Calla's Story E-Book

Rachel Morgan

• Herausgeber: Rachel Morgan
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Creepy Hollow
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1365

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

The magic, mystery & adventure continue, ten years later ...

When Calla Larkenwood is given the opportunity to realize her dream of becoming a guardian, she enters a world far more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. One foe is intent on bringing the Guild down for good, while another prepares for a horrifying prophesied spell that will forever change both the magic and non-magic realms. In a world where everyone keeps secrets and the line between good and bad has become blurred, how will Calla figure out whom to trust?

Join beloved Creepy Hollow characters and new heroes in this thrill ride of heart-pounding action, startling revelations, and dangerous magic, beginning ten years after the events of The Faerie War.

Includes the following THREE Creepy Hollow books:

A Faerie’s Secret

A Faerie’s Revenge

A Faerie’s Curse

____________________

THE COMPLETE CREEPY HOLLOW SERIES CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING BOOKS:

Violet's Story

1. The Faerie Guardian

2. The Faerie Prince

3. The Faerie War

Calla's Story

4. A Faerie's Secret

5. A Faerie's Revenge

6. A Faerie's Curse

Emerson's Story

7. Glass Faerie

8. Shadow Faerie

9. Rebel Faerie

Leseprobe

Calla’s Story

CREEPY HOLLOW 4, 5 & 6

RACHEL MORGAN

Creepy Hollow: Calla’s Story

By Rachel Morgan

Copyright © 2016 Rachel Morgan

A Faerie’s Secret | Copyright © 2015 Rachel Morgan

A Faerie’s Revenge | Copyright © 2015 Rachel Morgan

A Faerie’s Curse | Copyright © 2016 Rachel Morgan

Intrigue, action and romance in a glittering magical world hidden from human sight.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For more information please contact the author.

v2024.10.03

Epub ISBN: 978-0-9946953-5-2

A Faerie’s Secret

DESCRIPTION

Calla Larkenwood wants nothing more than to be a guardian, but her overprotective mother has never allowed it. Battling fae creatures is too dangerous a job for a young girl, and there’s that pesky Griffin Ability she needs to keep hidden from the Guild. How can she do that if she’s working right under their nose?

When circumstances change and Calla finally gets to follow her dream, she discovers guardian trainee life isn’t all she hoped it would be. Her classmates are distant, her mentor hates her, and keeping her ability a secret is harder than she thought.

Then an Underground initiation game goes wrong, landing Calla with a new magical ability she can’t control. She needs help—and the only way to get it is by bargaining with the guy who just discovered her biggest secret.

PartOne

ChapterOne

It’s a perfect night for a party. If only someone wasn’t about to drown.

I rise to my feet, balancing carefully on the hood of the car, and pull my right arm back until my hand is in line with my ear. I grip the throwing star between my thumb and forefinger and point my left hand at my target: the kelpie gliding through the black water toward the four girls dangling their feet off the pier.

“Not yet,” my friend Zed murmurs from somewhere behind me. “Not unless he attacks the girls. It’s illegal for you to make a move against him otherwise.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “As if we haven’t broken the law a hundred times already.”

“Hey, the only time we’re breaking the law is when we send ourselves on pretend assignments like this one. I’m sure we haven’t done a hundred of these yet.”

“True,” I say, closing one eye to better line up my hand with my target. “But you forgot about Mom’s Law.”

“Oh. Right. We’ve definitely broken your mother’s law more than a hundred times.”

My laugh is louder than I intended, but the sound is quickly lost amidst the shouting, chatting and giggling of the dozens of teens enjoying tonight’s lakeside party.

“Concentrate, Calla,” Zed says.

“Sorry.” I ignore the firelight dancing at the edge of my vision and focus on the kelpie. He was in horse form earlier when we noticed him on the other side of the lake, but he’s in human form now. Well, almost human. If I were closer, I’d be able to see the water reeds in his hair. He moves slowly, keeping close to the bank. Only his head and neck are visible above the water. As he nears the pier, he slides beneath the water and disappears. I watch the space beneath the girls’ dangling legs, waiting for the moment the kelpie explodes from the water.

I wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

The sound of boisterous laughter and breaking glass threatens to tear my attention away from the water, but I breathe slowly and keep my eyes trained on the girls’ legs. And then, so slowly that at first I think I’m imagining it, the kelpie’s head rises from the water beneath the girl closest to the bank. When his neck and shoulders are above the water’s surface, she notices him. I expect her to jerk away in surprise or start screaming, but instead she leans toward him. Is he speaking to her? Casting a spell over her? Inviting her to join him in the water? The girl nods. The kelpie extends his hand toward her. She reaches down and takes it.

I should throw my weapon now. That’s why I’m here. To stop this kelpie from dragging someone to a watery grave at the bottom of the lake. But what if that isn’t his intention? What if he isn’t tonight’s ‘bad guy’ after all? His hands are around the girl’s waist now as he helps her gently into the water. Her friends don’t seem to have a problem with it. Maybe this has happened before. Maybe he and the girl are actually friends.

“Now, Calla,” Zed says.

“But he hasn’t done anything wrong yet,” I say, my gaze still locked on the kelpie and the girl. He pulls her into an embrace, and she wraps her arms around him.

“He’s made contact. He’s revealed himself.”

“But he hasn’t hurt her or⁠—”

“He could be seconds away from⁠—”

“What if he loves her⁠—”

Without warning, the kelpie plunges beneath the water, taking the girl with him. Flailing arms and kicking legs churn the water’s surface. I can’t tell human from kelpie, and the girls are screaming, and people are running onto the pier, and the kelpie is rising up⁠—

“Now, Calla!”

This time I don’t hesitate. I snap my arm forward and release the throwing star. It spins through the air and embeds itself in the kelpie’s shoulder. He rears back, crying out in pain, and vanishes into the foaming water. The girl, now hysterical, swims with desperate, clumsy strokes toward the two boys waiting to pull her to safety. She scrambles onto the pier, and her friends crowd around her. The boys yell across the lake, challenging the prankster to show himself. But the ripples are already settling into an eery calm, and I’m sure the kelpie is far below the surface by now.

