Sequoia and Ollie insist on feeding us. Sophie and I don’t talk much, but we don’t have to. The love birds do more than enough talking, finishing each other sentences, talking over each other, laughing. They’re so very much in love, and I want the very best for them. I really do.
Finally, Sophie and I say goodbye and leave the frozen treehouse.
We make it to the edge of Winternora Territory when my twin abruptly stops flying. Honestly, I’m not sure why we flew through the kingdom instead of using fairy dust immediately to return, but the sight had been majestic. I would love to return here one day even if it is freezing. We’ll have to make sure to wear much warmer clothes next time.
But this is a place of peace. I don’t want to even contemplate about a war ever touching this place. It truly is a winter wonderland. I don’t think I could possibly live here, though, only a visit. There are some plants and bushes and flowers to blossom in the colder temperatures, but I miss the lush green scenery already.
Sophie’s a bit stiff as she eyes me. “Don’t think that just because everything worked out so perfectly for her means that what you did was right.”
“Of course not,” I murmur. “I understand that.”
“You’re playing a very dangerous game.”
“I know, which is why I need you by my side, to pull me back if I’m going in too deep. If I… I don’t want the darkness to drown me, but I have to believe that I had the premonition for a reason. Why else would I have been shown it if I weren’t supposed to stop it? I mean… Soph… if you saw what I saw…”
“Can I?”
My eyebrows lift. “What do you mean?”
“Can you open your mind and telepathically let me see it?”
“I don’t know. I can try.” My hands shake as I reach to touch her temples.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Not a thing,” I say quickly.
“Don’t even try to pretend. I know you, and you can’t lie.”
I heave a sigh. “I don’t want to see it again.”
She’s quiet a moment. “Is it that bad?”
“It’s worse. It’s so much worse. If you really want to, we can try.”
“No. I… I never doubted that you saw something terrible. I know war is evil, but…”
“You think what I did was wrong.”
Sophie’s silence is confirmation enough.
“What else was I supposed to do?” I murmur.
“Talk to me! Not run off and go ahead and, and…” She glances around. No one is near us. Sophie leans in close and drops her voice. “…murder someone.”
“One life versus billions. Yes, it’s a hard choice, and—”
“He produced some wonderful paranormal hunters, slayers, and executioners!”
“No, not him. The professors there, the mentors and masters,” I counter. “He might’ve just been a figurehead.”
“Might? You’re still guessing.”
“I know, and I don’t want to be. I want to find the truth. Soph, I know he’s working with others, and humans are going to die by such huge numbers. We’ll all be dragged into the war as a matter of survival, and the humans… Can we blame them for wanting to hurt us once they learn that some of our kind hurt them?”
“The fairies—”
“Don’t you dare say that we shouldn’t get involved!” I spit out. “You sound just like King Jarrah and Queen Camelia. They want us to ignore everything. They already knew about the coming war. I’m not the only fair—Sophie, I’m not the only fairy to have a premonition about the war! There has to be a reason why so many of us have!”
“Yet, you’re the only one willing to try to stop it.”
I grit my teeth as fury races through me, almost a second life force. “The rest should have their wings removed. How can it be dark to want to save other’s lives? There’s nothing more light about it!”
“It’s… I don’t know. I just don’t know.” Sophie blinks a few times. “A part of me knew that if I went to prison for you, that you wouldn’t let this go. Maybe I even wanted you to dig deeper.”
“So what changed? Why are you so angry with me?”
Sophie won’t look at me.
“Because of what you experienced there. Sophie, please, talk to me. Tell me.”
She shakes her head emphatically. “Don’t ask me to tell you again,” she says, her tone sharp, her eyes bright.
My twin’s never taken such a harsh tone with me before.
I lower my head. “I won’t. I promise.”
Thankfully, that’s good enough for her, but it makes my stomach churn. Something terrible happened to her, and she doesn’t want me to feel guilty about it.
But I do. I don’t have to know the specifics. Something hurt her, and she blames me for it.
As she should.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make up for the sacrifice you did,” I tell her.
Sophie just shakes her head. “You don’t even know—”
“I don’t need to know.”
