Wyatt nodded. “Yes. I believe you already have been, but since you haven’t had training on it, your skills aren’t refined. Thankfully, I once worked with a DBI agent with this skill, so I know something about how he did it.” He touched a hand to the ground. “I guess I’ve got something to teach you in field studies after all.”
Wyattand I continued to meet daily, finding new spots along the Wildflower Trail to practice connecting with the soil. Each session, I uncovered layers of the soil I hadn’t paid much attention to before.
Different soil had different profiles and could vary widely based on its inorganic composition, the nutrients in the area, and the organic material that was mixed in. As I learned the nuances of the earth under my fingers, I was able to latch the shield Floracantus more deeply into it. Each day, the shield was lasting longer and longer, and after a week, Wyatt and I went to test my latest shield after leaving it overnight around the Evergreen Conservatory.
“It’s still here,” Wyatt said, a grin spreading across his face. “It didn’t dissolve overnight.” He held up a hand, and I high-fived it.
“Think it’s permanent, or will it fall eventually?” I asked.
I could sense Wyatt using his tree powers to sift through the soil. “I think you attached it to every level and component, like we were aiming for. Unless you choose to uproot it, that shield’s not going anywhere.”
I smiled in pure relief then tilted my head up to the sky, letting the warm spring sun bathe my face in photons. “So, you think I’m ready?”
Wyatt nodded. “I think you’re ready.”
“Will you be on campus for the spring equinox, just in case I need you to check my soil prep?”
“I think you’re better at soil prep than me now, but I wouldlike to be on campus to support in other ways if needed. I’ll sneak in again, like I did for the Floral Fete. If my mom is there on the spring equinox, as I suspect she might be, I don’t want her to see me coming.”
“About that. Callan heard through his scouting vines that security may be tighter on the equinox than it was during the Floral Fete. But I think I have a way for you and some of our other allies to get in unnoticed.”
Wyatt arched an eyebrow. “I’m telling you you’re cut out for the DBI.”
I laughed. “Keep dreaming, Rhodes.” Then I told him about the petal portals.
Chapter Fifty-Four
“Iwas worried about this,” Heath said. The floral affinity botanist was propped on a velvet green cushion in the secret tree conservatory room in the attic of Evergreen Academy.
While I had been busy working on creating and perfecting the Floracantus that would create the new verdant shield, other members of the Root and Vine Society had been doing their own parts in preparing for our mission.
One of the goals was to make more petal portals so that anyone involved in our plan could have a means of getting in and out of the academy quickly and undetected if needed.
“Duplicating the binding Floracantus to work between the pendants and the petal portals isn’t easy. The founders were uniquely connected to the academy. As Briar learned with breaking the curse on her magic, duplicating or undoing founders’ magic can be tricky. I’m not sure if I can pull it off,” Heath admitted. “Are you having any luck, Briar?”
I tried one more time, but the Shasta lily wasn’t holding the magic in the way I felt it was with the original pendants. I sighed. “No.”
“Are you sure we need to make more of these?” Meadow asked. “Couldn’t we lend Wyatt one of the nine pendants we already have?”
“I want everyone in the Root and Vine Society to have their pendants on them in case something goes sideways and they need to sneak out of the academy,” I said. “Plus, I’d like Yasmin, Aurielle, and Coral to have them for the same reason. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few extras on top of that for unexpected circumstances. Any advantage we have on the equinox, I want to take.”
Meadow nodded. “Good point. But if you and Heath can’t get the Shasta lilies to hold the Floracantus, is there anyone who can?”
“Too bad we can’t sneak in and use the Dandelion of Desire,” Aurielle said. “Maybe a little extra power would help you.”
I nodded slowly, an idea forming. “The Dandelion of Desire isn’t the only thing that can give magical botanists a boost.”
“What do you mean?” Yasmin asked.
“Have you all heard of green zones?”
Meadow’s face lit up. “Sure! My mom told stories about them. But they’re classified. I’ve never known where any of them are.”
“What if I told you there’s one not too far from here?”
“Spill!” Coral demanded.
“You all know my field study last year was classified. Itslocation happened to be in a green zone, also classified. But I think circumstances warrant letting a few more people in on the secret. The zone is on Mount Shasta, and I know exactly where the epicenter is.”