I do a front flip off the car’s hood and bend my knees as I land. I straighten and turn back to Zed to find out how I did. Sitting on the roof of the car, he blinks at me in disbelief. “What if he loves her? Are you kidding me?”

I cross my arms. “It could have been possible.”

“No.” Zed jumps down. “I keep telling you, Cal. When you’re on assignment, you have to assume the worst. You have to assume something is going to go wrong.”

I look away. “Maybe it would be easier if the assignments were genuine. That way I’d know for sure something bad was going to happen.”

“Maybe.” Zed swings an arm around my shoulders and pulls me casually against his side. “But we don’t exactly have access to genuine assignments.”

“I know,” I murmur, my mind focused more on his body pressed against mine than the words he’s saying. My imagination skips ahead and fills in what I wish would happen next. A more intimate embrace, his hands caressing my face, my fingers sliding through his turquoise-streaked blond hair, his lips touching⁠—

Stop. As always, my thoughts slam up against the imaginary wall encircling my mind. The solid, impenetrable mental barrier holding in every image my dangerous imagination conjures up. I used to have to make a conscious effort to hold the wall in place at all times, but now it’s almost automatic.

“Come on,” Zed says, his arm sliding away from my shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.” He heads between the cars, pulling a short stylus from his back pocket. Arriving at the nearest tree, he raises the stylus and writes a doorway spell onto the bark. As I reach his side, the bark ripples and melts away, revealing darkness beyond. He holds his hand out to me, and I smile as I take it. I find myself wondering, not for the first time, if he ever thinks of me the way I think of him.

I focus on my mental wall and nothing else as Zed leads us through the infinite blackness of the faerie paths. After several steps, a doorway materializes up ahead. We walk out to find early evening light bathing Woodsinger Grove in a lilac glow. I’m not sure what human time zone we were just in, but it was obviously several hours ahead of my home here in the fae realm. There, the stars were blinking in an ink blue sky beside a pale slice of the moon. Here, the clusters of pink butterfly blossoms are slowly closing their petals as the sun’s light diminishes, and glow-bugs have only just begun to appear on the trees.

I reach down, pluck a blossom from the ground, and twirl it between my fingers. “So,” I say as we walk between the trees toward the one that conceals my house, “since I’ve got all this vacation time now, could we start doing more assignments?”

“We could, if it wasn’t so difficult to find them.” Zed pushes his hands into his front pockets. “It’s not as though we’re linked to a Guild with Seers to inform us of anyone who needs rescuing. We’re basically just visiting all the areas of the human realm where I know there’s been fae activity and waiting for something bad to happen.”

“I know. I just thought maybe … don’t you have any Seer friends who could slip you an assignment here and there?”

“No. You know I don’t have any ties to the Guild anymore. And even if I did, there’s always the risk of a genuine trainee showing up. We wouldn’t want to get caught in the middle of that.”

“I guess.”

“There is another option, though.” Zed glances at me with a playful smile curling his lips. “You could mention to your mom that you’ve done all this private training and would love to join a real Guild.”

“Right. And you could mention to the Guild that you’re still alive instead of letting them think you died in The Destruction.”

He shakes his head, but the smile remains. “Private training it is, then.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Zed stops a few paces away from my tree and removes something from his back pocket. “Your birthday present. It’s a few weeks late, but at least I didn’t completely forget like last year.” He hands me a small box. “Happy seventeenth birthday.”

I drop the butterfly blossom and smile as I take the box from him. “You didn’t need to get me anything.”

“Yeah, well, I’m making up for last year.”

With nervous anticipation fluttering like sprites in my stomach, I carefully lift the lid and push it back. Sitting on the cushioned interior, attached to a gold chain, is a delicate metal lily with a pearl at its center.

“It’s a calla lily,” Zed says. “Since, you know, that’s where your name comes from. And I picked the gold one because it matches your look. The gold hair and eyes, you know.”

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe.

“So you like it? I’m usually pretty terrible with girl gifts, but I had help with this one.”

I beam at him. “I love it.”

He grins back at me with a smile I know better than my own. A smile that has the power to turn my insides to liquid. His blue-green eyes move across my face, and I wonder, yet again, if he ever feels the way I feel. With his eyes staring into mine, I can almost imagine he does. And this gift is the most thoughtful gift he’s ever given me. It must mean something.

I take a step closer to him as blood pumps faster through my veins. I’ve never been brave enough to do this before. I’ve always respected the distance our student-instructor relationship required. But I’m seventeen now. I’m basically an adult. What reason is there for me to hold back?

The nerves in my stomach give one final lurch as I rise onto my toes and press my lips against his. My eyelids slide closed. His hands grip my shoulders⁠—

But instead of pulling me closer, he pushes me a step back. “Whoa, Calla, hang on.” He shakes his head slowly, giving me a wary look.

Oh shoot. My eyes fall to the ground as embarrassment heats my face. “Um … I …”

“Look, it’s not that you aren’t … I mean, you’re beautiful. You’re an amazing girl. You’re just … so much younger than I am.”

I look up, managing to meet his gaze despite my humiliation. “There are only thirteen years between us.”

“Exactly. That’s a huge difference when⁠—”

“My mother is thirty-eight years older than my father. It makes no difference to them or anyone else.”

He hesitates, then says, “Faeries live for centuries. Decades mean nothing to us. We both know that. But when you’re still growing up, thirteen years is a significant difference.”

My gaze returns to the ground. “So you still see me as a child.”

“Well … you are still a child.”

I snap the small jewelry box shut and clench my hand around it. “I’m not a⁠—”

“I have a girlfriend,” he blurts out.

My breath catches. “What?” I whisper.

“She helped me choose your birthday present. She thought you’d really like⁠—”

“Oh my goodness.” I stride past him with my eyes still fixed on the ground. This is utterly mortifying. Of course Zed has a girlfriend. What on earth possessed me to think kissing him was a good idea? In what realm could that possibly have ended well?

“Calla, I’m really sorry,” he calls after me. “I don’t want to hurt you, I just⁠—”

“Good night, Zed,” I shout without looking back. I stop in front of my tree and bend to retrieve my stylus from my sock. Before Zed can say anything else, I scribble a doorway onto the bark and hurry inside.

