“My apologies, Judas,” Puck said.
Jude stiffened at the sound of his old name. He seemed to focus completely on Puck for the first time, his nostrils flared.
“I know you,” he said, and sniffed the air. “I know you of old.”
“Perhaps you do,” Puck said.
Great. Now Puck had some kind of connection to Jude, too. It was starting to feel less like chance that we had all come together. Some fate was pulling all of us—me, Nathaniel, Samiel, Jude, maybe even Beezle and Chloe—to these ancient ones, to Lucifer and Puck and the animosity that was older than the earth.
“Can we talk about this later?” I said to Jude. “I want to get J.B. and get home so that I can take down Therion.”
“If you will follow me,” Puck said, and made a portal in the air. “You must all hold tight to one another. We are going through the old ways, and if any of you lets go, you could be lost forever.”
Puck reached for my hand, and Nathaniel took the other. Jude reluctantly grabbed Nathaniel’s hand, and Samiel’s. Chloe made up the end of the chain.
“You guys look like one of those preschool walking buses,” Beezle said. “All you need are the little waist leashes.”
He flew toward me and stopped in midair. “Whoa. Where did you get the Catwoman pants?”
“You just noticed?” I said, my ears burning.
“Well, yeah, because there’s no pocket for me to nap in,” Beezle said, settling on my shoulder and digging in his claws.
“How about you try to stay awake during the rescue mission, just this once?” I said.
“Children,” Puck said, and he entered the portal, pulling me with him.
This portal wasn’t like the usual ones. Normally when I entered a portal I felt like I was being mashed in a blender. This was a pathway through the universe, a place that no human would ever see. Beneath our feet all the worlds looked like a necklace of jewels. We were draped in a veil of silence, and the stars spun around us.
Chloe and Jude both gasped. Chloe was the closest thing to a human that we had on our team. Even her work as an Agent had not prepared her for this.
“This is what’s behind the Door,” she whispered.
I felt a moment of panic. She now knew one of the secrets that the Agency tried to keep from the Agents. Would that put her on Sokolov’s hit list, too?
Then I realized that just associating with me was enough to put her life in danger. It didn’t really make me feel better.
“Hold tight,” Puck said, and we were descending.
A few moments later we stood in a lush garden, surrounded by flowers so rare and beautiful that they could not have existed in my world. The air was scented and heavy and shimmering with gold dust.
“We just got dropped into a scene from Legend,” Beezle said. “Where are the unicorns?”
Everyone had released hands except for Puck, who still determinedly clung to mine. I felt a current of magic strung between the two of us.
“What are you doing?” I said, tugging my hand.
“Giving you a boost. You will need it to find J.B.,” Puck said. “You are blood of my blood, and that makes a connection between us. My power can help strengthen yours.”
“Don’t try any funny business,” Jude growled.
“I would not think of it,” Puck said, his eyes dancing.
“You’re stronger than Titania is,” I said softly. “Why do you stay here, pretending to be her subordinate?”
Puck let go of my hand and touched the tip of my nose with his finger. “Just because you are blood of my blood does not mean you get to know everything.”
“What does he mean by ‘blood of my blood’?” Jude said, looking from me to Puck.
“Later,” I promised. “Take us to J.B.”
“I cannot do that,” Puck said.
“Why not?” I said. “What are we here for, then?”
“If you want him, you must find him,” Puck said.
He was the mercurial Puck again, the court jester. I felt unsure of my ground with this Puck. His changeability made me feel that his loyalty was for sale. Perhaps it was, when he was here.
“I’m not here to play games,” I said.
“Faeries love games,” Puck said. “And so, a quest.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of quest?”
“Your prince is somewhere in the kingdom. To gain treasure, you must have the courage to seek it,” Puck said.
“Is he in the castle?” Beezle asked. “Because I am going to be pissed if we go running all over the place and he was inside the whole time.”
