Green (15 page)

has to be three. They wouldn't have brought you out here for less than the last one. Right?"

He gazed at me so earnestly, so completely sweet and open and so totally the opposite of the bad things Balthazar had said about him, that my head nodded on its own. As deep as I was already in, it couldn't hurt to admit that much.

"What are you supposed to do?" he asked. "Is it hard? Can I help you?"

"It's hard." And no way could he help. I felt fresh tears rising up my throat. Hunting futilely for a Kleenex, my fingers touched Gigi's Life Savers, making my eyes spill over.

"Ach, Lily. Don't cry," Kylie said. "Let me help you!"

"You can't." Untangling myself from his arm, I struggled to my feet. I needed to get away, to think, to figure out if I had any chance left or if everything was already ruined.

But Kylie jumped up too, grabbing my hands again. "Don't go," he begged. "I'm sorry I was nosy. I was just trying to be a friend."

"I know," I said miserably. I had wanted friends more than anything, and now that I'd finally made one, I had to stab him in the back. "I really need to go."

"Okay," he said, not easing his grip. "But if you change your mind, you'll ask me?"

"I will."

"I'm up for anything," he promised with a conspiratorial wink. "Anything short of a heist on my keep."

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My entire body went stiff. What had made him say that? I felt the horrified look on my face.

And then I saw it reach his.

"No way!" he gasped. "Lily! You've come to steal my gold?"

"Not all of it!" I pleaded, the truth tumbling out at last. "I'm only supposed to take one bag and it wasn't my idea! I didn't even want to come here and my clan obviously hates me or why would they give me such impossible tests? I'm really not a bad person, Kylie--I just loved my grandma so much!"

I cried into my dirty hands, too ashamed to meet his eyes. There was no point running away now, nothing left to figure out.

All that was left were the consequences.

"Lily." Kylie's voice was calm and soothing, not filled with the loathing I deserved. "Lily, please stop crying. I might know a way to fix this."

"How?" I sobbed. "Everything is ruined."

"Look at me and I'll tell you."

It took another minute, but I was so desperate to hear his solution that I shut down the waterworks somehow. "Tell me."

"Not here. Let's go talk in the sunshine." Kylie led me out of the trees to the edge of the riverbank. I could finally see the water churning below, but the bridge was lost around a bend. We sat on a patch of clover.

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"So here's what I'm thinking," he said. "What if I let you steal that gold?"

"What?"

"Shhh!" Kylie hissed, glancing around. "Sentries patrol these woods sometimes. The river covers our voices here, but not if you shout."

I took a couple of deep, calming breaths. "You can't be serious."

"I'm just saying, I
could
let you take a bag. And, honestly, it's probably the only way you'll get one. Stealing out of my keep? Are they kidding?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"Do you have any idea how much gold is in there?"

My mind pictured the Greens' inner keep--the bars and coins and nuggets stacked up to its stalactites, the twisted piles of treasure, the otherworldly glow of a football field full of gold. My blood tingled at the recollection.

"I have some idea," I said.

"One bag is a drop in that ocean. I can move stuff around to make sure no one notices. And when you're keeper, you'll pay me back. Our accounts will square up and no one gets hurt."

"Really?" I could barely believe he'd be willing to take such a big risk for me. Gratitude welled up where my guilt had been. "You're sure you won't get in trouble?"

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"Not if you sneak out of here without getting caught. You can't tell your boys how you did it, though. We can never tell
anyone
. If our clans found out, you might not be made keeper, and I don't want to know what would happen to me." Kylie's expression turned doubtful for the first time. "I
can
trust you, Lily?"

"Of course!" I said. "Definitely!"

He grinned. "Then this will be our secret. Swear on it."

"I swear!" I promised. "Totally, totally secret."

"No, silly," he said, laughing. "Clover swear."

Plucking a pair of fat clovers from the bank, Kylie rolled them between his thumb and fingers, squashing them to pulp. "You have to do it too, Lily."

I imitated him as well as I could, until a bit of juicy green squished between my fingers.

"Give me your hand." Kylie's free hand closed around mine. Turning my wrist skyward, he pressed his clover-wet thumb to the pale skin there, leaving a faint green stain.

"Now you," he said, holding his wrist out to me.

I felt his life pump through him as I pressed my thumb to his veins, leaving them smudged with green juice. "Is that all?" My voice sounded far away through the blood pounding in my ears. "You and I have a deal?"

"A clover swear is unbreakable, Lily."

Sudden joy washed through me, a swift, cleansing wave

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of relief. I was going to pass my third test! I was going to be the Greens' keeper and go home with my memories intact. Kylie and I were in this together now.

Unbreakable.

I'll prove my loyalty, all right
, I thought,
to Kylie and to myself. The rest of the Greens are on their own
.

"So how do you want to do this?" I asked. "Should we meet somewhere secret where you can hand me the gold?"

Kylie laughed. "How is that stealing? You have to make it look good for your clan."

"Showing up with a bag of gold isn't good enough? No one ever said I had to explain how I got it."

"Maybe. But there's still a problem. Leplings can't remove gold from the outer keep. If I ask one of my guards to help me, and then you get caught with that bag ... You'll have to take it yourself, Lily."

I saw his point. "But if you can't do it without a leprechaun, how will I?"

"You can't. It doesn't have to be a Scarlet, though. One of your Greens can help you."

Great
, I thought, groaning silently.

