No one spoke for several minutes after taking off. Sombras, Misty, Valentine, necklaces, letters, kranks, and more all swirled around in my brain like Monday’s tornado.
Yet one thing stood out stronger than any of them: the memory of the torch of purity turning green when I’d said Misty would make a better seer. Why? Misty would be far better than me. No question. She knew so much more than me about everything. The stupid torch was mistaken. It couldn’t be me. Couldn’t.
Hen finally broke the silence. “That was so much fun!”
“If by fun you mean terrifying, I agree,” James said.
Corbyn made a nervous noise that I took to be his agreement.
“I don’t think they were serious about eating us,” I said, trying to pacify him.
“It’s gotta have some basis in fact, right?” Hen asked. “Even if they don’t eat people, they obviously love the reputation.”
“They seemed to think we were pulling a dumb prank at first,” I said.
“What’s dumb about pulling a prank?” Hen asked, sounding wounded.
“Depends on the prank,” James said.
“Did you guys notice how she answered James’s question?” I asked.
“Um, yeah, it was hard to miss,” Hen said.
“They were obviously hiding something,” James said. “And I have a sneaking suspicion, but I want to reread that letter first.”
He unlocked his phone and start flipping through pictures. “Here it is. ‘Thwarted in my attempt I determined to create decoys and leave them in places where I thought unworthy searchers might seek to find them.’”
Then it clicked. “Do you think–”
“I do,” James said.
“What’s up?” Hen asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” James asked, appearing quite pleased with himself.
Hen rolled her eyes.
“Come on, James,” I said.
“Arnold gave the dwarves a decoy—and I think they knew it,” James said.
“Ohhh,” Hen said.
Something was still bothering me. “Arnold . . . doesn’t really seem like such a bad guy anymore, does he?” I said.
“Everyone knows he was a bad man,” Corbyn interjected,.
When James and Hen said nothing, I asked a question that had been on my mind. “Do you think it really was the Sombras?”
“Eh, they’re just a bunch of old creeps that think they’re better than everyone else. Misty’s dad has been trying to talk the government into doing something about them, but I doubt they’d rob the dwarf queen and king.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“It could cause war. They basically smacked the dwarf king in the face. I’m surprised they didn’t retaliate. Wouldn’t you?”
“I guess so,” I said.
James harrumphed but didn’t say anything.
“Did you already know the dwarves were robbed?” I asked Hen.
“Nope, which is also weird. You’d think that would be big news.”
I scratched my chin. “So someone who may or may not have been a sombra, stole a necklace that may have been a Pearls of Prescott decoy from the dwarves.”
“And the dwarves did nothing after that,” Hen said, her voice disapproving as we cleared the mountains and she turned us toward the lights of Flamingo Springs.
“But that tells us something too,” James said. “If it had been me and this incredibly powerful magical object had been stolen that can control minds, you better bet I’d be warning everyone within earshot.”
“Unless it was a fake,” I said. “Then warning people about it might just make more people try to hunt them down.”
“You do see those birds up there, right?” James asked, pointing to a flock ahead of us.
“Sure I do,” Hen said, casually veering to the right. “So a fake is stolen and almost immediately afterward, Old Nathaniel Valentine on the city council asks you and Misty to hunt them down.”
“Quite the coincidence,” James said.
“Sir Valentine’s on the city council!” Corbyn stuttered, but he sounded unsure. “He’d never–”
“But that’s the thing—no one really knows who’s a Sombra and who isn’t,” Hen said. “I’m not sure if even Sombras know each other’s real identities.”
“OK, I know this is a leap, but if the Sombras did take the Pearls and Valentine somehow knew. . . .” I started.
“Then why did they ask you to go after it?” Hen asked.
There was silence, then James spoke. “Because they want Misty to be Seer.”
“What?” I said, confused.
“It makes sense. They set up this bogus challenge to find the Pearls, which they already had, so it would seem like a miracle when Misty found them.”
“But they’ve gone out of their way to help me,” I said. “Why let me see the possession regression? Why send Corbyn to help me out? Why help me if they want me to lose?”
