CHAPTER
4
Dappled light brightened the other side of Lily’s eyelids, and for a moment the whole world was warm and rosy red. The swaying of the trolley passed her head back and forth between invisible hands, lifting her up and out of her body. Warmth cooled, and the rosy light darkened to gunmetal gray. An old friend met her in the Mist. Someone sad and lonely. Someone lost.
She was in pain.
Lily saw an army sprawled out before her. She saw banners snapping in the wind and the acrid taste of struck iron made saliva gush under her tongue.
“Lily?” Toshi’s voice startled her from her near sleep. “Sorry,” he said, grimacing at her stricken expression. “But we have to hop off in another few blocks.”
Lily looked around, reorienting herself in the spangled sunshine of Bower City. Lillian? She called to her in mindspeak, and got no answer.
“Are you okay?” Toshi asked.
Lily nodded. “Strange dream,” she said, shifting the packages on her lap.
They’d been shopping half the day and stopping at cafés for cool drinks and tapas. Now, nearing the end of the day, Lily found herself alone with Toshi. Una was getting the pedicure she’d been longing for, Juliet a massage, and the guys sat for proper haircuts that were done with scissors instead of belt knives.
Rowan wasn’t with them. He’d said he’d had a witch shower him with gifts before and that it hadn’t ended well. Then he wandered off on his own, leaving the rest of them to take a little less pleasure from the pampering.
Lily looked down at her packages with an odd detachment. After months on the road, saying no to new clothes was not practical. It felt wrong to be out shopping, but if the clothes were a little less fine, or the surroundings a little less opulent, it wouldn’t make the dead come back to life. Lily looked out the window at the sparkling day. It was easy to forget about death here. Bower City didn’t do gloomy or rainy or sad. It didn’t dirty its head with the ashes of mourning. It had one bright cheery note, and everyone was forced to sing it.
Toshi and Lily stepped off the trolley and he led her into a scent bar. Lily figured if she was expected to wear perfume, she might as well pick out something she liked enough to wear every day. An elegant woman, dark skinned and dressed in a sari, stood behind the bar waiting to be of assistance but too refined to inject herself into their browsing.
“Do you have those a lot?” Toshi asked as he slid a glass rod out of a crystal bottle filled with a honey-colored liquid.
“A lot of what?” Lily asked.
“Strange dreams.” He dabbed one drop of the liquid onto a strip of paper, let it dry, and waved it under Lily’s nose. She breathed in bergamot and blood orange.
“All the time.” She shook her head at the scent. “Too sweet.” Toshi moved down the bar and lifted a glass rod from another jar.
“After what you’ve been through—” He broke off. “I can’t imagine it. To go out among the Woven, into the unknown. No map. No idea of what’s out there—mountains, deserts, uncrossable rivers.” He waved the strip under Lily’s nose. Lemon and verbena quickened her thoughts.
Ah, actually, we sort of knew how to get to California. I’m not exactly Sacajawea, she thought, suppressing a grin. But there was no one to tell that joke to. Tristan would have gotten it.
“You’re sad again,” Toshi noticed.
Lily didn’t reply and moved down the row. She lifted the next rod for herself. It was a powdery grandma smell. She dropped it immediately and decided to follow Toshi’s cues instead.
“Have you always been adventurous?” he asked, dabbing another strip of paper with scent.
“Not at all! In fact most of my life I couldn’t go anywhere. The most exciting thing that happened to me was a trip to the hospital.” Lily breathed in Christmas. Gingersnap and snow. “I like this one,” she said about the scent, “but it’s not for me.”
“What’s for you?” he said musingly. “You’re a woman who goes from happy to sad in a second. A woman who claims to be unadventurous, who’s just had the adventure of a lifetime. You’re a powerful woman who I could toss into the air with one hand.” He shifted closer, his face dipping toward hers. “What’s for you?”
Lily looked down and shook her head. “I’m not who you think I am, Toshi.”
“No one’s who we think they are,” he said, waving a dismissive hand in the air.
He drew a rod out of a tiny glass jar that had only a few drops of a dark and unctuous liquor. The sales woman stiffened, about to say something, but Toshi smiled and nodded at her.
He didn’t waste any of the precious liquid on a strip of paper, but waved the rod under Lily’s nose. Smoke and spice. Bruised-to-sweetness sap bled from a young tree. Salt. And something underneath it all—something animal and almost revolting that she couldn’t place and couldn’t stop smelling. She inhaled it over and over, unable to pull herself away.
“Now tell me why you’re sad.”
Lily opened her eyes and saw Toshi watching her with concern. She swallowed. “I lost someone.” The grief and guilt trembled right behind the words, which she spoke as plainly as possible to keep herself from bursting into tears. “He died to protect me.”
“Did you love him?” Toshi whispered.
“Of course.”
“Then lucky him.” He tore his gaze away from Lily and looked up at the saleswoman. “We’ll take a twenty-fourth of this,” he said crisply.
Lily cocked her head at him. “You do that a lot,” she remarked.
“Do what?”
“End the moment before it gets old. Or out of your control.”
Toshi nodded pensively. “I’ve learned not to wait for applause. For anything.”
“You’ve got a story,” Lily said, half smiling.
“Some other time,” he replied, his expression darkening.
“Oh, great. You’re soulful.” Lily said, rolling her eyes.
He looked hurt. “You don’t give anyone a break, do you?”
Lily made an effort to soften her tone. “No, I don’t,” she admitted. “But I actually like soulful. It was a compliment.”
He dropped his eyes so Lily couldn’t read him. The saleswoman came to his rescue, returning with a tiny vial that she placed carefully inside a tissue-paper-lined bag. She looked anxious.
“It’s okay,” Toshi reassured her again as he took the bag. “Thank you.”
Lily waited until they were outside to speak. “I’m guessing I picked the scent that costs a fortune?”
“Yes, but money’s not the issue,” Toshi said. “Only one other person in the entire city wears that scent.”
A chuff of a laugh escaped Lily. She knew who it had to be. “Grace.”
“Yup.”
“Interesting,” Lily said. “I know why I like it,” she added, thinking of the smoke, the tree sap, and the salty animal smell of her own sweat sizzling in the pyre—thinking of the power and the rush of pouring herself into another person. “But why would she if she doesn’t have mechanics?” Lily stopped and turned deliberately to Toshi. “Are you her claimed?”
“No,” Toshi said, genuinely shocked.
“Look, I’m not the smartest person in the world, but I know one thing.” She jabbed a finger at the little bag in his hand. “That scent is something a witch only becomes acquainted with by firewalking, and it’s a scent she learns to crave only by giving the Gift. You know, there’s been a lot of talk about how claiming is slavery, butI don’t buy it.” She smirked at him. “Don’t tell me the people of Bower City are so pure that they’re not tempted to claim.”
“They’re more than tempted,” Toshi said hotly. “It happens—of course it happens. And when it does, it’s a huge scandal and there’s always a public trial. It’s very, very messy. Claiming is the only crime that gets committed here, and it’s punishable by banishment.”
Lily stuck out a hand to stop him. “Wait, did you just say that it’s the only crime in Bower City?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him, perplexed. “But you have laws against murder and rape and all that stuff?”
“Of course. But those things don’t happen here.”
Lily started laughing. Toshi didn’t join her. Her laugh died. “You’re serious?”
