I jumped at a sound behind us and turned to see Hollis opening the back door. He put his hands up. “Sorry, forgot my wallet.”
When I swiveled back around, Callan had opened his door. “We better head back too,” he said softly.
I wanted to protest, but I didn’t. Callan wasn’t the type of person you could push.
“I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Of course. We’ll talk to Professor East about Alex first thing.”
As I lay in bed that night, all the revelations of the weekend preventing me from sleeping, I had one calming thought.
Callan had told me he had the patience of trees, and he’d proven it to be true over and over again. He was protective of me, but I was getting stronger and better at using my powers by the day. We had the quill, even if we couldn’t use it to lead us to the book yet.
If I could get full access to my powers or if we could figure out how to undo the blocking spell, maybe, just maybe, he would forget about protecting me and give into the connection between us for good.
Chapter Sixty-One
The next morning, I left the campus early, before sunrise. I had formulated more protective plans for the quill as I fought sleep the night before, trying not to think about the conversation Callan and I would soon have with Professor East about Alex. The rain had ceased sometime during the night, leaving the plants in the forest a bright, vibrant green.
When I walked through the gate to leave the academy grounds, I immediately felt access to my affinity powers return and tried to draw on the strength and reassurance I felt from that as I crafted my plan.
Taking inspiration from some of the plants in the Perilous Grove, I grafted a few defense mechanisms to repel water and light, for basic protection, then imitated the mechanism of the lithops pebble plants, which appear like stones to the untrained eye.
“Instead of a quill, I’m going to make you appear as a bald eagle feather,” I whispered before murmuring a camouflaging Floracantus I had practiced with Petra. I watched in delight as the quill metamorphosed before my eyes, its grayish feather shifting to the distinctive white and black of a bald eagle. The quill tip sealed and shrunk, emerging as nothing more than a normalfeather shaft.
Satisfied with the work, I slipped the feather into my bag. As I prepared to return to campus, my phone rang. I was surprised by the caller.
“Hey, Bryce,” I answered. “Everything okay?”
“Hey, B. Sorry to bother you. Your aunt says you’re busy with studies and all of that. I just wanted to get your opinion on something.”
“It’s no problem. What’s up? How are you both?”
“It’s Vera. She’s fine—there’s nothing you need to worry about—but she is acting a little… strange.”
I chewed my lip, wondering where this was going. “Strange, how?”
“She won’t stop talking about flowers. She wanted to stop at every florist on the way to visit my brother’s family, and she’s been preparing flower arrangements and covering every spare surface in the house with bouquets.” He hesitated. “I guess I’m just wondering… do you think this might be some sort of weird post-wedding blues?”
I frowned, processing what he had said. I wasn’t sure if Bryce was prone to hyperbole, but my aunt’s actions did sound alittleunusual. “On Christmas Eve, she mentioned that I had inspired her with the flowers I did for your wedding. Has she said anything about that to you?” I asked.
“She did say she was thinking about it as a new business venture. I didn’t think it was serious, but now I’m not so sure. Have you ever seen her get obsessed with something like this before?”
“I mean, sure. She can get on little kicks. She was obsessive when she first started the bakery. There were days our kitchen was completely overrun with scraps of numerous in-the-works recipes. And she’s always maintained her patio garden. Maybe she’s just getting antsy for spring. You have a whole yard for her to landscape this year.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll indulge her. It’s not like mybrother and his wife are complaining about too many flowers in the house.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing. But if she starts to take over their house completely, maybe no more trips to the florist?”
Now Bryce laughed, audibly more relaxed than when we had first started talking. “Thanks, B. I think it’s just nervous newlywed stuff on my end. This is the first time we’ve visited my family together. It’s a big step.”
“Look at you two, doing cutesy married stuff,” I teased.
“All right, all right, I’ll let you go. Happy New Year. We’ll see you soon?”
“Of course. You two owe me dinner for getting straight A’s this fall, remember?”
We hung up, and I walked toward the academy gates. The sun was creeping over the horizon, and I stopped to watch it as the sky split orange and pink around the backdrop of Mount Shasta.