“Because helping you makes Misty look better and you look worse,” Hen said. “If they bend over backwards to help you out and you still lose, it makes her victory all the more convincing.”
“Hmmm,” I said, thinking it over. “So why do they want to have Misty as Seer so badly? Do the Sombras recruit 14-year-olds? Why not pick someone older?”
“Most seers are chosen young. Plus, not just anybody can be a Seer,” Hen said. “It’s actually pretty rare that someone is touched by fate.”
“Can someone be touched by fate and not be Seer?”
Even in the dark, I could see Hen’s face scrunch up. “I don’t know how it works. Maybe they chose her because she has some ability, who knows? Maybe they think if they force her into the mantle, she’ll get the full power. But man, if the Sombras had a Seer on their side. . . .”
“What?” James and I asked at the same time when she didn’t finish her thought.
“Obviously, everybody and their Jackalope wants a good relationship with a Seer,” Hen said.
“Is that why you signed up to help me?” I teased.
“I meant a real Seer,” Hen said, then stopped as she realized what she said. James laughed as I felt my ears burn. “That’s not what I meant! You’re just not fully trained yet.”
“Sounds like it’s exactly what you meant,” James said.
“I’m sure people will be attracted to Santiago too when he–”
“Attracted to him? So you joined Santiago because of his future sex appeal? His animal magnetism?” James asked.
“No!” Hen spluttered as my whole face flushed red.
“James. . . .” I said nervously.
“Why help him then?” James pressed.
“I’m just sick of people comparing me to my sister all the time, alright?!” Hen blurted out.
James stopped laughing. I wondered if Hen revealed more than she meant to because she became very quiet.
“Sylvia?” I asked.
“You saw her. She’s perfect. People are always asking me if I’m going to do cheer, or be amazing at brewing, or be president of the honor league, or be a beauty queen, or whatever other perfect things she does. But as perfectly perfect as she is, I don’t think she would ever risk losing face by standing up to Valentine and help an Underlander out . . . even if it was the right thing to do.”
“Thank you,” I said, unsure of what to say.
“Anytime,” she said, sounding awkward. She hurried on. “Looks like it’s time to begin our descent.”
“That went fast,” I said, allowing the abrupt subject change.
“So, I don’t think anyone really knows everything that Seers can do and Seers usually don’t advertise it so having a good Seer on their side could give them all sorts of power and influence.”
“Regardless, I don’t think they would put her in that position unless they think they can control her,” James said.
“Misty’s pretty strong willed, but. . . .” Hen shrugged.
“They could be threatening or blackmailing her,” James said.
“If her dad knew she was involved with the Sombras, he’d probably go ballistic,” Hen said. “He’s a discipline freak. I doubt he’d stand for his own daughter getting mixed up with a group like that. He and my dad should form a crazy dads support group.”
“And your dad wouldn’t get involved–”
“Hecks to the no,” Hen said. “My dad wouldn’t touch the Sombras with a self-extending measuring stick.”
“Just checking,” I said. “Corbyn, do you think it’s possible Mr. Valentine’s in league with the Sombras?”
“No, Mr. Valentine no!” Corbyn squeaked, twisting his tunic up in his hands. “He’d never!”
“Hmmm,” I said. Down below, I spotted Hen’s house as we rapidly descended toward it. “When it comes down to it, this is all speculation.”
“Speculation that has a ring of truth to it,” James said. “And I think the dwarf king and queen are right. We’re being played here.” He turned to Hen. “You are going to slow down, aren’t you?”
“So what do we do?” Hen asked, apparently ignoring James’s question.
I didn’t want to admit it, but my first instinct was to talk to Mamá and Michael.
“Let’s tell the mayor first thing tomorrow,” I said. “I feel like we can at least trust her and she deserves to know something’s up.”
“I like it,” Hen said, finally stepping on the brake, bringing the car’s speed down drastically just a dozen yards from the house as all of us rocked forward. Despite this, when the tires touched down on the roof, it was actually pretty gentle. She adeptly parked the car in the garage just as it had been.