“Lily, listen very carefully. There’s no crime in Bower City. No murder, no rape, no arson, no theft, no domestic abuse, no kidnapping, no assault, no crime. Except claiming.”
“That’s impossible,” she said.
Toshi reached out and led a Worker from the sleeve of Lily’s kimono onto his thumbnail. She sucked in a surprised breath. She hadn’t even realized it was there.
“Who knows how much the Workers understand of what we say?” he said pensively. “The Warrior Sisters can understand some, but from what Grace has said, they understand differently. Whatever that means. What we do know is that the Hive senses what we can’t. They recognize hostility, fear, and aggression of every stripe. Last night, you saw for yourself how quick they are to intervene. They don’t let violent crimes happen. For nonviolent crimes, like theft—well, the Hive is everywhere. They see it happen even if they don’t know what it is. You only have to report something stolen for it to be found and the perpetrators brought to justice. There is no ‘getting away with it’ in Bower City. But claiming is the only crime the Hive can’t understand because it’s not like the others.”
“It’s consensual,” Lily said, finally believing.
“Even pleasurable, I hear,” Toshi said softly. “We’re all tempted to do it. But since it’s the one and only committable crime in Bower City, there’s nothing else for us humans to put our energy into ferreting out. That’s why I can say with some certainty that Grace doesn’t have any claimed. Least of all me.”
There was regret in his voice. Lily understood why the people here stared at her and her coven, and why they kept their distance with such dislike, even distaste. What would she feel if she had been tempted with something her whole life and denied it, only to see a group of people flaunting the freedom she wished she had? A freedom that they should have. Her brow furrowed.
“Why is it illegal?” she asked.
“Huh?” Toshi said, distracted. He was looking up the street for a trolley.
“Claiming is consensual,” she said, thinking aloud. “A witch can’t force herself on another. The willstone would shatter if she tried to break the will of the bearer. So why is it illegal?”
“There are other forms of coercion,” Toshi reminded her. “Ways to make people give their consent.”
“Then that should be illegal—coerced claiming—but not claiming itself,” Lily argued. “What do the lawmakers care if people choose to give themselves to each other? It’s none of their business, really.” He didn’t reply. “What about becoming stone kin?” she persisted. “There can’t be any objection to that.”
“Illegal,” Toshi said curtly.
“Why?” Lily exclaimed.
“It fosters secrecy and obsession, and it’s another form of intimacy that can be coerced. All individual mindspace should be autonomous, and that autonomy is protected by the city,” Toshi repeated, as if by rote.
“That’s utterly ridiculous,” Lily retorted. “You can’t tell people they’re autonomous, and in the same breath deny them the right to choose.”
The trolley pulled near at that moment, and he urged her onto it. Lily wondered whether he’d heard her, but decided not to press him. If he did hear her, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it.
They met the rest of her coven back at the guest suite and spent a few minutes showing one another what they’d purchased. Rowan slipped in a few minutes after Lily and Toshi arrived. He’d been gone longer than any of them, but he was carrying no packages. He didn’t greet anyone. He sat apart from the rest while Una, Juliet, and Tristan looked through every bag to see what the coven had acquired.
“How long were you on the trail?” Toshi asked, picking up a garment that had slid to the floor and folding it.
“Was it three months or four?” Tristan asked, casting his eyes back to Caleb.
“Nearly four,” Caleb answered.
Toshi was impressed. “Did your tribe migrate a lot?” he asked Caleb.
“Some,” Caleb answered. “But I’d never been out in the wild for that long before.”
“Are things getting bad back east? Is that why you risked the trip?” Toshi asked.
“Define ‘bad,’” Tristan said, still digging through tunics.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what it’s like to live in the wild,” Toshi admitted. “But I’d imagine something huge must have happened to make you all risk going west. Did you think there might be something out here, or did you just go blindly?”
“You’re very curious,” Rowan said. His tone was not approving.
“Who wouldn’t be?” Toshi said, shrugging. “It’s got to be one hell of a story. Did you think there was a settlement or some kind of fort that you were heading for?”
“No one back east has any idea that there’s anything out here—and certainly not a city,” Tristan said.
He’s pumping us for information. Don’t say another word, Rowan said to all of them in mindspeak.
He’s just curious, Breakfast countered. It’s totally natural.
He’s a spy, Rowan insisted.
Takes one to know one, I guess, Caleb said. Lily felt how Caleb’s words stung Rowan.
“Are we going to see Grace today?” Lily asked, changing both the spoken and non-spoken conversations.
“Dinner. Tonight,” Toshi said cheerfully. “She’s sorry she can’t spend more time with you.”
“We’re sure she’s a busy woman,” Juliet said.
“Is she going to explain what she really wants from Lily yet, or is this dinner still part of her charm offensive?” Rowan drawled.
Toshi froze for a moment before recovering. “I’m sure Grace and Lily will have a lot to talk about. But about what, I couldn’t guess.”
“Thank you, Toshi,” Lily said. “If you see Grace, tell her I’m looking forward to speaking with her, too.”
Lily waited for Toshi to leave before turning to Rowan. “Not very friendly,” she said.
“Oh, so you’re looking at me again?” he replied. “Nice to know Toshi’s dimples haven’t completely blinded you.”
“He doesn’t have—” Lily started to argue and stopped. She turned away.
“No, you started this. Now finish it,” Rowan said, standing and crossing to Lily.
“That’s close enough,” she said, halting his stride for him. Rowan came up short like he’d run into a brick wall, one foot still raised.
Possessing him was a mistake—Lily knew it as soon as she did it. Not just because it was wrong, but because of what it did to her.
She saw the edge of his skin before she dove into it. The perfect, golden-smooth dewiness of it over stripped sinew and muscle—the sun-soaked softness over strength that was Rowan. She’d forgotten how strong he was. How perfectly his body responded to her desires and carried them out for her. Every dream of grace in motion she’d ever had he could give her. If she wanted to jump off a cliff into wild waves, or run up thin air to the very stars, his body was the vessel for that dream.
And if his body was her wonderland, his bright mind surpassed it. Only Rowan could corral her harrowed thoughts. Only he had a many-roomed mansion of ideas for her to barrel through, manic and crazed, to pick over feverishly as was her fashion, and pull snapshot memories from the walls. Only Rowan could let her run free inside him with no need to worry if she’d do damage.
He let her take all of him because he was the only one strong enough to survive her rough use.
Only Rowan. And he knew it. He knew how desperately she needed a place to put her frantic, frenetic energy, and he knew he was the only one who could survive her. He welcomed it.
Their eyes met, and Rowan won. She wanted him more. More than anything or anyone. All it took was a moment inside of him to make her feel like she’d be lost in his labyrinth forever.
She released him, letting go like she’d grasped the biting edge of a hot knife, and he put his foot down hard. He was panting from shock. He didn’t think she’d actually possess him, and from the stunned looks on the rest of her coven’s faces, Lily could see that none of them thought she would do it, either.
Stupid, she thought. Maybe Lillian heard her.
“You made your point, Lily,” he said in a raspy voice. “Don’t worry. I won’t come near you again.”
The finality of it stung enough to bring her back to herself. There was no apology in her when she addressed them all in mindspeak.
Call Toshi a spy if you want, but the truth is, we’re the strangers. We’re the threat. Grace wants to know more about us, and she’s using Toshi to get that information for her. I would do the same. I haven’t told him anything, and neither should you, but I have learned a lot from him.