Her head tilts back, and she stares at the sun. “I can’t believe I’m free.”
“You could’ve been all along.”
“Hmm. And if you had been imprisoned…”
“I would still be in there.” I shrug. “And that would’ve been fine.”
“I don’t know.”
“You wouldn’t have broken me out.”
“Maybe.” She shorts. “Just because I wouldn’t have stolen someone else’s life doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have looked into it.”
“Nah, you wouldn’t have because you think what I did was wrong.”
“I have never forgotten why you did it. Saving billions of lives is worthwhile. I just don’t agree with your methods, but that doesn’t mean I want the war to happen.”
“Does that mean you’ll help me?” I ask, trying to hide my eagerness.
“Maybe. That depends.”
“On what?”
“On how exactly we’re going to move forward.”
I grin. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”
Sophie just shakes her head. “Out with it. I need to know more about what you did in the time I was imprison before you became Sequoia.”
“Want to fly as we talk?” I ask. “Once we’ve talked enough, we can use fairy dust to head on back.”
“Head on back where? If we can’t return to Roseshield Grove… We shouldn’t even if the fairies wanted us, should we? So we can keep them safe.”
I nod. “The fewer the number of people involved, the better.”
“To stop a war?” she asks doubtfully.
“We can figure out a select few to join us, maybe, if it becomes necessary. Until then—”
“It’s just you and me.” Sophie grins and loops our arms together. “I’m sorry I got so mad and freaked out.”
“It’s completely understandable,” I assure her.
“Let’s go back to that spot where you healed us,” she suggests. “We can talk there.”
“Good idea. I don’t like being so far away from the prison.” I hesitate. “Do you think it’s still standing? That the fight is over?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to be careful.”
I nod, and then I sprinkle fairy dust over us to bring us to the natural alcove. It’s so pretty and warm here, the sight of the greenery all around us bringing a smile to my face. Purple and pink flowers are in bloom, and my heart is happy, if only for a few seconds.
Quickly, I tell Sophie about going to Magical Hunters Academy and not getting anywhere, including the threat from the one professor. She wrinkles her nose at that.
“Do you think he’s involved?” she asks.
“Master Gaian Wraith… I don’t know. I think maybe he doesn’t like fairies. That might be it. Or maybe he is involved, and he’s afraid I would reveal his dark secret. Unfortuantely, I just don’t see any way to try to go there and get any real answers.”
“Maybe not as a fairy,” Sophie muses quietly.
I lift my eyebrows and grin. “I like how you’re thinking!”
“It’s a lot harder to glamor as anything other than a fairy, though,” she says. “It wouldn’t be easy to do it for long.”
I wave my hand airily. “You’re talking to someone who was glamored for—”
“Glamored as a fairy,” she reminds me.
“Yes. Fine. What are you thinking? What could we pose as?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure the school is the best place to start. Where else did you go?”
“I went to Jaidos’ house and talked to his wife and daughter. She seemed really nice, the daughter, not the mom. Well, no. Nice isn’t the word. Well, nicer than her mom, yes, but not nice nice.”
“You’re rambling, Jessa.” Sophie shakes her head.
“I just can’t forget something Rae told me. ‘People try to hide their darkness until they can’t anymore.’ She said that’s all I need to know about her dad.”
“So she does know something.”
“Or at least suspects it. Maybe we can go back and try to talk to her again.”
Sophie eyes me critically. “You don’t want to.”
“I already bothered them once, and I killed her dad. It doesn’t seem right to keep interfering with her life.”
“You’re trying to give her family a chance to not be known as the ones to destroy the world as we know it. That’s a good thing.”
I grin despite feeling like a terrible person. “You really are on my side.”
“I’ve always been. Even when I’m mad at you, even if I think you’re rash and impulsive, I will always be here for you. I got your wings.”
Giggling, we hug each other, but then I hear something.
A twig snapping.
Instantly, I’m on high alert. I press a finger to my lips and I peer out of the natural alcove.
And that’s when I see her.
The woman with a scar down the side of her face.
From the gang who wanted to break a prisoner out.