“Exactly.”
“But that means… Wait. The shield…” His brain was going to the same place mine had only moments before.
“We know it was done by someone with a tree affinity, which we can assume Alex has since he was at the tree conservatory. You don’t… know him, do you?” I wasn’t sure where the question came from, but it felt like Callan was connected to everyone in the magical botanist world. That this could catch him off guard made me even more uneasy.
Callan shook his head. “There are thousands of people with tree affinities, and I’ve mostly been part of the circle of founders’ descendants and their allies.” His tone was terse.
“Alex never let on that he was a magical botanist or knew about… any of this. That can’t be a coincidence.” I tried to search my brain for every conversation I’d ever had with him, wondering if I had given anything away about the academy.
“No, not a coincidence,” Callan agreed.
My mind ran through my interactions with Alex as we hurried along the forested path. “Was that why he befriended me, or was that just chance? And why is he attending SCC and not Evergreen Academy? Wait. Do you think he is even college-aged? And what about…” My hand flew to my mouth.
“What is it?” Callan asked, a hint of alarm in his voice.
“Maci! She and Alex are dating, remember? What if…” I could barely stomach the thought. “What if he has an agenda for being with her?”
Callan winced, but when he spoke his voice was calm, steady. “I think we need to assume that’s the case. I don’t see any reason a magical botanist who knows about their powers would beattending SCC and not Evergreen Academy. Since Alex was at the tree conservatory, he is obviously plugged into the community.”
I blew out a breath. “This is bad, Callan.”
“We will talk to Professor East as soon as we get back. He may be able to get access to information about Alex—or whatever his name is.”
My face twisted as my stomach dropped even further. “You don’t think Alex is even his real name?”
“I don’t know,” Callan said, voice still too calm. “But we’ll make sure to keep Maci safe.”
“How? It’s not like I can tell her any of this.”
Callan scratched the side of his jaw, and I had a feeling he was as concerned about this new development as I was, but he was keeping a brave face for me. “Let’s not rush into anything until we talk to Professor East, okay?”
I nodded and simply said, “Okay.”
“Now, we need to get back to Meadow’s house. Hollis should be around here somewhere. Our visit here was more dangerous than I realized.”
“Can we agree not to say anything about Alex to them? I don’t know what’s going on here yet, and I think we should keep that piece of information close.”
Callan nodded. “It’s your discovery to share. I won’t say anything.”
Just then, Hollis sped toward us on the golf cart, mossy strands splaying from the front frame like bangs. He pulled to a stop. “How’d it go?”
“We’ve got good news and bad news,” Callan said. “But we need to get out of here—and quickly.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Once back at Meadow’s house, we filled her and Hollis in onalmosteverything that had happened at the tree conservatory. As I had requested, neither of us mentioned Alex. That was something we were going to have to parse out more extensively when we were alone.
“You saw Wyatt?” Meadow raised an eyebrow. “How was that?”
“About like you’d expect. You can always count on Wyatt to be in the wrong place at the right time,” Callan said.
He passed me a bowl of flour he had magically enhanced with his trailing harvester ability, and I began to whisk it together with the baking soda. I needed to let off some steam, and since I had somehow forgotten to pack any art supplies, I was resorting to my aunt’s favorite way to de-stress: baking. We had a little time before we needed to leave for the moss annual meeting, so here we were.
I listened intently, glad to let Meadow ask the questions for once. I was eager to know more about Callan’s brother and why the encounter had set him on edge.
“He still on his high horse?” Meadow asked.
Callan grunted. “You could say that.”
