He examined the black nails on his hand.
"They are darkness," he said quietly. "And heat. And the red moon is their sun."
Jacob trembled as he heard the stone in his brother's voice.
Say something, Jacob. Anything. The dark chamber was so silent.
"you will not become like them," he finally said. "Because I am going to stop it."
"How?" There it was again, the glance that suddenly was so much older than he. "Is it true, what you told those bandits? You're taking me to another Fairy?"
"Yes."
"Is she as dangerous as the one who did this?" Will touched the brittle skin on the princess's face. "Look out the window. There are corpses hanging in the thorns. You think I want you to end like that for my sake?"
But Will's eyes belied his words. Help me, Jacob, they said. Help me.
Jacob pulled him away from the corpse.
"The Fairy I'm taking you to is different," he said. Is she, Jacob? He heard a whisper inside him. But he ignored it.
He put all the hope he possessed into his voice. And all the confidence his brother wanted to hear: "She'll help us, Will, I promise!"
It still worked. Hope still spread over Will's face as easily as rage. Brothers. The elder and the younger. Unchanged.
15
Soft Flesh
Threefingers with the butcher's face was the first to speak. Humans so liked to choose the wrong men as their leaders. Hentzau could see his cowardice as clearly as the watery blue of his eyes. But at least he had told them a few interesting details the moth had not shown Hentzau.
The Jade Goyl was not alone. He was with a girl. Also — and this was even more important — he seemed to have a brother who had gotten it into his head to drive the jade from his body. If Threefingers was telling the truth, then the brother was planning to take the Jade Goyl to the Red Fairy. Not such a dumb idea. She despised her dark sister as much as the other Fairies did. Still, Hentzau was sure she wouldn't be able to break the curse. The Dark Fairy was so much more powerful than all the others.
groaned as Fox nudged her nose into his shoulder.
"Fox! Be careful!"
Clara helped him sit up. She had put a fresh dressing on his shoulder, but it hurt more than ever. The bandits, the Goyl... the pain brought it all back, but Jacob couldn't remember when he had lost consciousness.
Clara stood up. "That wound doesn't look good. I wish I had some pills from the hospital."
"It'll be fine," Jacob said. Fox anxiously nudged her head under his arm. "Where are we?" he asked her.
"At the only hiding place I could find. This is deserted — by the living, anyway." Fox dug aside the layers of leaves with her paw, revealing a shoe.
Jacob looked around. In many places the leaves lay suspiciously deep, as if covering outstretched bodies.
Where were they?
Jacob sought support from a wall to pull himself to his feet, and immediately drew back his hands, cursing. The stones were covered in thorny vines. They were everywhere, as if the entire castle had grown a hide of thorns.
"Roses," he muttered, picking one of the rose hips that grew from the twisted branches. "I've been searching for this castle for years. Sleeping Beauty's bed. The Empress would pay a fortune for it."
Clara stared incredulously across the silent courtyard.
"It is said that anyone who sleeps in her bed will find true love. But it seems" — Jacob gazed at the dark windows — "the prince never showed up."
Or he had perished on the thorns like a skewered bird. A mummified hand stuck out from between the roses. Jacob pushed some leaves over it before Clara could see.