“Why don’t you come with us?” Keirran asked. “You haven’t been banished from the mortal realm, Leanansidhe. You could see what’s going on yourself.”
Leanansidhe looked at him as if he’d just said the sky was green. “Me, darling? I would, but I’m afraid the Goblin Market rabble would make quite the mess while I’m gone. Sadly, I cannot go traipsing across the country whenever I please, pet—I have obligations here that make that impossible.” She glanced at me and wrinkled her nose. “Ethan, darling, you’re dripping blood all over my clean carpets. Someone should take care of that.”
She snapped her fingers, and a pair of gnomes padded up, beckoning to me. I tensed, reminded of the piranha-palmed creatures, but I also knew many gnomes were healers among the fey. I let myself be taken to another room and, while the gnomes fussed over my arm, considered our next course of action.
Return to the park, Leanansidhe had said. Return to the place where a bunch of creepy, transparent, glamour-sucking faeries waited for us, maybe a whole nest of them. Kenzie was right; something was there, lurking in that park, unseen and unknown to fey and human alike. The lady, Thomas had mumbled. The lady and the big dark. What the heck did he mean by that?
The door creaked open, and Kenzie came into the room, dodging the gnome who padded out with a bloody rag. “Leanansidhe is keeping Thomas here for now,” she said, perching on the stool beside mine. “She wants to see if he’ll regain any of his memory, see if he can remember what happened to him. How’s your arm?”
I held it up, drawing an annoyed reprimand from the gnome. They’d put some sort of smelly salve over the wound and wrapped it tightly with bandages so it no longer hurt; it was just numb. “I’ll live.”
“Yes, you will,” muttered the gnome with a warning glower at me. “Though you’re lucky it didn’t get your hand—you might’ve lost a few fingers. Don’t pick at the bandages, Mr. Chase.” Gathering the supplies, it gave me a last glare and padded off with its partner, letting the door swing shut behind them.
Kenzie reached over and gently wrapped her hand around mine. I stared at our entwined fingers, dark thoughts bouncing around in my head. This was getting dangerous. No, forget that, this was already dangerous, more than ever. People were dying, vanishing from existence. A deadly new breed of fey was on the rise, killing their victims by draining their glamour, their very essence. Half-breeds were disappearing, right off the streets, from their homes and schools. And there was something else. Something dark and sinister, hidden somewhere in that park, waiting.
The big dark. The lady.
I felt lost, overwhelmed. As if I was a tiny speck of driftwood, bobbing in a huge ocean, waiting for something to swallow me whole. I wasn’t ready for this. I didn’t want to get pulled into this faery madness. What did they want from me? I wasn’t my sister, half-fey and powerful, with the infamous Robin Goodfellow and the son of Mab at my side. I was only human, one human against a whole race of savage, dangerous faeries. And, as usual, I was going to put even more people in harm’s way.
Kenzie ran her fingers over my skin, sending tingles up my arm. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could convince you to stay behind,” I murmured, already knowing the answer.
“Nope,” said Kenzie with forced cheerfulness. I looked up, and she gave me a fierce smile. “Don’t even think about it, Ethan. You’ll need someone to watch your back. Make sure you don’t get chomped by any more nasty faeries with sharp teeth. I didn’t gain the Sight just to sit back and do nothing.”
I sighed. “I know. But I don’t have anything to protect you with anymore. Or me, for that matter.” Gingerly, I clenched my fist, wincing at the needles of pain that shot up my arm. “If we’re going to go look for this nest, I don’t want a stick. It’s not enough. I want my knife or something sharp between me and those faeries. I can’t hold back with them any longer.”
Cold dread suddenly gripped me. This wasn’t a perverse game; me playing keep-away with a redcap motley in the library, or trying to avoid getting beaten up by Kingston’s thugs. These fey, whatever they were, were savage and twisted killers. There would be no reasoning with them, no pleas for favors or bargains. It was kill or be torn to shreds myself.
I think I shivered, for Kenzie inched closer and leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. “We need a plan,” she said calmly. “A strategy of some sort. I don’t like the idea of rushing back with no clue of where to go. If we knew where this lair was…” She paused, as I closed my eyes and soaked in her warmth. “I wish I had a computer,” she said. “Then I could at least research Central Park, try to figure out what this ‘big dark’ is. I don’t suppose Leanansidhe has any laptops lying around?”
“Not a chance,” I muttered. “And my phone is dead. I checked back in the real world.”
“Me, too.” She sighed and tapped her finger against my knee in thought. “Could we…maybe…go home?” she asked in a hesitant voice. “Not to stay,” she added quickly. “I could check some things online, and you could grab your weapons or whatever it is you’ll need. Our folks wouldn’t have to know.” She snorted, and a bitter edge crept into her voice. “My dad might not even realize I’ve been gone.”
