That wasn’t Caleb’s voice—it was a girl’s.
“Who’s trying to contact you?” Caleb looked worried.
“I don’t know,” Julia answered, nervous. “Is it the siren?”
Caleb shook his head. “Don’t listen to her, Julia. Please …”
“Julia. Wake up. Your letter has been chiming for five minutes.”
She opened her eyes to find Sierra holding up a piece of silver parchment in front of her face.
She cleared her throat and sat up. “What time is it?”
Sierra seemed impatient. “It’s four in the afternoon. Why are you so tired, anyway?”
Julia gave her a weary look.
“Right. The whole insomniac thing.”
“I am not an insomniac,” Julia said, swiping the letter out of her hand. “When I have a lot on my mind, I have a hard time sleeping.”
Sierra rubbed her arm. “What is on your mind lately?”
Julia was about to tell Sierra the truth about her Caleb dreams, but then she stopped herself. Admitting that she dreamed about Caleb so frequently would make her appear as if she actually cared about him as more than a friend—
which she didn’t. She knew perfectly well that she loved Terrence. She had no reason to tell Sierra and embarrass herself over something she couldn’t control.
“Well, I was wondering how Terrence was doing.” She waved the letter delicately. “But I guess I’ll know now.”
She tore open the letter impatiently. Last year as a Christmas present, Terrence had given her the two-way parchment.
Whenever Julia wrote a message on the paper, it was trans-ferred over to Terrence’s second copy and worked vice versa.
Every time she received a letter from him, it would make a chiming noise and emit a soft glow.
Terrence’s letter talked about the Soldier Union and how busy things were. He asked Julia about school and what she was most excited for, and then he ended humorously: Julia laughed and then tucked the parchment back into her nightstand drawer.
“Everything good?” Sierra asked, organizing her text-books and homework.
“Yep,” Julia responded. “Well, actually, there is one thing.
How would you feel if I joined the Soldier Union?” She grinned mischievously.
Sierra gave her a stern look. “Nice try, but I don’t think you’re exactly soldier material. Plus you’d have to wear that navy blue uniform, and that’s just not your color.”
Julia rolled her eyes before climbing out of her bed. “I need to run to the library. Mr. Knightly assigned us a ten-page paper on our individual werecat species.”
“Don’t be gone too long,” Sierra said. “Gabe and a group of his friends want to play some sort of outdoor sport before it gets too cold.”
“Sport?” Julia asked puzzled.
“Yes. I think it’s called Rumee?”
“Ah, Rumee. And you think we should play?”
Sierra shrugged. “Gabe said it wouldn’t be hard.”
“Yeah, and he also said yesterday’s gill soup was good.”
Julia picked up her transformation books and made her way to the library. School had been in session for a few weeks now, and luckily she wasn’t too overwhelmed with classes yet.
Ms. Dour and Mr. Knightly assigned the most work and never allowed anything late, but Mrs. Oree hardly gave out any homework. Then there was Scarlet. She gave out weekly assignments, but the topics were fascinating to Julia. This week she’d assigned a report on underwater healing plants, which Julia had completed within the first day.
Lately, Julia wished to know more about Scarlet’s life.
Had she grown up as royalty? When did she figure out she was a water nymph?
Julia passed the entrance hall and heard someone call out her name. Flipping around, she saw Camilla Marquette sitting on a window ledge.
Julia had done her best lately to avoid Camilla. In transformation class, they always sat on the opposite side of the room, and in the dining hall Julia avoided her at all costs.
Now as Camilla strode toward her, she stiffened.
“Hi,” Julia said awkwardly.
Camilla’s eyes were red rimmed, and her hair looked messier than usual.
“Hi?” Camilla said in disbelief. “You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder since school started and all you say is hi?”
“Camilla,” Julia began, “obviously things have been weird between us. I know you don’t like me, so I’m not going to pretend like we’re friends.”
She made a sarcastic noise and looked away from Julia. “I haven’t exactly known what to say to you after what you did.”
“What do you mean?”
Camilla glared at her. “You convinced Caleb to break up with me. I know you did. Last year, everything was fine between us. Then he spent time with you over the summer, and things changed.”
Julia shook her head. “I didn’t have anything to do with your breakup. When I saw Caleb, it had already happened.”
“I know Caleb,” she said. “And I know you’re the reason he broke up with me. Now he won’t even talk to me.”
“That’s not my fault!”
Camilla sniffed and tightened her fist. “We had plans. I was going to be a part of that family.”
“You mean you were going to be royalty?” Julia snapped.
“Is that what you’re really upset about?” She knew she shouldn’t have said it the moment it left her lips.
Camilla’s face turned from sad angry to livid. “I know people in the Soldier Union, Julia Levesque. Don’t forget, I have a brother who’s in there with Caleb, Terrence, and the rest of them. I know the reason Caleb left me had to do with you. It seems everyone in the Soldier Union knows that.”
“Camilla, I have no—”
“Stop,” she interrupted. “The reason I’m confronting you is to warn you.”
Julia could feel herself becoming angry. Her breathing quickened and she clenched her teeth. If she didn’t calm down, she’d shapeshift into a furious tiger in the middle of Lockham, which would lead to a severe punishment—probably exactly what Camilla wanted.
