Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker #3)(17)

“And you’ve profited from it greatly,” Juliet said, her frown deepening.

“Yes. Our city is rich and our people want for nothing,” Grace said. “Tell me, on your trip down to the docks, or earlier when you came through the Forum, did you see any slums? Or people begging on the street?”

“No. Because you don’t have anything like that in Bower City, do you, Grace?” Lily said.

“We don’t,” she replied, smiling. “Isn’t it incredible? We’ve eradicated poverty.”

Caleb made the same disgusted sound he’d made at the beginning of the conversation. “For you,” he said again.

Lily thought of all the crucibles and mechanics around the world whose talent had been stunted because the Hive hadn’t selected them for immigration. She remembered her life before she came to this world—the migraines, the fevers, and the seizures that nearly killed her. She pushed her chair back from the table with a scraping sound.

“You know what? I don’t think I’m hungry,” she said.

“I’d really like for you to stay,” Grace said. “There’s someone else about to join us.”

Lily stood, ignoring the shocked faces of her coven and how their eyes kept darting over her shoulder. “Really. I think I’m done here.”

“Lily,” said a voice behind her.

It was a low voice. A voice she hadn’t heard in months, but that she thought she heard at the edge of sleep nearly every night. Lily forced herself to turn and face him slowly.

“Rowan.”

Lily didn’t feel the chair under her, but she did feel her spine jolt as she landed on it. Tristan, Caleb, and Una stood up as Lily sank, their shock quickly turning to anger. Silly questions, like “How’d you get here?” were asked, and needless statements like “We left you with Alaric” were made.

Obviously, the Hive selected him and brought him to Bower City, she said to Lillian. And, He must not have stayed with Alaric. He must have been following us the whole time. For months. He followed us right into Hive territory and the Hive took him like they took us.

Either Caleb or Tristan wanted to hit him. Maybe it was both of them, but Lily couldn’t tell because she could feel that both of them also wanted to embrace him as well. Voices were raised. A pinprick of annoyed heat grew into a dime-size dot that throbbed behind her left eye. Tempers flared higher. Soon her entire head was hot and buzzing until she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Enough,” Lily said.

She’d barely whispered it, but a ripple of energy had traveled out of her with the single word, like a stone dropped into a pond. Her claimed gripped at their heads as if a piercing noise was deafening them. Every person in the ballroom was buffeted away from Lily, knocked back with the surge. Glass tinkled as it broke.

Dark streaks fell to the ground outside. The frames of the now-shattered glass doors burst open, and Warrior Sisters scudded in on their long ostrich-like legs. Their exo-armor glinted black over their tiger-striped skin, and their whips quivered in their human hands.

Lily’s witch wind moaned as it raced to her. Her mechanics drew in a united breath at the precipice of the Gift. She felt Rowan’s mind click into place inside hers, diamond bright and strong. Need almost overwhelmed her.

“Lily, don’t!” Toshi called out, rushing to her side. A swarm of Workers flew in around their Sisters, blackening the air like a flurry of soot. “They’re reacting to your aggression. You have to stop!”

Lily felt her coven pulling at her, all of them ready to receive her power. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Grace’s scowling face and the words “warmonger witch” ran through her head.

She pulled back, releasing her mechanics, and hoped it wasn’t too late. She felt a jumble of mindspeak hit her at once as they argued with her.

What are you doing?

We’re defenseless . . .

They’re going to attack.

We’ve already lost.

“Just wait,” Lily said aloud. The last mindspeech had definitely come from Rowan, and he was right. Her coven was dusted with Workers. Without a pyre she’d never be able to give them enough strength to survive the stings.

Lily felt a Worker crawl across her bare throat. She looked at the nearest Sister, trying to pierce through the rainbow sheen covering her bulbous black eyes, and trained every nerve in her body to fight the urge to slap the Worker away. The Sister flicked her whip and shivered her wings in agitation, but she made no move forward.

“I’ve stopped,” Lily said to her.

The Sister’s monstrous head swiveled lightning fast atop her stalk neck, but her tense posture didn’t change. Lily had no idea if she understood or not, or even if this particular Sister was their leader. There was no distinction among them that Lily could see. Lily had chosen her simply because she was closest.

Everyone stay still. Lily—you can’t just behave as if you’re calm. You have to be calm, Rowan said in mindspeak.

She brushed his presence from her mind, annoyed that he felt like he had the right to advise her. She grudgingly followed his instruction nonetheless because she knew he was right. As Lily relaxed, so did the Hive. The Workers lifted off the coven’s skin and the Warrior Sisters moved back, their wings still.

With one more lightning-fast twitch of her head, the closest Warrior Sister leapt into the air. The rest of the Hive followed her, vacating the ballroom as swiftly as they had entered it.