assume you left for a reason. And I have gotten the impression,” her gaze flicked over me and Baylie, “that reason was not homesickness.”
I didn’t respond.
“You can try to stay away from them, Chloe, but the police watch for runaways and they will bring you home to your parents eventually. Additionally, you were recently reported as the victim of a kidnapping, correct? That news was passed around among the elders, even before the police chief in your town told us you had come home. We watch out for our own, even if their parents have cut ties with us to a great degree. But technically ‘found’ or not, the point remains you will be viewed as the victim of a crime. The police will be even more motivated to question you and then return you to your parents as a result. However, if you allow us, the elders who value life and knowledge as I do will make certain that does not happen. You’re too valuable to us, and the threat of the Beast is too real.”
“But you want this Beast thing gone too, right?” Baylie cut in, her voice hard. “Why should we trust you won’t just kill her to make that happen?”
My gaze twitched to Baylie, grateful for her question even if I was surprised she’d asked it.
I thought I was the only one finding themselves thinking in that extreme of terms.
“Because it wouldn’t work,” Olivia answered patiently. “And because it would be a terrible idea – ethically as well as logically. Magic… it’s energy, but it is also unique in the world. It can take forms, can affect physical things, much like it causes Chloe’s body to change shape. But when a person with magic is killed, my understanding based on our research is that their death triggers a release of that energy – which, in Chloe’s case, would essentially be giving the Beast an influx of exactly what it needs to grow stronger.”
I swallowed. The Sylphaen wanted to kill me. Thought that they could take what I was and make themselves that way. They thought it would defeat the Beast or at least give them a chance to fight it.
And now I could see how they thought that was possible. At least the ‘taking what I was’ part. If they killed me, if this magical energy thing was released when I died and they knew how to capture that and use it for themselves somehow…
I shuddered. This was madness. My whole life had become madness. And the Sylphaen were mad too. If they did what they planned, it’d just bring this Beast thing back faster.
The urge to run rose up again for the first time in a while, though I knew there still wasn’t anywhere to go.
“Plus,” Ellie added quietly, “if the elders kill Chloe, the landwalkers would never stand a chance of getting our dehaian sides back. It’d be over. By helping her, maybe we can figure out how to become dehaian again and keep the Beast from coming back at the same time.”
Olivia glanced to Ellie, a tinge of pity flashing through her eyes and then swiftly buried.
“There are numerous reasons to help Chloe survive,” the woman said, “so please, know that we are not out to harm you.”
I hesitated. I wished Noah and Zeke were in here. I wasn’t sure why Olivia hadn’t asked them to come for breakfast, except perhaps she’d noticed they hadn’t slept. She seemed decently observant – creepily so, actually. And maybe Noah was listening, if he hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
It would have been nice to have more people that I trusted around me right now.
“No.” Baylie set down her drink. “No, we’re not going to them. We know about these elders, and about their ‘connections’. We know what you guys have really been up to.”
Olivia’s brow drew down. “I’m not sure I understand you.”
“The greliarans.”
“Greliarans?” Olivia looked to Ellie, who wouldn’t meet her eyes. “How do you know about greliarans?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Baylie replied. “We know you all made a deal with them. That in exchange for capturing people like
I didn’t respond.
“You can try to stay away from them, Chloe, but the police watch for runaways and they will bring you home to your parents eventually. Additionally, you were recently reported as the victim of a kidnapping, correct? That news was passed around among the elders, even before the police chief in your town told us you had come home. We watch out for our own, even if their parents have cut ties with us to a great degree. But technically ‘found’ or not, the point remains you will be viewed as the victim of a crime. The police will be even more motivated to question you and then return you to your parents as a result. However, if you allow us, the elders who value life and knowledge as I do will make certain that does not happen. You’re too valuable to us, and the threat of the Beast is too real.”
“But you want this Beast thing gone too, right?” Baylie cut in, her voice hard. “Why should we trust you won’t just kill her to make that happen?”
My gaze twitched to Baylie, grateful for her question even if I was surprised she’d asked it.
I thought I was the only one finding themselves thinking in that extreme of terms.
“Because it wouldn’t work,” Olivia answered patiently. “And because it would be a terrible idea – ethically as well as logically. Magic… it’s energy, but it is also unique in the world. It can take forms, can affect physical things, much like it causes Chloe’s body to change shape. But when a person with magic is killed, my understanding based on our research is that their death triggers a release of that energy – which, in Chloe’s case, would essentially be giving the Beast an influx of exactly what it needs to grow stronger.”
I swallowed. The Sylphaen wanted to kill me. Thought that they could take what I was and make themselves that way. They thought it would defeat the Beast or at least give them a chance to fight it.
And now I could see how they thought that was possible. At least the ‘taking what I was’ part. If they killed me, if this magical energy thing was released when I died and they knew how to capture that and use it for themselves somehow…
I shuddered. This was madness. My whole life had become madness. And the Sylphaen were mad too. If they did what they planned, it’d just bring this Beast thing back faster.
The urge to run rose up again for the first time in a while, though I knew there still wasn’t anywhere to go.
“Plus,” Ellie added quietly, “if the elders kill Chloe, the landwalkers would never stand a chance of getting our dehaian sides back. It’d be over. By helping her, maybe we can figure out how to become dehaian again and keep the Beast from coming back at the same time.”
Olivia glanced to Ellie, a tinge of pity flashing through her eyes and then swiftly buried.
“There are numerous reasons to help Chloe survive,” the woman said, “so please, know that we are not out to harm you.”
I hesitated. I wished Noah and Zeke were in here. I wasn’t sure why Olivia hadn’t asked them to come for breakfast, except perhaps she’d noticed they hadn’t slept. She seemed decently observant – creepily so, actually. And maybe Noah was listening, if he hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
It would have been nice to have more people that I trusted around me right now.
“No.” Baylie set down her drink. “No, we’re not going to them. We know about these elders, and about their ‘connections’. We know what you guys have really been up to.”
Olivia’s brow drew down. “I’m not sure I understand you.”
“The greliarans.”
“Greliarans?” Olivia looked to Ellie, who wouldn’t meet her eyes. “How do you know about greliarans?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Baylie replied. “We know you all made a deal with them. That in exchange for capturing people like
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