But thinking about draining him made me wonder…if I could still feel nervous energy from him, and rushing chill from the fossegrim, and sparks from the sylph…I scooted back into my room, ignoring Uber-vamp. If I could concentrate the energy from souls enough to open gates between worlds, I should be able to do something else with it. Maybe.
It was worth a shot. I rolled up my pant leg, then closed my eyes, breathing deeply. Focusing inward, I tried to pick out the sense of the sylph’s soul, the sparking, dry heat, the rush of wind. There! And there! Willing it to come together, I mentally directed it to my hand, and then to my pointer finger. It took a while, but eventually I could feel it building up, gathering there like a miniature storm. I opened my eyes and saw sparks dancing along the length of my finger beneath my skin. I squealed with happiness, and they scattered.
Bleep. After repeating the process, I finally had all the sylph energy more or less concentrated. “Here goes nothing,” I muttered, then reached down, put my finger against the ankle tracker, and willed the sparks to leave.
And then screamed as currents of electricity shot back and forth between my finger and the ankle tracker. I shook all over but couldn’t control my muscles enough to move my finger. Finally it stopped and I collapsed on the ground, my nose assailed by the smell of burned plastic and skin.
I moaned softly, biting my tongue against the pain in my ankle and willing myself not to scream. After what felt like forever I was able to sit up and survey the damage. Angry red marks were already bubbling into blisters around the ankle tracker, which, as far as I could tell from the warped surface and faint smoke still drifting up, was out of commission.
I braced for an alarm, but none went off. Which meant I probably had a few minutes tops before the computer system registered that my ankle tracker was down. I stood up and gasped over the pain screaming through my ankle.
Okay, electricity burns? NOT. FUN.
But I could hurt later. Right now I had to get out and save Lend.
I limped over, then hesitated at the doorway. I didn’t think I could handle another shock, but there was no avoiding it. Taking a deep breath, I pushed my foot across the threshold into the hall.
Nothing.
“Thank you, you crazy sylph,” I whispered, then hobbled hurriedly down the hall away from Uber-vamp’s voice. I had never known this wing existed when I lived here, but Jack had brought me here to visit Vivian. Just after my entire life fell apart and just before he left me in the Faerie Paths to die. So I hadn’t been paying the best attention, but I was pretty sure the door was at the end of this hall.
I paused. Vivian was still here, on the other end of the hall. I had trusted Raquel with her care, but now that Raquel was somehow out of power, I didn’t want to leave Viv alone and asleep. But I didn’t have time to grab her, and even if I did, I didn’t think I could execute what was probably already an impossible escape while carrying her on my back.
I shook my head. I’d come back for her soon. She’d wanted me to get to Lend as fast as I could; she’d understand. I needed to get out of this hall. After that, my only hope was to run into a faerie. I hurried to the end of the Iron Wing and opened the door.
Where I found myself face-to-face with Anne-Whatever Whatever herself.
I pulled my hand back to punch her. “What are you—” she started, when her eyes went wide and she collapsed on the ground, revealing Tasey in the hands of a teen boy with blond curls, blue eyes, dimples, and the most impish smile I’d ever seen.
“Hey-oh, did you miss me?” Jack asked.
HAVOC
Since my hand was already pulled back, I went ahead and punched Jack.
“Bloody—What was that for?” he asked, hand over his nose.
I stepped past the unconscious body of Anne-Whatever Whatever lying on the white tile floor and snatched Tasey from the blond nightmare. “Are you kidding me? The last time I saw you, you left me for dead.”
“Well, yeah, there was that. But I thought rescuing you from IPCA might make up for it a bit.”
“I’m in the middle of rescuing myself,” I snapped.
“And how were you planning on getting past her?” He nudged the prone body with a none-too-gentle foot.
“Improvising.”
“And once you were past her, you were going to get out of here…how?”
“Shut up!” I turned and tried to stomp down the hall, then cringed in pain from my ankle. Okay, no dramatic stomping. I opted for emphatic limping instead, which unfortunately allowed Jack to catch up quite quickly.
“Come on, Ev, listen. I’m sorry, okay? I came back for you that day on the Paths!”
“If you leave someone on the Paths, you can’t ever find them again.”
He scratched his head and looked down at the floor. “Yeah, I kind of figured that out. I really am sorry, though. And I’m glad you’re not dead!”
“Go. Away.” I didn’t have time to deal with him the way I wanted to, which mostly revolved around tasing him into oblivion. Lend came first. If Jack showed up again later, fine, but for now I wasn’t taking any detours.
“I was wrong! I know I was wrong. I was just so mad at you. And, you know, sometimes when I get mad, I do stupid things.”
“You weren’t ‘just mad’ at me!” I snapped. “You manipulated me! You created this whole path of destruction in my life to try and force me into doing what you wanted me to! You’re as bad as IPCA and the paranormals and everyone else! I want nothing to do with you.” I stopped and looked him straight in the eyes. “I mean it, Jack. I never want to see you again.”
Hurt flitted across his cherubic features, then he grinned. “Well, it’s not really up to you.”
