“Not against you. From accidental fire. Megan, right now, you’re focusing on all the wrong things. You need to concentrate on what’s important.
“Continue to study the information in the library and perform your tasks as temporary liaison, which does require your attention. Ashlyn is due to visit the lake later this evening. She needs you to accompany her. I suggest you spend your time focusing on water dwelling creatures rather than a fruitless search about your lineage’s history.”
“So there’s nothing about furies in the Academy library?” I asked.
“No. Nothing useful. Shall I tell Ashlyn to expect you after the final bell?”
“Yeah. Sure,” I said, standing and moving toward the door, seeking escape before I did something really stupid.
“Megan,” she called before I could step out.
“Yeah?”
“Your hands are fisted. If you’ve sensed someone wicked, you need to tell me. We don’t want any more incidents like Trammer.”
“No. No one wicked,” I said. Just a crap ton of people being narrow-minded and getting on my nerves.
I left her office and went straight to the library.
For the next three hours, I learned what I could about hippocamp, naiads, mermaids, sirens, and many other water dwelling creatures. The scant details on how to identify them, what they liked to eat, and their preferred habitats didn’t amount to much. If it had all been in one book, it would have taken me thirty minutes to read.
By the time Oanen knocked, my frustration at the information in the library had pushed back thoughts of what had happened that morning. The way his intense gaze locked onto me the moment I opened the door, though, brought it all back. The skin along his neck didn’t look red anymore, but he’d gotten his hair cut closer to his head, a sure sign the hair hadn’t magically grown back. Guilt and fear kicked me in the gut. We were making a mistake pretending I could be what he wanted.
“Don’t,” he said, snagging the front of my shirt and tugging me the rest of the way from the room.
“Don’t what?”
“Run and hide. That’s not an option for either of us.”
Maybe not for him, but it seemed like a decent option to me.
“Did you bring me lunch?” I asked, needing to change the subject.
“Of course.”
We walked through the cafeteria and found two bags waiting in our normal spot.
“Brownies, as requested. The kind without wings,” he said, handing me one of the lunch bags.
“Thanks. Where’s Eliana?”
“Spending some time with Ashlyn, getting her ready to start attending school next week. Mom took them shopping outside Uttira. Eliana convinced Mom that humans skipped school all the time and a day away from Uttira would make Ashlyn feel better. How about you? Today going any better?”
The tension coiled inside me, along with the ever-present need to just hit something, made the answer pretty clear.
“Not really. Adira told me to quit trying to find anything about furies because it’s not there. So I’m reading about—”
The stupid spell kicked in, and I lost my voice. Rolling my eyes, I took a bite of my sandwich.
Oanen chuckled and started eating, too.
My break from the infuriating monotony of the library ended too quickly. After Oanen walked me back, I struggled to focus on the words on the pages before me.
A restlessness crawled under my skin, much like it had back when I lived in the city with Mom, so I gave up and lifted my hand from the book. As it slid neatly back into place, I collected my phone on the way out. I didn’t care that it was still the middle of the day.
I wanted to hurt something, and I didn’t want that to happen here, not with Oanen around. I sent him a quick text to let him know I was leaving early then drove home.
However, being home didn’t help my mood. I stood in the kitchen for one undecided moment then left again, on foot. While running in the city hadn’t been smart for me, running here posed much less of a problem. Especially with so many of my peers occupied at the Academy. So, I let loose and sprinted toward the barrier, the only other place I knew that wasn’t in town.
I didn’t stop running until the winding road straightened out, and I felt the tingle of magic on my skin and could smell the lingering odor of burnt hair. Not even winded, I turned around and headed back the way I’d come.
When I arrived home for the second time, I felt a little better and went for a shower.
Ashlyn walked out of her house as soon as I pulled up. She didn’t smile or wave as she walked toward my car and got in. Her eyes looked slightly red like she’d been crying. After a day of shopping, I would have thought she’d feel a little better.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She buckled her seatbelt and faced straight ahead.
“Um…try again because I’m not buying that answer.”
She turned to look at me, tears welling in her eyes.
“I had fun today shopping with Eliana and Mrs. Quill.”
She said it like she was confessing to a crime. Since I didn’t want to punch her, I doubted any crimes were actually involved. So, I waited patiently for more information.
She sniffled and wiped at her eyes.
“My uncle just died, and I was eating at a mall and laughing. What kind of person am I?”
I considered her for a moment.
“A sane one,” I said. “I don’t know what death means for the people who are leaving us, but I know what it means for the people left behind. It means hurting. But, only at first. The pain starts to ease to let the memories in. The good ones. We’re meant to remember. To smile and laugh. It honors the one who has left us.
“People aren’t meant to live forever, Ashlyn. We will all die at some point. What we do in this life will influence how we’re remembered by those we leave behind. We’re supposed to keep living even as we say goodbye and remember those who have already departed. You did nothing wrong.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes again. Seeing that she was pulling herself together, I eased from the curb.
“You’ve lost someone?” she asked.
I paused, wondering how I’d known to say what I’d said.
“No, I’ve never had anyone to lose,” I said. “It must have been something I heard my mom say at some point.”
But I knew it wasn’t.
We drove in silence only interrupted by Ashlyn’s quiet directions to whatever lake we were going to. The term “lake” did not correctly describe our destination. I saw it through the trees as I made the last turn. The enormous body of water shimmered in the evening sunlight.
The road ended with a gravel parking area, a portion of the space sloping directly into the lake’s edge. A slim trail led to a pier that extended at least twenty feet into the water. A bench beckoned at the end of it.
“Wow. It’s pretty out here,” I said, pulling to a stop.
“Yeah. I guess.”
Ashlyn got out and started walking. I followed, wondering at her tone.
At the end of the pier, a fishing pole and tackle box waited on the bench. She picked up the pole, added a fake lure, and gave an impressive cast. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected her to do, but fishing hadn’t even come close.
“I’ve never been fishing,” I said, sitting on the bench. “Is it hard?”
“I don’t think what I’m doing qualifies as fishing,” Ashlyn said.
“What are you doing then?”
“Letting the lake people know I’m here, I guess.”
I looked out over the still waters and thought of all the creatures likely in its depths.
“Why?”
“Some of them can’t or won’t come to the Roost for practice. So I come here. They learn how to avoid the hooks that fishermen cast out, and they attempt to lure me into the waters.”
“How do they do that?”
“Sometimes they sing. Sometimes they try to trick me.”
“Have they ever gotten you into the water?”
“If they had, I wouldn’t be standing here. My uncle was good at keeping me safe.”