I run upstairs and fall onto my bed. Throwing stars attached to the inside of my jacket poke into my chest. I sit up, pull them all out, toss them into my bedside drawer, and flop back onto the bed.

I’ll never be a real guardian.

I’ll never have their sparkling magical weapons.

I’ll never have their defining marks on my wrists.

And I’ll never have Zed.

Despite the fact that he just rejected me, my stupid brain imagines Zed finding a way into my house, coming into my room, and confessing that he doesn’t actually have a girlfriend. He loves me desperately, but there’s some other reason he thinks we can’t be together, so he made that story up.

My mental wall cracks, and, for a moment, I actually see him walking through the door into my bedroom.

“Ugh!” I squeeze my eyes shut and smack my fists against my forehead. I imagine the wall. I see the hole my crumbling emotional state has created. I push a brick into the hole. Another brick. And another. I fill up the tiny gaps with magical, imaginary cement.

When I open my eyes, Zed isn’t there.

A noise downstairs signals my mother’s return from work. Surprised, I adjust my position and pull my amber from my back pocket so I can check the time. The shiny, rectangular device is so thin I’m surprised I haven’t snapped it in half by sitting on it. It’s the latest of its kind; a birthday present from my parents. It’s compatible with all the latest social spells, but that isn’t why I wanted it. I wanted it for the art spell that allows me to draw and paint with my stylus or fingers and then transfer the image to canvas later on. It means I can create art whenever inspiration strikes, even if I don’t have a sketchbook with me.

I touch my thumb to the amber’s surface. Gold numbers swim into view. Just as I suspected, it’s too early for Mom to be home. Tuesdays are 6 pm days, so technically she’s still got twenty-three minutes of work left. And technicalities are something Mom pays great attention to.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand. Forget about Zed. Forget about secret training. Forget about how unfair it is that your brother gets to be a guardian and you don’t. I head out of my room toward the stairs, twisting a lock of golden hair around my finger. Whatever the reason for Mom’s early return from work, I’m glad it happened after I got home. She would have freaked if⁠—

I stop.

At the foot of the stairs is a man I don’t recognize. A man in a dark, hooded coat that reaches his knees. A man with a long scar marring his left cheek. A man raising a knife.

And looking directly at me.

ChapterTwo

The knife flies straight at me. I jerk to the side instinctively, and it zings past my ear. The man raises an eyebrow. “Nice reflexes,” he says. “But can you dodge this?” Red sparks sizzle through the air and strike my chest, throwing me back against the wall outside my bedroom. Momentarily stunned, I crumple onto the floor. Blinking, I look down at the singed hole in my T-shirt. If it weren’t for the protective vest I wear beneath my clothes whenever I go out with Zed, my skin would be as burned as the T-shirt.

Footsteps sound on the stairs. My heart thunders in my chest. My lungs struggle to find breath. I close my eyes, playing dead while I gather power. “You know, it’s a shame I have to get rid of you,” the man calls as he climbs the staircase. “You are exceptionally pretty. Have you been told that before?” His footsteps stop.

I crack my eyelids open and see him standing by my feet. I pull my leg back and kick his shin as hard as I can, grunting out, “Many times. Mostly by jerks like you.” I spring to my feet, throw a conjured-up splatter of paint in his face, and dash down the stairs.

His cry of pain is short and followed by a string of curse words. I reach the living room and run to the other side, hoping to make it out before the man gets downstairs. But a loud thump makes me swing around before I can open a doorway. He must have jumped from the top to the bottom in a single leap, because there he stands, his hood fallen back to reveal his smirking face.

I can’t get away, I realize suddenly. The thought is followed almost instantly by another: Why do I want to get away? I want to fight bad guys and now there’s one standing in my living room. When am I going to get another opportunity like this?

“Remember when I said I have to get rid of you?” the man says. “Unfortunately, I meant that.”

I don’t think so. Magic glitters above my palms. The sparks transform into angry, winged insects, which zoom toward the man and swarm around his head while I gather more power in my hands. I’ve only stunned someone once before, and it’s about time I tried again.

A strong gale sweeps the insects aside before I’m ready. They vanish as I duck behind a couch, a ball of magic swirling above my hands.

“You’re not what I was expecting,” the man says, sounding almost amused.

“Were you expecting to get your ass kicked?” I ask, hoping I sound more confident than I feel. “Because that’s what’s about to happen.”

He laughs. “Definitely not what I was expecting.”

I jump up and throw my hands out toward the man. But instead of stunning him, my magic hits the invisible shield I now realize is hanging in the air in front of him. Magic rebounds in all directions, sizzling one of my framed artworks, knocking an umbrella off the coat stand behind me, and smashing a glass lampshade. I drop down behind the couch again. “Shoot,” I murmur. Mom is going to flip her lid.

Footsteps approach the couch. I clench my fists as I think of how useful guardian weapons would be right now. Even a simple throwing star would help. If only I hadn’t removed every single one from my jacket less than five minutes ago. “Tired yet?” the man asks as he appears beside the couch.

I grab the fallen umbrella, hook it around his ankle, and yank. He goes down with a grunt. I jump up and bring the umbrella down fast toward his head. His hand snaps up, catches the umbrella before it strikes him, and twists it out of my grip. He throws it at me, but I duck down and it sails over my head. He rolls onto his side and pushes himself up, then kicks at me. I dodge backward and sweep my hand out toward the broken lampshade. Glass shards rise into the air and whizz toward the man. A flick of his hand turns the glass to dust. He pulls a piece of rope from the inside of his coat. Another flick, and the rope is a vine-like whip, curling toward me. I pull my arm out of the way just in time, feeling the sting of the whip’s end as it snaps against my skin.

“Missed me,” I say as I dance further out of reach.

The man lets out a breathless laugh. “Tamaria clearly didn’t know what she was talking about when she said this would be easy.” He snaps the whip once more, and flames blaze into existence along its length. “And you didn’t know what you were talking about when you said you’d kick my ass, because I’m about to wipe the floor with yours.”

