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I didn’t think the entirety of the situation had hit me yet. Even though I understood Knox’s words, I couldn’t feel the gravity of them. Maybe it was because I had spent the better half of my life knowing someone out there wanted me dead, but as the faces around the room gazed at me with concern, I barely felt it for myself. There were no flutters in my stomach, hairs raised on my arms, no shiver racing up my spine. All the normal reactions were lacking and all I could feel was the worry for those around me. Because even if we made sureIwasn’t chosen, I knew several of the people in this room would be. And I didn’t want to lose them.
“What’s the plan for not having her chosen? Even though she’s new to her powers she’s learning quickly. And after what she did to the Hunters, there’s no doubting the extent of her power.” Wilder questioned, his usual snark lacking. In fact, it seemed he was almost impressed with me. “I mean I get that we’re apparently all on team protect the princess, but we can’t control the Guard’s choice.”
Apparently, I spoke too soon. Rolling my eyes, I once again wondered what Wilder was doing here. Besides the fact we both saved each other, the only other things we had between the two of us was aggravation and a frustrating sexual tension. At least, I assumed that’s what was often mingling between the two of us when our anger got the best of us.
“If you don’t want to be here, you can leave. All I ask is that you keep the information to yourself.” Knox responded and the rest of the group nodded in agreement. It was clear none of us were too fond of Wilder and nobody knew exactly what his interest in the situation was. It sure as hell wasn’t me.
Pushing off the door, Wilder walked further into the room and sat on the couch with Madden and Eli, cementing that he wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t offer a further explanation for his choice, so Knox continued.
“During training, Halley just needs to make sure she sucks. We don’t need to do anything fancy. If she isn’t good at anything, they can’t possibly explain why she would be chosen. And thankfully, no one besides a few stunned students fully saw what Halley did to the Hunters. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure any of usknowwhat she did to the Hunters. As long as we keep that under wraps and she purposely messes up, that part of the plan should be easy enough.”
Huh. That was simple. Physically, I knew I wasn’t in the best shape, so being bad at that wouldn’t be too difficult. And although everyone else in the room seemed to think I was mastering my powers; I knew that was far from the truth. I still struggled with mastering simple enchantments, and I couldn’t even remember what I did during the attack. All I knew was that immense emotion was running through my veins and it heightened my powers. I figured that pretending to suck during training would be less pretending and more actuality.
“And what about your other part of the plan? The whole, Halley being our only hope thing. I know you think the prophecy is the answer Knox, but no one’s been able to find it. I don’t think there would be much chance of the seven of us finding it.” Eli stated and I wondered if we should all be doubting that part of the plan. Eli was the optimist of this weird group and if he didn’t think it was possible, I wasn’t sure I did either.
“Like Halley suggested, we look into her and her mother’s past. I’ve never searched into a deceased Divine’s past before, but I assume with the right memory from Halley I could get a hold onto her mother’s past.” Knox responded with a shrug.
It wasn’t much of a plan, but I guess it was all we had. There weren’t many options here and if the Council truly had the plan to keep us all on the human realm for centuries to come, we needed to try. I truly believed that if we continued to stay here, the Hunters would eventually kill all of us off. Or the Council.
“When do we start?” I asked, the dread missing from earlier finally sinking into my bones. As much as I ached to learn more about my mother’s past, I knew this would be painful. Remembering her felt like picking open a scab, soothing at first and yet hurting moments later. And I knew that learning about what she hid from me would feel like a stab in the heart. And yet, I knew it needed to be done. If not for me, for the people surrounding me.
“We start now.”
Chapter Thirteen
Wilder
If someone would have told me a few months ago that I would be sitting on a couch in the Enchanter’s dorm, sitting between the grumpy asshole and the smiling asshole, I would have laughed in their face. And yet, here I was. I had been given an out, although Knox had asked me here earlier, it was clear everyone was fine with me leaving. And maybe I should have left. I had no real connection to anyone in this room and yet I couldn’t do it. I convinced myself that I simply wanted to watch the Council get taken down. That I wanted the future Knox was setting up, one where we could all go back home. And yet, the nagging voice in the back of my head told me it had more to do with the girl currently sitting on the floor in front of Knox. The fucking princess who was clearly tying us all up in knots.
