My eyes widened when I realized he was referring to me. “What? Can’t you do it?”
“It’ll be good practice.”
“There’s plenty of time to practice when we’re not in the middle of a high-stakes game!” I looked around, expecting another member of Team Xylem to arrive in the tree house at any moment. My heart was still pounding from the chaos of the past few minutes.
“And that’s why it’s the perfect time to practice,” Callansaid. He passed the capsule to me. “There are a number of ways to approach this. Take your pick.”
I let out a huff but then forced myself to concentrate. I relaxed my breathing and focused on the deep-ruby rose, willing myself to recall all I’d learned about the Rosaceae family. As if flipping through a mental drawing in my notebook, I pictured the spiral leaf arrangement, the hypanthium, the thorns that lined the stem—the one sharpness amongst all its beauty.
I zoomed into the aspects I’d seen through the microscope—the tissues then the cells—and envisioned the cytoplasm of each stretching. An idea came to me, and I formed the Floracantus I’d practiced with Callan.
“Petala expandere,” I muttered.
The rose began to increase in size, filling the capsule. My palms started to sweat, and I nearly lost my focus when I thought it wasn’t going to work, but with a few more centimeters of expansion, the petals and stem of the rose poked into the capsule, and it popped with a loud snapping sound. Whatever material the capsule was made of floated into the air like sparkling dust.
Before I knew what was happening, Callan’s arms were around my waist, and he was floating us to the ground. For a moment we both stood there, grinning like frozen dolls, with me gripping the enlarged rose and Callan’s hands still loosely grazing my hips.
Our eyes met, and my smile deepened at the playfulness I read in his expression. I so rarely saw him let loose like this, caught up in the moment of something simply… fun. And I was surprised I felt this way. The competitionhadbeen fun.Exhilarating, even.
“Nice work!” Moira shouted, appearing at my side. I was relieved to see that she’d managed to free herself from her captors in the river. She gave Callan a high five. We locked eyes for a second, and he smiled again, eyes crinkling at the corners. I lifted the rose into the air triumphantly.
Moira started chanting “Team Phloem” and led our celebratory crew back toward the academy, but all I could think was that I wished for a few more moments alone with Callan Rhodes.
Chapter Fifty-One
“That was epic,” Coral said, scooping a heaping portion of fresh sorbet from her bowl. “I got to distract a bunch of harvesters who were trying to create a storm around us with the whispering of the ferns. It totally blew their concentration.”
“Yasmin and I were preparing a bunch of herb bombs that we could toss at people as they approached the tree house, but Briar and Rhodes managed to avoid us bycreeping up the freakin’ river.”Aurielle glared half-heartedly at me.
“Hey, you had aquatics on your team too. One of them managed to temporarily sideline Moira.”
“But not our B. She’s a queen,” Coral said, thrusting her cider glass into the air.
As soon as I lifted my glass to clink with hers, all the sconce lights that normally lit the teahouse in the evening went out. I felt a tug from my emerald ring. The lively chatter that had filled the room a moment before came to a halt.
Professor Sage rushed out of the kitchen, maneuvering his wheelchair faster than I’d ever seen. It was now too dark to make out exactly what he was doing, though. The only light in the room came from the moon and the stars that could be made out through the glass ceiling.
“The verdant shield went down again,” I whispered, alarmed that the lights hadn’t immediately come back on like they had in the previous flickers.
“Why haven’t the lights come back on yet?” Aurielle asked, voicing my concerns.
“Have you seen Callan?” I asked. If the verdant shield was experiencing more than a flicker this time, Professor East might need him.
“I think the tree affinities went out to the tree houses after the game,” Yasmin said, an anxious pull drawing her eyebrows together.
Just then, Professor East stepped into the teahouse, holding a large black flashlight. He spotted Nevah and beckoned her toward him.
“He’s looking for the founders’ descendants,” I murmured, and Yasmin nodded.
“Great whispering vines,” she breathed. “The verdant shield must still be down.”
Professor Sage whistled and got the attention of everyone in the room. “Botanists, we’re going to have to ask you all to stay inside for the rest of the evening. Here in the teahouse, your rooms, or the other common areas are fine. No one should leave the building. Professor Bowellia will alert any students who are currently in the tree houses to come in.”
“How long are we going to be without lights?” Coral asked.
“As long as the shield is down, I’d imagine,” Yasmin said.
“But how are they going to get the shield back up? I thought it could only be charged on the equinoxes and solstices,” I asked, deep concern beginning to fill me. It had been minutes, and the lights were still off. This was nothing like the previous flickers. What did it mean for the integrity of the shield?
