Rook thought about how to respond. Obviously, she couldn’t tell Dozana about Heath, but she had to give her some believable story.
So Rook clenched her jaw and fixed a look of sullen anger on her face. It wasn’t hard to do. She just summoned all the rage she’d ever felt at the constables and the Red Watchers and let it show on her face. “I did escape the Wasteland, and I tried to get the constables to help me,” she said, putting a bitter edge in her voice. “They thought I was lying. Then they tried to capture me. I barely escaped.”
“So you managed to get across the red heartstone wall all on your own?” Dozana’s brows rose in surprise and suspicion.
Rook shook her head. “I used my magic,” she said. “You were right. It’s stronger now, strong enough to get through the inner wall. But it didn’t matter. No one would help an exile.”
Rook had no idea if Dozana would believe the story, but her friends seemed to take her words at face value. Drift’s face fell in disappointment and sorrow. Fox tugged at strands of his wild red hair, a look of misery pinching his freckled face. Rook hated lying to them, but an idea was beginning to take shape in her head, one that required her to be patient and sly. She had no intention of trying to open the portal to Vora, but if she could get Dozana to believe that she would, that she had come around to her way of thinking, maybe the woman would drop her guard long enough for the three of them to escape.
Dozana’s lips twisted into a sneer. “I’m not surprised the constables tried to capture you,” she said. “Do you understand now, Rook? I’m trying to help you and the other exiles. I’m the only one who wants to help you.”
“Yes, I understand,” Rook said, keeping her voice steady and her eyes on Dozana. “If no one cares what happens to us, then I don’t care what happens to them.” She took a deep breath. “I want to try to open the portal.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Drift exploded.
“You can’t mean that!” She grabbed Rook’s shoulders and actually shook her. For a moment, Rook was too shocked to do anything. Fox backed away from the shouts and anger. He crouched on the ground and, with a shudder, managed to transform back into his animal form.
Seeing that and her friend’s angry face almost broke Rook’s resolve. But she forced herself to put on a cold expression, to turn her heart to stone.
“This is the only way, Drift,” she said. “I want to go home.”
“But we have a home!” Drift insisted. “We were happy there!”
Rook steeled herself. She knew what she had to say. Dozana had to believe that there was nothing Rook wanted more than to go back to Vora, that it was all she cared about now. She just hoped that Drift would be able to forgive her later, if they made it out of this.
“Maybe you were happy,” she said, forcing her voice to go flat. “But that was never my home…and you were never my family.”
Silence fell. The only sounds were the swirling water and the wind rattling the dead tree branches. Drift let go of Rook’s shoulders and staggered back, her eyes wide and anguished.
“You…you don’t…” She shook her head, but the words had already been said. There was no taking them back.
And in that moment, as Rook lied to her dearest friend, she found the truth inside herself. It didn’t matter what world she lived in, as long as she had Drift. She and Fox were every bit of home she ever needed. She could let go of the dream of getting back to Vora—for them.
“That’s enough,” Dozana cut in. “Rook’s made her choice, and we need to get going.”
Drift didn’t respond. She wasn’t even looking at Dozana—or Rook—anymore. She retreated from all of them, sinking to her knees beside Fox, who butted his head against her hand until she wrapped an arm around him.
“Do you have a plan?” Rook asked Dozana, eyeing the lake and the deadly whirlpool at its center. Along the lakeshore there were pilings sticking up at odd angles from the water, and the broken remnants of a dock. Two lonely boats were still moored there, but Rook didn’t think they would survive the deadly current at the lake’s center.
“There’s enough space for two people to stand on the left pillar of the portal arch,” Dozana said. “Drift, you’ll fly Rook over there so she can draw a door on its surface. That’s all it should take to—”
A bark of laughter interrupted her speech. Dozana and Rook turned to see Drift, still sitting next to Fox, her arms crossed, her mouth set in a stubborn line.
“Something funny, Daughter?” Dozana asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Stop calling me that,” Drift snapped, meeting the woman’s gaze defiantly. “You really believe I’m going to fly Rook to the center of the lake so she can draw a door on the stones and blow us all up? You may as well think up a different plan, because that’s never going to happen.”
“Oh no?” Dozana’s voice was dangerously calm. It was clear that her patience with Drift’s rebelliousness had run out. “You don’t think I can convince you to help me?”
“Drift—” Rook warned, but before she could finish, Fox let out a pained whimper and fell prone on the ground. He managed to stay in his fox form, but he curled up into a tight ball. Rook hadn’t even realized Dozana had used her power until she saw Fox fall.
“Stop it!” Drift shouted, leaping to her feet. “You leave him alone or I swear you’ll regret it!”
“You’re the one responsible for this,” Dozana said. “Every second you fight me and behave like a child, your friend gets weaker and weaker under my power. Do you really want to keep seeing him suffer?” She glanced down at Fox, and there was no remorse, no pity in her eyes. Fox whined again, and Rook put her hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing.