Lily replayed the memory of her conversation with Toshi in the scent bar so they could all see for themselves how he reacted to her questions about the law against claiming.
Now, can we all move past the idea that I’m naive enough to spill my guts to a pretty boy and start dealing with the fact that we’re in a city that’s being controlled by the Woven?
You think he’s scared to talk about it because of the Hive, Tristan said in mindspeak.
She looked at him and smiled. Now that he knew she wasn’t smitten with Toshi he was on her side again. What other reason can there be? They’re everywhere and they’re always listening, she replied.
But can they understand us? Caleb was looking at the floor, thinking deeply, as he asked this question. At the ball, the Warrior Sisters didn’t stand down until they sensed that Lily was calm. Saying it wasn’t enough.
The Sisters didn’t look like they understood anything Lily was saying, Una added, agreeing with Caleb.
We don’t know what they understand. We need more information, Juliet said. Toshi could have a dozen reasons for not wanting to talk about the laws here. We’re just assuming that it’s because of the Hive.
What do we do, then? Try to strike up a conversation with one of the Workers? Breakfast smirked as he asked this in mindspeak. The thought was ridiculous enough to get a smile out of all of them—except Rowan.
What I want to know is where they come from, he said. Everyone looked at Rowan. They’re called the Hive, but has anyone seen an actual beehive anywhere?
No one had.
I looked all over today for some place big enough for a large number of Warrior Sisters to congregate, but apart from those lookout towers, there isn’t any. The towers only fit a dozen or so Sisters at a time, Rowan continued. So, where’s their hive?
Out in the fields? Tristan guessed.
Rowan shrugged. Lily could sense that the rest of her coven felt a bit embarrassed, especially Caleb. While they were getting their hair done, Rowan had been trying to gather information about their Woven hosts. Lily looked at Rowan.
What do you suggest we do?
She didn’t like asking Rowan for direction. She liked it less that for the first time she had to really look at him. He was thinner. His skin was sallow, his eyes more sunken, and his hair was long enough to brush his shoulders. He looked haunted and hungry. Like looking across a burning desert, Lily could only suffer the glaring beauty of him in small bursts. She looked away.
Keep Toshi busy tomorrow. I’ll look around some more and try to see which way they come and go, he answered.
I’ll go with you, Caleb offered.
Rowan shook his head.
We’ll both go, Tristan said.
No. Stay close to our witch, Rowan said. His hot, dark eyes came up to meet Lily’s cold, light ones. She’s in more danger around Toshi than she thinks. She has no idea how far an orphaned mechanic would go for her.
Lily wore her new scent to dinner that night. She realized when she put it on that one of the compounds in it was designed to soak into the skin, pleasantly altering the wearer’s mood. She could see it tracing around her veins, lighting her up inside. She wondered whether this agent—whatever it was—occurred naturally in the scent components, or if it had been added for her benefit. She liked it. Maybe too much. When she stepped out of her bath and joined everyone else in the ladies’ sitting room, she felt a bit reckless.
Lily crossed to a pitcher of chilled water that was resting on a silver tray by the open balcony doors. The night jasmine on the veranda had bloomed and several Workers were combing through the velvety petals. She took a drink, feeling the coolness of the water wash down her throat while she watched the Workers shiver through the flowers, seemingly oblivious to anything but the task of gathering nectar.
When she turned, everyone was staring at her. Her gaze sought out Rowan and stuck there. He was meant to wear black, she thought to Lillian, and wondered whether, in some part of the back of her busy mind, her other self was listening. He’s like a dark flame burning out a slender slice of nothing between all the others.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed at Lily as she stared, a bemused smile threatening to break through his glower. The smoke willstone at his throat swirled with shadow and light and for a moment Lily couldn’t imagine why they were fighting.
Then she remembered the cage. He would have let me die, she said to Lillian, although she could tell that Lillian was deeply occupied with something else. Another thought occurred to Lily, one that bit deep. Does he still want me dead?
“Lily,” Rowan said, his forehead pinched with confusion. “Who are you mindspeaking with?”
Lily looked away. Why does he always know what I’m up to? she complained to Lillian. “Are we waiting on anyone?” she asked aloud, ignoring Rowan’s question.
“Just you,” Toshi answered. He paused to sniff the air. “You’re wearing it.”
They shared conspirators’ grins. “I wonder if Grace will notice.”
“Oh, she’ll notice,” he replied, stepping forward to take Lily’s arm. “Even if she doesn’t say anything.”
“Did you tell her I got it?”
Toshi gave her an offended look. “I don’t tell Grace everything.” Lily curled her hand over his bicep as she studied him, wondering whether that was true.
He led them downstairs and into yet another wing of Grace’s impressive residence. Lily wondered if the Governor’s Villa was like the White House, with a new tenant every four or eight years.
“How often do you have elections here?” Lily asked Toshi.
“Five years for parliamentary positions, ten years for service positions,” Toshi answered.
Lily nodded at that. “What about the governor’s position, or Ivan’s place as head mechanic?”
“Head mechanic is different,” Toshi said. “It’s based on talent, and Ivan is the most talented mechanic in the city.”
Lily eyes shot down to Toshi’s deep rose stone and wondered whether he was being loyal to his mentor, or whether he truly believed Ivan was the best.
“What about Grace?” Breakfast asked. “Does the governor need to be a witch for some reason?”
“Grace was chosen by the Hive to mediate between them and the humans long ago. She’s the only one they’ll communicate with,” Toshi said, turning his head to include the rest of the coven in the conversation. “She brings proposed laws to the Hive, and then comes back to Parliament with what they will and will not accept.”
Lily could feel Caleb bristle. Asking the Woven what they’d accept . . . , he fumed in mindspeak.
“The job is for life then?” Lily guessed. “The governor’s position?”
“Yes,” Toshi answered. “So is head mechanic.”
“Cushy,” Breakfast said, just loud enough to hear.
Lily chuckled to herself and began to take in her surroundings. The Governor’s Villa sprawled out much farther than its street profile would suggest. Lily found herself counting hallways and trying to peek down stairwells as Toshi led them through the maze. They changed levels without taking stairs enough times to make Lily suspect that the villa had more floors than it seemed when looking at the edifice, but before Lily could ask, they arrived at the formal dining room that was already alive with guests. Mala greeted them outside the large double doors with a tight smile that wanted to grow up to be a snarl.
“Lily,” she said through bared teeth. “Fashionably late again, I see.”
“Is that a problem?” Lily asked, but Mala had already whirled around and left. Lily turned to Toshi. “Is there any particular reason she hates me, or is she like this with everyone?”
“She’s threatened by you,” he answered. “She’s poised to take over someday, but all of a sudden, Grace seems very interested in you.”
Lily thought about it and shrugged. There was a time in her life when petty jealousy and competition from other women had dominated her life.
Being madly in love with Tristan didn’t help, she thought to Lillian. Every other girl was a threat to me because he seemed determined to sleep with every other girl in the world but me. It’s so strange how far away that all seems now.
“I said—Mala isn’t a joke.”
Lily looked up at Toshi and realized that he was considering her strangely. He’d had to repeat himself.
“I know,” Lily said quickly. She could feel Rowan watching her carefully and she wondered how long she’d absented herself from the conversation. “But I’m not a threat, and I’m sure she’ll realize that soon.”