“You took Caleb away from me,” Camilla said through gritted teeth. “And now I’m about to take things away from you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Julia asked.
“You have feelings for Caleb. It’s obvious that you do, considering you sabotaged our relationship.”
“I never did that,” Julia growled. “Caleb made a choice.”
Camilla ignored her. “I want to show you something.”
She opened her hands and revealed a yellow envelope. “Just like you and Terrence, Caleb and I wrote each other many letters while he was away.”
Julia stiffened. Did Camilla know about those letters between Caleb and Liam? Liam had written, “Do not tell her.” Did Camilla know what he was referring to?
“I was a little worried that you had feelings for Caleb when I first met you last year. So I wrote Caleb and asked
“Is everything okay?”
She tried her best to smile. “Oh yeah,” Julia answered.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” She felt pathetic enough. She wasn’t about to pull Caleb’s mom into things.
“It’s all right,” Scarlet said. “Everyone has bad days. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Julia softly shook her head. “No, really it’s nothing.
Thanks, though.”
“Well, you can always talk to me.” Scarlet looked at her sympathetically. “I hope you know that.”
“I do, and I appreciate it.”
Julia opted out of playing Rumee with Gabe and his group of friends. Instead, she and Sierra watched on the side-lines of the grassy field just west of the castle. The afternoon was beautiful, warm, and should have been full of laughter and good times.
“Go play with them,” Julia urged Sierra. “It’s not like Caleb said awful things about you.”
“Hey, I’m upset about t
his,” she responded. “I’m not going to let Camilla mess with you. But how do you know she didn’t just write that message herself?”
“It looked like Caleb’s handwriting,” Julia said, glancing over at Gabe’s friend Hayden Marr. He ran forward and launched a ball out of a net, which barely missed Gabe’s head.
“Watch it!” Gabe called before swooping up the ball and running in the opposite direction.
“Should I talk to Caleb about it? Do I let him know how upset I am?”
Cheers erupted out on the field, and the opposing team gripped each other’s arms. “It’s tied!” Gabe yelled in the middle of field. “Let’s finish this.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Sierra said. “Caleb wrote a confidential letter. He’ll be mad too.”
“Then he can get mad at Camilla,” Julia replied. “I’m the one that he insulted, and she’s the one that betrayed his trust.”
“I don’t think it’s the best idea to confront him, but if you wanted to, I think he’ll be here next week.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Sierra said. “Scarlet mentioned it the other day.”
Julia nodded. “Perfect.” Caleb wouldn’t get away with his awful letter, and she would let him know just how wrong he had been.
As the sun set on a purple sky, Julia and Sierra made their way back to the castle. “I’m sure he’ll apologize,” Sierra said.
“Maybe he only said those things to make Camilla feel better at the time. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. After all, you guys are close. You’re good friends.”
“Why does everyone think that?” Julia asked. “I’m one thousand times closer to Terrence or even Gabe.”
“What about me?” Gabe popped up behind them, looking pleased.
“I’m guessing your team won,” Julia said, changing the subject.
“Yes, we did, thank you very much. You would’ve known that if you’d paid any attention. Didn’t you see my speed and power moves? I took down Marr without even trying.”
“Sorry, Gabe. I would’ve watched,” Julia said. “But I just have too much going on in my head.”
“Like what?” Gabe looked puzzled.
“Sierra can explain.” She sighed. “I need to go take a bath or something.”
Julia made her way to their room and locked herself in their large, white marble lavatory. Several bath salts and oils lined the window above the vast bathtub, and Julia grabbed a handful of bottles to use.
She opened one pink bottle with a label that read Calmness and dumped in quite a bit. Next came the yellow, green, and blue salts labeled Joy, Clarity, and Serenity.
As she took in the scents from each bottle, she tried to let all the stress from Camilla’s threats float away. Everything will be okay. I’ll have a great year, and only I can decide that.
When she finally climbed out of the tub, Julia felt completely rejuvenated, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the salts had been enchanted.
It was dark outside, and she was ready to sleep the day off.
Reaching for the tub drain, Julia nearly fell in. She steadied herself and peeked back over the ledge. Had she just seen what she thought?
Looking into the bathtub’s swirling reflection, once again she saw a different Julia. It was herself but with reptile eyes and strange bright hair—an evil-looking replica of herself. So much for calmness and serenity.
Julia waited anxiously outside of Scarlet’s class. Her foot tapped quickly on the cold floor as her mind raced. A stream of students washed past her on their way out of class, Sierra at the tail end
“Good luck,” Sierra whispered. “Remember, don’t say anything you’ll regret.”
Julia took a deep breath. “I won’t.”
She peeked into the empty classroom. Caleb and Scarlet pointed to something outside of one of the windows. Scarlet threw back her head and laughed.
“Caleb, you’re hilarious.”
As far as Julia knew, Caleb didn’t posses a sense of humor.
Did he even know how to be funny?
As if sensing her presence, Caleb flipped around and eyed Julia standing in the doorway.
“Julia?” He looked pleased. “It’s okay. You can come in.”