I thought about it. “I don’t know,” I admitted at last. “I don’t like the idea of going home and having those things follow me. Or waiting for me. And I don’t want to drag your family into it, either.”
“We’re going to have to do something, Ethan.” Kenzie’s voice was soft, and her fingers very gently brushed the bandage on my wrist. “We’re in way over our heads—we need all the help we can get.”
“Yeah.” Frustration rose up, and I resisted the urge to lash out, to snarl at something. Right now, the only someone around was Kenzie, and I wasn’t going to take out my fear and anger on her. I wished there was someone I could go to, some grown-up who would understand. I’d never wanted to be the one everyone looked to for direction. Keirran wasn’t here; this was my call. How had it all come to rest on me?
Wait. Maybe there was someone I could ask. I remembered his face in the locker room, the way he’d looked around as if he knew something was there. I remembered his words. If you need help, Ethan, all you have to do is ask. If you’re in trouble, you can come to me. For anything, no matter how small or crazy it might seem. Remember that.
Guro. Guro might be the only one who would understand. He believed in the invisible things, the creatures you couldn’t see with the nak*d eye. That’s what he’d been trying to tell me in the locker room. His grandfather was a Mang-Huhula, a spiritual leader. Spirits to faeries wasn’t that big of a leap, right?
Of course, I might be reading too much into it. He might think that I’d finally gone off the deep end and call the people in the white coats.
“What are you brooding over?” Kenzie murmured, her breath soft on my cheek.
I squeezed her hand and stood, pulling her up with me. “I think,” I began, hoping the others would be okay with a detour, “that I’m going to have to ask Leanansidhe for one last favor.”
* * *
She wasn’t entirely happy with the idea of us running off to Louisiana again. “How will I know you won’t just decide to go home, darlings?” the Dark Muse said, giving me a piercing stare. “You might see your old neighborhood, get homesick, return to your families, and leave me high and dry. That wouldn’t work out for me, pets.”
“I’m not running away,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m not going to lead those things right to my home. Besides, they might already be hanging around my neighborhood, looking for me. I’m coming back. I swear, I’m not backing out until this is finished, one way or another.”
Leanansidhe raised a slender eyebrow, and I realized I’d just invoked one of the sacred vows of Faery. Damn. Well, I was in it for the long haul, now. Not that I couldn’t have broken my promise if I wanted to; I was human and not bound by their complex word games, but making an oath like that, in front of a faery queen no less, meant I’d better carry it out or unpleasant things might happen. The fey took such vows seriously.
“Very well, darling.” Leanansidhe sighed. “I still do not see the point of this ridiculous side quest, but do what you must. Since Grimalkin is no longer around, I will have to find someone else to take you home. When did you want to leave?”
“As soon as Keirran joins us.”
“I’m here,” came a quiet voice from the hallway, and the Iron prince came into the room. He looked tired, more solemn than usual, with shadows crouched under his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Annwyl was not with him.
“Where are we going?” he asked, looking from me to Kenzie and back again. “Back to the park already?”
“Not yet.” I held up my single rattan stick. “If we’re going to be walking into this lady’s lair or nest or whatever, I’m going to need a better weapon. I think I can convince my kali master to lend me one of his. He has a whole collection of knives and short swords.”
And I want to talk to Guro one more time, let him know what’s going on, that I didn’t just drop out. I owe him that much, at least. And maybe he can tell my folks I’m all right. For now, anyway.
Keirran nodded. “Fair enough,” he said.
“Where’s Annwyl?” asked Kenzie. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. The fight—the glamour-eaters—it took more out of her than we first realized. She’s sleeping right now. Razor is with her—he’ll come to me when she wakes up.”
“Do you want to wait for her?” Kenzie asked. “We don’t mind, if you wanted to let her sleep a bit.”
“No.” Keirran shook his head. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
I watched him, the way he looked back nervously, as if he was afraid Annwyl could come through the door at any moment. “She doesn’t know we’re leaving,” I guessed, narrowing my eyes. “You’re taking off without her.”
Keirran raked a guilty hand through his bangs. “You saw what they did to her,” he said grimly. “Out of all of us, she’s the one in the most danger. I can’t take that risk again. She’ll be safer here.”
Kenzie shook her head. “So you’re just leaving her behind? She’s going to be pissed.” Putting her hands on her hips, she glared at him, and he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I know I’d kick your ass if you pulled that stunt with me. Honestly, why do boys always think they know what’s best for us? Why can’t they just talk?”
“I’ve often wondered the same, darling,” Leanansidhe sighed. “It’s one of the mysteries of the universe, trust me. But I need an answer, pets, so I know whether or not to call a guide. Are you three going to wait for the Summer girl, or are you going on without her?”