“He is not in the castle, although you are wise to ask,” Puck said. “It is the sort of thing a faerie might do. No, he is outdoors. If you can overcome the obstacles in your path, you may return home with him.”
“Is he alive?” I asked. If Titania had killed him, I would take down this castle brick by brick and destroy everyone in it.
Puck considered. “Technically.”
I didn’t want to consider what kind of condition J.B. might be in. I didn’t want to think about how badly Titania might have hurt him in order to hurt me.
“What did you do—beat him up and then throw him out there somewhere, broken?” I said angrily.
“I did not do anything,” Puck said with a wounded air.
“You’re no angel, either,” I said.
As far as I was concerned the courts were just as complicit as their leaders. The courtiers who did nothing were more interested in keeping their own butts protected than in justice, even if some of them did object to Titania’s choices. I’m sure Nathaniel—and even Jude—would have said I was naïve to expect otherwise. But I had been a part of Azazel’s court, however briefly, and much to Azazel’s consternation I had never bent to anyone’s will except my own.
“No, I am certainly not an angel,” Puck said, and he disappeared.
“Well, this is a fine thing,” Chloe said. “He drops us here, tells us we have to find J.B. and gives us nothing to go on.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And Titania is probably watching us in her crystal ball, laughing her ass off.”
“So what do we do?” Chloe asked.
“First, we find a way out of this garden,” I said.
There was nothing to see except the high stone walls that surrounded the greenery, no hint of what might lay beyond.
“Find an exit,” I said. “Spread out. Everyone look for a door.”
“And then?” Beezle asked.
“Start looking for J.B.,” I said. I looked at my palm, which still tingled from the magic Puck had given me. Would this “boost” make it easier for me to find J.B., or would it make it easier for Puck to track me, or use me, or otherwise do something I did not want? It had happened so quickly I didn’t have a chance to object.
“That’s your plan?” Beezle asked.
“Pretty much,” I said. “I’m not sure what else to do right now.”
“All I know is that you’ve been extremely lucky to have survived this long,” Beezle said. “How long do you think your luck will last?”
“It better last long enough to get us home in one piece,” I said, running my hand along the stone wall behind the foliage to check for an exit.
“Here,” Jude called. He was in the far right corner of the garden, beckoning.
I trotted toward him as the others converged on his position. Jude silently lifted some protruding tree branches out of the way to reveal an arch cut in the stone, and a forest beyond.
“There are probably trolls in that forest,” Beezle said as we hurried out of the shadow of the castle and toward the shelter of the trees.
“Yup,” I replied.
“Giant spiders, witches, other things we’d rather not encounter,” Beezle said.
“Yes,” I said, drawing my sword as we reached the tree line. “Jude, you go in front. Then Chloe, then Samiel. Nathaniel and I will watch our backs.”
Jude nodded and took the lead. We a
ll kept tight in line as the forest closed in around us.
“We’re probably going to be running for hours in fear for our lives,” Beezle said.
“No, I’ll be running. You’ll be carried. Is there a point to all of this?” I asked.
“No, I’m just looking for something to complain about because I’m hungry,” Beezle said.
“Well, knock it off,” I whispered, because these woods seemed like a place where you talked quietly. There was menace in the air, a feeling of unfriendliness.
“I’m going to change,” Jude said.
A moment later, his clothing fell to the ground and a wolf stood in his place. He trotted ahead of us, his nose pressed in the dirt.
We followed a rough trail through the trees. All around us was lush green foliage and moss. It looked a lot like the woods in every episode of The X-Files, that Pacific-Northwest-rains-all-the-time kind of woods.
It was very humid. The heavy moisture filled the air with the scents of bark and loam and green growing things. I could tell Jude was having a hard time getting a fix on any one scent because he was running all over the path.
“What’s he trying to follow?” Chloe asked, pausing for a moment. She looked a little wilted. Her vivid purple hair was flattened by the heavy air and her face was pale and sweaty. She leaned on Samiel’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
“I’m assuming he’s looking for J.B.’s scent and can’t get a fix on it. We can’t stop,” I said.