Before the flames can reach me, I leap onto the back of the couch, jump into the air, somersault over the coffee table, and land on the other side. I spin around, drop down to use the coffee table as a shield—and see my mother standing in a doorway behind the man. Her features are frozen in a mask of shock.

Realizing there’s someone behind him, the man swings around. He hesitates a moment, then runs at Mom.

“No!” I jump back over the table, onto the puffy couch cushions, and launch myself at the man. I land on his back, and the two of us fall to the ground while Mom shrieks unintelligible words. He tries to elbow me, but I catch his wrist and twist his arm backward. I lean all my weight on it. He cries out and attempts to roll over, but with one arm pinned behind his back, and my body weighing him down, he can’t get enough leverage.

Still lying on top of him, I reach forward with my free hand and grasp his whip, which is an ordinary rope once again. I wrap the rope around his pinned-back arm, but when I try to get hold of his free arm, I find a knife glinting in his grip. I jerk back with a cry as he slashes blindly behind him.

“Calla!”

I look up at the sound of my father’s voice.

Taking advantage of my distraction, the man throws me off his back. He leaps to his feet, dodges the sparks Dad throws at him, and dashes across the living room. In seconds, he’s up the stairs. Dad shouts and follows after him. I jump up, all set to go after Dad, but Mom wraps her arms tightly around me and gasps, “You’re okay. You’re okay, you’re okay.” Her wispy blond hair tickles my cheek as I try to see over her shoulder and up the stairs.

“He’s gone,” Dad says, hurrying back down the staircase. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Mom asks, her shaking hands fluttering near my singed T-shirt before rising to touch my face. “He had a knife. Are you sure you’re not … and how did you …” She frowns, her yellow eyes filling with confusion. “You were fighting him. The somersault. Leaping over the couch. Tackling him and pinning him down. How did you do that?”

I bite my lip and stare at the floor. What do I say, what do I say?

Dad places a hand on my shoulder. “Calla? What’s going on?”

Realizing there’s no way out of this other than the truth, I stand straighter, lift my eyes, and look first at Dad, then at Mom. “I want to be a guardian.”

Mom lets out a half-sigh, half-whimper. “Calla, not this again⁠—”

“It’s what I want!”

“It’s too dangerous,” Mom wails. “We almost lost you once, and I won’t go through that again.”

“I already know how to fight, Mom. I’ve been training privately.”

“You’ve been what?” Dad says.

“Training. Learning how to fight. To defend myself and protect others.”

My parents stare at me, their mouths hanging open in shock. Dad recovers first. “How could you go behind our backs like this and⁠—”

“Because you refused to let me join a Guild, so training behind your back was the only other option.”

“And who exactly has been training you?” he demands.

I shake my head. There’s no way I’m getting Zed into trouble after everything he’s done for me. “It doesn’t matter, Dad. What matters is that this is what I’ve always wanted to do. Not healer school, not chef school, not art school, nor any other profession you’ve tried to force me into. The Guild. That is where I want to be.” I grab his hands and look at the pale markings on his wrists. I’ve always wanted markings like those. Not the deactivated version, of course, but the bold, black lines like those that swirl across my brother’s wrists, or Zed’s. I look up and meet Dad’s eyes. “Please, Dad. You remember what it was like before Mom made you quit. You remember what it’s like to save people, to make a difference. You remember how alive it makes you feel when you’re⁠—”

“Stop.” Mom’s commanding voice cuts me off. Most of the time, my mother comes across as annoyingly fragile. Her skinny frame, pale hair, and wide eyes make her appear weak. But beneath her usually gentle exterior is a fierce determination to keep her family safe. A fierce determination that has kept me far from the Guild all these years. “This isn’t happening, Calla,” she says firmly. “And it isn’t just about the dangerous lifestyle of a guardian. It’s about the Griffin List. You know that. We’ve managed to keep your ability a secret all this time, despite the … incidents that forced you to leave so many schools.”

My jaw clenches. We do our best never to speak of those incidents, and Mom knows that. It isn’t fair of her to bring them up.

“But if you’re working right under the Council’s nose,” Mom continues, “they’ll figure it out. You’ll wind up on that list, tagged and tracked like a criminal for the rest of your life.”

Ugh, that stupid Griffin List. It always comes back to that. With a frustrated sigh, I cross my arms. “That isn’t going to happen, Mom. I can control it now. No one else ever has to find out.”

“Find out what?” a male voice says behind me.

I spin around as my half brother steps out of a doorway on the wall. “Ryn!” I hurry across the room and fling my arms around him. I’m not sure why he’s here, but I’m glad he arrived in the middle of our argument. He usually takes my side when Mom starts getting unreasonable.

“What happened?” he asks, hugging me tightly. “Are you okay? I came out of a meeting and found a panicked message your mother sent to both me and Dad.”

“Seriously, Mom?” I turn back to glare at my mother. “I was handling it.”

“You were not⁠—”

“Did you know about the secret training your sister’s been doing behind our backs?” Dad says to Ryn.

“What secret training?”

“You should have seen her,” Mom chimes in. “Jumping on the furniture, somersaulting, twisting that man’s arm around⁠—”

“Hey!” I shout. “Can we please forget about my private training for a moment and focus on the fact that there was an intruder in our house?”

“What?” Ryn looks around at the mess, then back at me. “And you fought him?”

“Yes. He tried to kill me, but I⁠—”

“Oh dear Seelie Queen,” Mom gasps. “He was trying to kill you? And now you want me to let you out of my sight to go play around at the Guild? No. That’s not happening. Clearly someone knows what you can do, just like before when you were little, and now they’re hunting you down so they can⁠—”

“Mom,” I interrupt before she can work herself into a frantic state. “I don’t think he was after me. He said he wasn’t expecting me. He must have been here for something else, and apparently someone called Tamaria told him it would be easy.”

“Tamaria?” My mother’s pale face loses its remaining color.

“Yes. Do you know who that is?”

Mom looks at the floor as she slowly shakes her head. “No. I don’t.”

I glance at Ryn, but he’s watching my mother carefully. “Dad?” I say. “Do you know that name?”

“No. Kara, are you okay?” He takes Mom’s hand. Her wide eyes are still glued to the floor.

