Page 28 of Tangled Power
“The square is so much emptier than Bury,” she said. “Remember the chaos of the attempted aisles there?” She tried to make her tone light and playful, but thinking of Bury was hard. And Luc somehow looked even more uncomfortable at her words. His body tensed, prepared for battle.
“Should we head to the inn?” Carter asked.
Rose sighed. She wasn’t the only one who found Luc’s agitation awkward. As the group walked toward the square, she let her mind wander. The market scents and sounds brought forth more memories of Bury. She tried not to dwell too much on things she couldn’t control. That included Tara and the other villagers she’d had to leave behind.
She was doing what she could for them. Finding Aterra and stopping his interference with the balance between the gods and the continent was her number one priority. It was the first step in ensuring the mist plague ceased. They still followed Aurora’s compass. It would lead them to the god. She mentally remindedherself of the steps in this plan. She was trying. They were moving as quickly as possible.
Turning to talk to Luc as they walked, Rose was surprised to see he pulled up the hood on his cloak, shielding his face.
“What’s that about?” She gestured toward it. He hadn’t worn it up when the wind was coolest at the mountain pass or even at midday on their rides, when the sun was at its peak. She tilted her head, watching his eyes shift. Was he nervous? “What’s going on?” she whispered, trying not to draw attention from Juliette and Carter.
That was a lost cause, as Juliette’s gaze had been locked on the two of them since Rose had asked for the village name.
“I’m sorry, Rose. I’ll explain as soon as we’re alone,” Luc replied.
It was clear he also wanted to avoid having this conversation in front of the others. Rose let it be as they made their way into the market square.
Something drew her forward as they entered. Like a moth to a flame, the avoided area called her. Her magic stretched, desperate to know what it held. Power lingered here. A faint air of familiarity tinged it. She needed to explore. Her feet were moving before she could stop them.
“There’s the inn,” Carter said behind her.
“Can you make sure Luc and I get a shared room?” Rose said to the group as her attention was drawn elsewhere. Luc wasn’t telling her something, but she wouldn’t let the others use it to drive a wedge between them. Rose’s progress continued, ignoring the others’ voices as they planned for the evening. Loch was a small village. She was sure she could find where they were staying. Quick steps led her to the empty center of the square. A need toknowdrove her forward. Confusion hung heavy when she approached her target and peered down.
It was a hole.
A really deep hole by the looks of it—but still a hole.
Rose searched the market again, noticing the whispers and side-eye glances of those still milling about. Her interest must be unusual. She peered down the hole again. The familiarity was striking—a dark, vast tunnel leading to the unknown. Squinting, she tried to find any hint of a bottom—of where this feature would lead.
She was so focused, she missed the sound of footsteps approaching until Juliette was beside her. “You don’t know where we are, do you?”
“Clearly not, Juliette. I asked the name of the village just moments ago.”
“I don’t mean that…” She waved her hand. “You don’t know what this village represents, or what this is?”
Rose shook her head, realizing before the words were out of Juliette’s mouth why the depth of this tunnel felt familiar—it was Luc’s magic.
“Luc is from Loch.” Juliette’s eyes sparkled with mischief as her words reinforced what Rose was only just putting together.
Of course he was. Rose bit her lip. He said, and his memory proved, that he didn’t have fond childhood memories. Living in a village this small, she could imagine everyone would have been in his family’s business. Everyone would have questioned his unknown paternal lineage. The hood made more sense to her now, though it was likely a lost cause. He would be recognized here, not as the Suden Point, but as the fae child with too much power.
Her stomach dropped as everything sank in. He would have known yesterday that they were headed here. Why hadn’t he mentioned it? She fell asleep before they could talk last night, but he should have woken her to tell her this. To give her a heads up so that Juliette wasn’t here, reveling in their lack of communication skills. While she understood he did not want todiscuss his past in front of the other Compass Points, he was pushing his luck for plausible reasons not to warn her.
She looked back down into the hole.
“And what is this?” She knew she should go to Luc to get these questions answered now. But the hole called to her in a way she couldn’t explain. The question had slipped out. Rose was sure from the feel of the magic and the look in Juliette’s eye that it had something to do with Luc—she just didn’t know what.
“Maybe I shouldn’t be the one to tell you.”
“Oh, please,” Rose said. “You followed me over here to make sure I knew.” Rose was angry that she’d even asked Juliette this question. She needed to find Luc.
“You’re no fun.” Juliette relented. “Fine. This is the marker of the event that called Michael to Luc.” She gestured to the space before them. The hole was wide enough to fall into, and no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find an indication of the bottom.
“How far down does it go?”
“No one knows,” Juliette replied. “And no one knows how to close it. Various rumors have been spread about the event that led to its creation. Young Luc let his emotions get away from him. Most say his power exploded and created this hole, this abyss.”
“What do you mean,abyss? Surely, it has a bottom.”
