15. Ivy
IVY
“How are we just supposed to trust in them? They’re doing nothing,” Teddy grumbles, dragging a hand down his face. He hasn’t stopped ranting since Viola called the meeting to an end, unable to answer Francesca’s question.
I’m not filled with hope.
“There has to be something we can do,” Sax adds, nodding along with our Water Protector as we make our way across campus.
The lockdown has been called for the rest of the day while the professors conduct a campus scan. They’re not even roping in the sodality leaders to help them, and I can’t decide whether that’s a good thing or not.
All I know is that I’ve been ordered to my room; we all have.
The rest of the day will be spent in those four walls, which would be fine on any other day, but now that I know there’s a threat out there, I can’t rest. Besides, my heart is still pulsing in time with the cracks of colors that filled the sky earlier.
“Were you going to tell them?” Baron asks, and I blink at him.
“Tell them what?”
“About what Leonardo wants from you?”
I shrug. “I considered it, but I guess I’m glad I kept my mouth shut when they clearly don’t have any answers,” I admit, feeling a little bad that Hugo isn’t aware either, but until now, I didn’t take Leonardo seriously.
He’s been persistent, sure, but the sheer scale is reaching new heights. That was a mistake to begin with.
“Archer, you need to do a sweep of her room,” Baron mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck, and my Fire Protector nods.
I want to decline, but right now it feels better to be safe than sorry. However, any remnants of Leonardo in my room feel too predictable at this stage, and he is anything but.
Dragging my feet as we approach the dorm, I exhale, disappointed in the turn of events that unraveled today before lunch. Now all the sprites are on duty for the rest of the day, organizing food on their person’s behalf, and I already feel bad about it.
“Chin up, Princess. If you want, I can video call you and we can—”
Baron claps a hand over Teddy’s mouth before he can finish his sentence. “Nobody wants to hear the end of that sentence,” he grumbles as Teddy makes his eyebrows dance.
I can’t hide my smile at his playfulness as Sax drapes an arm around my shoulders. “If you need anything at all, Ivy, just call. All of us, or one of us—it doesn’t matter. I’ll break these dumbass rules and be at your door in a flash,” he promises, and I nod, despite already knowing that I won’t.
Sax presses his lips against my cheek before I’m swept up in Teddy’s embrace. My feet dangle off the floor as he pins my arms at my sides, locking me in place as he dusts kisses over my collarbone, making me squirm.
“Alright, asshole,” Baron huffs, and I’m slowly lowered back to the ground, my body dragging along the Water Protector’s as I go. “Firefly,” Baron breathes as I spin to face him, then turns on the spot, trudging toward the Air Protector’s building without a backward glance.
“He’s… odd.”
“He’s Baron,” I reply, that response growing familiar on my tongue, and it makes the corner of my mouth tip up.
“Let’s go before someone tries to complain,” Archer grumbles, rubbing at his jaw, and I nod, waving at Teddy and Sax before I fall into step beside him.
There’s no sign of Silas, Francesca, or Bonnie as we step through the flamed entry of the Fire Protector building, making quick work of getting to our floor before Archer pauses outside my room.
“Wait here, Hot Stuff,” he murmurs, a faint smile on his lips at his attempt at a nickname, but it’s tainted by the uncertainty that thickens in the air.
“It will be fine,” I insist, waving him off as I approach the door, but he places a hand against my stomach before I can reach the handle.
“Please.”
I roll my eyes, but reluctantly nod as Archer turns the handle and lets the door fall open.
“Fuck.”
Fear takes root as his frame fills the doorway, but I don’t let that stop me as I rise up on my tiptoes, attempting to see around him. Grabbing hold of his shoulder, I manage to see as far as my bed, but that’s all I need.
I can just about make out the familiar shape of an envelope, almost hidden beneath a sprig of ivy, but it’s the flash of gold that sits beside it that makes my stomach lurch.
“Let’s me through, Archer,” I insist, and he turns on the spot, grabbing my upper arms as he tries to hold me back.
“Ivy, it’s not safe,” he starts, and I shake my head.
“Let me past, or—”
“Or what?” he retorts, narrowing his eyes at me, and I huff, shoving against his chest to no avail.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Archer. This isn’t the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Let me see right now.”
“Your safety is paramount,” he mumbles, and I shake my head, frustration getting the better of me as my hands heat.
“Archer,” I breathe, but it’s a millisecond too late as my despair turns into heat at my fingertips.