Mom nods, then looks up at Dad. “I was just thinking,” she says quietly, “that maybe … maybe Calla would actually be safer at the Guild.”

My jaw just about hits the floor. I lean forward. “Excuse me?”

Mom ignores me and continues speaking in low tones to Dad. I can hear every word, though. “If someone breaks in again, it would be better if Calla wasn’t here. We could move—we should move—but that won’t stop it from happening again. And maybe Calla should be learning to defend herself properly. Having such a unique Griffin Ability means there’s always a risk someone will find out about it. She’ll never be one hundred percent safe anywhere. At least at the Guild she’ll be surrounded by people who can protect her while she learns the skills to protect herself.”

I don’t bother pointing out that the whole reason for being a guardian is to protect others, not myself. In fact, I’m so dumbfounded by Mom’s sudden change of heart that I can’t say anything at all.

Dad pulls Mom to the far corner of the room and lowers his voice so I can no longer hear what they’re discussing. I’m not worried about him saying something to change her mind, though. Dad’s never been opposed to me joining the Guild. In fact, if it weren’t for Mom, he’d most likely still work there himself. He’s probably just trying to figure out why she’s suddenly changed her mind.

“Calla?” Ryn says. He turns away, motioning to the kitchen with his head. I follow him. He sits down on one side of the table, and I take a seat across from him. “Are you sure about this?” he asks.

“Sure? Of course I’m sure. This is what I’ve always wanted.” I sit back, eyeing him carefully. “Wait, I thought you were on my side.”

“I am on your side. If this is the life you want, I’m not going to stop you. I just want to make sure you know how dangerous it is.”

“Of course I know how dangerous it is. I’m the one who was locked up in a cage by a psycho Unseelie prince, remember? I’ve never felt more scared and helpless than I did back then, and I don’t ever want to feel like that again.” I lean forward. “I don’t want other people to feel like that either. I want to protect those who can’t protect themselves. And I’ve been practicing. I saved someone from a kelpie earlier.”

Ryn raises an eyebrow. “Your private training includes assignments?”

“Well, not Guild-approved assignments,” I mumble, sitting back and scratching my fingernail over the table’s surface.

“I see. Well, since I’ve been on one or two non-approved assignments myself, I don’t think there’s any reason to mention yours to the Guild.”

My lips curl into a smile. “Just one or two, huh?”

“Like I said, we don’t need to mention them.”

I cross my arms and rest them on the table. “So can you get me into the Guild? Like, with my age group?”

Ryn laughs. “Calla, you can’t just skip four years of training.”

“But I haven’t. I’ve done the training. I can fight.”

“And what about the lessons and tests and exams and all the other requirements? You have to spend a certain number of hours in the Fish Bowl, and pass a certain number of assignments each year⁠—”

“I can do that now.”

“Now?”

“Yes. All the trainees are on summer break for another two months, aren’t they? Why can’t I do all my Fish Bowl time and assignments while they’re away? Then I’ll be ready to join them when they return.”

“Calla, that’s crazy. That’s a huge amount of work.”

“But I can do it. I can manage.”

“Calla?” Dad says, pushing the kitchen door open. He looks back at Mom, who nods to him before heading up the staircase. “We’ve decided: you can join the Guild.”

ChapterThree

I finish packing another box of painting supplies just as the hand mirror on my desk begins playing music. It’s a lively melody composed by one of my friends from Ellinhart Academy. At least, we were friends before she started listening to the rumors about why I left my last school. She became distant after that, and I haven’t heard from her since summer break began.

I cross the room to my desk and see Zed’s face swimming in the mirror’s surface. Biting my lip, I consider ignoring the call. I sent him a message last night to say I no longer need his training services, but I didn’t go into detail about why. He probably thinks it’s because of the embarrassing half-kiss outside my house two days ago. The kiss that makes me want to shrivel up with mortification every time I think of it. Ignoring his call would be immature, though, and I’m supposed to be showing Zed that I’m not the child he thinks I am. I pick up the mirror and touch one finger to its surface. “Hey,” I say with a cheery smile on my face.

“Uh, hi.” In the mirror’s surface, I see him raise a hand and scratch his hair. “So, I just saw the message you sent last night.”

“Yes, um, I have good news.” I bounce onto my bed and tuck my hair behind my ear. “I’m finally joining the Guild.”

“What?” Zed’s eyebrows shoot up. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, it’s definitely happening. Well, almost definitely. Ryn’s still finding out what the exact process will be, but I’m pretty sure he can get me in. And I know how you feel about the Guild,” I add quickly, “so you don’t have to be happy for me. But I think it’s⁠—”

“Of course I’m happy for you.” A relieved smile spreads across Zed’s face. “I was thinking maybe you didn’t want to train because of … you know, what happened the other evening when⁠—”

“No, of course not.” I wave a hand and roll my eyes to show him how silly that would be. “And I’m sorry for making you feel awkward, by the way. I don’t know what came over me.”

“So … you and I … we’re okay?”

“Of course.” I give him another bright smile he hopefully can’t tell is fake. “I’m over that, don’t worry.” By ‘that’ I mean him, and by ‘over it’ I mean I’m not. But I will be soon. I’ve got way more important things to focus on now. Important things that include me getting my own guardian weapons, learning how to kick some evil ass, and uncovering dangerous Unseelie plots that threaten to destroy the fae realm. At least, that’s what I imagine guardians do once they’re fully trained.

I blink as an image of me brandishing a glittering sword while I stand victorious over a fallen foe threatens to sneak past my mental wall and broadcast itself across my bedroom. I push the thought aside as Zed says, “When will you begin?”

“I don’t know. Ryn’s still finding out details from the Council.” And hopefully those details don’t include ‘Sorry, Miss Larkenwood, we don’t accept trainees older than thirteen.’ Anxiety tightens my insides. It would be just my luck to have the Guild refuse my application after I’ve finally got Mom to allow me to join. “Anyway, I need to carry on packing.” I hold the mirror in one hand and use the other to wave a pile of sketchbooks into a new box. Pencils scattered across my desk fly back into a glass holder, which joins the sketchbooks in the box. “People will be here first thing tomorrow morning to do the moving spell.”

