Page 35 of Tangled Power
“Camilla.” Luc nodded at her. His face was blank, reining in whatever he was feeling at the sight of the older fae. His power once again leashed.
Rose stepped forward. This had been her idea, after all. “Is there a problem?” she asked.
“You can’t close it.” Camilla’s eyes tracked to Rose.
“Why not?” Rose asked.
Luc’s mouth opened, but Camilla answered first. “My son! My son is down there.” Her voice cracked.
Rose let her eyes close, feeling the words—the pain in them—wash over her. This was Anthony’s mother. Rose’s breakfast roiled in her stomach. Did Camilla think her son would climb back out?
“Why would you try now?” Tears leaked down Camilla’s face, and Rose was unsure how to answer, but she knew she needed to. It was a bone-deep assurance from her magic that the Compass Points had to do this.
“I’m the new Norden Point,” Rose started. She gestured to the others. “We need a task that requires uniting our powers.” That was really all she could say.
Camilla seemed to realize that Rose was giving her more information than she deserved. She looked down at her hands tangled together. “Why?” she asked, her words a whisper.
Rose looked at the others. Their looks indicated that this was her idea, her mess, and she could clean it up however she saw fit. Rose nodded. “I can’t begin to imagine your grief, Camilla, but we have to do this. Our power must be united to regain balance on the continent and stop the mist plague.”
Camilla let out a breath. She nodded, seeming to acknowledge Rose’s words. Still, Camilla gave a lingering glare to the Suden Point as a male caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and leading her away.
“Well,” Carter said, “whatever you were trying to accomplish, I think you proved our magicscando things together that they can’t individually.” He eyed the hole. Rose did too. It was definitely smaller than when they started.
Rose gave him a soft smile as she reached for Luc’s hand and squeezed. He squeezed back. She knew he didn’t hold this against her.
“Are we going to try again?” Juliette asked. Rose gave the hole a lingering glance. If she could have opened the door in her power stores, could they have closed it completely? Rose weighed her desire to try again against getting back on the road. She pulled her compass from beneath her tunic. As they’d entered the village yesterday, it had been pointing south.
As she stood south of the hole, it now pointed north.
Her heart sank. She had a feeling she knew what this meant but needed to test it. Walking to the northern entrance of the square, she looked down at the compass again. It pointed south, directly back at the hole.
At least this made the decision for her. They couldn’t continue after Aterra until they closed the hole. Aurora’s compass wouldn’t allow it.
With no other option,they tried to close the hole again. Rose couldn’t find the door this time, her mind distracted with worry. The compass directed based on the needs of the wielder. Why now did the compass believe she needed to close the hole more than she needed to find Aterra?
The others didn’t seem to hold it against her—but they also didn’t have a lot of options. After a few hours, they went back to the inn. Juliette and Luc went to get them a midday meal, leaving Rose sitting at a table in the main dining room with Carter.
Carter had been quiet all morning. She inwardly tensed, waiting for whatever he would say. “I’m sorry for ignoring your request yesterday.”
An apology? She had not been expecting that.
“Given the village’s reaction to Luc, and the fact that you clearly didn’t know what this place was to him, I figured you would want some space.” Carter sighed. “I thought I was giving you a reputational peace offering, not offending you.” He looked around the room as it filled with villagers also seeking food. “As a new Norden Point, I thought you might want to start with a clean slate with the Suden.”
Not quite an apology then. Rose bristled at the assumption but wasn’t willing to die on this particular hill. She thought back to Luc’s words yesterday. With their fake romantic relationship exposed, she hadn’t known what to call them. His phrasing had suited her, though. “Carter.” She waited for him to look at her. He did so reluctantly when he realized she wasn’t going to continue. “Luc and I are partners until I tell you otherwise. I will forge my own name as Norden Point, and it will be one that stands by the Suden Point, no matter what a particular village thinks of him.”
Carter nodded.
Rose wasn’t going to linger on the topic. “What was your magic doing with the hole?”
He looked guilty. “Trying to close it, like the rest of you.”
“You indicated it had a bottom. It’s not an abyss to you.”
Carter swallowed. “Do you have a question?”
“What is it to you? What can you see?”
His head tilted, considering her words. “You’re quite observant, aren’t you?”
