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He lifted his chin. “Violet.”
They watched Clarke open the cupboard doors. Eventually, she found a glass jar and half-filled it with water.
“Clarke…” he sighed. “There better be a point to this.”
“Shh.” Violet waved him down with a scowl. “She’s doing science.”
Clarke chuckled. “Who would have imagined little old grifter me experimenting? I’ll bet my eighth-grade teacher would be spitting chips right now.”
“Intelligible language is more likely to hold my interest,” Leaf drawled.
Clarke opened her mouth but shut it and composed herself. “You wanted to know what was said between the Six and me. Well, this is part of it.”
Leather creaked as Leaf folded his arms. “I’m listening.”
“Here’s the thing.” She pointed to the water and met Leaf’s gaze. “What do you think that represents?”
His patience wore thin. “I’m not a child, Clarke.”
“Duh.” She gestured down his body. He stood a head taller than her, with shoulders twice as wide and calloused palms the size of her freckled face. “But to be fair, you act like one sometimes. Okay, moving on. So, if you’re not going to answer—”
“The Well,” he growled out the obvious answer.
Her obnoxious buzzing sound made his ears twitch. “Wrong! Violet, do you want to take a guess?”
Indigo’s woman was an expert in science knowledge from the old world. This competition wasn’t fair. She finished her mouthful and calmly answered, “He’s half right. It’s the light side of the Well—the pure, clear, and harmonious side.”
“Correct!” Clarke’s vigor was far too great for this early hour. She pulled a bottle of cooking oil from beneath the butcher’s block and waggled it before Leaf. “And this is the inky side of the Well—chaos.” She drizzled the viscous fluid into the clear water. “See how it separates?”
Everyone knew the ink and the clear remained separate. That was how the taint ruined their mana supply. Drawing from the clear often hit a vein of random, floating ink. What was her point?
Violet’s brown eyes widened with understanding. Her skin paled. “Oh shit.”
Leaf shuffled awkwardly, his gaze darting between the jar to Clarke and Violet.
“Yeah. Exactly!” Clarke pointed at her, victorious.
What was happening? Did the two share an insufferable secret language like Trix and Aeron? He rescinded his earlier comment about respecting Violet. A grumble slipped from his lips. He’d had just about enough of this.
Violet swirled the liquid until the oil and water blended into a new, clouded concoction. She explained, “At the beginning, magic was only tainted when we drew mana and hit a vein of ink. But now, no matter who draws on mana, or from where, we’re all affected all of the time.”
Dread dawned on Leaf. “The Well is finding a way to balance itself.”
“Maybe.” Clarke sighed. “All I know is that it’s not the same for everyone now.”
Violet tapped the jar with her fingernail, watching the liquid separate. Oil floated to the top, but much of the water remained cloudy. “Is this reversible?”
Clarke shrugged. “If we don’t fix it soon, the Well will never be the same.”
“You think this is why we haven’t seen Maebh’s demogorgon these past few years?” Violet asked.
Leaf rubbed his jaw. “It needs inky mana to shift and avoid metal. It will likely be weakened if it’s also having trouble drawing on a pure source. Maebh’s plan to dominate Elphyne is backfiring. Now might be a good time to take her into custody to face her crimes against the Well.”
Clarke leaned her hip on the counter and folded her arms, looking at the swirling whirlpool with trepidation. “Varen’s psychic visions are no longer reliable. Fae are immortal… but now everything is messed up. Who knows what will happen?”
“I refuse to let this world die because of a mad queen’s selfishness.” The taint was Maebh’s fault. She started it when she created her unnatural pet.
Clarke sucked in a deep breath and then exhaled. “I’m not a book-smart woman like Violet. But I am a survivor, and I agree. We can still save this world.” Her gaze slid to Leaf’s and held. “Did you ever stop to think this is why the Well paired old-world women with powerful protectors in the new world? Think about it. We know how to live without magic, while you Guardians have no idea what it’s like. But you know Elphyne.”
