“Why are you having such a hard time focusing?”
“I’m not. I’m just…” I had no words. My brain fuzzed over as a dark fog invaded my thoughts, blocking out any sense of coherency.
Fog.
Dark fog.
Magic fog. The same kind of fog that had trapped Clay and me up at the Point. The same kind of fog that had distracted us to the point we’d almost gotten to Stace too late. The exact same fog that Bryan had created right before he’d disappeared.
Or had he been the one to create it at all?
I jerked my attention to the woman claiming to be Cressida Clearwater. Yes, she’d transformed into a positive manifestation since the barrier had begun to weaken—I still maintain my innocence on that one—but she’d never given off the vibe I picked up now. Something was off. Something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I decided to test the waters. “You know, I love what you’ve done with the place. It’s been, what, like a couple of months you’ve been trapped here?”
“Time has lost its meaning to me.” She glanced out the opening, staring at the water.
Nice way to dodge the question. What happened to counting the days by the setting of the sun? I needed to ask her something only Cressida would know. “I never asked you. Do you like the new roof? Do you remember why we rebuilt it?”
She lifted her gaze. “The Ides of March. There was a great battle. Many died.”
“Uh, no. Well, aside from some body parts and a few future aspirations.” I thought of Julie Bailey and her future with Alec. Nothing good could come from joining forces with the wrong side. I thought of how I’d shattered Alec’s hand before sending him over the cliff. I thought of how we’d all nearly died that night, how we thought we’d lost Rob, and we would have had Cressida not been there to save him. “You were there. You know what happened.”
“I know what happened,” she repeated.
I studied her closely, looking for anything off. Could Cressida have possessed my mom? Or vice versa? Could that be why this woman standing before me resembled one person but acted like the other?
“You saved Rob’s life.”
She jerked her attention to me as she lost what little smile she had. “I did?” She quickly turned away. “I did.”
“Okay, what’s really going on? If this is you, Sammie, pretending to be Cressida, it’s not funny.”
She kept her head down for a very long pause. “I don’t know what’s happening to me, Katy. I’m forgetting who I am. Forgetting things I’ve done. I can’t remain in this form much longer.”
Okay, that sounded exactly like something Cressida would say. A tiny dash of relief washed over me. Maybe this was all in my fogged-up head. I’d been so stressed out these past few weeks that I finally snapped. That was a way better explanation than my mom dressing up in robes and pretending to be the academy’s founder.
I relaxed and took a seat on one of the giant square stones half imbedded into the ground. “Do you know how to make a ward?”
“I do.”
“Can you teach me?”
“Why? You’ve already created one,” she pointed out.
I stiffened, keeping my expression hidden behind a shroud of red hair. If I looked at her right now, I’d give myself away. I never told Cressida about the ward. The only people who knew I’d created one were the guys…
And my mom.
This wasn’t Cressida Clearwater. This was my own mother trying to trick me into thinking she was the academy’s founder. Why? What purpose could she possibly have by doing this? She couldn’t visit with me as my mom? She had to pretend to be the one person I confided in more than the guys?
“I have to go.” I jumped to my feet.
“Now? You just got here.” She moved forward, blocking me from leaving.
My heart rate spiked. Was she trying to stop me? To what lengths would she go to keep me here? Would I have to battle my own mom to escape? Maybe I should just teleport out, but knowing my luck and how upset I still was over her attacking me at the jetty, I’d probably land somewhere inside the void.
I’d have to leave the Nelem way and stepped around her. “I have to finish homework.”
She blocked me again, her hands up. “When will you be back?”
I dropped my gaze to her palms. They were covered in filth. That was when I noticed the scratches on her arms. “What happened? Why are you so dirty? What’s with the cuts?”
“You can’t leave.”
“Why not?” I slapped her hands away.
She didn’t like that and hit me with a blast of air that sent me rolling. Cressida would never assault me, so that convinced me. This was definitely my mom.
And she’d just attacked me. Again.
“What are you doing?” I rose to my feet, my hands at the ready. My palm began to throb, which was never a good sign. It only acted up when my darkness tried to break free.
She hit me with more air, sending me flying to the other side of the ruins, close to the opening by the cliff. I threw a burst of air right back at her, slamming her against a wall. “Stop it! Mom!”
She ignored me and lifted her arms into the air. The giant square stones imbedded in the ground all began to tremble. Two of the bigger ones broke free and moved toward me, pushing me that much closer to the ledge.
“Time for you to go, quint.” She threw her arms forward and sent earth debris barreling toward me. Sharp rocks sliced at my exposed skin. Leaves caked over my face, covering my eyes and mouth. I fought against my own primary now attacking me, calling earth to steal her call.
It didn’t work. The throbbing in my palm increased, sending the cold up my arm. I didn’t fight it, instead allowing