Toshi narrowed his eyes at her. “How old do you think I am?” he asked.
“Ah—” Lily fumbled. “Nineteen? Twenty?”
“I’m sixty-four years old.”
“Shut up,” Una said, the words flying out of her.
“How old do you think Grace is?” he continued without missing a beat.
Lily stared at him, gobsmacked. He wasn’t kidding. “I don’t know,” she said, not willing to guess.
“Neither do I. Grace has been governor of Bower City since before it was Bower City, back when this place was just a few tepees and a campfire. I don’t even know what year that was because there are few records of the early days, and Grace doesn’t talk about it,” Toshi said. He leaned close to Lily. “Mala has already been waiting a long time. Be careful around her.”
Toshi crossed the last few steps into the dining room and joined the dinner party. Lily put out a hand and stopped her coven from following so they could calm down and regroup.
“This place just got a whole lot more interesting,” Tristan said. “I wonder how long Grace has been in power.”
“Long enough for all of us to be scared of her,” Juliet said. “Power does funny things to a person’s head and the longer you have it, the more twisted you get. What I want to know is what she wants from Lily.”
Lily felt a protective surge of emotion from her sister and smiled at her, but Juliet was too worried to be mollified. A fretful frown stamped a crease between her big brown eyes and it would not go away.
It’s okay, Juliet. I’m not afraid of Grace.
You should be, Juliet replied in mindspeak. She sighed and rolled her eyes. But I know you won’t be. So I’ll just have to be afraid for you.
On that note they entered the dining room to find a small group of people waiting for Lily’s coven to join them.
“Lily,” Grace said, her ageless face spreading into a wide smile. “Come and meet the minister of trade. I’ve just been telling him how you’ve been to the docks already.”
Waiters circled with brightly colored drinks in strangely shaped glasses. Appetizers whisked by. Grace introduced Lily to several people with the title minister or chief or head in rapid succession. They all studied her like the newest wondrous beast in a menagerie. They gawked at her enormous willstone and tiptoed around the sticky subject of her claimed without ever really confronting the subject head on, or completely letting it drop, either. The women were less tactful about Lily’s coven than the men. They made not-so-veiled comments about how many strapping young mechanics Lily had acquired.
“But you can’t tell me that witches back east don’t tend to lean toward claiming attractive mechanics for themselves when they can,” said the minister of architecture. “Look at this little coven, for example.”
“I’m not for Lily. I like men,” Caleb replied bluntly.
“And I’m with her,” Breakfast added, pointing at Una. “The scary one.”
Lily nodded. “It’s true. She is scary.”
“You’re a little too wholesome for me,” Breakfast said to Lily. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
“And you’re a little too female for me,” Caleb said, grinning.
“It’s a fact. I am female,” Lily said with an apologetic shrug. She turned to the minister. “So, no. Witches don’t pick hot mechanics to surround themselves with potential partners. We pick them based on trust.” Her eyes found Rowan, who was speaking to someone on the other side of the room. “Or lack of it.”
The prurient curiosity didn’t end after they’d been seated. Then, it was Mala’s turn to try to make them all feel uncomfortable.
“So, Una,” said Mala, already two drinks in, “what’s it like being a female mechanic?”
“It works just fine for me,” Una replied.
“But didn’t you ever want to be a witch so you could have a herd of adoring men to call your own, like Lily?” Mala persisted.
“No,” Una replied. “Tell me, do witches here firewalk?”
“There’s no reason for witches to do that in Bower City,” Grace interjected sternly. “Firewalking is for battle.”
“Well, I’ve heard Lily shrieking on the pyre,” Una said, pinning Mala with a look. “And I’ll take being in the battle over being on the pyre any day of the week. Herd or no herd.”
Get me out of here, Lily said in mindspeak to Juliet.
Stay calm, she replied, resettling her napkin in her lap primly. They’re just testing you to see if you fly off the handle again.
Lily could sense Rowan brushing up against her mind, asking for entry. In a moment of weakness she almost let him, but thought better of it at the last moment. She didn’t want his support. When the food arrived, she felt Toshi nudge her elbow with his. When she looked over at him, he gave her an encouraging smile.
“I’m sure Lily didn’t claim her mechanics for ego-serving reasons,” Grace said, taking Lily’s side. “In the east, a witch needs mechanics or she’s not safe. But claiming is unnecessary here. The Hive protects all citizens equally.” Grace put down her chopsticks. “So, Lily, have you made up your mind yet?”
“My mind?” Lily asked.
“As to whether or not you’d like to stay in Bower City.”
“Actually, I haven’t,” Lily replied honestly. She looked down the table at her coven. “We haven’t,” she amended.
“That’s a shame. This city has a lot to offer someone with your skill. More than you had back east, although I’m sure you were very important,” Grace said.
“Not exactly,” Lily said, frowning.
“Oh?” Grace said. She cocked her head to the side.
“It’s complicated.”
“Lily Proctor.” Grace leaned back, thumbing through her memory. “There was a John Proctor of the Salem Bay Colony in Massachusetts. He was the first mechanic and his wife, Elizabeth, was the first firewalker. Their descendants have been the on-again, off-again Salem Witches ever since. Aren’t you from Salem?”
Lily saw the conversation narrow, leaving her on a tightrope. “There are a lot of people with the last name Proctor.”
Grace’s smile was detached from her eyes. Thoughts moved behind them like pieces on a chessboard. Silence rolled up the long table and landed in a taut bundle in front of Lily.
“No, there aren’t,” Grace said in a soft voice. “You are Lillian Proctor of Salem. You are the Salem Witch, and Rowan Fall is your head mechanic.”
Lily felt Rowan shoving urgently at her mind. She ignored him. She could handle this on her own.
“I never said my full name was Lillian,” Lily said, keeping her voice as soft and assured as Grace’s. “If the Hive won’t allow anyone to go east, how could you possibly know that?”
Grace didn’t answer. “The thing I want to know, and that Toshi couldn’t seem to find out for me, is why? Why did you leave Salem?”
Lily decided that if Grace didn’t feel the need to answer her questions, there was no need for her to answer Grace’s. As the tense moment grew more uncomfortable, Grace seemed to relax, even enjoy it, until finally she was laughing.
“I like you, Lily Proctor. You remind me of me.” Grace tipped her head to the side, considering this. “That might be a good thing.” She stood and Mala scrambled to stand alongside her. “As I said, the Hive has made it clear that they want you, so you and your coven are welcome here. But there’s one thing. If you chose to stay in Bower City, you’ll have to give up your claimed. That’s the law here. They’ll have to smash their willstones and start anew. Understood?” Lily nodded once. “I’ll give you a few days to think it over.” Grace softened, her smile a surprisingly sad one. “They’ll only hurt you, anyway. One by one, no matter how well you think you know your coven, they’ll all turn on you eventually.” Her gaze strayed pointedly to Rowan before she left the dinner party with Mala trailing behind.
Lily could feel the weight of everyone’s stares. She turned back to her plate. “Ivan? Would you pass the salt, please?” she asked with forced civility.
Lily didn’t hear a word that was said for the rest of dinner, but running and hiding in her room wasn’t an option. Toshi kept trying to explain himself, but Lily brushed him off. Mindspeak among her coven kept her distracted while she chewed and swallowed and thought.
