Chapter Fifteen #2
Caleb leaned against the dresser. “The Priestess knows Frank matters. They’ll expect him to come for Maeve’s mom. It’s logical and from the heart. They’ll expect Stella because she’s powerful enough to be useful and dramatic enough to be noticed.”
“I beg your pardon,” Stella said.
He shrugged. “Am I wrong?”
She considered that. “No, but I dislike your tone.”
“And me?” Caleb asked Nova.
“You’re steady,” Nova said. “And you can fight without needing to prove you can.”
Caleb absorbed that with a slight nod.
“And the other team?” I asked, though I already felt the answer coming.
Nova looked at me, then Bella and Ardetia.
“No,” my dad said, shaking his head.
I almost laughed, but nothing about his face invited it.
“I haven’t even said anything.” I shrugged.
“You don’t have to. I know that look.” His gaze dropped briefly to the pendant. “You’re going in to help rescue her.”
I smiled at my dad and walked toward him. “I have to.”
“You don’t.” He reached for my hand. “You can stay on the perimeter and toy with your grandmother, but you don’t need to enter the compound.”
“But I do.” My hand curled around the moonstone. “The pendant seems to block the shadow mark. The Priestess won’t expect that. She thinks she can feel me coming.”
“The element of surprise is one of the few gifts we have.” Ardetia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “We have to use this to our advantage.”
My dad shook his head. “That's not what we talked about.”
“We didn’t know her pendant muted the mark,” Nova explained.
“Dad, I know the tables have turned now, but we have to depend on each other and trust that we both can make it out with Mom.”
“I know you're right.” He let go of my hand and walked over to the window.
Bella smiled. “I can get us through the physical patrols. Foxes are good at finding paths people forget they made.”
“Very true,” Caleb agreed, and I wondered if a little something was starting between them.
I looked toward the door as if I could feel Keegan already gone, already on the road to Celeste. The thought hollowed something out in me, but it also steadied me in a strange way.
Celeste would be safe, or at least, safer.
“Keegan will hate this,” Caleb said.
“Keegan hates most plans that involve me breathing near danger.”
“He loves you,” Stella said simply.
The room went still for half a beat, and I swallowed. I never really talked about my personal life, but there was no denying the connection Keegan and I had. The love and respect were apparent between Keegan and me to anyone around us, so there was no point in denying it.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “And I love him. Which is why he’s protecting my daughter. I had to trust him with my life and more importantly, my daughter’s.”
Nova tapped the map. Lines of faint silver began spreading across the page, forming a crude map I didn’t recognize. Sure, I'd flown over a time or two with my broomstick, but that was quite different than understanding the intricacies.
“The compound sits beyond the old ridge where the soil thins,” she said. “As we know, it’s not fully in Shadowick.”
Twobble climbed onto the foot of my bed, scattering crumbs. “What about goblin tunnels? Would they show up on the map?”
“No,” Nova said. “Should they?”
He looked offended. “Rude. Of course they should. Do you think we've gone to all this trouble under Shadowick and Stonewick to not burrow our way under the Priestess’ compound at some point?”
Stella's eyes grew huge. “And when were you planning on bringing this up?”
“Well, now.” Twobble threw his hands up. “Seems like the right time.”
“The Priestess knows about old passages,” Nova said. “She’ll have set listening charms beneath the ground, at the very least.”
Skonk snapped his fingers. “Not all ground.”
Twobble turned to him. “Cousin.”
Skonk’s grin spread slowly. “The UnderLoom has troughs.”
Stella blinked. “I’m sorry, troughs? Gutters?”
“They’re not gutters,” Twobble said, immediately defensive. “That’s an insulting mortal term.”
“They are absolutely gutters in the sense that they can drain and carry things away quickly,” Skonk said. “But our troughs are enchanted. They’re smaller than one would expect, and they tend to propel objects with great force.”
“What kind of objects?” I asked.
Skonk scratched his head. “Just about any kind. I mean it has to fit.”