“I know,” Chloe replied, her eyes still closed. “Aren’t you beat? You’re the one who’s pregnant here.”
“I think I’m getting used to running around while exhausted,” I said. “And I slept for two days before we got here, so I’m a little perkier than usual.”
“Well, I am definitely not accustomed to this much exertion,” she said tiredly. “I sit at a desk most of the time.”
“Stick with her long enough and it will seem normal to be chased by monsters while tired and starving,” Beezle said.
“We’ve got to move,” I said.
Chloe straightened with obvious reluctance and opened her eyes. “Hey ho, let’s go.”
I glanced down the path toward Jude. He wasn’t there.
11
“JUDE’S GONE,” I SAID.
Samiel raised his fists. Chloe pulled a dagger out of the small of her back. I had no idea she carried such a thing. A ball of nightfire appeared on Nathaniel’s palm. Beezle flew off my shoulder.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Up to see what I can see,” he said.
Without speaking we all turned around so our backs faced inward in a tight circle. And we waited. The others were looking all around the woods, but my eyes were skyward, waiting for my gargoyle to return.
For a few minutes nothing happened. Then I saw Beezle flying back to us as fast as his wings could carry him, his little face set in tense lines. Before Beezle could reach us, Jude burst out of the woods from our back trail, running flat out and barking. He sprinted ahead of us again, his yips and growls telling us that we needed to hurry.
“Whatever you do, don’t fly,” Beezle shouted, as he landed on my shoulder. “And run!”
None of us needed to be told twice. Something large was behind us. It crashed through the woods, making the ground shake. Chloe stumbled ahead of Samiel. He scooped her up easily and tossed her over his shoulder, running all the while. Samiel is exceptionally strong.
“Put me down, you idiot!” Chloe shouted. “I can walk!”
I’m sure Samiel could feel the vibrations of Chloe’s shout in his chest even if he couldn’t hear the words, but he chose to ignore them. He ran at a dead sprint, right at Jude’s heels.
Nathaniel and I were several feet behind them. I was getting a good boost from terror and adrenaline, but I was starting to flag.
“Why can’t we fly?” I panted to Beezle.
“There are things sleeping in the trees,” Beezle said. “It’s better if we don’t wake them up.”
“What could be worse than what’s on the ground?” I asked.
The monster behind us roared. It sounded terrifyingly close. I didn’t want to turn around and see what it was. It was enough to know that it was big, it was angry and it was chasing us.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nathaniel glance over his shoulder. His face paled.
“Beezle, what’s following us?” I asked.
“A spriggan,” he said. “Usually they’re small, but this one has either eaten a lot of human children or it’s swollen.”
“Do I want to know what it will do to us if it catches us?” I asked, finding a whole new running gear as the spriggan’s footsteps pounded closer.
“Do I need to paint you a picture?” Beezle said. “It’s not going to offer you tea and biscuits; I’ll tell you that much for free.”
My lungs burned. My legs were slowing in spite of my desire to live. Even when faced with the possibility of death, I couldn’t keep to an all-out sprint indefinitely.
Nathaniel grabbed my hand, pulling me along. “You must run.”
“I know,” I said.
“I can carry you.”
“You can’t carry me and fight at the same time,” I said. “And I think we’re going to have to fight.”
“You’re not fighting that spriggan,” Beezle said. “They’re barrow guards. Believe me, it’s seen anything you can throw at it.”
“I can’t run much longer,” I said.
Beezle looked behind us. “You have to. But I think it’s slowing down.”
The spriggan roared again, and it did sound like it was slightly farther away. Nathaniel gripped my hand hard, and I felt a little push of magical energy pass from him to me.
His magic burned through me, gave me the boost that I needed. My legs turned over faster and faster. Nathaniel kept pace with me, and after a minute or two we were right on Samiel’s heels.