I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Transport was my best bet for finding a faerie. I’d have tried running, but I figured it was in my interest not to attract any attention. Plus I honestly didn’t think I could run with the level of pain in my ankle.
Jack continued. “’Cause, umm, there’s another reason I’m here.”
“Shocking. Not simply the goodness of your heart. I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t have found you on my own. None of this was my idea.” He paused, eyeing Tasey warily. “I mean, I’m all for it. Yay rescuing Evie! But I was…well, I guess you could say I was drafted.”
“Drafted?”
“Forcibly.”
“Well, consider yourself undrafted and bug off.” I turned a corner and almost ran smack into…Bud. So not good.
I considered using Tasey, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I remembered all the hours he’d dedicated to training me, even though I was the worst student ever. I still held the Taser ready in my hand, but I had to at least try to talk him out of turning me in. “Bud…please.”
He looked shocked to see me, then frowned. “Remember that knife I made for you? Stupid pink handle?”
“I—Yes. It got lost when I was escaping from here last time. Sorry.” I blushed guiltily, then wondered why I was worried about a silly knife, and why Bud hadn’t sounded an alarm yet.
He sighed in an annoyed way. “Well then, it’s probably best that you’ll never get the companion knife I made right before you left. Pity, too, because it was a particularly nice piece of work.” He held out a small package wrapped in black cloth and I took it, wordless with surprise. “It’s also a pity that I’ve got to get to bed right now and didn’t even notice you in the hall as I hurried by.”
A hint of a smile made his eyes light up and I beamed, tears filling my own. “Thank you.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. In fact, I don’t even know who you are. Or that I’ve seen you. So I suggest you book it.”
He stomped past us and I tucked the wrapped knife into my jeans pocket, vowing to someday pay him back. Not everyone at IPCA was bad.
Where, oh where was Raquel? I needed her. And with this new and definitely not-improved IPCA, I was more than a little worried about her. What if she was in troub
le? What if she needed me?
No time. Raquel could handle herself against IPCA. Lend couldn’t handle himself against the Dark Queen. He came first.
“Where are you going?” Jack asked.
“To Transport. I need a faerie.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I can take you out of here.”
I laughed. “Yeah, sure, I’m gonna take a stroll through the Faerie Paths with you again. Because the last one was so pleasant.” Then again, last time I felt myself straight to Lend…maybe I really could get to the Faerie Realms on my own. If I didn’t find a faerie to take me there soon, I’d try it. I’d try anything.
“I swear, I’ll never do anything like that again. I’m sorry. I don’t know how I can convince you, but I mean it.” He tried to take my hand, but I snatched it away.
He glared. “Okay, fine, you want a faerie?” He grabbed my elbow and tugged me down a side hall.
“Let go!” I said, pulling against him but trying to keep my voice down.
“Ta-da! Faerie!” Jack pointed at Reth, the very definition of beauty, leaning casually against the wall in a cream Victorian suit, the shirt open around his neck revealing perfectly sculpted collarbones, his golden hair just brushing along them.
“Evelyn, love, there you are.”
“I—You—and you?” I looked incredulously from Jack to Reth and back again. “This does not compute on so many levels.”
Jack shrugged, shoving his hands sullenly in his pockets. “Reth found me, told me you were in trouble, so I agreed to help.”
Reth cocked his head, giving Jack a curious look. “I seem to recall offering you the choice between having both your hands removed or pulling Evelyn out of that abominable iron-lined prison.”
Jack didn’t meet my eyes. “Like I said, I agreed to help.”
I snorted. “Noble, as always.”
Reth held out his elbow. “Are we quite ready to go? I, for one, would rather not spend much time here. Tasteless decor, and the lighting doesn’t do your complexion any favors, Evelyn.”
“Oh, for the love, you two are not in charge! And I don’t trust either one of you for a stroll down the hall, much less through the Faerie Paths!”
Reth fixed his eyes on mine. “You have my word that you will come to no harm while in my care.” He waved a hand at Jack. “And you have my word that if he does anything I find even so much as mildly annoying, he’ll never walk again.”
I bit my lip, torn. Reth was the easiest way to get out of here. But if I couldn’t find Raquel, I could at least leave a token of my gratitude for a lovely stay. Both to show IPCA what I thought of their attempt to force me to work for them again and to maybe, just maybe, give myself an advantage in the upcoming confrontation with the Dark Queen.
“I need the IPCA faerie names,” I said.
“Whatever for?”
“None of your business.”
“Impossible,” Jack said. “Trust me. If they were findable, I would have found them. They don’t have records anywhere—computers or paper—that we can get to.”
“Okay then, Reth. Can you get any of the IPCA-bound faeries here fast?”
He frowned. “I will do what I can.” He walked through a faerie door that appeared on the wall, leaving me alone with Jack.
“So,” Jack started.
“Talk again and I’ll tase you,” I answered.
He sighed, then slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He started whistling after a few minutes, but I tapped my finger against Tasey and he shut right up. As far as I could tell in the sealed, windowless, underground nightmare that was the Center, it was probably the middle of the night, since no one was bustling down the corridors. Not that I had issues with tasing anyone besides Bud, but I’d just as soon avoid any confrontations.