“Moving? Why are you moving?” Zed’s expression morphs into that infuriating one he wore when telling me I’m still a child. “Calla, you know you don’t actually have to live near the Guild you’re training at, right? You can use the faerie paths to get there every day.”

I bite back the urge to tell him I’m not stupid and that of course I know that. “We’re not moving because I’m attending a Guild. We’re moving because of the intruder who got into our house the other day.”

“Intruder? What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I managed to fight him off and then he ran away when Dad got home. The point is, Mom freaked out and decided we have to leave. Dad promised to get the latest, most complex security spells, but it made no difference. An hour after it happened, Mom had found somewhere new for us to live.”

Zed rubs a hand over his jaw. “That’s extreme.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my mother.”

“I don’t know how your dad puts up with it.”

“Probably something to do with the fact that he loves her,” I snap. I’m usually fine with Zed making fun of Mom right along with me, but since he rejected me and probably went straight home to laugh about it with his girlfriend, he doesn’t get to make snide comments about anyone I care about anymore.

“Uh, anyway,” he says. “I just wanted to check that our agreement still holds. You know, now that I’m not training you anymore.”

“The agreement where I don’t tell the Guild you’re still alive with active markings and access to your guardian weapons?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Of course I won’t tell them. I gave you my word, remember?”

He nods. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“And I appreciate everything you’ve taught me. I’ve come a long way from that scared little girl you met in—” At the sound of a knock on my door, I look up. The door is closed, though, so hopefully the person on the other side didn’t hear any of my conversation with Zed. “Gotta go,” I say to him. I touch the mirror to end the call, then leave it on my bed while I open the door.

“Ready to join the Creepy Hollow Guild?” Ryn says the moment I swing the door open.

Excitement explodes inside me. “Really? Are you serious? They’re letting me in?”

“Of course.” He tilts his head forward, giving me that overconfident grin of his. “You didn’t doubt I’d be able to make a plan, did you?”

I let out a wordless squeal and clasp my hands tightly together.

“I don’t know what you’re getting so excited about,” Ryn says as he walks past me. He swings my desk chair around and sits. “Guardian training is seriously tough.”

“I know.” I pretend-swoon onto my bed. “It’s going to be amazing.”

He laughs. “You might want to look up the definition of ‘tough’ in the next few hours, or you could be in for a nasty surprise when your training begins.”

“I don’t care how tough it is. It will still be amazing.” I grab the nearest cushion and hug it to my chest as I sit up. “So when do I start? Did you convince the Council to let me join the fifth-year trainees?”

“Hey, it was hard enough convincing them to let you join at all. They gave me their usual story about statistics showing that those who begin training at a younger age make better guardians than those who start later. So I reminded them that your father was an excellent guardian before he left the Guild, and that your half brother is possibly the best guardian the Guild has ever had⁠—”

“You so did not say that to the Council.”

“—which means you’ve clearly got stellar guardian blood running in your veins. Then I told them you’ve been training in private for the past four years, and they found that very interesting. I even included the story of how you heroically rescued your mother from a dangerous intruder who was bent on killing you both.” Ryn pauses as a smile stretches across his face. “They liked that bit.”

“So …”

“So here’s the bottom line: You’ll be allowed to start with the fifth-year trainees if, by the time the new training year begins, you’ve managed to pass the final written exam for first, second, third, and fourth year. You’ll also need to complete ten different landscapes in the Fish Bowl, ten assignments with a mentor assisting, and ten with a mentor observing.”

I stare open mouthed at Ryn. I told him I could manage this, but now that he’s saying it out loud, it sounds like an impossible amount of work. “And I need to complete all that in two months?”

“One month.”

“One?”

“First years get two months over summer break. After that, everyone gets one. Unless you’re a particularly enthusiastic trainee, in which case you continue with your own private training during vacations.”

“One month,” I murmur. “I can do that. I can make it happen.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll just spend every waking hour either studying or training. It’s a lot, but I can do it. And hopefully Mom won’t mind me coming home at odd hours after the assignments. I mean, she’s cool with this whole guardian idea now, right?”

“Well, I actually spoke to your mother about that.” Ryn tilts the chair onto two legs, then lets it drop back onto the floor. “If you’re going to pull this off, you need to be completely focused on training and studying. No distractions. Not moving house, or painting, or drawing, or those arguments you and your mom like to engage in at least once a day.” He gives me a knowing look.

“Those are called discussions,” I tell him matter-of-factly.

“Those are called loud. I’ve heard far too many of them.”

“So what’s your solution?”

“You come and stay with me for the next month.”

I pause, gripping the cushion tighter. “Seriously?”

“It makes sense, considering I’ll be the one mentoring you until the new training year begins.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“THAT IS SO COOL! Oh, wait.” My shoulders sag as I realize there’s one person, aside from Mom, who might not be wild about this plan. “How exactly does your wife feel about someone else living in the house with you guys?”

“His wife,” says a voice from the doorway, “is thrilled to have you staying with us for a while.” Violet leans against the doorjamb and beams at me. “I might even assist with some of your training if I’m allowed to.”

“Yes!” I fist-pump the air, then jump up and throw my arms around Vi. “Okay, let me try that reaction again. THAT IS SO COOL!” I shout. “Ryn, you’re gonna be the best mentor ever. And I can’t wait to come stay with you guys.”

“Hey, keep it down.” Vi steps into the room and shuts the door. “Don’t let your mother hear how excited you are to leave her.”

“And I am going to be the strictest mentor ever,” Ryn adds. “I told everyone on the Council that you’d easily be ready in a month, and I had to convince them I wasn’t just saying that because you’re my little sister. So I’ll be making sure you work your ass off to prove to them that I’m right.”

“And to prove it to myself,” I add as he stands, “because I know I can do this.”

“Good. Anyway, I need to meet with my team now and explain that I’m taking on the temporary position of mentor for the next month. They’ll have to get on with saving the world without me.”

“Whatever.” I grab my abandoned cushion from the bed and throw it at him. “You’re not really in the middle of saving the world, are you?”