“Is this going to hurt her?” Eli asked from his perch next to me, his eyes filled with worry. Madden grunted on my other side, clearly concerned of this as well.
I couldn’t deny I also wondered how this would affect her. Knox wasn’t simply searching through Halley’s past, which felt like a subtle pressure when a Seer delved into your mind, but he was searching for a dead person. To be honest, I wondered if he could even do it. Or if he had any idea how.
Knox, who sat on the rug in front of Halley shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never done this before or even know if it’s possible. Right now, we’re all working on instincts. But if it’s physically painful, Halley knows to speak up.”
I didn’t miss how Knox pointed out only the physical pain. As someone who lost a parent, I knew there would be nothing emotionally appealing about remembering the one you lost. Especially when you lost them in a tragic way.
The room fell into silence as Knox and Halley both closed their eyes. Knox had instructed Halley to think of a strong memory of her mom, something that would give Knox a clear view on her mother. Halley had quickly told us that she had a memory, obviously something she had thought about before. I knew from experience that certain memories were easily replayed more often than others.
Knox gently placed his hands on Halley’s knees, his large stature encompassing her. At the moment, she looked so fragile, I wondered how she had survived so long on her own. Clearly, there was more fight in her than I gave her credit for since coming to Willow Grove.
The rest of us sat with bated breath, waiting for something, yet none of us knew what. It seemed to go on for hours, none of us moving, when tears began slowly rolling down Halley’s face. Eli immediately stood up, aiming to comfort her, but I pushed him back down. She wasn’t crying because of physical pain, and she needed to do this. Eli glared at me, but I stared right back, keeping him down. This wasn’t the time to intervene.
However, as Halley’s breaths became erratic and the tears started streaming harder, on the verge of sobs, a tightness formed in my chest. Looking towards Eli, I felt the push of his power surrounding all of us in the room. Clearly, seeing Halley in pain was snapping his control, and his own sadness was pushing onto us all. As Eli’s power pushed against my chest, my own mind transported back to when I was in the same position as Halley, sobbing on my knees as I learned my dad, my best friend, was murdered.
Standing up, I flashed out of the dorm and towards my own, needing a reprieve. I pushed the memories of Dad away as best I could, refusing to feel the grief that had almost pulled me under all those years ago. Arriving in my room moments later, I collapsed onto my bed, my own breathing heavy as the memories of Dad peppered through my brain. I couldn’t contain the sadness I felt, even with the distance from Eli, and when the lone tear fell, I wondered if Dad were still here, if he would tell me he was proud of the man I was. I feared I knew the answer.
Chapter Fourteen
Knox
Sadness and grief encompassed me. I knew the grief came from Halley’s past vision, although a happy memory, her own emotions were tinged with the knowledge that she would never have a moment like this with her mother again. The sadness, however, came from Eli, the familiar pressure of his power against my own. I knew Eli cared for Halley and clearly whatever outward reaction she was having caused Eli one of his own. However, I felt on the cusp of discovering something new, and so I pushed my own sadness to the back of my mind, focusing on the vision in my mind.
A young Halley sat on the couch, her cheeks round with youth and red ringlets falling to only the top of her shoulders. An older woman, identical to Halley except for with strawberry blonde hair, snuggled under a blanket with Halley. The two of them were watching something on the television, but the screen was blurred, clearly not important to the memory.
“Mommy, the girl on the tv said she was named after her grandma. Am I named after my grandma?” Halley asked, her voice filled with softness and happiness, so different from the woman now.
The woman tugged on Halley’s curls and then held her face in her hands, a smile lining her lips mirroring Halley’s.
