“Chimeras are always a step ahead, I know,” I say, dragging my attention away from her fingers and arms. “Your dad made that very clear.”
After breakfast, Troy told us about the chimeras he trapped while abroad—a sea serpent in Norway being his favorite. The stories were meant to inspire me, but they only made me more nervous about how impossible this is going to be. His techniques for throwing the net are all easier said than done, and I’m convinced he was pulling my leg when he said it’ll come back like a boomerang if I throw it right.
I ready myself for another try, the weightless golden threads tickling my fingers. Is this my training montage? Swinging a net around in an abandoned Alchemy lab while my girlfriend gently tosses books my way? Ugh, how sad.
We’ve pushed the wooden tables and chairs up against one side of the rectangular room, leaving space to practice. The whirring fan beneath the skylight does little to dispel the stuffy air, and my arms are tired from swinging this thing all afternoon.
Natalie sends the book in a slow arc, and I chuck the net, this time with too much force. It sails past the book and crashes into a shelf of empty vials, sending them to the floor with a cacophony of shattering glass.
“Shit!” I rush over and drop to my knees, trying to gather the broken pieces.
Pain stabs my index finger, and I hiss, watching a fat droplet of blood ooze out.
Natalie kneels beside me, brushing her fingers over the back of my neck. “Katie, stop. It’s okay.”
Her touch derails my brain for a second, making me want to turn around and feel every contour of her strong arms—but I shake my head fiercely. “It’s not okay! None of this is!”
She tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “We should take a break. We skipped lunch.”
Frustration twists in my gut. I snatch up the net where it’s tangled over the broken glass. “I need to get better. Your dad caught his first chimerawhen it was an eagle, and that’s way harder than catching books you’re throwing really slowly.”
“Katie.” She guides me to my feet. Heat spreads from her fingertips, easing some of the tension in my muscles. “You’re overthinking it.”
“Of course I’m overthinking it!” I gesture wildly with the net, the golden threads trailing behind my hand like a comet’s tail. “How am I supposed to catch fifty-six of these things when I can’t even catch a flying book?”
She studies me closely. Her face is still cut up from yesterday, each one painful to look at. “I feel like…like you might be holding back. I see it in your face when we talk about them.”
Hot shame wells inside me. “I’m not…”
But I am. Every time I think about catching those creatures, the memory of that warning hisses in the back of my mind:We remember the cages.And that cheetah flashes across my vision, beautiful and strong, with intelligent eyes that really looked at me.
Her hands linger on mine, anchoring me in place when everything else is spiraling. The way she’s looking at me, with such concern and focus, makes my breath hitch. We stare at each other for a moment, surrounded by broken glass and rays of sun peeking through the skylight.
“Is it the voices?” Natalie asks.
I nod, my throat tight.
She runs her fingers along my jaw. “Tell me if you hear it next time we’re out there, okay? We can try to figure out what’s going on. Where it’s coming from.”
I furrow my brow. Either she’s in denial or I’m clinging too hard to my theory. “And if it is the chimeras talking to me? If we discover I’m trapping sentient creatures like some dirtbag trophy hunter?”
Natalie shakes her head, loose locks of hair falling across her face. “They’re dangerous forces, not animals. Think of them like a hurricane or an earthquake.”
“Natural disasters don’t usually talk,” I point out.
She sighs, her shoulders dropping. “Katie, they level cities. They hurt people.”
“And if theyaresomehow conscious?”
“Then we still have to contain them.”
I chew my lip, trying to find a solution. “Is there another way to banish the chimeras without trapping them?”
She scans the ivy-covered walls as if searching for answers. “Maybe. But for now, this is the only way to keep you safe—to keepeveryonesafe.”
I nod, though the knot in my stomach stays tightly wound. She clearly doesn’t think there could be another way, but she doesn’t want to say it outright.
“Katie, we’re talking about bio magic, and we need to consider that they could be manipulating your mind.”
