The moon gleamed like a giant eye, watching our group ride further from the castle. We passed beneath the trees, the shadows of branches painting us in dark, crooked lines. I kept Loon a generous distance behind Cora and Jack, my torrent of thoughts swirling deep within me. We must have ridden an hour, but I was still unwilling to speak to Cora, to anyone. I was still digesting what she’d told me.
My father was alive.
He hadn’t died ten years ago.
Cora’s last words filled my mind. You’re going to cure him too.
I stared numbly at Jack’s strong silhouette and dark hair. Next to him, Cora swayed gracefully on her tall, black horse. From what I could hear, Jack was insisting we take a longer route to where my father was. He was sure the Count was tracking us. Cora shook her head, holding firm to our path.
It was Cora leading us through the woods, not Jack. Awareness swept through me. She had made this journey many times.
I remembered the first time I’d seen Cora in the castle. That was the night I snuck out and Jack had found me. Shown me the Count’s horses. Then Cora had flown into the stable, concealed under a dark cloak. She had just returned from a long ride and made us swear not to tell anyone we’d seen her.
Now I knew she had just been to see my father.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t pleased to learn my father was still alive. I was. I was relieved and so grateful. It was knowing that Cora had kept this from me. Surviving the betrayals and lies of the castle had taken everything within me. Cora had been one of the few people I trusted. I realized I was angry because this made me question how close Cora and I were, and I didn’t want to. But Cora had lied to me.
She had lied every time I’d asked if my father was alive.
Hurt swelled within me and I gripped the reins harder. When I felt Loon tense, I quickly let them go slack and breathed in deeply, allowing the scent of the forest and the soft glow of moonlight to soothe me. Fireflies began to fill the darkness with pulses of light.
Those shimmering dots reminded me of the dust I’d commanded in the Dome Room, where Dr. Ply separated people from their magic. The room I had been locked in only hours ago. I’d escaped by finally solving my father’s clues and understanding he had been talking about me in his journals all along, not a plant. For the first time, I’d used my magic to communicate with the dust. I was still amazed, thinking about how it had glowed and climbed up the wall like a shimmering vine and crushed the stone around the lock. Then I’d used that same dust to cure those Dr. Ply had destroyed in his experiments. His assistant, Anna; Carl, my old classmate from Windermere; and four other retired transposers.
Goosebumps rose on my arms as I remembered their transformations. The dust had absorbed into their dull, grey skin, brightening it with a warm, living glow. Their emotionless eyes had sparkled again.
Now they were safe, all on a ship to Stygian. Our group was going to see Ember’s mother, Airlend Frost, Keeper of the White Forest. A land of magic and power.
A land the Count was desperate to find. So desperate that he’d captured people with magic and stripped it away to use it for himself.
But tonight, we’d stopped him. We’d freed the Transposers and stolen all his laun so he couldn’t find the White Forest again. Of course, the Count would follow us. If not tonight, then tomorrow.
We were risking everything by stopping to see my father.
My relief at his being alive was now replaced by uncertainty. What state was he in? Was he ruined like the retired Transposers; lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, lifeless? Or would he be like Anna and Carl, able to function, but cold and emotionless? I wasn’t sure which would be worse.
I swallowed through a swarm of nerves that bubbled within me. So much had happened in the last eleven years. I had grown into a different person. Surely, my father had too.
You’re going to cure him.
But did I even have enough dust left to cure him? Was this why Cora had finally revealed this secret to me? Because now there was hope that I could cure my father? The anger I was holding onto receded like a wave. Maybe there had been no hope for him until now. Perhaps this one omission from Cora had been out of kindness, not to keep another secret from me.
A soft neigh sounded behind me. I turned, seeing York and Ember riding silently at a distance. Even though she was on a horse, Ember looked small next to York. Her long black hair was swept behind her shoulders, and her delicate face looked paler than usual in the moonlight. Her violet eyes shone at me as she nodded encouragingly. Beside her, York offered a smile, but his brown eyes looked troubled. I appreciated the space they were giving me to process this. I knew they would be beside me in an instant if I showed I needed them, but I didn’t. Not yet.
