Enchanted Ivy

by Sarah Beth Durst

  The security guard waved them both through.

  "This happens a lot?" she asked, craning her neck to see more.

  "Usually, Feeders stay as far from Princeton as possible, especially during Reunions when so many knights are in one place."

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  "You mentioned a new leader?"

  "You shouldn't worry about it. My grandfather has made it his personal mission to hunt down this leader," Jake said. "And he does not accept failure. The new leader is as good as dead, especially if he's dared to come here."

  "Oh," she said. She thought of the goblin and wondered what Tye would have said.

  After they wove among all the police cars, Lily had her first good look at the dorm. The sprawling white building looked more like a country club than a battle site. Jake pulled her around the side of the building. "We've engaged the enemy behind the dorm on the golf course," he said.

  "There's a golf course?"

  He held up a hand to silence her. He poked his head around the corner and then beckoned her forward. She joined him. Cheerfully, he said, "Oh, yes, Forbes used to be a hotel. That's why it's used to house the oldest alumni during Reunions. Many of the rooms have private bathrooms."

  "Um, nice," she said. She wasn't sure this was the appropriate time or place to discuss bathrooms.

  Crouching, she followed him across a lawn toward a grove of trees. When they reached the first one, Jake drew his knife. It glittered even in the shadows. "Dorms are assigned at random," Jake said, "though the knights may step in to ensure you have a roommate who is also privy to the true purpose of Princeton."

  "What exactly is the true purpose of Princeton?" she asked.

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  "Educating future leaders of the world," Jake said. "Also, protecting the world from ... them." He pointed toward the golf course.

  At first, all Lily saw was a picture-perfect sunset. The sky was stained rose red, and the clouds had deepened to dark ocean blue. Below, the golf course was blackened with dusk. But then she saw in the center, shadows circled and dodged one another in an elaborate dance. Lily picked out silhouettes: a man, a woman, a figure with angel-like wings, another with writhing tentacles, a lion with a woman's head ... One dark shape even looked like a unicorn. Shadows blurred together and broke apart. She couldn't see faces.

  "Stay here," Jake ordered. "Hide in these trees." Knife in hand, he crept across the lawn and jumped over a fence. He disappeared. She guessed that the hill sloped down to the golf course.

  Following Jake's order, Lily stepped farther into the patch of trees. Leaves caressed her arms, and branches ran through her hair. Her bones vibrated with the hum of their tuneless music. She peered out between tree trunks at the golf course and tried to make sense of the dancing shadows. She didn't see Jake yet. Or Grandpa.

  All of a sudden, the hum spiked into a shriek. She clapped her hands over her ears. "Stop it!" she hissed at the trees.

  A nine-foot man with gray skin leaped over the fence. Lily screamed as he rushed toward her. The trees shrieked in concert with her. Jake vaulted over the fence after him,

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  launching himself at the monster's back with his knife in his fist. As his feet crashed into the monster's shoulder blades, he swung at its neck. The monster toppled forward, and Jake's blade flashed in an impossibly fast blur.

  The monster lay still only a foot from the grove of trees. Green oozed from its neck.

  Flattened against a tree trunk, Lily stared. Her heart hammered so loudly that it drowned out the hum. The monster's eyes were open and sightless. It had all happened in less than thirty seconds.

  "Sorry," Jake said. "I accidentally chased it toward you."

  She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. "What is it?"

  "Troll," he said. "You should be fine here now."

  "Uh-huh," she said. Green blood soaked into the pine needles.

  "Really," he said. "Just stay hidden."

  "Uh-huh," she said.

  "And try not to scream next time. You could lure more monsters."

  Jake wiped his knife on the grass to clean off the green blood. Watching him, Lily asked, "How did you move so fast?" His knife arm had struck so quickly that she'd barely seen it. Even Olympic athletes didn't move that fast.

  Ignoring her questions, Jake lifted the troll's wrist and checked its pulse. He grimaced. "Grandfather won't be happy that it was a kill instead of a capture. You saw it was unavoidable, didn't you?"

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  She nodded vigorously. "He wasn't coming to hug me."

  Jake gave her a thousand-watt smile and then raced off to leap back over the fence. Alone again, Lily wished she had a big sparkly knife like Jake had. Not that she knew how to use one. As Jake had pointed out before, she wasn't trained. At Grandpa's insistence, she'd taken half a year of tae kwon do, but all that meant was that she knew how to break a board with her foot and could do fifty jumping jacks in rapid succession--she wasn't exactly "battle ready." She'd agreed to the class only because she'd wanted more extracurriculars on her college application. If he'd told her she'd need to worry about monsters ... if he'd told her anything ...

