Reflection Pond (3 page)

“Like I was saying,” Ash continued as though nothing had happened
. “We choose new names once we get here. Trees or plants, usually, though flowers are acceptable.” He shrugged and pushed through some hanging vines, revealing yet another stone passageway. “Think about it. You don’t have to decide right this second.”

Rowan
was forgotten as a name rose from the depths of Callie’s mind, as though it was waiting there all along. It should’ve disturbed her, but it settled over Callie like a warm blanket.

Calla Lily.

They passed a cluster of glowing orbs. “And what are these things?” she asked. “And what was that when Hazel touched me? Who are you people? Why am I here?” She glanced up, relieved to see a plain stone ceiling, and not something that boggled her mind. “Where the hell are we?”

“One question at a time.
I’m not allowed to say too much. You’ll have to wait to speak to the Elders.”

“Elders?”
Callie parroted.

“It’ll get easier. I promise.”

Fat chance,
Callie thought. They’d told her that every time she was placed with a new foster family. It was a lie. Every. Time.

“You do realize that I’m not staying here…right? I have a house and a family…” she trailed off, reaching the point where things always got awkward.

“Fosters?” Ash asked with a knowing smile. “Most of us come from fosters. It’s just how things are done.”

“What
things?”
she said. An orb hung next to Callie’s face and she poked it with her index finger. It felt like an ordinary old rock, hard, gritty, and cool to the touch. The light brightened and then fizzled out. “Seriously. Is this like Wonderland? Am I dreaming?”

“Alice in Wonderland?
No—nothing like that.”

Ash pulled Callie’s arm, dragging her toward a stone archway. From it, brilliant green light spilled into the caves, brightening the gray
stone walls and illuminating the blooms like scattered gemstones. They passed through the opening and Callie gasped.

“It’s better than Wonderland,” Ash whispered
, “so much better. Welcome to
Eirensae.
”

***

Hazel still sat on her dais.
Lording over the city,
Rowan thought.

Her eyes remained closed when she spoke.
“Rowan? Is there something further you need from me?” Her tone was dismissive.

Rowan ignored it. “That girl doesn’t belong here.”

“That’s not really your decision.”

“And what about the Elders?” he challenged.

Hazel opened her eyes now, caught Rowan in them as one might trap a butterfly with a pin. “Of course I will address this with them.”

“When?”

“Not your concern,
child,”
she said the word like an expletive.

Almost two years and still she thought nothing of him. Rowan tamped down the fury inside of him. “I am not a child.”

“But not yet a member of the city. You have no power here.”

“But the girl,” he said again.

“Is not your concern.”

Lights flashed behind Rowan’s eyes and his mind fogged with Hazel’s power. He clenched his jaw, trying to fight it, but Rowan held no defensive energy. His body gave up long before he did.

Hazel gasped and his head cleared. “I apologize,” she said, her face a mask of feigned disbelief.

Rowan didn’t buy any of it. He’d seen Hazel manipulate an entire city with her mock innocence. His jaw clicked as he released the pressure. “As you wish,” he said, snubbing her apology. He turned on his heel and left Hazel to gloat over her power.

***

Callie went from the humid shelter of the caves to a wonderland as picturesque as an Irish countryside. The city was beautiful, from the gentle rolling hills blanketed in bright grass to the cottages with their thatch roofs and smoke pouring from their chimneys. To Callie’s right, multistory, statuesque buildings stretched toward the sky, their bases blending into the earth. Vines heavy with fruit and flowers crossed over their fronts, jamming the roofs and obscuring the structure underneath. There were trees everywhere, huge weeping willows,
Japanese maples in a riot of shades including violet, pink, and blue, oaks, pines, ash, and a multitude of flowering trees. Flowers lined the compacted dirt path that wound through the city. A river wove between the cottages. The sky was a perfect blue, cloudless and uniform from skyline to skyline. A cheery yellow sun warmed her.

The residents of the city gaped as she and Ash wound between the cottages and eventually reached the larger buildings that faced them, following the dirt path. Callie stared back, unable to stop herself. It seemed that all the women had long, flowing hair and pretty, oval faces. Several male heads turned in her direction and Callie face flushed at the attention. Their dress ranged from jeans to tunics to t-shirts.

“Who are you people?” she whispered.

Ash ignored Callie’s mutterings and led her between the buildings that blotted out the sun. The temperature dropped and Callie rubbed her arms.

“Who lives here?”

“Elders, mostly.
Some staff, other important people.” Ash said.

Most of structures looked identical, soaring facades covered with greenery and blooms. Callie knew she’d never find her way out unassisted. From a distance, the city didn’t look big, but once inside it, the buildings blocked any view of the surrounding fields, forest, and cottages.

Ash stopped in front of a towering building, gesturing grandly. Cobblestone steps adorned the front of a spacious porch. An inlaid gem tree sparkled from the arched double doors.

“This,” Ash said with reverence, “is the palace.”

It was four stories, every inch covered in ivy. A sprawling second floor balcony spilling with flowers obscured most of the jutting turrets that reached toward the sky, windows glittering in the afternoon sun.

A noisy huddle of people waited just inside.

Excitement weighed heavy in the air and the voices quieted as Callie and Ash entered. The gazes of the gathered crowd were warm as sunlight on bare skin, their faces curious and beautiful. It reminded Callie of the time she’d traveled with a friend to a fashion show where all the models had flawless, airbrushed skin. The women here looked perfect with bright, gem colored eyes and flowing hair. The men were immaculate in dark tunics and pants, their eyes just as bright as the women’s were. There was a wrongness about it that Callie couldn’t quite place. The beauty was lovely but unnatural, too smooth, like the beveled edge of colored glass.

