteps interrupted us.
“We have to go,” Callum ground out.
“The third trial?” I asked as my heart skipped a beat. It was too soon. I wasn’t ready yet. Not until I could figure out the depths of the power I possessed and how to wield it to my advantage.
“No,” Callum said, his expression grim. “The King has summoned all of the contestants to his throne room.”
A shiver slipped down my spine.