“Apparently he’s always in the middle of saving the world,” Vi says, rolling her eyes before removing her amber from her pocket to check a message.

“Since it’s confidential,” Ryn says with an annoying smirk, “you’ll never know.”

“Fine. One day I’ll have top-secret assignments too, and you’ll wish you knew all about them.” I try to look as smug as he does, but the moment is ruined when I remember something important I wanted to ask him. “Oh, hang on.” I lower my voice and lean forward. “Did you find any record of someone called Tamaria?”

“Tamaria?” Ryn asks without blinking.

“Oh come on, I’m not an idiot.”

“Meaning …”

“Meaning I know there’s something weird going on here. Mom was adamant that I’d never attend a Guild—right up until the moment I mentioned the name Tamaria. Then suddenly everything changed. She said she doesn’t know anyone by that name, but obviously she’s lying. And I know you can’t stand unsolved mysteries, so I’m pretty sure you went straight back to the Guild and searched their records for someone named Tamaria.”

Ryn watches me carefully, the hint of a smile on his lips. “I’m also not an idiot,” he says eventually. He leans against my closed door beside Vi and folds his arms. “Who were you talking to when I knocked on your door?”

Shoot. How long was he listening outside my room before he knocked? I fold my arms over my chest to mimic his stance. “If you’re not an idiot, then you already know.”

He nods slowly. “I’m curious. Do I know this private trainer of yours?”

“No. He was never at your Guild.”

“Ah, so he’s a guardian. Interesting.”

Vi elbows him as she writes a reply on her amber and absently says, “Don’t be nosy.”

“Thank you,” I say to her while mentally kicking myself for revealing that Zed is a guardian. “I’m not telling you anything more about him, Ryn. He’s been helping me out all this time, and I don’t want to get him into trouble.”

“Okay,” Ryn says with a shrug. “You know I’m going to find out eventually, though, right? Just like I’m going to find out more about this Tamaria person and who the intruder is.”

“So you did look her up,” I say with triumph.

“I did. I found three women by that name who’ve been mentioned in Guild records over the past few centuries, but none of them were involved in any criminal activity. Is there anything you can tell me about the intruder that might help?”

I picture the intruder in his hooded coat. “Well, I’m pretty sure he was a faerie, since he had two-toned hair. Black with dark red, maroon streaks. And his eyes matched the maroon, of course. What was weird, though, was the scar running down his left cheek. Because if he really was a faerie⁠—”

“—then his skin shouldn’t scar,” Ryn finishes.

“Right. Unless, of course, he was exposed to that metal Prince Zell was so fond of.”

Vi lifts her head as Ryn pulls up the sleeve of his right arm and looks at the pale scar that rings his wrist. A memento from an encounter with the Unseelie Court years ago. Vi has one just like it. “Interesting,” he murmurs, then lowers his hand. “Thanks. That’s helpful.”

“So will you tell me if you find out anything?”

“Probably not.”

“Ryn!”

“Hey, remember the part about you fitting four years of training assessment into the next four weeks?”

I bite my lip. “Uh huh.”

“That starts tomorrow. No excuses and no distractions. So you’d better rest well tonight, because you’re about to work harder than you’ve ever worked before.”

ChapterFour

“I don’t have any socks!” I yell as I run down the stairs. “How can I not have any socks, today of all days?” I barrel into the kitchen, startling Filigree. He shifts into eagle form and swoops past me, knocking a pile of reed paper off the kitchen table in the process.

“Just transform some of your other clothing,” Ryn says as he hurries to pick up the scattered pages.

“What? I don’t have time for clothes casting, Ryn. I need actual socks!”

“Take some of mine,” Vi says, gathering up the breakfast dishes with a wave of her hand and sending them through the air to the sink.

“Thanks.” I turn and dash back up the stairs, then stop halfway. “And have you seen that notebook I made all my summaries in?” I shout back to them.

“Bathing room,” they both say at the same time.

“Right,” I mutter, continuing up the stairs. I must have left it there when I was studying for my last exam while trying to relax myself in a pool of bubbles.

“Hurry up, Cal,” Ryn calls after me. “We’re going to be late.”

“I KNOW!” I yell back. After my non-stop training and studying over the past month, I received the news that I’d passed everything, danced around Ryn’s living room for at least five minutes, then collapsed in an exhausted heap and slept for seventeen hours straight. It was the best sleep of my life, but it meant I ran out of time to move my stuff back home before my first official day at the Guild. So Mom and Dad showed up this morning to wish me well for my first day. Dad went on and on about his first day as a trainee, and Mom spent the whole time looking close to tears. And I’m pretty sure they weren’t proud-parents tears. No, they looked more like I’m-terrified-for-my-daughter’s-life tears.

When Ryn pointed out that we needed to be at the Guild in forty minutes, they finally left. Things got a little crazy then as I searched my room for all the things I figured I’d need on my first day. When I couldn’t locate a single sock, I panicked. How could I wear my new boots without socks? How did I run out of socks in the first place? What kind of guardian runs out of socks?

Now, I force myself to walk calmly into Ryn and Vi’s bedroom and take a pair of socks from the chest of drawers. Back in my room, I pull them on before stepping into my new boots. They’re similar to Vi’s boots—the ones I’ve always looked at with longing—but the heels aren’t quite as flat and the laces are blue instead of black. I run my hand through the air from my ankle to my knee and watch the laces do themselves up.

I retrieve my notebook from the bathing room and finish packing my bag. Lastly, I lift the trainee pendant from the bedside table and loop it over my neck. Councilor Merrydale presented it to me the first day I went into the Guild to begin my summer training with Ryn. It’s flat and oval-shaped, made from silver, with a clear stone set in the middle. I turn it over and brush my thumb across the engraved name on the back: Calla Larkenwood. This pendant is my security pass into the Guild. It also carried the spell that first gave me access to my own cache of invisible guardian weapons. It has protective charms that make it harder for me to be influenced by dark magic and that aid in healing when I’m injured. When Councilor Merrydale gave it to me, he explained that one day, when I graduate, the pendant will be replaced by the markings on my wrists. The protective charms will be transferred to those markings.

“Cal, come on,” Ryn shouts from downstairs.