Drift’s face twisted in anger and fear. “Stop hurting him,” she said, and her voice had changed. She was begging now. “He’s one of your own people. He’s a little boy!”
“You have the power to end this,” Dozana said, gesturing to the remains of the portal arch. “Make your choice, Drift. Once and for all.”
“Drift,” Rook said, reaching out to her. “Please. Just do as she says.”
Drift looked at Fox, at the pain in his amber eyes, and a tear slid down her cheek. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“You win,” she whispered. She wiped her face. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Thank you,” Dozana said, and she must have released her power, for Fox climbed shakily back to all fours. “Now, you’re going to fly Rook out to the pillar. If either of you tries to escape—if you try to fly anywhere except straight out to those stones—I will drain Fox’s power until there’s nothing left of him but an empty shell. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Drift said, her face pale.
Rook nodded. “We won’t try anything.”
She and Drift walked to the edge of the lakeshore. Rook felt the weight of Dozana’s presence behind them, and the idea of leaving her there on the shore standing next to Fox made Rook dizzy with fear. But she had no choice.
She stared across the lake’s expanse to the ruins of the portal arch, two lonely pillars rising from the middle of the lake. Dozana was right—there was barely enough room for two people to stand on the stones. If they fell, the whirlpool would almost surely take them.
And that gave Rook an idea for how they could escape Dozana. A terrible, reckless idea that had an excellent chance of getting her killed.
Or it might save them all.
Pushing back her fear, Rook turned to Drift. “Are you ready?” she asked, but Drift didn’t reply. She was staring out at the dark lake, the fierce whirlpool lit by the animus shining in the trees. “Drift,” Rook prodded. “We have to go.”
“Whatever you say,” Drift said, her voice flat and empty. She put her arms around Rook’s waist, and a gust of wind plucked them from the shore and into the air. In seconds, they we
re flying over the churning water.
When they were out of earshot of Dozana, Rook cleared her throat nervously. Before she did anything else, she had to earn back Drift’s trust, if that was still possible.
“Drift,” she said, angling her head so her friend could hear her. “I know you’re furious with me, but you have to listen. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of what I said. You were right all along. I should never have listened to Dozana and— Oh!”
She faltered as the wind died, and they dipped sharply toward the water. Drift gasped, and her hands tightened around Rook’s waist. The wind surged upward, so fierce it left Rook’s eyes watering, but it did the trick. They were rising again, safely above the moving current at the edge of the whirlpool.
“Are you all right?” Rook asked, her voice squeaky with panic. “Drift, say something!”
“I’m…I’m okay,” Drift replied.
And then Rook felt Drift lay her forehead against her shoulder. There was a pause as moisture soaked through Rook’s shirt.
Tears.
“I was so…so scared,” Drift sobbed. “I thought you might be lying, but you looked so serious, it was like…oh, Rook, it was like I didn’t know you anymore.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rook said, close to crying herself. “I know I’m not easy to live with. I get scared, I don’t talk to you when I should, but you never complain. You’re there no matter what. You were right. I’ve been so busy trying to find a way back home that I didn’t notice we were already making a good home in this world. I didn’t realize how important it was until I went through that trapdoor and left you and Fox behind. Which I’m never doing again, by the way. Ever. Don’t even ask.”
Drift chuckled. “All right,” she said. “I won’t even think it.”
“Good,” Rook said. “I want to talk more about this later, but we’re almost to the pillar, and we need to go over the rest of the plan.”
“So there is a plan?” Drift asked, lifting her head. “That’s amazing news.”
“It’s a work in progress,” Rook said. “The first part was getting you to be my friend again.”
“I will always be your friend,” Drift said fiercely.
“So that part’s a success,” Rook said, sniffling and blinking back tears. Drift’s words gave her strength, buoying her as much as the wind that carried them. “The second part is to get a message to Fox so that he knows what we’re about to do.”
“But what do we do about Dozana?” Drift asked. “Her magic is getting stronger and stronger.”
Rook glanced back at the shore and saw with a sinking feeling that Drift was right. The same red light that was in the trees overhead was now surrounding Dozana like a halo, as if animus were flowing directly into her body. Was it too late to stop her? Was she asking too much of Fox and Drift? For her plan to work, they would have to put their lives in her hands and their complete trust in her magic. And for Rook, it meant believing in her power with everything she had inside her.
“Tell me,” Drift prompted her, tightening her grip on Rook’s waist in a reassuring hug. “Whatever it is, we’ll do it. We believe in you.”
Rook closed her eyes and let the hug give her courage. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, I have a long story to tell you, but there’s a short version. It starts with paper birds.”
ROOK FINISHED EXPLAINING HER PLAN just as their feet touched down on the slick stones of the left pillar of the portal arch. They took a moment to steady themselves before Drift’s wind died away. Oily spray from the whirlpool splashed the stones, and soon she and Drift were drenched. Rook shivered and looked around. The view was even more frightening than she’d imagined while standing on the shore.
