Wicked Hungry

“Wait a moment,” I say, and move aside. Then she’s next to me.

“The Seelie queen is in there,” she says.

“You’re sure about that?” I ask.

“Be careful what you do, Stanley,” she says. “You could come out again and find we’re all eighty years old.”

“I have to do what I have to do,” I say.

Karen spits at my feet. “You’re a fool and I’m a fool to follow you. You

’re going to risk your life, and for what? I bet Carolina has turned her by now anyway.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. But she’s already gone. Has she even been here? She moves so fast.

I take a step toward the gateway. Blaine looks at me. “Are you sure about this, Stanley?”

I nod. “Who’s with me?”

Nye and Connor raise their hands, and Rewsin raises a rotting dog paw. And then Karen is next to me again, raising her hand, too.

“What’s this?” Blaine asks. “But you’re a—”

“Vampire. Like your wife,” Karen says, nodding. “Come on. There are only minutes left.”

Rewsin is staring at Karen.

“What?” she asks him.

“Could you scratch me a little?” asks Rewsin. “I itch something terrible. I just want to go home and get out of this itchy dog skin.”

Jonathan and Enrique are raising their hands, too, but I shake my head.

“You can’t go,” I tell them. “Your brothers would kill me.”

“You can’t tell us what to do,” Jonathan says. “We’re coming.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Blaine says. “But if I don’t let you in soon, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you in at all.”

“It’s fine. It’s decided. They’re not going.”

“Dude,” Jonathan says. “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you go in there alone.”

I stop and stare at him and Enrique. I shake my head. “You told me I was the boss.”

“You are,” Jonathan says. “But—”

I growl low, and feel the change in me. “This is not the time to challenge me. I don’t want to fight you, Jonathan.”

“Fight me?” he says, incredulous, but then he looks me straight in the eyes. I don’t blink, and maybe he finally realizes how serious I am. How much is at stake.

“I need you to do this, Jonathan. You and Enrique. Watch after our families, and be there for my brother and my parents if I don’t make it back.”

Jonathan turns away, but Enrique grabs his shoulder and nods at me once, quickly. They’ll do as I ask. Enrique will make sure; I can feel it.

Blaine clears his throat. “You may only have a few moments,” he says. “Once you’re in, try to get the gate to stay open.”

“Understood,” says Nye, and Connor nods, and then Blaine moves the big silver key and we jump.