Page 22 of The Tree of Spirits
I clung to his words, glad he didn’t think I was crazy—or a total coward. “Really?”
“Yeah. Even a super cool Knight like me,” he said. “It’s ok to be scared. And it’s ok to show it.”
“But don’t Knights have to always act brave and fearless?”
“The General will tell you all Knights should strive to be emotionless robots.” Conner clasped my hands as his gaze locked with mine. “Don’t listen to him, Red. Wearen’trobots and wedohave feelings. And that’s totally ok.”
“Conner, I…” I cleared my throat, not even sure what I wanted to say to him. So I dropped his hands and diverted my gaze to the pile of metal scraps on the counter. “I guess I should throw out all that junk.”
“Wait.”
Conner started humming, softly at first, but it grew louder and louder, until his beautiful, wordless song filled the whole room. The counter buzzed with each deep note. The walls jingled with every high one. And the air crackled with the magic that bound it all together.
“How are you doing this?” I gasped as the metal scraps rose from the counter, bobbing between us.
The pieces twisted and turned, shifted and stretched—merging and melting together until they’d become something else entirely. Something magical and incredible.
“Magic isn’t all explosions and destruction.” Conner took my hand and set the necklace he’d made in front of me into my open palm. “It is so much more.”
I brushed my fingertip across the intricate, delicate lines of the orchids, then slid it down the slender stem that formed the necklace’s chain. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s yours,” he told me, closing my hand around the necklace. “You are not lost, Red. And you are not alone. If you ever need me, just whisper to the orchids, and I will come. Anytime. Any reason. Ok?”
Smiling, I nodded. “I will.” I latched his beautiful, magical gift around my neck. “And thank you.”
“Any time, Red.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Any time.”
Neither of us knew what to say after that, so we didn’t say anything at all. We just stood there, staring at each other, until Marlow’s voice cut through the long, thick silence.
“I don’t mean to interrupt or anything, but is it supposed to feel like someone lit a match to my body?”
Conner hastily dropped my hand and rushed into the other room. “It happens sometimes. It’s all part of the healing process,” he said as he knelt down beside the sofa and took a look at Marlow’s wounds. “I’ll weave another layer of healing spells through your wounds now, and the pain should soon subside.”
I lingered in the doorway, watching as Conner drew more glowing runes with his hands. Marlow sighed in relief. And so did Wolf.
“Not to worry, Red.” Conner stole a glance over his shoulder at me. “Your friend will be fine. I’ll take care of everything.”
Marlow had turned on the TV. The screen showed the Garden. The view kept cutting between four angles.
“That looks like security camera footage,” I commented, moving closer to the television.
“It is.” Conner was watching too. “The Watchers’ security footage. I’ve seen these exact videos.”
“This is from the day of the attack,” I realized as the Garden’s gates slid open, and a black SUV drove inside. “How did the media get this footage?”
Conner shook his head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t even easy for me to get it, and I can make myself invisible.”
On screen, all of the Apprentices in the Garden turned to stare at the black SUV. And so did the adults. Ms. Pirana even smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt, like she expected someone important to step out of the vehicle and reward her for being such a cruel Program Manager. Everyone looked so curious. They had no idea what was coming.
I could barely watch. I didn’t want to see the Cursed Ones jump out of that SUV. I didn’t want to hear the screams.
“This is even worse than I remember,” Conner commented as the crowd in the Garden exploded in every direction, screaming loudly. “These people seriously need to spend a few hours rereading the Handbook.”
Kato had said the exact same thing. The two of them were more alike than Conner thought.
“The only person not running around screaming is you, Red.”
I watched the people shouting and scurrying around the Garden. At the time of the attack, I’d known things were bad. But on camera it looked so much worse.
