He gave me a sad smile. “It’s complicated.”
I winced as the strange voice sang out from the wood once more, briefly making me forget all the questions I had for Orin.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“That song, it’s getting louder. It’s…”
“A spell meant to lure divine beings into a state of confusion,” he explained. “Most people can’t hear it. Or, they don’t notice it, at least—though it can have a calming effect on normal beings who haven’t taken precautions.” He nodded toward Thalia and Zayn, who I was now almost certain had fallen asleep standing up.
“You should be powerful enough to shake it off, at this point,” he added, “even if you venture deeper. You just need to brace yourself.”
“What about Aleks?” A second question got caught on the tip of my tongue:Why did he hear a song meant for divine beings, if Lorien was truly exorcised from him?
Orin didn’t answer, shaking his head. “There’s a lot concerning him that we can discuss later, if…” He trailed off.
I was afraid I already knew what he’d been about to say.
If he makes it back out again
Panic bubbled in my chest, but Orin had that stern look in his eye that he always did when I started to stray from his intended lesson—a look that demanded focus.
“I know what you came here for.” He lifted his tired gaze to the tiny patch of blue sky visible through the thick trees. “The forest knows, too. But it won’t let it go without a fight; that sacred piece you seek is deeply entwined with the spells here, now. It’s too powerful to have been extinguished, so it’s likely the grove has been feeding off it instead, while dispersing and redirecting it into something relatively less dangerous. Cutting it free will have consequences.”
“…Consequences?”
“Destabilizing ones.”
I swept a gaze over our surroundings. Though I couldn’t see Rose Point any longer, it was the only image I had in my mind. My stomach clenched. “How far will that destabilization reach?”
Quietly, Orin said, “You can’t turn back now, either way.”
Again, an evasive non-answer.
But I didn’t press for more. There was no time. And it had just struck me, again, how awful he looked. Like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Like he’d been clinging to life just long enough to meet me here for one final lesson, to point me onward and say,Go, before it’s too late.
Phantom streaked out of my pocket as I walked closer to the spot where Aleks had disappeared. His spectral figure wavered like smoke caught in a vortex, twisting this way and that. Clearly struggling to hold his form. I could only imagine it would get worse if I dragged him deeper into the unpredictable maelstrom of magic and strange spells that lay ahead.
“Stay here,” I ordered. “I’ll be back soon.”
I hurried forward before he could protest.
As I stepped under the archway into the deeper, darker part of the forest, branches shifted and roots lifted in my wake, snapping violently at my heels. Once I was inside, it all twisted and snarled together, cutting off my exit.
I inhaled, tasting a strange mixture of pine and rot and ash on my tongue, and the world went utterly silent.
SEVENTEEN
Nova
The silence was shattered by laughter coming from somewhere far in the distance. It was so faint, I wondered if I was imagining it, yet I still found myself stumbling toward the sound.
I didn’t make it far before a hand closed around my arm. I instinctively tried to jerk away, but my captor’s grip remained firm, forcing me to twist around and face him.
“Whatever you heard,” Aleks said, calmly taking my gaze, “I’m fairly certain it’s not real.”
I slowly exhaled the breath I’d been holding.
“And I doubt it will be the last trick this forest tries to play,” he added, casting a wary glance at the twisting tree limbs around us. They were paler on this side of the archway, like walls made of gnarled bones.