I turned around as more whispers from Cora and Jack drifted back to us.
A swift stream cut through the path ahead, racing over uneven rocks. Cora led her horse into the water; its fast current pushed against her horse’s legs.
I stopped beside Jack. Ember and York paused next to us.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked Cora.
Cora turned in her saddle toward us, the moonlight highlighting her beautiful face. It was hard to hold onto any hurt when Cora’s warm gaze landed on mine. Her emerald eyes turned sympathetic as if she understood I was struggling. I looked away.
“We walk through the stream before continuing west,” Cora answered Jack. “This way we leave no tracks.”
My eyes darted back to Cora in surprise. West was where the Taylor’s farm was. The Taylors had taken me in after my father disappeared. West was where Windermere was, the small village York and I had grown up in. Surely my father had not been that close to me all this time.
“And where is it we’re going?” Jack sounded impatient. “I can’t guide us safely if you don’t tell me.”
“There is no time to plan another route now. But when we make camp, we will talk.” Cora turned around and urged her horse forward.
Jack huffed out an exasperated breath. “How long do you expect the horses to walk over wet stones in the dark?”
“We’re losing time,” Cora called back as she splashed out of sight.
“I agree with Cora,” York added, his tone sharp. “The goal is to get far away from the Count, isn’t it? Arguing is just slowing us down.”
I glanced at York, surprised. “Jack’s concerned about the horses. We can’t go very far if they’re lame.”
York eyed Jack, waiting.
“Of course I want to get us far from the Count,” Jack answered, sounding as surprised as I felt.
York shrugged. “Just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
Jack frowned but didn’t respond. Then he turned to me. “Are you alright?”
I stared at him, taking in how the moon shone on his face, making his skin gleam like porcelain. Tonight everything had changed between us. A few hours ago, he’d kissed me, leaving me excited about the possibility of us. Hopeful, even. Then I’d found out my father was alive. If Jack had kept this information from me too, I wasn’t sure I could trust him either.
“Did you know?” I whispered, holding his blue eyes with mine.
Jack exhaled. “No, Ivy. I swear. I had no idea Cora knew or that he was alive at all.”
I nodded, releasing the tension I was holding in one deep breath. I couldn’t take any more betrayal tonight. It helped to know that Ember, York, and Jack were just as surprised as I was.
“It will be alright,” Jack said gently. “No matter what happens, we’re all in this with you.”
York and Ember both nodded solemnly. Ember smiled softly, but my gaze skipped to York, my best friend since childhood. He’d known my father and witnessed how hard my life had been without him. York’s presence was familiar and reassuring, but he had also changed in the castle. It was clear that York was battling his own emotions regarding everything we had been through there. A lump formed in my throat.
But York smiled at me. “Hey, he’s alive. This is better than what we thought, right?”
I twisted the reins in my hands. “Of course. But . . . Cora said he needs to be cured too. What if I can’t help him?”
There it was. My biggest fear laid bare. I had failed so much when it came to my father. I had failed to master his Arborist Trade, failed to upload his legacy in Windermere, and lost my childhood home, Forest and Fern. But he hadn’t been around to see any of that. Now he was. What if I failed him this time too?
Ember’s soft voice cut through the darkness. “You won’t know until we see him. Until then, don’t dwell on the worst.”
I nodded, swallowing past the tightness in my throat. I’d spent ten years surviving in Windermere without my father. Then a year isolated in the Count’s castle. But I wasn’t alone anymore. Whatever was ahead, my friends would face it with me.
Cora’s voice floated back to us above the bubbling water. “Coming?”
“Right behind you.” Jack reached out and held Loon’s halter as he guided our horses into the water. A moment later, York and Ember splashed in behind us.
Ember was right. I shouldn’t expect the worst just yet. I’d spent my childhood thinking my father had died, so this was good news.
But when we stopped to make camp, I planned to make Cora tell me everything.
I was done with secrets.
