“Worth it. You’re in the big leagues now.” The excitement in Hollis’s voice was infectious.
Our school had a secret society, and I had been hand selected to be a part of it. The idea of finding a book that had been lost, possibly for centuries, had my curious mind intrigued. But more than anything, we finally had a way to fight back against unwanted changes at Evergreen Academy, and that, more than anything else, stirred a fire deep in my soul.
Chapter Twenty-One
Iwas on edge all morning after my midnight waterfall excursion, waiting for Yasmin to say that she’d heard me showering in the middle of the night, but my friends acted like it was any other day.
During our last class period, when I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I approached Callan. We were walking back to the academy from where we had been conducting soil health studies in the forest.
“Do you have some time to talk tomorrow. About… you know,” I asked in a low voice.
“I’m going to be gone all day tomorrow.”
“Is it a field studies thing?”
“No, something else.”
“Wow, real forthcoming today, aren’t you?”
Callan shook his head, but a slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “It’s a hobby. Something I do with some local friends.”
Local friends? I had no idea that Callan was friends with any of the nonmagical locals. “Since you’re not going to tell me, I’m going to imagine the most embarrassing thing possible.” I mimed a shocked expression. “Are you all going to ride unicycles together?”
“That’s harder than it looks,” Callan said, but his expression relaxed, and he ran a hand through his hair. “We’re going rock climbing.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really? Where?”
“Castle Crags. Some of the best climbing in the country.”
I could picture it. On the weekends when I was at work or at my aunt’s house, Callan had been out in the mountains, climbing rock walls. As if magical tree walking wasn’t enough, he needed to push himself to new heights in a situation where his powers weren’t in control.
My chest tightened. I had a feeling this was something Callan did when he needed an escape. When the realities of the impossible pressures his parents put on him were threatening to bubble to the surface. But I didn’t say any of that because he hadn’t said it.
“That’s pretty badass.”
“You want to come? It’s remote out there. It could be a good place to talk.”
I straightened, surprise coursing through me. “Is that a real offer?”
“Don’t think yourtutor”—he put a suggestive emphasis on the word—“could teach you how to rock climb?”
“I mean, my life wouldliterallybe in your hands, so I think that would be taking things to the next level. Don’t you?” I said it playfully, but Callan’s expression changed to something I couldn’t read, and I felt a flush creep up my chest.
But then he took a step closer. “I guess it would be. In the tutoring sense.”
“I’m in,” I said before he could change his mind.
His eyes flashed in delight. “Okay then. Set your alarm, local. We leave at five a.m.”
When the softchime of the analog alarm clock went off the next morning—well before the sun rose—I jumped out of bed. I wasn’t sure if Callan knew I was a morning person, but if he was expecting me to roll into this activity a bleary mess, he was going to be disappointed. I stopped at the teahouse to fill a travel thermos of light roast coffee.
When I made it to the parking lot, Callan was loading gear into the back of his truck. As usual, my eyes were drawn to the tattoos on his uncovered forearms, which flexed as he lifted the coiled ropes into the truck bed.
“Need any help?” I asked then took a deep drink of my coffee. There was a hint of cinnamon to it that warmed my body like a fireplace.
“No, that’s the last of it.” He eyed my travel cup. “Trouble waking up?”
“Not in the slightest,” I said brightly.
