Trial by Fire (Worldwalker 1)

“Are you two drunk?” Caleb asked from the doorway.

“Caleb,” Tristan said, waving him over. “You gotta see this.”

Lily held up her necklace. Caleb squinted at it.

“He doesn’t even know what it’s supposed to be,” Tristan said, sending them both into another round of giggles. In the background, Lily saw Rowan come in with bags of groceries and start unpacking them silently. She wiped her streaming eyes and put on her ugly necklace.

“What do you think, Caleb?” she said, waggling her eyebrows at him. “You’ve got to admit, it takes a special talent to make something as hideous as this.”

“It is pretty hideous,” he said with a grin, but his smile faded fast. “Three stones,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen that before.”

The mood shifted from jovial to serious in seconds as Caleb regarded Lily cautiously. She could feel him fighting with himself, still not sure about whether or not he could trust her. Of course he still doubted her. He’d spent the afternoon with Rowan. As soon as Lily thought this, Rowan turned and came toward her.

“Here,” he said, placing a velvet pouch in front of her. Lily opened the pouch and a gorgeous platinum chain spilled into her hand. “Lillian couldn’t make her own setting either.”

Rowan turned and went down the hallway to the spare bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him. He’d made his point about how alike she and Lillian were, and the worst part was that he’d done it in a way that Lily couldn’t dispute. Fuming, Lily resisted the urge to follow him down the hallway and yell at him. Instead, she untangled the chain and laid it out on the table so she could see it better.

The chain had an open platinum oval pendant that was shaped like a teardrop. Dangling from the teardrop were three smaller, detachable chains of staggered lengths. At the bottom of the three chains were three different-size settings, one for each of Lily’s stones. The largest setting hung lowest, the medium above that, and at the top was a tiny, pea-size setting, waiting for her shy golden stone. Lily ran the small chains through her fingers, finding the clasps that detached them from the teardrop easy to work but stable. They wouldn’t come off unless she meant to remove them.

“So I can take off two and hide them in my pocket. Make it look like I have the normal number of willstones,” Lily said quietly, marveling at how Rowan seemed to consider everything. And marveling at the beauty of the necklace he’d brought her. “You think he could have told us he was going to do this so we didn’t waste all day,” she said, purposely turning her gratitude into frustration.

“Classic Rowan,” Tristan said with a shrug.

Lily fitted her stones into the settings and tamped down the edges securely. She found that she didn’t have to do much altering. Rowan had guessed the size and shape of her willstones almost perfectly.

“Where do willstones come from?” she asked, considering her necklace.

“They’re grown,” Tristan answered. “It’s a long, frustrating process, but it’ll be part of your training so there’s no way out of it.” Caleb looked at Tristan sharply. “We have to train her, Caleb,” Tristan said out loud, even though Lily guessed that Caleb had just tried to initiate mindspeak. Lily appreciated that Tristan was including her.

“Tristan’s right,” Rowan said, returning and joining them at the table. He had changed into loose linen pants and a soft white shirt. “And we need to start now.”

So you can get the hell away from me, right, Lily?

For a moment, Lily could feel Rowan’s tangled emotions. He was furious with her—and with himself for some reason Lily couldn’t quite understand. He pushed her mind out of his before she could figure it out.

“Okay,” Caleb said, oblivious to the internal battle going on between Lily and Rowan. “But if you’re going to train her, I want some kind of a promise out of her first.”

“What are you talking about?” Tristan asked.

“I want to know she’ll never fight for Lillian,” Caleb said, like it was obvious. “She doesn’t have to swear to fight for us, but we need to know you two aren’t training another evil witch.”

“No problem. I promise I’ll never fight for Lillian,” Lily said gladly. “Is that enough?”

“No, that’s not enough,” Rowan replied, his eyes narrowed mockingly.

“Well, apart from my word, what else can I give you?”

“Access,” he answered. “You have to allow me to ask you questions about your loyalty—in mindspeak, where you can’t lie—whenever I feel like it. If you don’t answer me, or if you shut me out without allowing me to feel your deeper intentions, we’ll kill you.”

Lily felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. Did he really hate her that much?

“Ro,” Tristan said, interrupting the long silence. “That is totally out of line.”

“No it isn’t,” Rowan said, turning his glare on Tristan. “If at any point in this process she shuts me out, I think it’s fair to assume the worst.”

“Because that’s what Lillian did, right, Rowan? She shut you out,” Tristan said, baiting him. But instead of anger Rowan responded with regret.

“And then she started hanging people,” Rowan said quietly. He looked at Lily. “Do you agree to my conditions?”