She squared her shoulders and entered the classroom. “I just didn’t want to interrupt.”
Scarlet beamed at her. “No, that’s all right, dear. What can I help you with?”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping to ask Caleb something.”
She twisted her hands together and turned to him.
“Yes?” Caleb asked, surveying her.
Julia glanced to Scarlet, not quite sure how to ask if they could be alone.
“Uh, Caleb,” Scarlet said. “I’m sorry, but I have a faculty meeting. I’ll see you tonight at dinner.”
“You didn’t mention anything about a faculty meeting,”
Caleb responded.
Was he really so tactless? Even Julia knew that Scarlet was just giving them privacy.
She glided out of the room without answering him, leaving Julia alone with the task ahead of her.
She cleared her throat. “Caleb, I need to talk to you about something important.”
Caleb’s face immediately became uneasy. He pulled out a chair for Julia and then sat atop Scarlet’s desk. He was tall enough now that he didn’t even jump to reach it.
“No, thanks.” Julia gestured to the empty chair. “I’ll stand.” “Caleb, the other day Camilla confronted me.”
His brow furrowed. “Oh,” he answered. “That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear.”
“Well, I thought you should know that she started blaming me.”
“Blaming you?” he asked. “For what?”
She ran a hand over her pocket. The crumpled letter sat safely in her sweater.
“She got really upset with me and started blaming me for the way things ended between you two.”
He looked down. “So you know about that, huh?”
“Of course I know, and I think that you should know that I’ve never had a lower opinion of you, Caleb.”
“What?” He looked at her confused.
“I knew that you were always critical of me,” she said, “but I didn’t know that I was a joke to you.”
“Julia,” Caleb began, “you’re not a joke to me. Did Camilla tell you that?”
Julia pulled out the small wrinkled envelope and slammed it against his chest. He put a hand over the letter, covering Julia’s hand in the process.
“She didn’t have to,” Julia said bitterly. She pulled her hand out from under his. “You said it yourself.”
She turned and left Caleb alone.
After going through lunch, dinner, and the whole evening without seeing Caleb, Julia hoped she’d made an impression on him. Even if he did apologize, she wasn’t sure she’d care.
Caleb had been unnecessarily mean behind her back, and she felt content just knowing that he’d been caught.
Climbing into bed, Julia glanced at her nightstand table and thought about Terrence. She had eventually written him a reply, but it was short. So many things were on her mind.
When Sierra snapped the lights off in their room, Julia turned to the moonlit window. She real y did miss Terrence, but she wouldn’t see him until Christmas, which felt like an eternity away. If only he real y could be her personal bodyguard.
Julia’s dreams were vivid—they’d always been that way.
Tonight a creature with black eyes appeared in her dream.
The creature locked eyes with Julia and spoke with her about Lockham Lake.
She followed the creature, wandering through Lockham Castle out to the lake. Her feet were cold as she walked down the marble staircase and past the stone courtyard. Something touched her left arm—probably a tree branch—and a breeze made her shiver.
Lockham’s Lake was small, but certainly deep enough to look eerie at night. Julia glanced into the lake’s blackness and shuddered. It was so emp
ty, so lonely out there at night.
She turned back, ready to leave, but her leg was caught on something. She lunged forward but couldn’t move. As she struggled, she began to wake from her dream.
It was a strange phenomenon, but Julia knew what it was like to be half dreaming, half awake. She opened her eyes—
no doubt she’d woken up Sierra by now—and realized she was standing. Sierra would never live this down. Sleepwalk-ing was the ultimate embarrassment.
However, as her eyes adjusted, Julia saw she wasn’t in her bedroom. In fact, she wasn’t even in Lockham. She stood, just as in her dream, on the lake’s shore.
She gasped, stiffening. How had this happened? She flipped around and surveyed the castle. Security monitored the halls and locks, and the enchantments made sure no one came in or out during the nighttime—yet Julia was barefoot in her nightclothes at the lake’s edge.
The only explanation was … dark magic. She panicked, remembering her caught leg. What if the Guild was out here?
Were they watching her right now?
Julia sprinted forward, screaming out.
“Help! Help me, please!” Surely one of the guards would hear her.
A dark shape appeared next to her, and Julia tripped on an uneven surface. Falling onto the noisy gravel, she scrambled. When she tried to scream again, a clammy hand fell over her mouth.
“Julia Levesque,” the figure whispered. “Don’t be afraid.”
The hand was removed, and Julia sat up. “Who are you?”
she demanded.
A small light illuminated the space around Julia. She took in the image of a tall, beautiful woman with brilliant blue hair. Her face was round and her eyes were dark. Was this the creature from her dream?
“I am Riley, and I am a friend of yours.”
Julia took a deep breath. “A friend? But I’ve never met you. And anyone using dark magic is not my friend.”
Riley opened her eyes wide, looking confused. “I had to talk to you. This is urgent.”
“This is not okay,” Julia retorted. “Once they realize I’m gone, we’ll both be in a lot of trouble.”
“Julia,” Riley said, her tone becoming a little more serious,
“I had to talk to you. And I knew the Soldier Union would never let me speak to you.”
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