“That’s not the word I would have used.”
“Get what over with?” I said to Dimitri.
“The reason why you’re here,” he said, “in the Dark Woods. They don’t seem to be a safe place for you anymore.”
I cocked my head at him, picking and choosing my next words carefully. There was something here that I was missing. The air seemed to have shifted. It felt cooler now. “We’re here because it’s a shorter route to get to Meridian City.”
Dimitri’s eyes flashed again. They were almost violet. “And what business have you there?”
“You know, don’t you,” I said. “Something.”
Dimitri flew up closer to my face. He smiled, and it was a dark thing. “I know many things. I am the king of this forest. Nothing happens here without me knowing.”
“Then tell me,” I said, “what you know.”
He shook his head. “That’s not how this works, apprentice. You know that as well as I do.”
“Oh, we’re back to apprentice now?” I asked lightly. “No more Sam?”
“There are whispers,” he said. “In the trees. In the darkest part of the forests.”
Something prickled across my skin, almost like I was chilled. “And what do they whisper?”
“The Darks seem to have an unhealthy fascination with you,” he said, ignoring my question. “Do you know why that is?”
“One of their own took us to a cave,” I said. “In the eastern Dark Woods. All of us went in. He never walked out.”
“We heard,” Dimitri said. “Those that die in the Dark Woods tend to leave a bit of themselves behind. He echoed. He darkled. He was nothing but blood and bones when they found him.”
“Tiggy tends to get overzealous when his friends are threatened,” I said coolly.
“So you say. But you just don’t know, do you?” He looked back over his shoulder and said something in the tongue of the fairies. It came out low and guttural, almost like grunts. The cadence was stilted and staccato. As soon as he fell silent, the other fairies spread their wings, alighting from the trees and bushes and flowers. They spun in a leisurely circle around us. I felt something crawl along my magic. I felt soft. Dully muted. Tiggy growled low in his throat and tensed behind me. Gary came to my side, eyelids heavy. Ryan didn’t seem to be affected, worry darting along his face.
“What is this?” I asked, sounding slow and quiet.
“To keep our palaver secret,” he said. “You can’t be too careful these days. The trees hear everything.”
“But you’re their guardians,” I said. “Why would they betray you?”
He grinned. His teeth were sharp. “Who said anything about betrayal?”
I said nothing.
“You look for the Grand Prince,” he said. “He was taken, was he not?”
“You sound as if you already know,” I said. “Why ask?”
“Formalities,” he said.
“Games,” I corrected.
His smile widened. “Are you sure you won’t rethink that proposal? The conversation alone is stimulating.”
I shook my head, trying to ignore just how stimulated he seemed to be. It’s never okay to have a tiny man flying around with his erection near your face. “You deserve someone who can give you all you need. I can’t do that.”
The bravado faltered a bit. “I knew you were different,” he said. “The first time you came into the woods. I could have taken you then. You were just a boy. I could have taken you away from the human world and raised you how I wanted you to be. Molded you to be something more than you are.”
“I’m thinking you need to back up,” Ryan said, voice hard. “Right now.”