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“I…” His brows knitted together. “I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t feel good,” he snapped, growing irritated.
“Why?”
“Are you a precocious child now?”
She smirked, stepped up to him, and stroked his collar. “Sometimes repeating that one word is the only way to get to the root of your troubles. So, my love, why doesn’t it feel good?”
His temper flared. The basket creaked under his grip. She sensed he considered ignoring her but finally answered, “It doesn’t feel good because it never has, and I don’t know why. Not knowing why drives me insane.”
“I can tell you why,” she replied softly, taking his hand. “I’m going to remember a few things about Jace. Will you let me share those memories?”
He tried to tug his hand away, but she held on tighter.
“You say you don’t want to know anything about your old life, but you must. Or you’ll never understand why you do the things you do.”
“What are you going to show me?”
“Nothing traumatic.”
“I don’t see how this will help.”
She closed her eyes and conjured memories from her childhood. The first was that day he’d moved in. She’d watched his family unload the car for hours, trying to pluck up the courage to go and speak with him. But she witnessed Jace’s father growling at him multiple times. It was always about something not done quite right. Whether the boxing tape was ripped off, him being too rough with a delicate box, or unpacking from the wrong section. Then she shifted her memories to the future when he’d run track at school and how he had to be first because his father used to be the school champion. Then she remembered his father berating Jace for his hairstyle and surfing hobby, calling him a bum. Then it was an argument about Jace’s grades and a lecture about him needing to be better if he wanted to take over the company—an oil company that made more money every quarter. Finally, she remembered the day Jace told her he was being sent to a boarding school.
“Why?” she’d asked back then.
“Because it’s my duty,” he’d replied. “I can’t learn to be the best at a public school… or in this neighborhood, apparently. They’re moving, too.”
Nova let go of Leaf’s hand and opened her eyes. He blinked, and his frown deepened. She wasn’t sure what response she wanted, but he didn’t give it. He collected her furled cape from the stone bench and gestured for her to follow him. “Let’s eat.”
Sighing, she followed him down a narrow stairwell inside the temple. She didn’t realize this access was here because the temple stood on a small, solid hill with steps outside. It reminded her of a monastery temple in Tibet when she’d first arrived. But it was like a pyramid with a labyrinth of secrets. It became darker as they descended the musty stairwell until only bioluminescent moss lit the way. Water dripped and smelled like sulfur. Every so often, the stairwell broke into an offshoot corridor leading to a room full of ancient artifacts.
She wanted to explore, but Leaf continued ahead without pausing. Natural light grew brighter near the ground level, revealing a mosaic mural on the walls. She paused to run her fingers along the bumpy surface.
“This is you,” she murmured, surprised.
Leaf’s gaze dipped to the wall, and he frowned. “I never stopped to study it before, but I suppose it is. There’s something similar at the academy.”
Nova stood back and swept her gaze from start to finish. “No, the one in the academy is different. Look—that panel has you with human ears.”
Leaf walked to where Nova had pointed. “It’s my life… all of it.”
“If it’s down here, then maybe it’s not meant for everyone’s eyes.”
“Hmm. No one comes this way.” He ran his fingers over the bumpy tiles as he walked. “It starts with snow falling in a desert—the start of the Nuclear Winter. Then here… with a woman by a fountain.” He glanced at Nova and then back to the mural. “It’s you.”
Nova’s eyes widened, and she hurried to his side. It was a scene depicting their reunion in Vegas. Well, not the intimate parts. But a representation of their love. She smiled as tears gathered in her eyes.
Her throat closed when she saw the next scene. Jackson—Jace—had grown sick. He crawled alone through the snow under the light of a shining star. But on closer inspection, he was joined to the star like a balloon. When the sun shone again, he stood tall but with pointed ears. He met Maebh and Aleksandra. He heard the Well whispering and went into the lake despite them trying to hold him back. He did all this still with that star attached to his hand by a piece of string.
When he emerged, he had the blue Guardian mark and held a set of scales. They were evenly weighted with one dark drop and a light drop. It was the logo on every Guardian and Mage uniform. They followed the story as Jackson helped found the Order of the Well. But as he did, Aleksandra moved closer to him and further from Maebh. Maebh eventually left and took many others with her.
They reached the end of the corridor and the last mosaic panel, where he cut the string to his star and entered the lake alone. Watching from a dark obsidian palace on the opposite wall was Maebh under the moonlight. Nova’s gaze darted between the two murals, between day and night.
Leaf stared hard at the panel with Aleksandra facing the lake, holding the book, and with her back to Maebh. He crouched and touched her white feathers and blue dress. In the rest of the panels, she’d worn cream.