“Okay… what size are the troughs?” Stella asked.
“Ohh. About yay big.” Twobble put his hands together, leaving only about eight to twelve inches between them.
I laughed. “There's no way I can fit in that. Not even my right thigh would.”
Skonk snickered. “That's what makes them enchanted. They make the impossible possible.”
“There is no normal conversation where enchanted troughs come up.” I sighed.
Skonk lifted the crouton bag. “This one did.”
Bella was smiling now. “Are the troughs under the compound?”
“Not under it,” Skonk said. “But they're certainly near it enough to spit at it if you’ve got range.”
Stella wrinkled her nose. “Let’s use any other measurement than spit. I run a tea shop for crying out loud. Let's act a little more dignified.”
Twobble scowled. “When have you ever been worried about being dignified?”
She chuckled. “Touché.”
“So, they’re near enough to create a false disturbance,” Nova offered. “And distract the guards at the compound.”
Twobble brightened and rubbed his palms together. “Ah, goblin mischief as strategy. Love it.”
“It's a great idea,” I said. “I'm just grateful you finally decided to mention them.”
“We couldn't say anything too soon in case word got out.” Twobble looked at Stella and pointed with his thumb. “I'm not saying, but I'm saying.”
Nova looked at me and back at the map. “So, the goblins create movement beneath the west slope. Frank, Caleb, and Stella approach from the south, visible but guarded. The Priestess’ attention splits.”
“And Maeve, Bella, and Ardetia slip through the east seam,” Caleb finished.
My father shook his head. “I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t either,” I said. “But I like doing nothing even less.”
The pendant pulsed once against my skin, and my gaze dropped to the moonstone, and for a moment, I thought I saw pale wings flicker beneath its surface.
Maybe it was Grandma Elira from the cottage, or a memory…or hope.
In Stonewick, those things tended to entangle.
“We need one more thing,” Ardetia said.
I looked up. “What?”
“A tether.”
My scar chilled beneath the pendant, the first sensation I’d felt since putting it on.
Nova nodded. “She’s right. It's the only way to ensure no one loses their way back.”
That wasn't something I wanted to think about.
“Fantastic.” I let out a shaky breath. “And here I thought this plan needed more terror.”
Stella reached into the pocket of her shawl and pulled out a length of thin silver thread. It shimmered as if moonlight had been spun by someone deeply annoyed and very talented.
“That's from Luna.” My brows lifted.
“I wondered when this would be useful.” She held it out. “Vampire widow-thread. Don’t ask. But Luna has a whole spool of it.”
Twobble opened his mouth.
Stella pointed at him. “I said, do not ask.”
He closed his mouth.
Ardetia took the thread carefully as I lifted the pendant away from my chest, and Ardetia looped the thread carefully around the chain. The moment the silver touched the moonstone, a soft glow filled the room, pale and gentle, completely at odds with the dread in my stomach.
Stella whispered something under her breath that sounded very old and impolite.
“What?” I asked, touching the butterfly pendant.
Nova stared at the jewelry. “The moonstone isn’t only blocking the shadows.”
Ardetia’s face had gone pale. “It is recognizing the path.”
My pulse stumbled. “What path? What are we talking about?”
The glow funneled itself like a beam of light bolting out the window.
Toward the Priestess, my mother, and whatever waited hungry at the center.
Twobble slowly lowered his crouton. “Well, that’s not unsettling at all.”
My father stepped close and rested his hand on my shoulder.
I looked around at all of them. My dad with his loyalty. Stella, with her ancient eyes and shawl. Nova steady as fate. Bella ready to pounce. Ardetia calculating but ready anyway. Caleb watching every exit. Twobble and Skonk pretending crumbs could armor their hearts.
This was my family…my strange, magical, and impossible family.
“The Priestess thinks impatience gives her power,” I said quietly. “Let’s show the Priestess what happens when she messes with a Hedge Witch.”
The floors crumbled beneath me.
“No,” Nova said. “Let's show the priestess what happens when she messes with the Academy.”