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“Does anyone else…do they know…”
“About me?” She lifts her chin an inch. “No. And I’d like to keep it that way. Now are you going to trust me or not?”
A million other questions are on the tip of my tongue, but I know this isn’t the time or place.
Has she always been a halfling, or did it manifest later in her life like it did for me? Is her magic limited to the Sight? How could she possibly have flown under the radar with her position? Was anyone else in her family like her?
Does she know thatI’mlike her?
I don’t think she does. There’s too much nervousness in the way she looks at me. Maybe it would help her feel like she could trust me with this if I told her, but in the end, I find myself only nodding.
“Good.” Her gaze darts back and forth, but we’re still alone. “There was one other thing I saw. But I don’t know what it means.”
“What did you see, Anya?”
She chews on her lip, her eyes unfocused as if she’s seeing it in her head again, and for all I know, maybe she is. “I can’t make anything out. It’s dark and murky. But I saw this glimpse of your face. And your sister’s.”
“Adrienne?” I ask, my voice spiking up an octave.
She shakes her head. “The other one.”
Calla.
“I just…I feel like I should tell you to be careful. I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you more.” She looks around again and lowers her voice. “I don’t see things often, Valerie. So when I do, I know they’re important. I just thought you should know.”
I search her face, and maybe I’m a fool to trust the sincerity there, but I do. “I need to go see Adrienne,” I murmur.
She nods and steps back to let me pass, but I pause at the corner and look at her over my shoulder. “Did you see anything else?”
She hesitates, and I know immediately when she shakes her head that she’s lying.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Adrienne’salready well into packing her bags by the time I make it to the room. Her shoulders tense as I step through the door, but she doesn’t look up as I cross my arms and lean against the opposite wall.
She looks older somehow. Maybe she has for a while. I guess some people get frozen in your head at a certain age, and she’s always been twelve or thirteen to me. The age she was before Calla disappeared and everything about our family changed.
She zips the bag closed and sighs when it becomes clear I’m not going to speak first. “If you’re here to try and talk me out of it…”
“He’ll try to charm you.”
She stands up straighter, her brows pulling together as she finally looks at me. “Cam?”
“No, Westcott. He’ll act like the doting father, full of warm stories and apologies. He’ll try to lure you in. And Calliope…” I shake my head. I don’t know if it’s worth bringing up Anya’s warning, but without any context or details, I’m not sure how much good it’ll do. “She’s fallen for it. You can’t trust her either, not like you used to. I honestly don’t know with Mom. But you can trust Cam.”
“You don’t have to worry,” she says quietly. “I know what they’ve done. Nothing they say would make me forget that.”
“For the record, I hate this plan.”
“I know.” She gives me a humorless smile. “I know you think of me as a little kid, but I can handle this, Valerie. I promise. You just focus on getting everything ready over here.”
Maybe that’s why I’m not fighting harder to keep her from leaving. The only thing worse than sending her off would be to keep her here, to have her involved in what I’m about to do.
“That tracing spell you put on me…how does it work? Can you show me how to do it so I’ll know you’re okay?”
“Sure. It’s easier to bind it to an object.” I follow her gaze to my ring, or where it used to be. She blinks, confused at my bare finger—I usually never take the damn thing off—but that quickly clears as she notices what’s on my ring finger.
“When were you planning on telling methis?” she demands as she crosses the room.