I brace for disaster, my eyelids instinctively clenching shut, only to startle when Archer’s presence remains. Daring to look, I squint through one eye first, and find flames dancing between us.
Orange flames.
I sag in relief, stumbling back as the embers retreat, and my back hits the wall.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I ask, wincing as Archer gapes at me.
Silently, he drags a hand down his face, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he reaches for me. I barely have time to catch my footing before he pulls me over the threshold, a sharp kick slamming the door shut behind us.
“I’m sorry. I’m letting panic for you cloud my judgment, and that shouldn’t affect you,” he mumbles, glancing down at me, and I nod.
“It’s okay.”
“At least the flames weren’t purple, right?
” he adds, attempting to ease the tension, and I gulp, smiling the best I can before my gaze falls to the items waiting at the foot of my bed.
One step toward the bundled carnage, and I’m quickly tucked back into his side as his lips brush against my temple.
“Together?” he breathes, and I take a deep breath.
“Together,” I repeat.
His hold on me slackens as we eliminate the short distance, my fingers twitching with nerves as we come to a stop beside the ivy.
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I reach for the envelope, my name scrawled across the front in the same writing that’s becoming far too familiar.
Ivy
Archer reluctantly releases my hand so I can see inside, the folded piece of paper heavy against my palm.
Dearest Ivy,
Celebrations are meant to be embraced by all. I hope you enjoy the fun today.
Please know that I am not rooting for the Champion the Fifth Kingdom chooses, but I am indeed making it clear that you are not up for selection.
I believe your mother paid you a visit.
Please take this relic and its vision to see what she never saw.
Another one on the house.
Yours,
- L
“He’s fucking insane,” Archer grunts, rubbing at his jaw even more furiously than before. “Let’s toss that ball of gold out—”
“No,” I interject, grabbing his arm as he moves toward the relic, wide eyes finding mine as he gapes in disbelief.
“Ivy,” he starts, and I shake my head.
“I have to know,” I breathe, staring at it desperately, and I hate how much it calls to me.
“Ivy, he’s using this to get to you,” Archer breathes, and I grimace.
“And it’s working,” I mumble.
“Ivy,” he repeats, desperation in his tone, and I shake my head.
“I have to understand. I know so little. About my heritage, my life, my mother, all of it. I want every glimpse I can get my hands on.”
“At what price?”
My eyes find his as I gulp.
“There isn’t a price. He said it’s on the house.”
He cocks a brow at me. “And do you truly believe that?”
My muscles clench, the inability to answer stealing my words.
“At least think about it, Ivy. We need to be calculated, not lured into another one of his traps.”
“I won’t be,” I insist, my eyelids clenching shut.
I can’t look at him.
I know he’s right.
I just don’t want to admit it out loud.
“Ivy, I’m never going to stand in your way. Well, I’ll try my best not to, at least,” he corrects, his gaze glancing toward the door for a moment as if he’s replaying the mess from earlier before his focus returns to me. “But we can’t keep being reactive, Ivy; it keeps him in control.”
My stomach clenches. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” I whisper, my mind already made up.
His shoulders sag, disappointment clear in his frame, but to my surprise, he reaches for the relic.
Caution gets the better of me when I see it in his hands, making me freeze as I catch my breath.
“Together,” he says, the same statement as before, and I shake my hands nervously.
“Together,” I repeat as I press my fingertip along the engravings.
My vision flashes white, my fingers tingling as my surroundings shift, and when my sight returns, I’m somewhere entirely new.
Mildew tingles my senses, moisture filling the air, as the eerie echo of dripping water stiffens my spine. I shiver. The cold chill is so striking that it immediately seeps into my bones.
Wherever I am, I don’t like it.
I find myself surrounded by rough walls in a narrow corridor, every surface covered with a thin layer of moisture as I dare to put one foot in front of the other.
“Ivy?”
Terror snaps up my spine as I glance over my shoulder, and my jaw falls slack.
Archer stands two steps behind me, scrubbing at his forehead.
“How are you here?” I blurt, and he tilts his head.
“Where is here, exactly?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, banding my arms around my middle. “But there is something here for me to see, to learn, to understand, and I have to find it.”
He nods. “Is this what it was like last time?”
I gnaw at my bottom lip. “It wasn’t here, but it felt like this,” I offer, and he exhales wearily.
“Will they know we’re here?” he asks, eliminating the short distance between us, and I shake my head.
“They didn’t last time,” I offer as he reaches for my hand.
“Okay. Let’s find what you’re supposed to see and get the hell out of here,” he mumbles, tugging me into his side, and I release a shaky breath.