My eyes had narrowed while Callan’s face was firmly on the road ahead. A lock of loose hair played near his forehead, and his skin was even more tan from the day in the sun. His tattoos shimmered on his forearms as one hand rested on the steering wheel.But even his current state wasn’t going to distract me fromthisconversation.
“What did you sprinkle in our dinner? And what does that have to do with us remembering the location?”
“Just a simple, enhanced herb recipe that impacts short-term memory. The effects were undone with the toast we offered you all.”
“You’re kidding.”
Callan shook his head.
“That’s a little scary. I’m not sure I trust you and Kaito with theVanished Compendium.”
Callan laughed and put his hands up. “Hey, we didn’t create the rules.”
“And who did?”
“Those who founded the Root and Vine Society.”
I broached what I’d been thinking about since our conversation at Castle Crags. “Are your parents part of the faction looking for theVanished Compendium?”
Callan rolled his neck as if he had a stitch in it and nodded.
“So going for the book first… it means going against them. How about Hollis? Where do his parents stand?”
“Their views align with my parents. Consolidate power within affinity groups, bonus points if it means more power for the founders’ descendants. Hollis is as angry about it as I am. His family might be even more controlling than my parents are, if you can imagine that.”
That drew my eyebrows up. It was difficult to imagine boisterous, easygoing Hollis with domineering parents.
“So you two are like the protectors of all that is good?” I asked.
Callan barked out a laugh, and I smiled, the tension broken. “Sure, if you want to call it that.”
“Oh, I definitely want to call it that. Just maybe not in public. And if you’re a protector, I want in.”
Callan studied me, his eyes roving over my face as if searchingfor any sign that I hadn’t meant what I said. “Going against them could be dangerous.”
“Then why’d you invite me into the Root and Vine Society?”
“Because I had a feeling if I tried to keep it from you, you’d end up finding out and worming your way in anyway.”
“Hey!” I mocked offense. “No need to insult the worms. They’re good for the soil. But thank you. I appreciate you looping me in, even if that wasn’t your first instinct.”
“My first instinct is always to have you around, local. I can count on you to keep things interesting.” He glanced my way again, and his eyes locked on mine for a moment before returning to the road.
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up protectingyoufrom the scary elites. You and Hollis are inside men, which is good to have, but a fresh perspective never hurt a cause.”
“That’s true. Just remember, being a protector—as you call it—isn’t all fun and games. Having theVanished Compendiumfall into the wrong hands could be very, very dangerous. And trying to stop it from falling into those hands… That could be dangerous too.”
I studied him as I rubbed my hands together, not having expected such an honest answer. The tension in the firm set of his jaw was contagious, and I rolled my shoulders back and pressed my head against the headrest.
“Then if this bookdoesstill exist, I guess we’re just going to have to be the ones to find it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“When do you think you’ll get your first call out to the coast?” Yasmin asked Aurielle as we topped off our evening tea.
“Hopefully soon. I’m ready to find out whether I’m going to love it or hate it. I wonder how things are going for Coral,” Aurielle said.
Coral was away on her second field studies mission already, studying ferns alongside a secluded section of river deep in the woods outside of campus.