The pillars stood roughly sixty feet apart, with the center of the whirlpool between them. The churning water moved so fast that Rook couldn’t stare at it for long without feeling dizzy. The stones they stood on were narrow and cracked, the only remnants of the portal that had once brought wizards into the world of Talhaven. Rook marveled that they’d managed to hold up this long.
In the distance, Fox and Dozana stood on the shore, watching them. From this far away, it was impossible to read Dozana’s expression, but Rook didn’t think she suspected anything. Yet.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” Rook said quietly.
Drift nodded. Her short blond hair was plastered to her head. “Nothing’s been easy so far,” she said with a smile. “Why start now?” But then her expression grew serious. “How will you know if Fox has gotten your message?”
“He’ll give me a signal,” Rook said, squaring her shoulders. The only thing left to do was try to summon the magic. “Here we go.”
Closing her eyes, feeling Drift’s reassuring presence next to her, Rook focused on the visions she’d seen when passing between the doors. This time, she added a few changes. Instead of picturing a paper bird, she went in reverse. She called up a blank piece of paper, and in her mind, she composed a short note in the same style she and Fox had used in their own world. She wished she remembered more about where she’d learned the magic, but there wasn’t time.
Fox,
Don’t be scared when you get this. It’s just me, Rook. I think when you read this you’ll remember—at least, I hope you will. How we used to pass mental messages back and forth when we should have been doing our lessons. How we decided to make them birds because it was easier to send the message by picturing them flying through the air. All this time, I never knew I had a brother, but I think you felt our connection somehow. That’s why you came through that door to find me. You were starting to remember before I was, when you took those pages out of Drift’s sketchbook and made them into birds. I think they were still in your mind somewhere, waiting. I hope so, because you getting this message is the only way we’re going to be able to escape Dozana.
In a few minutes, you’re going to see something that’ll frighten you. Don’t be afraid. Dozana will be scared, though, and angry, and I’m hoping that what she sees will make her come out on the lake with you in one of the boats. When you’re close enough, I’ll give the signal, and then you need to jump. Jump, and trust me, little brother. When this is all over, I can’t wait to meet you again.
Your sister,
Rook
P.S. I almost forgot! If you can hear this message, jump up and down a few times so that I know.
In her mind, Rook folded the message up into the shape of a soaring eagle. Concentrating, she sent it flying across the lake to Fox.
Rook opened her eyes and found Drift holding on to her shoulder, keeping her steady on the slick stones.
“Everything all right?” Drift asked.
“We’ll see,” Rook said. She returned her gaze to the shoreline, watching Fox for some sign that he’d received her mental message. “Come on,” she murmured. “Come on, Fox. I know you can hear me. Please.”
And then, just when she thought the magic wasn’t going to work, Fox leaped straight up into the air. He landed, crouched, turned in a tight circle and jumped again as if he could barely contain himself. Dozana was too absorbed watching the red light gather around her to notice his excitement.
Rook’s heart was full. Well done, little brother, she thought. Well done.
“I think he got the message,” Drift said, squeezing Rook’s shoulder. “Now it’s our turn.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Rook asked.
Unexpectedly, Drift grinned. “Everything’s going to be fine,” she said. “Clear skies and smooth strides.”
No sooner had she spoken than shouts sounded from across the lake. Rook looked up in alarm to see a dozen armed constables charging the lakeshore toward Dozana and Fox. Captain Hardwick led them. Somehow, he’d escaped Dozana’s trap and gone to get help, or maybe he’d been rescued by the other constables when they’d sent out a search party.
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“You’re surrounded, Dozana!” the captain shouted. “You can’t use your power on all of us at once. Surrender now and you won’t be hurt!”
For a moment, no one moved. Rook held her breath. Her gaze went to Fox, standing in the middle of all the chaos. He was exposed and vulnerable, just like he’d been that day in the alley when the constables had drawn their pistols. Rook grabbed Drift’s hand for comfort, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the shore.
Dozana raised her hands. For an instant, Rook thought she was going to surrender, that it was all over.
But then she swept her arm toward the group of constables, and a line of red energy exploded from her hand. The magic slammed into Hardwick and the men and women lined up on the shore, blasting them off their feet. They landed on the ground at least ten feet back from where they’d been standing.
None of them moved.
Rook covered her mouth with a trembling hand. Drift had been right. Dozana was so much stronger now. She’d dealt with the constables as if they were nothing more threatening than ants.
Dozana calmly turned toward the lake. She raised her arms above her head and a crack of thunder split the air, making Drift jump and cover her ears.
“What’s happening?” Rook shouted, but Dozana wasn’t looking at her. Her attention was on the floating forest. The wild animus swirled in the trees, flowing upward to form a red river of magic that cut across the sky in front of the portal ruins.
Dozana clasped her hands together, and a smaller thread of red light flowed from her body, rising to join the stream. The two sources of magic crackled as they came together, showering the lake with red sparks that hissed when they hit the water.
Rook’s skin tingled, the hairs on her arms and neck standing up. She watched the light stream from Dozana’s hands, and with a growing horror, she understood.
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