We climbed out of the car and descended the ladder as quietly as we could, although Hen insisted on taking the rope back down. James and I stored the ladder back where we’d found it without incident, then we said our goodbyes for the night.
I think both of us were too exhausted to talk much as we trudged back to Bess’s place. Mr. Chronshaw was snoring loudly as we passed through the portal into our bedroom.
Once on the other side, something immediately seemed off. I did a quick check for harpies or any other creatures lurking in our bedroom but didn’t find any. Everything was still trashed after the incident earlier. James produced a bike lock from a drawer and tossed it to me and I secured it to the chest, happy for the peace of mind.
We were in the middle of changing into our pajamas when the door suddenly opened and my Mamá walked in, looking half panicked and half angry.
“Where have you been and how did you get in here?!” she bellowed.
James and I looked at each other. Uh oh.
“Mamá, you’re home early!” I said, trying to pretend I wasn’t horrified to her.
“The car broke down and we had to come back,” Michael said as he followed Mamá into the room. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms.
“I was about to call the police!” she said.
“We were on a walk,” I said.
“I’ve had enough of the lies, Santiago,” Mamá said.
“We–” James started but she cut him off.
“And your room? What happened?”
“Nothing–”
“Look me in the eye, Santiago. Have you been completely honest with me this week?” she said.
“Mamá, I. . . .” but I couldn’t do it. I went silent, practically confirming I was guilty of something.
“And what about you? Are you in on this, James?” Mamá asked James, who seemed a bit taken aback.
“Me?” James asked and I could almost see the little wheels cranking behind his eyes.
“Yes, you. I don’t see another James in this room do you?”
“Technically, Santiago is also a James if you–”
Mamá’s glare was so intense that it even shut James up.
“Like Santiago said, we were just out on a walk,” he tried.
Mamá wasn’t having it. “What is it? Drugs? A secret girlfriend? Are you stealing things? What is so bad that you can’t tell us about it?”
I felt my jaw drop. I knew my parents were worried, but I hadn’t thought about what they might be coming up with to explain what was going on with me.
“Mamá, I promise we’re not doing any of that.”
“I know you well enough to know when you’re hiding something, Santiago Benjamin Huamán Perez. I know.”
“Carolina. . . .” Michael started.
“No, Michael,” Carolina interjected. “I cannot trust my own son. Unless you tell me what is going on right now.”
I desperately wanted to tell her. I wanted her to help me with all of this. After all, James knew now. What was one more person? On the other hand, James had come face-to-face with a harpy. There was no way I was going to be able to hide it from him after that. It was an accident, yes, but an accident that hadn’t been my fault. Outright telling Michael and Mamá, though, that wouldn’t be an accident at all and would be a lot harder to explain.
I looked up into her eyes, which looked less stern and more pleading. I could feel James’s and Michael’s eyes on me as well.
“I can’t tell you, Mamá,” I finally said. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re grounded. No leaving the house.”
“What about my work with Bess?” I asked quietly.
“I will let her know that you are unable to work until I can trust you.”
James and I looked to Michael but I knew he wouldn’t contradict my Mamá.
“That goes for you too, James,” Michael said quietly.
Michael and Mamá left.
But I knew I wasn’t going to listen. Tomorrow was Founders Day. I’d wait for an opportunity, then go and try to find the mayor. And the fact that I could easily escape my room without either of them noticing only seemed to make me feel worse.
“Santiago,” James said a minute later after we’d both climbed into our beds.
“Yeah?”
There was a pause. “Why don’t you want to be Seer?”
“I’d suck at it. Misty’s a much better choice.”
“Seriously? She sounds like a nut job.”
“It can’t be me,” I said, shaking my head even though James couldn’t see me. “It just can’t. Maybe I have magic, but I can’t be the Seer.”
“You really believe that, do you?”
“It can’t be me,” I repeated, my mouth dry.
James paused and I almost thought the conversation was over.
“It wasn’t your fault, you know,” James finally said, his tone careful.
“It’s not me,” I said.
James was silent and soon I heard him snoring.