“Coming!” I drop the pendant against my chest, then grab my bag off the bed. After slinging the strap over my shoulder, I hurry downstairs.

“Oh, wow,” Vi says as she walks from the kitchen into the living room with her eyes glued to Ryn’s amber. “Are these Calla’s results from the fourth-year exam? They’re a⁠—”

“Aaand I’ll take that,” Ryn says, deftly swiping the amber from her hands as he walks past her. “Confidential, remember?” He kisses her cheek before pushing the amber into his pocket, then grabs a mug from the coffee table and downs its contents.

“Why does everything interesting have to be confidential?” I demand, jumping down the last two steps.

“And since when do you follow the rules, Ryn?” Vi asks with a teasing smile.

Ryn sighs, looks at me, and asks, “Do you have everything?”

“I think so. Notebooks to write in, that textbook Vi said was really useful, clothes for training in, snacks for lunch time, that letter you gave me from the Chief Examiner, and my⁠—”

“So, basically, you’re completely overprepared.”

“Ryn!”

“Ryn, that’s not helpful,” Vi says as she crosses the room to the hallway. “You know how nervous she is for her first day.”

“Of course I know. I can feel it. She’s being ridiculous, though, since she has nothing to be nervous about.”

With a groan, I push past my insensitive brother and head for the hallway. “Are you coming with us, Vi?” Please, please, please say yes. I need someone who actually gets how important this day is to me.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Vi gives me an apologetic look as she removes a weapons belt from the hallway cupboard. “I need to be Underground in fifteen minutes to set up that workshop for new instructors. Besides, if you want to make a good first impression today, walking into the Guild with me at your side isn’t going to help. You know how they feel about me.”

“Don’t be silly.” Ryn strides past us and raises his stylus to the hallway wall. “They love you.”

“Right.” Vi secures the weapons belt around her waist with a loud click. “Do they use the words ‘Guild traitor’ for everyone they love?”

“Well, no, but you’re married to the Council’s newest and sexiest member, so they can’t really hate you, can they?”

“Fantastic,” I say, grabbing Ryn’s arm and facing the doorway he just opened. “Now that I’ve had to listen to my brother call himself sexy, can we please go?”

“We can.” He blows a kiss to Vi and says, “Have a good day, my sexy Guild traitor.”

Shaking my head, I tug Ryn into the darkness of the faerie paths.

“So,” he says, “calling you ridiculous didn’t help your nerves?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry. I was trying to make you see you’ve got nothing to be nervous about.”

“Shh, I’m trying to focus.” I picture the small entrance room next to the Creepy Hollow Guild’s main foyer. We step out and find a guard standing there. He scans the markings on Ryn’s wrists with his stylus, then does the same to my pendant when I hold it up. “Thank you,” I say, giving him a wide smile. I still get excited every time I arrive here.

The guard steps aside and allows us to pass through the door and the curtain of invisible magic that exists there. It’s meant to detect dangerous magic, strange enchantments, and other threats. In the main foyer, I look up and admire the swirling cloud of protective enchantments in the domed ceiling as Ryn leads the way across the marble floor. We reach the grand staircase. An emerald green carpet that never seems to get dirty covers the stairs. The wooden banisters are decorated with carvings of curling patterns. I run my fingers over the grooves as we climb.

“So we’re meeting with Councilor Merrydale, right?” I ask.

“Actually, Head Councilor Bouchard is here. I got the message this morning.”

“Head Councilor?” My anxiety kicks up a level. “Like, the bigwig in charge of all the Councilors?”

“That’s the one. He’s based at the French Guild, but he visits the other Guilds periodically to check on things. I guess it’s our turn today.”

I clench one fist and press it against my lips. Why, why, why did he pick today? I’m nervous enough as it is without having to meet some scary Head Councilor.

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t panic.” Ryn reaches for my free hand and squeezes it. “Trust me, there’s nothing intimidating about this guy. He’ll introduce you to your mentor and explain a few things. That’s it.”

I lower my fist to my side and release it, breathing out slowly. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sure I have nothing to be nervous about.”

“Of course I’m right,” Ryn says, flashing me a grin.

We continue climbing the stairs until we reach the floor housing the Council members’ offices. “Are you getting an office up here?” I ask.

Ryn shakes his head. “They offered me one, but I declined. Since I’m still leading a guardian team and don’t have many Council responsibilities yet, I’d rather continue working on the same level as my team members.” He looks over his shoulder, then adds in a low voice, “It’s far too boring up here.”

If nerves weren’t currently twisting my face into a pained expression, I’d probably smile at that. We stop beside Councilor Merrydale’s office, and Ryn knocks while I take another slow breath that does absolutely nothing to calm the building anxiety in my stomach.

“Enter,” calls a high-pitched voice that definitely does not belong to Councilor Merrydale.

“Leave your bag outside,” Ryn says. I let the bag slip to the floor as he opens the door. He lets me walk in ahead of him. Behind the large desk I’ve become accustomed to seeing the cheerful Councilor Merrydale sitting at, I find a short man with slicked-back hair arguing with a woman I’ve seen several times near the training center. The man is one of those unfortunate male faeries whom nature decided to grace with a feminine color. Looking into his annoyed pink eyes, I’m reminded for a moment of a rat.

Focus, Calla!

Next thing I’ll ruin everything by projecting an image of Councilor Bouchard scurrying around on the floor. Something tells me I wouldn’t be able to explain that one away without landing myself on the Griffin List.

“So this one is the fake?” Councilor Bouchard asks the woman in accented English. He waves a bronze bangle decorated with clockwork parts and green gems in front of her face before smacking it down on the desk. “And you do not know how long the real one has been missing?”

“No,” the woman says. “It’s an exact replica. And the alarm was never⁠—”

“And why was it here? Do you not know the procedure? Artifacts such as this must be sent to the vault at the Seelie Court.”

“Harmless artifacts, yes. But as I’ve already explained to you⁠—”

“No.” Councilor Bouchard holds a hand up as if silencing a child. “No more explaining. I will be downstairs in ten minutes to address your entire department.”

The woman snatches the bangle from the desk and strides past me, her lips pressed together in anger.