Does she really think we’d all just smash our willstones? Tristan asked.
I think it’s either that or try to make it alone in the wilderness. The Hive won’t let us go back, Caleb replied.
So Grace says, Breakfast said. But she could be lying.
How did she know Lily’s name? Una asked.
And how does she know who the current Salem Witch is if it’s been decades since the Hive brought anyone new? Rowan added.
Toshi must have been lying about that, Breakfast said. They’re all lying.
I don’t think so, Rowan said. I think there’s something else going on that we’re not getting.
When dessert was finally over, Lily stood and thanked Ivan. Her coven rose with her and they left the dining room without a sound. As soon as they went through the doors, Lily could hear the rest of the dinner guests burst into shocked whispers.
“Worst party ever,” Breakfast said, breaking the tension.
“Remember when I had the seizure at Scot’s?” Lily reminded him.
“Oh yeah,” Breakfast said, grinning. “Okay, second worst for you.”
“Lily, wait,” Toshi said, rushing to catch up with them. He took her elbow, and her coven fanned out around her defensively. Toshi wisely removed his hand. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Lily asked.
“Ah—fishing for information and being disingenuous about my reasons?” he hazarded. He made a face. “Actually, right now I’m not sure why I’m apologizing because you don’t look angry.”
“I’m not. You were only doing what you had to,” she said. “Come back to our room with us. I want to talk with you.”
They settled into the men’s sitting room and shut the doors behind them. Lily turned to Toshi.
“Grace says that the Hive won’t let us go east, but what if my coven and I decided to immigrate to Japan or Russia or China? Would Grace allow it?” she asked.
“It’s not Grace.” Toshi looked around the room and sighed heavily. “How many of you know how to make willstones?”
“We can’t answer that,” Rowan said. He looked at Lily. “Don’t answer him,” he pleaded. Lily nodded and looked down.
“I’m sorry, Toshi,” she said. “I wish I could trust you, I really do.”
“No, I don’t blame you,” he replied sadly. “Look, if there are any among you who don’t know how to make willstones, and you could prove it to Parliament, they’d have no legal reason to keep you. But you understand what’s at stake here, right?”
“We do,” Juliet said.
“Do you?” Toshi asked, frowning. “Coming from the east, can you really have any idea the influence Bower City has over the rest of the world?” He genuinely didn’t know the answer to that question.
Lily looked at Toshi. He’s sixty-four, she said to Lillian. He looks barely out of his teens. I wonder if they’ve cured cancer here yet. He could help you. Maybe save you . . . I bet he’s an even stronger healer than Rowan, and with Toshi you wouldn’t have to worry. The secret of River Fall will stay hidden from Rowan.
“Lily?” Rowan said, startling her. Her thoughts had wandered off again. She really needed to get ahold of that.
“We understand,” she said, answering Toshi’s question. He didn’t look satisfied with Lily’s answer.
“There’s more to it than just the issue of making willstones. They want you.” Toshi let the words hang there while Lily watched a Worker crawl over his shoulder.
Now we know what the walls around the city are for, Juliet said to the coven in mindspeak. To keep the people in.
“We understand,” Lily said.
“I should go,” Toshi said. “I’ve already been here too long.”
He took his leave, mouthing the words be careful to all of them before he shut the door behind him.
Lily opened up her mind to her coven. Thoughts? Comments?
I don’t trust him, Rowan said.
I don’t trust you. That hasn’t stopped me from working with you, Lily replied. Fresh hurt chased across his face and she looked away rather than feel the hurt with him. I don’t think we have that many more days to decide. Do we stay or try to go? Her coven didn’t have an answer for her, but Tristan did have another question.
Is Bower City so bad? Everyone shot him a look. I’m not saying it’s ideal, but what place is?
It’s run by the Woven, Caleb said, disgusted.
And it looks to me like it’s run pretty well, actually, Tristan argued.
Except for the tiny fact that the people seem to be incarcerated, Juliet said.
Think of Salem. Think of those walls. Were we any less incarcerated there by the Woven?
Seems like you’ve already made up your mind, Rowan said. But you don’t know what it’s like to smash your willstone.
You survived it. I’m not as weak as you think I am, Ro.
I’ve never thought you were physically weak, Tristan. But you’re choosing this gilded cage the Hive has created for the humans over hardship and freedom. Try and tell me that’s strength.
They could all feel how deeply Rowan’s words hurt Tristan. As if against her will, Lily recalled what Grace had just said over dinner about her coven eventually breaking her heart.
We don’t all have to stay, Tristan said sullenly.
You want to split up, Una said, surprised.
A long pause followed. “I think we should all decide on our own,” Lily said. She looked at Rowan. “Some of us might have personal reasons for wanting to leave the coven.”
Lily left them to discuss her without interfering. She was desperate to get out her kimono and wash the makeup off her face, and desperate for silence, both around her and inside her own head.
The thought of losing this Tristan to Bower City had hurt less than it should. She was almost relieved to not have to see him, to not be constantly reminded that he wasn’t her Tristan, and he never could be. As she realized that, guilt folded over guilt until it was piled high on top of her head. She was at her door when she heard Rowan’s voice behind her.
“Lily.” He stopped several paces from her and kept his hands at his sides where she could see them. He didn’t even try to initiate mindspeak. “Are you thinking of staying?”
“I’m not thinking anything yet,” she replied. “What about you?” Lily hated that his answer meant so much to her.
“I’ll stay if you stay, and I’ll go if you go.”
“Why?” Lily sighed and shook her head. “There’s nothing for you here. Not with me.”
“I can live on nothing,” he said, and for the first time since he’d returned, Lily saw him smile.
Carrick finished his glass of wine and went back to work on the steak. They’d tried to give him some kind of raw fish and seaweed for lunch, and he hadn’t touched it. He was sure in a classy place like this they had fresh fish, but even still. Didn’t they know they could get worms that way? Carrick always cooked his fish through and through, even if he’d just caught it himself.
“Hungry?” Grace Bendingtree asked.
Carrick shrugged. “I’ve been hungrier,” he answered. The tilt of his lips let her know how big an understatement that was. He’d been literally starving to death more than once in his life, but as he considered it, maybe this Governor Bendingtree had no idea what hunger was. It was difficult to tell. She lived high now, but she seemed broken in to him. Her features were worn smooth and her eyes were placid from years of weathering strife. Then again, she looked young, too. Carrick couldn’t quite place it, but he’d bet she had some years on her.
“Would you care for some more wine?” she asked.
“Later,” Carrick said. He sat back in his chair. The cushions were plump. Carrick disliked padding on his furniture. “Why don’t you just go ahead and ask me what you came here to ask me?”
Bendingtree smiled at him, slow and knowing. She wasn’t in any rush, but she still wanted something from him. Sure, he was her prisoner, and although this palace with its servants and fancy food and the tub so big he could swim in it didn’t look like any of the dungeons Carrick had been in before, he knew what was going on here. Some captors torture their prisoners, and some pamper them. Carrick knew so much about this dynamic that he saw to the truth of it. If he wasn’t dead, she needed something from him. Strangely, that gave him all the power. He’d respect her more if she tortured him a little.
“You’re an interesting man, Carrick. Do you have a last name?” Bendingtree asked as she poured him an unasked-for glass of wine.
