Trial by Fire (Worldwalker 1)

“You mean nuclear power?” Lily asked.

Tristan nodded. “They’re going to hang three scientists,” he said. “Lillian destroyed all their notes, killed all their students, and these three are the last who know how to turn elements into energy—without a witch.”

Lily looked around at Rowan, Tristan, and Caleb, her eyes wide. “Nuclear power is really tricky,” she said fearfully.

“Tristan already told me that you’re against it,” Alaric said, his expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” Tristan said contritely. “I didn’t mean it as a betrayal.”

“No, Tristan. It’s fine. My position isn’t a secret.” Lily ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Sachem, you can’t really understand the scope of this, but there have been huge disasters in my world because of this kind of power. A lot of people have died.”

“But how many people are there in your world, Lily?” Rowan asked. “How many millions?”

“Billions. There are billions of people in my world, Rowan,” she said. A stunned silence followed.

“And you use this form of energy widely?” Alaric asked.

“Yes,” Lily said.

“And it’s helped you grow in numbers, all across your world?” he persisted.

“It has,” Lily admitted. “It had been used safely in many countries for many years. But it’s also done a lot of damage along the way. In my world, it was originally developed as a weapon. A bomb. That bomb was used to end one of our great wars, and it wiped two cities off the map. The shock of that kind of power stunned my whole world. Even today when it’s used for peaceful reasons, sometimes it gets out of control and poisons the land and the water for miles.”

“Then mayb

e in another world you could find some other type of energy we could use? Something safe, that will both free us from the Covens and help us fight the Woven?” Alaric asked.

“I could look for you—” Lily began optimistically, and then broke off.

She thought of what both the shaman and Lillian had told her. Lily didn’t have Lillian’s entire story yet, but she knew that Lillian hadn’t lied to her. She had been trying to save the Outlanders. She wanted to eradicate the Woven and save Rowan’s people, but instead she must have seen something or learned something on one of her worldjumps that made her come back determined to eradicate science instead.

Lily felt Rowan’s mind pressing up against hers—a gentle nudge, wanting to know what she was thinking. How could she ever tell him any of this? How could she tell Rowan that, behind it all, Lillian had done this for him?

“The shaman warned me against this,” Lily continued nervously, careful to leave Lillian out of it. “Stealing technology from other worlds—even if it seems like the right thing to do at the time—has disastrous consequences. And I agree.”

“You realize, you don’t leave me with many options.” Alaric’s intense eyes captured Lily’s. “You say elemental energy is too dangerous to use, but finding another option is too dangerous as well?”

“I know.” Lily met his eyes. “I don’t have a solution yet, but I’ll try to think of something.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the time for that.” Alaric’s gaze drifted down in serious thought. There was a knock at the door. “I will let the elders know your position. Now if you’ll excuse us.”

Dismissed, Lily and her mechanics stood and headed toward the door. She could feel Rowan’s disappointment, Tristan’s frustration, and Caleb’s sadness. At odds with herself, Lily stopped.

“Alaric,” she said, turning. “I don’t agree with using this type of energy. But I also don’t agree with murdering people just because you’re scared of what they think. I’m not Lillian.”

The sachem narrowed his piercing eyes at her. “Whether you agree or don’t agree, three people have been tried, found guilty, and they will be hanged at dawn tomorrow. And everything they know will die with them unless we go to war and try to stop it.”

“You can’t win,” Lily whispered.

“It not about winning. It’s about having nothing else to lose.” The sachem smiled at her, a brief flash of pain crossing his face. Lily wondered what it was that Alaric had lost. “You must leave now, Lily Proctor.”

Lily stepped outside the carriage. A group of men and women filed past her to join the sachem. Lily recognized a few of the faces. She nodded at the wiry elder from Cherokee with the salt-and-pepper mane, who smiled back, looking pointedly at Lily and Rowan and how close they stood to each other. Lily’s natural instinct was to move away from Rowan so as not to give her the satisfaction, but instead she decided to lean closer to him, her willstones pulsing possessively. Just to make her point, she sent a surge of power through all of her mechanics’ willstones, making them glitter prettily across their faces.

“Lady Witch,” the elder said, tipping her head respectfully.

“Elder,” Lily replied, staring her down.

Not very friendly, Caleb whispered in her head. She’s known Rowan and me our whole lives, you know.