Callie looked away, up to the gilt ceiling. A forest of trees, their leaves glimmering jewels, decorated the walls. The city’s permanent scent of flowers enveloped Callie as the door shut behind her.
Eirensae,
Ash had called it.

“Good morning, Callie,” a warm voice greeted, and a blond woman with blue eyes folded her into a hug.

Callie stayed stiff, unsure of what she was supposed to do. But this woman was soft and warm. She radiated safety. Callie inhaled the lilac scent of her hair and relaxed a fraction. The voices rose around her again like the gurgling of a river.

“We’re so glad you came back to us,” the woman said. She looked very young, with just a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Her hair
was pulled into a braid that hung long and straight over one shoulder. A tattoo peeked from beneath it, spanning the flat part of her chest above her breasts. The swirling lines matched the blue of the woman’s dress.

She looped her arm through Callie’s and drew her through the throng. The tingle that radiated from the woman was mellow, comforting, and Callie found herself leaning closer to her. Ash fell behind, speaking to a girl with bright red curls that matched the shade of his hair exactly.
His sister,
Callie realized with a twinge of jealousy.

“The tailor is here to take your sizes. We’ll have everything ready for this evening. I’m Cypress, by the way,” the woman said.

“Calla Lily,” Callie said, trying on the new name. “Callie,” she amended.

“Hm,” Cypress said, thoughtful.
“Calla Lily. Most people think it is a flower of purity, but it actually stands for resurrection. It’s a wonderful choice for your new life.”

“I don’t know you. I don’t even know where we are. I have zero intention of staying here no matter what you say.”

Cypress paused, drawing Callie to the side. “I want you to think about something,” she said, eyes serious. “Were you happy there?”

Callie thought about Nate and her foster mother’s cancer.
Sickness. Despair. Always running but never escaping. “Not really,” she said eventually, nauseous with the realization.

“Here, you will have an entire city of family. You will be happy. You don’t trust us, but we haven’t had the chance to earn it. Just say you’ll give us the chance.”

Callie frowned as Cypress pulled her further into the palace without waiting for a response. They crossed into a pristine kitchen with modern appliances. It looked like something from a gourmet restaurant, four double ovens, a twelve-foot flat-face stovetop, four side-by-side refrigerators and two chest style deep freezers dominated the room. After seeing the cottages at the edge of the city, the opulence surprised her.

“What’s your favorite color?” Cypress asked.

“Um…blue?” Callie answered, watching groups of people open the refrigerators and ovens. The sweet smell of cooking pastries filled the room.

“Ah, perfect. That will bring out your eyes.” They exited the kitchen, entering a soaring hallway lined with gilded doors. At the end, an archway opened into a great room.

Callie mapped the palace in her head for escape routes, but unless she jumped out a window, she’d only seen the front doors, and she’d have to cross an ocean of people to get there. They reached the end of the hallway and stepped through the arched frame.

“This is the ballroom where your ceremony will be held,” Cypress said, opening her arms wide and executing a half
turn.

Ballroom was an understatement. The room was humongous, at least a football field long. People milled about, carrying in tables and chairs. A stage stood half-assembled in the center. Cypress stopped a young girl as she passed. “Callie would like the decorations to be blue.”

“Of course,” the girl replied, hurrying off, skirt billowing behind her.

“What exactly is a welcome ceremony?” Callie asked. “And how did you know I was here? It’s been what, ten minutes…and already
there’s chairs—” she broke off as two men slid by her carrying a heavy wooden table.

“The ceremony welcomes you back to the arms of nature, your rightful home,” a scathing voice from behind them said.

Rowan.

Callie felt the wonder of the palace fade with his presence. She turned to find him leaning against a table, expression dripping with sarcasm. His dark hair
was pushed behind his ears. He scowled at Callie as though he wished to be anywhere else.

Before Callie could make a derisive comment about Rowan’s presence, Cypress cleared her throat and touched Callie’s shoulder, gesturing to the red haired girl Callie had seen Ash talking with. “I’ll leave you in Willow’s capable hands. I trust you’ll clean up your attitude before this evening,
Rowan. You know your responsibility here.” She gave him a pointed look before exiting the room in a cloud of lilac scented air.

Callie smirked at the reprimand.

“I’m Willow,” the girl said, bumping Callie’s arm in a casual, haphazard way. When she tilted her head, curls fell over one shoulder. “You,” she pointed at Rowan, “go away. She won’t need you until later.”

“What exactly do you mean by
need?”
Callie asked, coming alert. If they thought she was going anywhere with him, they were crazy. As it was, she planned on finding a way to escape as soon as they left her alone. Cypress’s speech about giving them a chance was nice, but it wasn’t enough to eclipse the creepy feeling in her stomach.

“Rowan will escort you tonight,” Willow said.

“You’re kidding me. That’s not happening. I’d rather have rusty spikes shoved under my fingernails.” They’d have to drug her to get her to agree. “I’m not staying. Just show me the door, and I’ll be on my way.”

Rowan, keeping his eyes on Callie, did a small bow. “It would be my pleasure to escort you to the ceremony tonight. Also, I have an excellent supply of both rusted and non-rusted spikes, which we can peruse at your leisure.”

“Great.” Willow slapped her hands together and ignored their snarky remarks. “Now
go away.”
She turned her back on Rowan.

Callie resisted the urge to glare at him as they walked away. Still, she felt his gaze prickle the back of her neck.

Willow threw both arms around Callie. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been waiting
forever
.” She jumped up and down awkwardly since Callie didn’t move.