“Bait men have no family names to give their children. They are what they do. Every Outlander knows that.” He wanted it clear that even though she wore beads and feathers, Carrick knew she wasn’t like him.
“So you are Carrick Son of Anoki and nothing else?”
Carrick narrowed his eyes. Not that many people knew who his father was. Had to be an Outlander who told her, but if any Outlander knew about this western city, they all would. Things like this place couldn’t be kept secret no matter how much you paid someone.
“How do you keep your spies from talking about this place?” he asked.
She smiled a pretty smile that Carrick didn’t particularly care for. “Why would you think I have spies?” she asked merrily.
“Don’t be coy. It doesn’t suit you.”
“I have eyes on the situation in the east.” She weighed her words before disclosing her hand. “Enough to know that there are two Lillian Proctors.”
Carrick waited for her to talk some more. People loved to talk, especially when they were proving how smart and powerful they were. A big ego can make even the cleverest person careless, and Carrick had found that silence worked better than a beating with people who thought they were important. All except for Lillian. She never gave anything away unintended. Never talked about herself. Never bragged. Probably because she wasn’t proud of what she did.
“I had hoped to get more information from the Lillian here, but she has proved to be exceptionally tight-lipped.” Grace reconsidered. “Or maybe Toshi isn’t as irresistible as I’d once thought.”
Hearing that made Carrick smile. “Don’t count on a pretty face charming that one into letting her guard down,” he said. Rowan may have distracted Lily for a time, but she wasn’t the type to get her head turned anymore. She came out of the oubliette changed. She liked suffering now; Carrick knew it. That’s why she was perfect for him.
“So which one do you belong to?” she asked. “The sickly Lillian in Salem, or the healthy one? I’m guessing the sick one is your witch, and that the healthy one has no idea you’re here.”
Carrick couldn’t figure out how she could possibly know about the two Lillians. She would have to have someone confirming Lillian’s presence in Salem after Lily was found at Bower City’s gates. Nobody could get from one end of the continent to the other that fast, and no one could mindspeak that far—not even Lillian. Carrick could sense that Bendingtree was powerful, but she was no Lillian. How was she getting her information? He started listing all the spies he could think of in his head, and stopped. She’d corrected him when he said “spies.”
“Eyes, not spies,” he muttered. He looked up at her. “What eyes?”
Grace sighed, disappointed. She was finally realizing that she wasn’t going to get anything out of him, and maybe that she had given more than she’d gotten. She was experienced enough to see that, at least.
“I really don’t see why you won’t cooperate, Carrick, Son of Anoki. Your witch isn’t going to last much longer.”
“So sure the sick one’s mine, are you?”
“The healthy one isn’t desperate enough to claim the likes of you. I’d torture you for more information, but I have the disturbing feeling you’d like that.” She stood, but paused at the door before leaving. “Please. Do enjoy the wine.” Lily flipped her pillow over to the cool side, only to find that it was still warm from when she had flipped it five minutes ago.
She rolled over in bed, an arm crooked over her eyes. The window was open and a salty breeze stirred the curtains, but the night was still too mild for her. Her overheated brain kept slinking back to Rowan like a kicked dog. Sleep wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. On top of that, she kept thinking she heard steps above her, and she wondered how many floors this villa had. She had thought she was on the top floor.
You’re thinking too loud, Juliet said in mindspeak.
Come keep me company, Lily replied, more excited than she should be that her sister had heard her. A minute later Juliet trudged in, sporting a red crease down her left cheek. “You’ve got pillow face,” Lily told her.
“You’ve got pillow hair,” Juliet said back.
Lily pushed a hand into the mad tangle on top of her head. “It matches what’s going on under it, I guess.”
“Man trouble?” Juliet flopped into bed, sprawling out wide so Lily had to move over.
“Am I being too hard on him?” Lily asked, knowing that Juliet would understand she was talking about Rowan.
“Yes and no.” Juliet tipped her head from side to side, like her head was a scale for her thoughts. “No, if you consider what he put you through, and, yes, if you consider what he’s been through since. We had each other on the trail. Rowan was alone.”
“He shared his memories?”
“Some. Caleb and Tristan insisted.” Juliet pulled a goose feather out of Lily’s duvet. “He didn’t sleep much. Couldn’t. There was no one else to watch for Woven or help fight them off.” She rolled the feather between her fingers. “He went through hell.”
“Damn it.” Lily let out a gusty sigh. “Did he show you why he left the tribe and followed us?”
He got into a huge fight with Alaric over the bombs. There’s still two Carrick didn’t get around to dismantling. Juliet looked down at the feather. Alaric’s name was stuck on a loop inside her head.
“That must have been hard for you to watch. Just seeing Alaric, I mean.”
“I’ve been thinking. I never should have run away from him,” Juliet whispered. “I should have fought him harder.”
“You left for me. And his choices aren’t your fault.”
Juliet looked up. Her big brown eyes were burning. I know that staying here on the other side of the continent looks a lot more attractive when you think about the bombs, but we can’t. We have to go back and stop him.
Images of the Thirteen Cities flashed through Juliet’s mind. Cities that Lily had never seen. Wondrous places—some built on pontoons floating over water. One was built up among the trees, like an enchanted elfin city. Juliet imagined the trees burning. People screaming. She clutched at Lily’s hand, unable to bear her own thoughts.
Lillian’s cinder world swam to the front of Lily’s mind, and she had to switch out of mindspeak to shield her sister from seeing it. There was no point in hiding what she was about to say from the Hive anyway.
“I know. I don’t know how to stop him from here—but I know.” Lily breathed a bitter laugh. “I dragged you all across the country because I had some crazy idea that the solution to the Woven was out west, like west was some miraculous place. I thought I’d find a way for people and Woven to live together so the Outlanders wouldn’t be trapped and there wouldn’t have to be a war.” Lily wanted to kick herself. “Well, people and Woven can live together. This wasn’t what I had in mind, though.”
“It’s not really living together. It’s more like living under,” Juliet said, shuddering. “And I don’t care if they’re listening.”
Lily shrugged. “We’re already their prisoners.” For now, she added in mindspeak. Lily almost didn’t ask it, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Nothing in Rowan’s memories about me?”
“He did it to save you,” Juliet said.
“Juliet,” Lily said disbelievingly. “He took my willstones and put me in a cage.”
“Alaric believed you had sided with Lillian. He was going to slit your throat where you stood. Rowan did the only thing he could do to keep you alive without having to slaughter his sachem and his whole tribe to protect you from them.”
Lily looked away. She thought of Rowan’s expression when he’d taken her willstones. There was no anger. No resentment. He didn’t take her willstones because he was bitter or hateful. It was a calculated action performed without passion, like he was making a choice that had more to do with other people than with himself. If there was any feeling in him that she could detect, it was regret. What he’d done, he’d done for her, and even then he knew that the cost of saving her life would be her love.
Was she that unforgiving?
“I didn’t really cry that much after it happened. I was too confused to cry because I knew Rowan would never betray me. Despite what it looked like, I knew there had to be more to it,” Lily admitted.
“I can replay his memory for you. He showed us. Do you want to see it?” Juliet asked.
Lily shook her head. “Don’t need to. Don’t want to.” She knew Juliet was telling the truth and that Rowan had probably saved hundreds of lives, including hers, but she still felt the grating edge of resentment inside her. Resentment and something else full of yearning that she couldn’t quite place yet. “The cage isn’t the problem between us anymore.”
