Elves Invasion

16

protected on the other by powerful wards. Whatever the stairs led to must be important to merit so much protection.

Juliet asked—Why set such a strong ward on this door but leave the door we came through unlocked?

Maybe there was a ward set to it a long time ago, but it dissipated. The way we came looks like it’s been forgotten, Mia replied. Do you want to go up? She could feel Juliet hesitating.

Mia, I have no magic and I’m Lillian’s claimed, not yours, Juliet said.

It was strange to think it after everything they’d been through together, but this Juliet wasn’t her actual sister—she was another version of her. No matter how much Mia loved her, this Juliet, and her willstone, belonged to Lillian.

If something were to go wrong, Juliet continued, I couldn’t be your vessel. Maybe we should go back and wake Erye.

His name had just popped into Juliet’s head. She hadn’t intended to name Erye out of all of Mia’s mechanics, she was just naturally gravitating to the one who could defend them the best. His name shot through Mia like a bolt, like it always did when she wasn’t expecting it.

Sorry, Juliet said, grimacing.

It’s okay. And I don’t want to go back, Mia said, her pride making her stubborn. She pushed the trapdoor open and climbed up onto the roof of the villa.

Mia could see the whole city and beyond. The Governor’s Villa was set on the highest point and they stood at the very top of it. The bright moon allowed Mia to see all the way to the ocean on one side, and over the wall and across the vast field of flowers beyond to a dark smudge on the other horizon.

Mia. Come and look at this, Juliet said.

Juliet was standing beside a large, softly glowing structure that dominated the center of the roof. As Mia approached she realized that it was a giant crystal, supported at the bottom by metal struts. The crystal was at least fifteen feet tall and five or six feet wide.

“What is it?” Mia asked aloud.

“It’s a speaking stone,” said a low voice behind her. Mia turned and saw Erye ascending the stairs behind her.

“How did you—”

“Know you left?” Erye finished for her. “I set a ward on our rooms.”

“How’d you know where I went?”

“I can always find you,” Erye answered with a shrug. “Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Mia shut her mouth with a snap. He’d found her in the oubliette. He’d found her after the City Guard had raided the subway tunnels. He’d even managed to track her across the continent. Erye had always found her. She’d think of him, and there he’d be. Mia considered that maybe he could always find her because some part of her was always calling to him.

“You shouldn’t have come up here without a mechanic. No offense, Juliet, but you can’t defend her.” He was just about to get angry with Mia when he remembered that he didn’t have that right anymore. She noticed that he stopped several feet away from her and didn’t try to initiate mindspeak. This was their new normal. Something in her contracted to know that. She turned back to the speaking stone.

“What does it do?” she asked.

“It allows a witch to reach the minds of her claimed over long distances,” he replied. “They’re set up spaced apart every few hundred miles or so, and they work like a relay system. Years ago, the Salem Witch used to embed one of her claimed in the ruling Coven of each of the other Thirteen Cities to keep watch over them, and she’d stay in touch with her claimed through the speaking stones. That way, the Witch could maintain control from Exeter to Savannah without ever having to leave the safety of Salem.”

“They haven’t been used in years,” Juliet said. “I didn’t even know what they looked like.”

“There’s still one in Salem,” Erye said. “On top of the Citadel, over Lillian’s rooms.”

“Did Lillian ever use it?” Mia asked.

“I don’t think so,” he replied. “What’s the point? She didn’t have any claimed in the other Covens, where the other speaking stones were set up, and it only works between a witch and her claimed.” He narrowed his eyes. “But why don’t you ask her? You two talk all the time, don’t you?”

“How did you know—” she began, and hastily cut off. Mia looked down at her hands. “Yes.”

Something like a smile softened the corners of his mouth. Mia felt her cheeks heating up.

“Who would she contact?” Juliet asked, still staring at the speaking stone.

Mia had lost the thread of the conversation. “Who would who contact?”

“Bower City doesn’t allow witches to claim,” Juliet said, frowning. “I’m assuming this is Grace’s. If she doesn’t have any claimed, how could she use this?”

Erye walked around it and ran his finger across the surface. “Someone’s been using it. See the lights inside?”

Mia looked more closely at its center and saw the roiling play of light and dark that almost looked alive. “Is this a willstone?” Mia asked, incredulous.

“Same family, different capabilities. Speaking stones are far too large for one mind to bond with, so they can’t be used for all the different kinds of things a willstone can, but what they lack in nuance they make up for in raw power,” Erye answered.

Mia stared up at the giant crystal. “Can anyone use it, or does it attune itself to one witch?” she asked aloud.

“Anyone can use it. But you can only reach your claimed, and another witch could only reach her claimed. It’s not like your telephones, where anyone can call and anyone can answer.”

“Ah,” Mia said. She was reminded of teaching Erye how use a telephone back in her world. He’d loved them, like he’d loved computers and most everything else that had to do with science and technology. He’d loved them because anyone could access them, not just witches and mechanics.