For now.
After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a couple more minutes, a faerie door traced its way back onto the wall and Reth walked out, followed by two faeries. Each was as beautiful as the other, perfect, ethereal, obnoxiously serene. They eyed me with cool detachment; either they didn’t know who I was or they didn’t care.
“This is it?” I asked.
“All the faeries that aren’t in use right now.” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them. “And both Unseelie.”
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll take what I can get.” I turned to face them, ignoring the slight brain fog that being around that much faerie glamour always induced. I wasn’t going to stare dazed and slack-jawed at them, tempting as it was. “I have a proposition for you. First, you tell me your true names.”
Faeries were far too beautiful and otherworldly to roll their eyes, but the slight shift in expression they exhibited was probably the equivalent. It made me feel like the lowest creature on the planet, not even worthy of breathing the same air they did. Stupid faeries.
“You waste our time, child,” the faerie on the left said. Her hair was the color and texture of snowy soft goose down and her long, white eyelashes popped against her nut-brown skin. Of course, her glamour dimmed all her real looks, but I could still see them.
“I don’t. You tell me your true names, and I’ll give you three commands. The last of which will be to choose a new name, which will free you from obeying any more commands. Ever.”
That got their attention.
“Do you speak the truth?” asked the other faerie, his eyes so ice blue they actually made me shiver.
“Ask him.” I jerked my thumb toward Reth.
He nodded, reluctant. “You remember my presence here. She freed me.”
Well, when Reth had Lend at knifepoint, yeah. But this was a very different case. And this time I wouldn’t precede the named command with a command to disregard everything IPCA had told them, which meant that they’d still have to abide by all those not-hurting-people rules. I hoped. I wasn’t sure, but I really, really hoped.
“I will do it,” said Goose Down Hair faerie. “Anything is preferable to walking these fools through the Paths for eternity. And to own my name again would be a wondrous thing.”
“Good.” I looked at the other faerie, and he nodded. “Reth,” I said, “take Jack down the hall so he can’t hear their names.” The last time Jack had had a faerie name, he used it to command Fehl to hurt me as much as she could without killing me, hoping I’d drain her. I wasn’t going to risk him overhearing one.
Goose Down Hair faerie stepped up to me and leaned down, her lips nearly brushing my ear as she whispered her name. “Theliantes.”
I smiled. “Theliantes, before going home, cause as much havoc for IPCA as you can without hurting anyone. Theliantes, help me one time when I ask it of you. And, Theliantes, choose a new name.”
She straightened, her white dress spinning around her as she smiled, sharp teeth eager. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then her glamour melted away, revealing her in full faerie glory, positively glowing with power. Reaching out a single finger, she touched my cheek. “Until you need help, then.”
Her laugh sounded like birds on the wing as she threw open a faerie door and disappeared into the wall.
“Your turn,” I said to the Ice Eyed faerie. I had only just finished the three commands when the alarms blared.
RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES
Was that really necessary?” Reth frowned as the faerie disappeared. “You certainly don’t need more Unseelie unbound and after you.”
“Not like the odds aren’t already impossibly stacked against me. And if IPCA can’t function, well, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Jack stood, hands over his ears, as he nodded up at the strobe lights. “That’d be our cue.”
“Fine.” Taking a deep breath, I tucked Tasey into my jeans and held out both my hands, Jack on one side and Reth on the other. “Take me to the Dark Queen.”
A faerie door opened in front of us and I walked through, my hands warmed by the two creatures I swore I’d never go
here with again. My ankle throbbed and stung, and by now I was limping so heavily Jack finally put my arm around his shoulder for support and I leaned almost all my weight on him.
“You know,” he huffed, “for such a skinny girl you weigh a ton. It’s like a miracle of physics or something. Are you perhaps made of lead?”
“Again, this would be an excellent time to shut up, since I now have a Taser and a knife.” Not that I’d be able to reach either one with both hands occupied.
Fortunately, for once I wasn’t nervous about the infinite empty black of the Paths. I was in too much pain and too worried about Lend to care. Well, care much. But I was about to face something much worse than my worst nightmares. Odds were, if I survived and was able to look back, I’d remember the nightmares I had about the Paths fondly in comparison to whatever would happen with the Dark Queen.
After a few minutes Reth spoke. “I hate to disappoint you, but you forget that you cannot force me to do anything, my love.” Before I could protest we had stepped out of the Paths and…into the kitchen at Lend’s house.
“Evie!” Arianna shrieked, almost knocking me over as she threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
“What are you doing here? You should be with David, helping him!”
“I’ve been waiting for Reth and Jack to get back.”
“You knew about their plan?” I asked, looking at the two cretins on either side of me.
“It was all the vampire’s idea,” Reth answered, sounding bored again as he wandered out the back door. “And rest assured we’ve now sealed this area from intrusion by any Unseelie faeries. I will not allow you to be taken again by anyone, regardless of faerie aid.”
As the door closed behind Reth, Jack started to slink off in the direction of the front door. “I wouldn’t,” Reth said, his voice carrying forcefully even through the door.
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