“What is?” Juliet prodded gently.
“What’s your father like? The James of this world,” Lily asked in response. “What is he like?”
Juliet smirked. “I barely know him. He wasn’t really interested in us as children, and then Lillian sent him away when he became too interested in what she was doing as an adult. You know, once she was the Salem Witch.”
“My father was never there,” Lily whispered. Her whole chest felt sore. Juliet waited for Lily to continue, but Lily stayed silent.
“Are you ever going to forgive Rowan?” Juliet asked.
“I’m not good at forgiveness.” Lily thought about how she’d refused to forgive Scot. She never really got around to forgiving her father for abandoning her or Tristan for cheating on her, either. And now they were all dead. “I never give anyone a break,” she whispered, repeating Toshi’s words.
“Is that the person you want to be?” Juliet asked gently.
“No. But I haven’t figured out how to be anyone else yet.” Lily shook herself. “Enough of this. Are you up? Like up up?” she asked. Juliet nodded. I feel like snooping around, Lily said, switching back to mindspeak. Want to come?
Juliet grinned. Lily took that as a yes, and the sisters slid out of the room, quiet as moonlight.
They followed their path from earlier in the evening and found their way back to one of the places Lily had noticed earlier. Lily and Juliet didn’t dare allow their magelight to get too bright as they ascended a flight of dark steps.
Juliet asked in mindspeak—Did you hear it, too?
Footsteps above? Yes. From the veranda it doesn’t look like there’s another floor above us, but there must be, right?
I thought the same thing, Juliet replied. Go this way, she said when they reached the top of the stairs. Our rooms will be below.
They went down a long, narrow corridor with no windows. It was stuffy and baked dry from the daytime heat. The walls seemed to stare at them. The corridor ended at a door with a conventional lock.
There was no ward set to the door—just a simple lock. Lily shrugged at Juliet and easily knocked the tumblers into place with a nudge from one of her willstones. The door clicked open, and Lily peeked her head inside. She let her magelight glow a touch brighter and saw hulking shapes throughout the room. As her eyes adjusted, she could discern dusty crates and furniture covered with sheets.
Dead end, Lily said in mindspeak.
Not necessarily, Juliet replied. Let’s go to the back. I think I can see another door.
They wended their way through the attic, passing crates, coatracks, broken armoires, shoe racks, a telescope, and even an old globe. Lily stopped at the globe and moved the sheet covering it. She noticed that there was no Canada or Mexico—just one big continent with the Thirteen Cities on one side and Bower City on the other. She had no idea how old the globe was, or how long Bower City had existed, but the globe looked like an antique—a hundred years or more.
They reached the door at the back of the attic and tested it. It was unlocked. Lily pushed the door open and found a room with nothing in it but a stairway set in the middle that led into the ceiling, and another door on the opposite side of the room.
This room isn’t dusty, Lily noticed.
It gets used, Juliet replied. She started heading straight to the stairway.
Wait, Juliet. I want to check the other door first. Lily could feel the pull of magic around it, and as she got closer she realized that it was set with a powerful ward. She stopped, not daring to go any closer to it. This room was hidden on one side by a room full of forgotten objects, and protected on the other by powerful wards. Whatever the stairs led to must be important to merit so much protection.
Juliet asked—Why set such a strong ward on this door but leave the door we came through unlocked?
Maybe there was a ward set to it a long time ago, but it dissipated. The way we came looks like it’s been forgotten, Lily replied. Do you want to go up? She could feel Juliet hesitating.
Lily, I have no magic and I’m Lillian’s claimed, not yours, Juliet said.
It was strange to think it after everything they’d been through together, but this Juliet wasn’t her actual sister—she was another version of her. No matter how much Lily loved her, this Juliet, and her willstone, belonged to Lillian.
If something were to go wrong, Juliet continued, I couldn’t be your vessel. Maybe we should go back and wake Rowan.
His name had just popped into Juliet’s head. She hadn’t intended to name Rowan out of all of Lily’s mechanics, she was just naturally gravitating to the one who could defend them the best. His name shot through Lily like a bolt, like it always did when she wasn’t expecting it.
Sorry, Juliet said, grimacing.
It’s okay. And I don’t want to go back, Lily said, her pride making her stubborn. She pushed the trapdoor open and climbed up onto the roof of the villa.
Lily could see the whole city and beyond. The Governor’s Villa was set on the highest point and they stood at the very top of it. The bright moon allowed Lily to see all the way to the ocean on one side, and over the wall and across the vast field of flowers beyond to a dark smudge on the other horizon.
Lily. Come and look at this, Juliet said.
Juliet was standing beside a large, softly glowing structure that dominated the center of the roof. As Lily approached she realized that it was a giant crystal, supported at the bottom by metal struts. The crystal was at least fifteen feet tall and five or six feet wide.
“What is it?” Lily asked aloud.
“It’s a speaking stone,” said a low voice behind her. Lily turned and saw Rowan ascending the stairs behind her.
“How did you—”
“Know you left?” Rowan finished for her. “I set a ward on our rooms.”
“How’d you know where I went?”
“I can always find you,” Rowan answered with a shrug. “Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
Lily shut her mouth with a snap. He’d found her in the oubliette. He’d found her after the City Guard had raided the subway tunnels. He’d even managed to track her across the continent. Rowan had always found her. She’d think of him, and there he’d be. Lily considered that maybe he could always find her because some part of her was always calling to him.
“You shouldn’t have come up here without a mechanic. No offense, Juliet, but you can’t defend her.” He was just about to get angry with Lily when he remembered that he didn’t have that right anymore. She noticed that he stopped several feet away from her and didn’t try to initiate mindspeak. This was their new normal. Something in her contracted to know that. She turned back to the speaking stone.
“What does it do?” she asked.
“It allows a witch to reach the minds of her claimed over long distances,” he replied. “They’re set up spaced apart every few hundred miles or so, and they work like a relay system. Years ago, the Salem Witch used to embed one of her claimed in the ruling Coven of each of the other Thirteen Cities to keep watch over them, and she’d stay in touch with her claimed through the speaking stones. That way, the Witch could maintain control from Exeter to Savannah without ever having to leave the safety of Salem.”
“They haven’t been used in years,” Juliet said. “I didn’t even know what they looked like.”
“There’s still one in Salem,” Rowan said. “On top of the Citadel, over Lillian’s rooms.”
“Did Lillian ever use it?” Lily asked.
“I don’t think so,” he replied. “What’s the point? She didn’t have any claimed in the other Covens, where the other speaking stones were set up, and it only works between a witch and her claimed.” He narrowed his eyes. “But why don’t you ask her? You two talk all the time, don’t you?”
“How did you know—” she began, and hastily cut off. Lily looked down at her hands. “Yes.”
Something like a smile softened the corners of his mouth. Lily felt her cheeks heating up.
“Who would she contact?” Juliet asked, still staring at the speaking stone.
Lily had lost the thread of the conversation. “Who would who contact?”
“Bower City doesn’t allow witches to claim,” Juliet said, frowning. “I’m assuming this is Grace’s. If she doesn’t have any claimed, how could she use this?”
Rowan walked around it and ran his finger across the surface. “Someone’s been using it. See the lights inside?”
Lily looked more closely at its center and saw the roiling play of light and dark that almost looked alive. “Is this a willstone?” Lily asked, incredulous.