It seemed like the trees were thinning out, the underbrush growing sparser. The sounds of the spriggan’s pursuit ceased abruptly. I risked a glance over my shoulder.
The spriggan was gone.
“Hold up,” I shouted, coming to a halt.
I bent over, my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. Beezle flew off my shoulder, hovering beside me in the air. Sweat dripped over my face and onto the ground. My fancy new leather pants stuck to my legs, and the sweater was sopping wet.
Jude and Samiel stopped and turned. When Samiel saw that we were no longer being pursued, he put Chloe back on her feet. She looked seasick. She sat on the ground, cross-legged, and breathed in through her nose.
“When I stop feeling like I’m going to puke, I’m going to punch you in the mouth,” she said to Samiel.
Samiel shrugged. I could have let that monster eat you.
“I can run, you know,” Chloe said.
Not fast enough.
“Don’t argue with her, Samiel,” I said. “She just wants to pick a fight because she knows you’re right.”
“How do you know that?” Chloe demanded.
“I live with Beezle,” I said. “I recognize the symptoms.”
I straightened up, wiping the sweat from my face with my sleeve. I looked at Nathaniel. “What do you think happened to the spriggan?”
“Either it was called off by Titania, or we got far enough away from its barrow that it decided we were no longer a threat to its treasure,” he said. “But there will be more creatures like it in these lands.”
“I know,” I said. “We’ve got to figure out where we are in relation to everything else. And we need a more effective way of tracking J.B. than sniffing around for him. Sorry, Jude.”
Jude barked once in acknowledgment.
“Weren’t you here before?” Chloe asked.
“Yes, but the portion of the kingdom that we walked through was an illusion,” I said. “I have no idea where we are in relation to the place where Lucifer brought us. And we might be walking through another illusion
now. Faeries do like to maintain appearances.”
“What was underneath the last illusion?” Chloe asked.
Nathaniel, Beezle and I looked at one another. “Umm, it was a kind of game board,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed. “A game board.”
“Yeah, and Oberon and Titania were watching us on the board…Never mind,” I said, because Chloe looked like she might lose her temper. “Nathaniel, could we do a tracking spell to find J.B.?”
Nathaniel considered. “The tracking spell is usually used to find traces of magic. If J.B. has not used magic in this place, it would be very difficult to find him that way.”
“We can’t just walk around the forest banging into things and hoping we’ll stumble onto him.”
The next moment, Nathaniel shoved me to the ground. I hit the dirt hard and rolled over, ready to tell him off. But he stood where I had stood a moment before, an arrow in his hand. If he hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I’d have that arrow in my heart. I don’t know whether he could have caught it before his legacy from Puck had been revealed, and I took a moment to be thankful before standing again. Nathaniel pushed me behind him.
Jude tore into the woods, nothing but a furry blur. We heard someone cry out. Jude snarled and yelped, and Samiel ran into the trees after him. There was a flash of light, and the distinctive sulfur smell of nightfire.
Samiel came out of the woods lugging Bendith, Titania’s son, under one arm. Jude trotted out behind him. The faerie queen’s progeny was out cold, a nightfire burn on his shoulder. Jude had taken a good-sized chunk out of Bendith’s leg, too. Samiel tossed him to the ground, a look of disgust on his face.
“Who is this guy?” Chloe asked, nudging Bendith’s still form with her shoe.
“Titania’s son,” I said. “He doesn’t like me.”
“Do you think Titania sent him?” Beezle asked.
I shook my head, remembering the look on Bendith’s face when last I was in Titania’s court, when I had diminished Oberon in front of everyone. “He came on his own.”
I’d neglected to consider the possibility of a son’s desire for vengeance for his father. Well, Bendith thought Oberon was his father, and I was not going to be the one to disabuse him of that notion. Even though I couldn’t believe that he didn’t see the proof every time he looked in the mirror. His eyes were exactly like Puck’s. I stared at Bendith, possibilities turning over in my mind.
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