"I suppose it would be too easy if my key opened your keep?"

Kylie smiled, all amber flecks and dimples. "Now
that
I can help you with."

* * *

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Darkness fell before I got back to the hall. Balthazar was in a lather by the time I finally showed up. I could tell he was dying to grill me on what I'd been doing all afternoon, but I was eating with the council again and he was stuck at a lower table. Then, immediately after dinner, the Scarlets set off fireworks over the square. The milling crowd, blasts of crimson sparks, and accompanying cheers and applause made conversation impossible.

Knowing the spectacle was in my honor made me feel guilty again, but I forced that feeling down.
I'm going to pay them back
, I vowed, wrapping myself tighter in Gigi's sweater.
They'll never even know a nugget was missing
.

The plan Kylie and I had come up with was foolproof. I just had to carry it out.

A seriously loud finale filled the sky with red and the square with smoke. A row of clover-ale kegs was tapped at the same time, just as Kylie had predicted. In the stampede toward them that followed, I managed to cut Cain from the pack long enough to whisper in his ear. "I need your help with something."

"Aye, lass, that's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Come to my room at two o'clock this morning. Come alone--do
not
tell
anyone
anything. Okay?"

"No one?" he asked with an eager glint in his eyes.

"No one. Not. Anyone."

Cain grinned delightedly. "It'll be our secret, Lil."

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Chapter 13

There was no clock in my room, no way to be sure when two o'clock had come. I'd picked a random time, anyway, just trying to wait long enough for everyone to be asleep--hopefully with plenty of help from the free-flowing ale at the party. Lying on the Scarlets' guest bed with the curtains cracked open, I watched the moon slide across the sky and imagined going home.

My mom was probably really scared about how long I'd been missing, but that would only make her happier once she realized I was safe. She might even be happy enough to throw me a real birthday party. And I wanted a

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party now, because Kylie had promised to visit me in Providence.

I'll invite Kendall, of course. And Lola too
, I decided, imagining boy-crazy Lola's envy when she saw me and Kylie together.
If we hold the party somewhere cool enough, maybe even Ainsley and her friends will come
. Those were the girls I
really
wanted to see me with Kylie--just as soon as we got him some normal clothes.

Or maybe Kylie could come to school one day and walk me home from gymnastics
. Everyone would see him then. Except that Kylie might see something too: me, doing gymnastics.
No, the party's a better idea
. Kendall and I would go shopping and find me a new dress, something hot and sophisticated enough to show everyone I'd changed.

They're messing with a different girl
, I thought happily.
One with a brand-new boyfriend and a whole new attitude. If I can handle a spotted pisky, I can handle Ainsley Williams!

Although ... could I call Kylie my boyfriend when he hadn't kissed me yet? He'd held my hand walking back from the river, and the charge that rushed between us had felt even more electric than a secret cave full of gold. There had been a moment, right before we got to the bridge, when I'd thought he
might
kiss me. But then he'd smiled and dropped my hand.

"We'd better act less friendly for a while," he'd said. "Folk will be watching. In fact, I'll probably ignore you

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when we get back, but don't take it personally." He'd flexed those perfect dimples. "You and I know better."

My dress for the party should be green
, I thought, basking in the recollection.
No, scarlet! Or wait ... Could I do green and scarlet together without looking like Christmas?

Something scratched the outside of my door, a long, unexpected rasp that made my blood freeze. I held completely still, then jumped up in a panic. Was it two o'clock already? Belting Gigi's sweater around me, I eased the door open and slipped out to meet Cain.

"Bit late, aren't we?" he whispered, pointing at the moon. His bow and quiver were slung across his back, and his belt hung low with pouches. "I've been skulking about the best part o' an hour."

"Just come on," I whispered. "Quietly!"

We crossed the square as fast as we could, me padding silently in my silver flats, Cain somehow keeping his boots quiet as we blended into the shadows of the first street.

Be asleep. Be asleep. Be asleep
, I willed the residents of the buildings we crept past. I could only pray that everyone behind those windows was passed out--or, at the very least, not looking outside.

We reached the woods without being spotted. I breathed easier as we lost ourselves in the trees.

"So what's the plan?" Cain piped up. "A little recon, is it?"

I'd chosen Cain because he'd proven his loyalty on the

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pisky hunt and because I had to take one of them, but I still didn't intend to tell him more than he needed to know. I had Kylie to protect now too.

"Just follow me," I whispered back. "And keep an eye out for Scarlets!"

The moon lit our way as we hurried between trees and bushes. I kept to the path Kylie had described, looking for a single enormous pine tree and mentally rehearsing our plan.

A sudden flurry in the nearby brush sent my heart into overdrive. I jumped back in terror, barely keeping down a scream. Cain raised his bow and strung an arrow as a big raccoon tumbled out. They faced off, motionless, eye to eye, before the raccoon turned and bolted into the woods.

Cain flashed me a shaky smile. I knew exactly how he felt.

Just stay brave a little longer and you'll be out of here
, I reassured myself.
The only way back is forward
.

We pressed on until I spotted a low ridge sticking out from the base of the mountain, an especially tall pine a long throw from its end.
There it is!
I thought excitedly.
Exactly like Kylie described it!

My pulse raced as I rushed to the pine's starlit branches and crouched in the shadows beneath them, squinting across the clearing separating the tree from the ridge. I could just make out a jagged slit of a cave notching the ridge's round end--the entrance to the Scarlets' keep.