Moments later, he opened the door. After she’d slipped inside, he locked it behind her. “Senna?” he said, alarm in his voice. “I told you not to go out by yourself. What if your attackers had been waiting? You’re not even supposed to be here.” He pulled the drapes shut but then peeked out the window. “I don’t think anyone saw.”
“I heard the other Witches again.” Senna wrapped her arms around herself. “Maybe I shouldn’t have risked it, but I’m tired of feeling helpless. I need to figure out what’s happening to me.”
Joshen took her hand and led her into his bedroom. His tree was short and rather fat, so everything was on the same level. “What did you see this time?”
Feeling awkward, she sat on his rumpled bed and told him of her second experience Traveling.
Joshen took a deep breath. “Senna, I want to help you, but I don’t know how. I’m not a Witch.”
“Were you watching me the whole time I was in the Ring of Power earlier?” she asked carefully.
He nodded.
“And I was there the entire time? I never…disappeared?”
He blinked a few times. “No. You just looked like you were asleep. After a while, you stood up, all graceful, like a dance. I didn’t realize at first you were even singing, it was so soft. When you were loud enough to understand, Drenelle started to panic. She shouted for you to stop, but it was like you couldn’t hear her. I almost left cover to see what was wrong, but Drenelle is one of the Heads, and they made it very clear we’re to stay away from the Apprentices. Besides, you didn’t look like you were in danger.”
He said the last bit apologetically. She bumped his shoulder with hers. “I only asked because I wanted to know how much of me really Travels.”
“Isn’t there someone you could ask?”
Senna studied her hands fiercely. “I tried with my mother—she won’t tell me. The Heads are already keeping the truth from me. It’s almost like they’re afraid of something—afraid of me.” She knew that was ridiculous. “If they were going to tell me anything, they’d have done it by now.”
Joshen rested his palm against her back. “Is there no one else?”
She grunted. “There’s always Espen…” She’d meant it as a joke, but as soon as she’d said the words, she straightened.
He shook his head. “Oh, no, Senna. We can’t trust her!”
She took his hands in hers. “But if I really can Travel…what harm comes in trying?”
He shot to his feet. “What harm? The woman would’ve had me kill you!”
“Joshen, I’m in danger now. Can’t you see that? The other Witches sang for the earth to swallow me whole.”
He trembled with rage. “What if these other Witches find you again?”
“I refuse to live in ignorance and helplessness.”
He started pacing back and forth across the room. Senna waited for his anger to fade. Eventually, he thumped down beside her. After a while, he rubbed the stubble on his face thoughtfully, and she knew she’d won.
“You’re not really with her, are you?” he asked. “I mean, she can’t hurt you, right?”
She tried to quell her fear. “Joshen, I turned her into a tree.”
“I thought it was over,” he muttered.
Senna was grateful he didn’t seem to notice she hadn’t really answered his question. She rested her head on his shoulder. “So did I.” She was beginning to understand that her power came with a price—a burden every Witch born bore, especially one as strong as her.
He kissed her hair. “When do you want to try?”
“Now.”
Joshen winced. “She’ll ask for some sort of payment—just don’t give her anything that would put yourself or anyone else at risk.” His hold on Senna tightened. “It’s going to be all right.”
By the Creators, she’d missed him. “How do you know?”
“Because I’ll make sure of it.”
She smiled and tipped her face back for a kiss. He brushed his lips across hers. His lips were so soft. He leaned his forehead against hers. “You can do this.”
Senna scooted back until she sat in the center of the bed. “You won’t leave me?”
Joshen took her hand. “No.”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and listened for the music she knew was there, just under the surface. Leaving her body came even faster and clearer this time, almost as if the Four Sisters had been waiting for her. Waiting to take her back.
But she shifted her destination away from the mysterious island, speeding across the ocean in a blur. Within the space of a few dozen heartbeats, she was in Tarten again, in a clearing now bereft of trees. Save one, a kind of weeping willow whose leaves formed a faultless circle. Without ever having to touch it, Senna knew the bark was as soft as flesh.