Page 14 of The Midwinter Mirror
“I’m glad you found a family.”
“Me too.”
“And maybe she’ll come back and go to London. We could meet up—tell each other stories about you.”
“I shudder at the thought. But you’d like her—she was a total princess as well.”
She snorts. “Anyway, she’s missing out. I love London. It’s a different world, a different life, and I’m doing what I always wanted to do.”
Holly has always had an affinity for animals. She reminds me of Amber in that way as well. In fact, thinking about it, she reminds me of Amber in a lot of ways.
“What about you?” she asks. “What have you been up to? Where have you been living?”
“Just a little bit south of here. Not that far.”
“Your brother must still be in the foster system. What is he, eight or nine?”
“Nearly nine. And yeah—he’s in the system, but our foster parents were super crappy, so I’ve been looking out for him,” I say.
“You need to be careful. You could get in trouble.”
“Don’t worry, we’re good.” I don’t think now is the time to go into our current living arrangements. I don’t think Holly would actually understand them. I’d love to tell her about Valandria one day, but let’s get this mess with the children sorted out first.
Holly moves around the room, trailing her hands over the stones, and the hum of magic rises. She seems oblivious. Except she presses two fingers between her eyes as though to ease a pressure. So maybe she senses something.
I frown. “Can you feel that?”
She turns around to look at me. “Feel what?”
“A hum, a vibration in the air.”
She blinks and her face goes still. “You’re not still on about magic, are you? I don’t need this right now, Zayne. I need you to help me. I need you to be strong. We have to find the children and talking that sort of rubbish won’t help.”
For the first time, it occurs to me that Holly’s disbelief in magic goes way beyond normal skepticism. It’s like she has a mental block: Magic doesn’t exist. Magic can’t exist. Maybe it was something to do with Oliver. But it was there before then, for as long as I can remember. We used to talk about leaving Elderfell and all the stupid mumbo-jumbo behind.
“Okay, we won’t talk about it now,” I say. “So what do you want to talk about?”
She looks at me speculatively. “You. I want to talk about you. You’ve changed, Zayne. I mean, I know it’s been five years, so of course you’ve changed—but you’re so different.” She studies me again, her head cocked to one side, and I smirk.
“Like what you see?” I ask.
“You wish. I was going to say the wildness has gone, but it hasn’t. It’s still there, maybe more so than ever. But it’s like you’ve got it under control. Like you’ve come to terms with what you are. There’s just a strength about you now.”
I shrug. “Come on, princess. You’re going to make me blush.”
She laughs. “Yeah, of course I am. But really, Zayne, what’s happened to you?”
I feel Raze wake up inside me and preen. I shrug again. “Maybe it was just getting away from Elderfell. Maybe I needed space to see things clearly.”
“And maybe you’re talking bullshit and just don’t want to tell me what you’ve been up to.”
I smirk again. “Maybe. Maybe you’re not ready to hear it yet.”
She snorts. “So, do you have a girlfriend?”
“I’ve had one or two.”
“And have you ever been in love?”
