"Tell you what?"
"About my magic. About what I could do." The words came out sharper than she intended. "You've been giving me cryptic hints for years. 'Listen to the land, Chloe. Trust your instincts, Chloe.' But you never told me I could actually use it. That I could fight back."
Wendy was quiet for a moment, her expression shifting to something complicated. Guilt, maybe. Or regret.
"You're right. I wasn't direct. But there was a reason for that."
"Then explain it to me. Because I almost died, and I keep thinking that if I'd known sooner, if I'd understood what I was capable of, maybe I could have stopped Jasper before he hurt this town. Or myself."
"Maybe." Wendy met her eyes steadily. "Or maybe you would have locked it away forever."
"What?"
"Druid magic isn't like other magic, Chloe. You can't learn it from a book or practice it in a workshop. It has to be awakened from within. Felt, not taught. And the only way it awakens is through genuine connection." Wendy spread her hands. "When you were younger, you were so afraid of being different. Every time you sensed something in the land, you pushed it down. Ignored it. Ran from it."
Chloe flinched. It was true. She'd spent years trying to be normal, trying to pretend she didn't feel the pulse of the earth beneath her feet.
"If I'd sat you down and explained what you were, what you could do, what would you have done?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do." Wendy's voice was gentle but firm. "You would have been terrified. You would have seen it as one more thing that made you strange, one more reason people would reject you. And you would have built walls so high that the magic could never have reached you."
"You don't know that."
"I do. Because I saw it." Wendy tapped her temple. "Futures aren't fixed, but patterns are. Every version of you that I tried to push, to force, to teach before you were ready, she closed herself off completely. Lost the connection forever. The only path where you came into your power was the one where you discovered it yourself."
Chloe stared at her sister, the words settling into place. She wanted to tell Wendy she was wrong, but deep down, she knew that her sister was right. She was always right.
"You were guiding me."
"Nudging. Hinting. Hoping." Wendy's smile was sad. "And praying that when the moment came, you'd be ready."
"But you didn't see Jasper coming."
"No." The word came out heavy. "His magic interfered with my sight. Blocked me from seeing anything connected to him. By the time I realized something was wrong, you were already in the middle of it." She reached out and took Chloe's hand, squeezing tight. "I should have come sooner. Should have found another way. I'm sorry."
"You couldn't have known."
"I should have." Wendy's eyes glistened. "You're my little sister. Protecting you is my job."
"I think I did okay protecting myself." Chloe squeezed back. "With help."
"You did more than okay." Wendy laughed, wiping her eyes. "You faced down a dark druid with nothing but instinct and stubbornness. Mom would have been proud."
Chloe blinked hard at the nention of their mother, pushing down the swell of emotion.
"What happens now? With my magic, I mean."
"Now you learn. Properly, with someone who can guide you." Wendy's expression turned thoughtful. "There are others like us, Chloe. Not many, but enough. I can introduce you to some teachers, people who understand druid blood and how to work with it now that you can feel what it is saying to you."
"I'm not leaving Hollow Oak." The words came out immediate, certain. Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't suggesting you should."
"Good. Because this is my home now." Chloe looked around the room, Corin's room, and felt the truth of it settle into her bones. "I'm done running. I'm done letting fear make my decisions. I want to stay here. Build something real."
"With your bear?"
