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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?”
