Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 8

Pain shot up her arm as Sophie pinched her wrist, and she released the breath she'd been holding.

She wasn't dead.

She wasn't dreaming either—though this had all the makings of a nightmare.

Her eyes studied the trees, focusing on the one that was just slightly taller than the other. The pale trunk was scrawny and weak, but the tree still stood on its own. Golden, star-shaped leaves covered the skinny branches, with deep brown seedpods peppered among them. No flowers. No color. Just a plain, basic tree.

Her tree.

She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed with it—especially compared to Dex's, which had a twisted trunk, spiky, strawberry red leaves, and periwinkle berries. There was something so inherently Dex about it. Even without the marker, she could've guessed it was his grave.

But both of them paled to Mer's tree. It rose higher than both of them with sea green fruits that were there on the twisted branches. The sea green and white flowers gave a sense of being near water and the flowers scent caused her mind to temporarily calm down.

She had a grave.

A glint of silver at the base of the thickest bough caught her eye and she reached out with shaky hands to unclasp a silver charm bracelet with two charms: an elephant covered in blue diamonds, and some sort of locket etched with intricate swirls.

The scenery blurred as the world started to spin too fast, and she sank to the ground, burying her face between her knees. She counted each breath, trying not to throw up her breakfast all over the grass. Sixty-three breaths had passed before Grady's hushed voice shattered the silence.

"They kept the trees."

Her head snapped up, but her eyes couldn't focus on the two people standing over her. She thought it was the sudden bright light, but then something wet streaked down her cheek.

Grady and Edaline dropped to the ground beside her, strangling her with a hug. Sophie's tears soaked Grady's cape as Edaline rubbed her back.

"We should've warned you," he said through a sigh. "I just didn't want to upset you if they weren't even here."

Sophie tried to make her mouth ask any of the questions swelling inside her brain, but all she could choke out was, "How did they . . . ?"

Edaline must've known what she meant because she whispered, "We gave them a hair from the silver brush in your room." She swept a strand away from Sophie's cheek. "And we planted the seed at your funeral."

Sophie closed her eyes, but it didn't stop her from imagining them standing on that hill, crying as they placed her seed in the ground. Clinging to each other as they fastened her charm bracelet around the branch, planning to add to it each year.

Was Dex's family there too?

Were Kenric and Oralie there too? Forced not to grieve together?

Who else came?

Her mind ran through a list of names and she shook the upsetting thought away. She forced herself to sit up, wiping her runny nose on the back of her hand. "But you know we're alive now. Why are they still here?"

Grady touched the slender trunk of her tree. "Probably because the Wanderlings are living things. Would it be right to kill them, simply because we planted them by mistake?"

"I guess not," she mumbled.

It wasn't the tree's fault the kidnappers tossed her registry pendant into the ocean and tricked everyone into believing she'd drowned. But it still gave her the creeps knowing she had a grave. And not any grave—a tree mixed with her DNA, absorbing tiny parts of her as it grew and changed. Almost like a part of her had been stolen, somehow.

Edaline held Sophie tighter as she shivered and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

They were the same words Sophie had said to them at Jolie's grave. And they helped about as much. But if Grady and Edaline could be strong, so could she.

Her hands curled into fists and something metal cut into her palm. "Oh, I found this." She held out the charm bracelet. "Is it okay if I keep it?"

Edaline covered her mouth and looked away.

Grady cleared his throat. "Of course. We wanted you to have it. In fact, this is good. Just in time for when you start your first full year at Foxfire. We'll have to get you a new charm."

Sophie examined the charms they'd picked, smiling at the tiny blue diamond elephant, which must've been inspired by Ella. The locket turned out to be a small compass rimmed with tiny diamonds. Loopy letters had been engraved on the inside.

" 'Let the past be your guide,' " Sophie read aloud.

"What's that?" Edaline asked.

"The inscription on the compass."

"Compass?" Edaline turned pale as Sophie held out the charm. "We didn't add that charm."

Sophie felt her jaw drop as Grady snatched the bracelet and squinted at the inscription. "All I see is a jumble of old runes. You're sure you see a message?"

He handed the bracelet back, and Sophie had to remind herself to breathe as she checked the inscription, which still read the same way. When she closed the locket and looked closer at the etchings, she understood why. Mixed in with the intricate swirls was a black curl with a pointed end, like the curve of a bird's neck, ending in a beak.

The sign of the swan.