“Same family, different capabilities. Speaking stones are far too large for one mind to bond with, so they can’t be used for all the different kinds of things a willstone can, but what they lack in nuance they make up for in raw power,” Rowan answered.
Lily stared up at the giant crystal. “Can anyone use it, or does it attune itself to one witch?” she asked aloud.
“Anyone can use it. But you can only reach your claimed, and another witch could only reach her claimed. It’s not like your telephones, where anyone can call and anyone can answer.”
“Ah,” Lily said. She was reminded of teaching Rowan how use a telephone back in her world. He’d loved them, like he’d loved computers and most everything else that had to do with science and technology. He’d loved them because anyone could access them, not just witches and mechanics.
My world really is magical in its own way, she said to Lillian. Look how large the speaking stone has to be, and still its range is only a few hundred miles. I wonder how many of them are set up and which direction they go? North–south? Or is there a line of them reaching all the way back east?
“You’re talking to her right now, aren’t you?” Rowan asked. His brow furrowed.
“She’s not really listening. She’s busy,” Lily replied.
“Then why are you reaching out to her?”
“Because I want to,” Lily snapped. She turned to the speaking stone. “Is there any way to find out who is using this and who’s listening?”
Rowan still looked troubled. “No,” he answered distractedly, and then went back to what was really on his mind. “Lily. Have you told her about this place?”
“Of course I have,” she said, throwing her hands up.
“Lily!” Juliet said, shocked.
“What?” Lily replied, starting to feel sheepish under Juliet’s disapproval. “She’s not against us. Not about this.”
“Has Lillian told you what she’s going to do about it?” Rowan asked.
“Not exactly.” Lily looked down at her feet. “She’s been busy, like I said.”
“Doing what?” Rowan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Lily shrugged, feeling stupid. She’d been sharing so much with Lillian but she hadn’t bothered to ask what Lillian had been up to in return. Lillian had seemed so busy, and there were times when Lily could feel that she was in pain.
“Why would you do that? Why would you tell her?” Rowan looked concerned, rather than upset.
“Because no one else gets it,” Lily said, looking away. “No one else knows what it feels like.”
“What what feels like?” he persisted.
A lump formed in her throat, and for the life of her she couldn’t say the words aloud. An image of Tristan running across the burning plain to face the Hive welled up and set her eyes stinging before she could stuff it back down.
“I can’t,” she said in a strangled voice.
The numbness she had been forcing on herself evaporated, and anger surged through her. She was angry with herself, and Rowan. She met his eyes and he felt her wave of rage hit him, real and palpable as it had been in the ballroom. He took a stumbling step back as if she’d physically pushed him.
“We should get back inside,” Juliet said urgently. She was looking at the sky.
Lily tilted her head and saw dark shapes starting to circle above. Even from a distance, she could feel the air shivering with the hum of their wings. The Hive was coming in response to Lily’s anger.
Rowan took a protective step toward her and pulled up short, remembering he wasn’t to touch her. “Go,” he said, motioning to the trapdoor. “And try to calm yourself.”
Lily scrambled down it after Juliet, and rushed across the empty room. She felt Rowan only a few steps behind her as she threaded her way back through the dusty attic and down the stuffy corridor.
They made it back to their rooms without anyone in the villa spotting them. Lily wondered whether it mattered that the Hive had seen them on the roof or not. Was getting angry on a rooftop in the middle of the night enough to get them detained somehow? Lily couldn’t imagine that was true. The Hive would constantly be overreacting to normal things like toddler tantrums if that were the case.
Who decided what was normal around here?
Back in their rooms, Rowan and Juliet showed the rest of the coven what they had seen, but no one had any new thoughts on the speaking stones.
We’ll see what we can learn tomorrow when we go looking around, Caleb said. Lily, can you ask Toshi if he knows anything about them?
I can try, she replied. But he may not be able to tell me the truth. Toshi is as trapped here as we are.
As everyone is in Bower City, Rowan added. Do you think Toshi would let you claim him?
They were shocked by Rowan’s question, Lily most of all. It’s illegal here, she said needlessly.
Rowan huffed with impatience. Toshi wants to be a part of this coven, and he’s powerful. If something goes wrong and they don’t let us leave, we’re going to need a lot more mechanics than just the six of us to have any chance of fighting our way out of here.
Caleb and Una agreed with him.
I didn’t think you’d want me to claim him, Lily said.
Why? My first responsibility is to protect you. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.
Lily didn’t have a response. A part of her wanted him to be jealous.
There wasn’t much of the night left, but the coven decided to go back to bed for the rest of it. As Lily approached her door she heard Rowan behind her. Again, he stopped a few paces away from her, and now that they were alone, only addressed her aloud.
“Have you asked her what she’s going to do?” Rowan didn’t have to say Lillian’s name. Lily knew whom he meant.
“She’s blocking me right now,” Lily replied quietly. “But I will. It was stupid of me to not ask before.”
“How often do you mindspeak with her?” he asked gently.
“I don’t know,” Lily replied. She sighed, suddenly feeling bone tired. “I don’t notice I’m doing it most of the time. I just start talking.”
That seemed to bother Rowan even more. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it again.
“What do you talk about with her that you can’t with your coven?” he asked. “And I don’t mean me. I mean Juliet. Una. Tristan.”
Lily shook her head. He didn’t understand. “It’s not what I tell her, it’s what she already knows. What she and I share.”
“Like what?”
“What it feels like to be the one who decides which of the people you love dies.”
Rowan stared at her for a long time. “This is about your Tristan. That’s why you’re so angry with me. It’s not about the cage anymore, is it?”
“I made Tristan my head mechanic when the Hive came for us. He wasn’t ready,” she said, her eyes dry and staring. “He wasn’t you.”
“I should have been there,” Rowan whispered.
“Yes,” Lily said, the anger returning swiftly and filling her to the brim. “You should have.” Lily forced herself back to being numb so the Hive wouldn’t be alerted. “Why didn’t you just come with us?”
Rowan’s lips pressed together. He either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, answer her. Her heart sinking, Lily went into her room and shut the door in Rowan’s face, both of them finally realizing what it was that Lily couldn’t forgive. His absence.
Carrick stood on the roof of the Governor’s Villa in front of the towering crystal his half brother had called a speaking stone. Warrior Sisters landed on the roof around him, cocking their bulbous heads. Carrick paid them no mind. Act calm, and they were calm. But that was the problem with insect Woven like them. No matter how many times people had heard to stay still and not swat at them, most couldn’t seem to help themselves when they heard the sound of those wings and saw the yellow and black of their bodies. Carrick wasn’t like most people, though.
The Sisters kept their distance and watched him while he looked at the speaking stone. He put a hand out and touched its surface. It felt warm.
Lillian, he called in mindspeak.
Carrick, she answered. He could feel her confusion. It had been many weeks since they had been able to reach each other in mindspeak. Where are you?
It’s been a long journey. So tiring, he said leadingly. Can you use the speaking stone to fuel me so I may give you a full report?
I’ve never heard of that being done before. I thought the speaking stones were just used for mindspeak.
Seems like an awful waste. Try it, he urged. Carrick thought that in some ways it was good that he hadn’t been trained at the Citadel. He didn’t know what was impossible. He smiled as he felt her feeding his willstone with strength and started his story with his abduction by the Hive.