The Golden Lily Page 0,119

do this. And I'll be here with you as long as it takes, okay?"

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. "Okay." I returned to my stool after he left and tried to ignore the fatigue in my body and mind. I thought about what he'd said, about how I wouldn't fail. I thought about his faith in me. And most importantly, I thought about Sonya. I thought about how desperately I wanted to help her.

All these things churned within me as I stared at the water, crystal clear except for the hair floating in it. One red line against all that silver. It was like a spark of fire, a spark that grew brighter and brighter in my eyes until it took on a more definite shape, a circle with stylized lines radiating from it. A sun, I realized. Someone had painted an orange sun onto a piece of plywood and hung it on a chain-link fence. Even with the shoddy canvas, the artist had gone to a lot of care in painting the sun, stylizing the rays and making sure the lengths were consistent with each other. The fence itself was ugly and industrial, and I caught sight of what looked like an electrifying box hanging on it. The landscape was brown and barren, but mountains in the distance told me it was still the greater Palm Springs area. This was kind of like the area Wolfe lived in, outside of town and away from the pretty greenery. Through the fence, beyond the sign, I caught sight of a large, sprawling building -

"Ow!"

The vision vanished as my head hit the floor. I had fallen off the stool.

I managed to sit up, but that was all I could do. The world was spinning, and my stomach felt queasy and empty. After what could have been three seconds or three hours, I heard voices and footsteps. Strong arms caught hold of me, and Adrian helped me to my feet. I clung to the table while he picked the stool up and helped me sit back down. Ms. Terwilliger pushed the silver plate aside and replaced it with an ordinary kitchen plate filled with cheese and crackers. A glass of orange juice soon joined it.

"Here," she said. "Eat these. You'll feel better."

I was so disoriented and weak that I didn't even hesitate. I ate and drank as though I hadn't eaten in a week while Adrian and Ms. Terwilliger waited patiently. It was only when I'd practically licked the plate clean that I realized what I'd just consumed.

"Havarti and orange juice?" I groaned. "That's too much fat and sugar for this time of night."

Adrian scoffed. "Glad to see there's no lasting damage."

"Get used to it if you're going to be using magic a lot," said Ms. Terwilliger. "Spells can deplete you. Not unusual at all to have your blood sugar drop afterward. Orange juice will become your best friend."

"I'll never get used to it, seeing as I'm not going to - " I gasped, as the images I'd seen in the silver plate came tumbling back to me. "Sonya! I think I saw where she's at." I described what I'd seen, though none of us had any clue about where or what this place might be.

"You're sure it was like a regular sun? With rays?" asked Adrian. "Because I thought the hunters used that old Alchemist one - the circle and dot."

"They do, but this was definitely - oh God." I looked up at Adrian. "We have to get back to Amberwood. Right now."

"Not after that," said Ms. Terwilliger. She was using her stern teacher voice. "That took more from you than I expected. Sleep here, and I'll make sure everything's cleared up with Desiree and the school tomorrow."

"No." I stood up and felt my legs start to buckle, but in the end, they held. Adrian put a supportive arm around me, clearly not believing in my body's recovery. "I have to get back there. I think I know how we can find out where this place is." Adrian was right that the sun I'd just described wasn't the design that had been on the sword or brochure. Both of those had used the ancient symbol. The one in my vision was a more modern adaptation - and this wasn't the first time I'd seen it.

The sun in my vision was an exact match for Trey's tattoo.

Chapter 20

GETTING TO TREY was easier said than done. A girl