  With one more look at the dead troll, Lily scooted deeper into the patch of trees. As if comforting her, the branches curled around her shoulders. She wished she'd thought to order the trees to help her. Maybe killing could have been avoided if she'd done something other than scream; for example, she could have had the branches hold the troll and then offered to help him like Tye had helped the goblin. If she'd been smarter, he might not have had to die.

  On the darkening golf course, Lily saw blades spin as fast as jet plane propellers. If each blade was a knight ... she counted thirty knights and six nonhumans. But she couldn't be sure. She wondered how many had already fallen, and she tried to scan the ground. But with the low light, it was impossible to distinguish shadows from bodies. From here, everything looked like a body and everyone looked like a monster.

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  She wished she could tell which shadow was Grandpa's. She couldn't imagine he was one of the swirling-dervish knights, but she refused to consider that he could be one of the shadows on the ground. He shouldn't be out there fighting monsters, she thought. He was an old man. He ran a flower shop. She wished there were some way she could help!

  Her eyes were drawn to the dead troll. If she could catch the Feeders' attention for long enough to explain, she could offer them a way out--a way home. Everyone could put down his or her swords or knives or fangs, and no one else would be hurt.

  She could be the key to ending this. Literally.

  Skirting the fallen troll, Lily tiptoed out of the trees. She crept along the fence until she reached a knee-high stone wall, bordering the backyard of Forbes. It was the perfect podium.

  Lily climbed onto the stone wall. Down on the golf course, the Feeders and Old Boys had drawn closer to Forbes. Before she could lose her nerve, she sucked in air and then shouted as loudly as she could, "Stop! You don't have to fight anymore! I'm a Key! I can take you home!"

  Below her, from the base of the hill, she heard growls.

  She looked down.

  "Oh, crap," she said.

  At least twenty goblins, trolls, werewolves, and fairies crouched in the shadows directly below her. And they did not look friendly.

  "Lily!" She heard Grandpa yell. "Run!" Whirling and

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  slicing, he raced toward the hill, but the Feeders were between her and the knights.

  She forced herself to stand her ground. They won't hurt me, she told herself. Tye had said that deep down they didn't want to kill. "I can help you!" Lily called to the Feeders. "You can go home! You can break free!"

  A werewolf with red eyes stalked up the hill. "I am free, little Key." His fangs mangled his voice into a cross between words and a growl. "And your strength will help me stay free." He sprang toward her.

  Jumping off the stone wall, she ran.

  Behind her, she heard the Feeders charging up t
he hill and scrambling over the stone wall. She plunged into the grove of trees. "Help!" she cried. "Stop them!" She slapped the trunks. The branches knit around her like a barricade.

  The wolf launched himself at the branches. They bent and strained under his weight. Lily dropped to her knees and plunged her hands into the underbrush. "Grow!" she shouted at the bushes. In response, the bushes swelled. "Slow them!" she commanded.

  As other Feeders crashed into her woods, the underbrush writhed around their legs. Closest to her, the wolf snapped his jaws, breaking branches. Another gray-skinned troll sliced through the shrubs with a sword. A unicorn stabbed at the branches with a horn dark with blood. Lily retreated deeper into the grove. Sweat covered her forehead and dripped down her shirt. Her heart hammered in her chest. She backed up

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  until she smacked against the fence on the other side of the trees. Saplings tried to close around her.

  Suddenly, Grandpa was on the lawn.

  Silver sword in one hand, knife in the other, he flew through the air. He spun among the Feeders, kicking and lunging so fast that he blurred like a film in fast-forward. The Feeders turned to face him and Grandpa whirled, his blades flashing in the dying sunlight.

  "Help him!" Lily cried to the trees. Magic poured out of her and into the trees like blood flowing from a wound. She felt dizzy, as if the oxygen had thinned. Her legs buckled. Lily fell to her knees.

  Around her, the trees surged forward. She heard the rip of roots as they strained against the ground. Through the branches, she saw the other knights join Grandpa. Jake tossed aside a svelte fairy as Grandpa charged at the wolf who had first chased Lily. Another knight slammed into the unicorn, and yet another leaped onto the second troll.

  A faceless man stretched out his fingers. Fire burst into balls of red and orange on his fingertips.

  "Grandpa!" Lily yelled.

  Grandpa dove and rolled as the fireballs shot through the air.

  The flames slammed into the trees, and Lily heard screams. The sound felt like fingernails against the marrow of her bones. She collapsed into a ball as the trees' screams echoed and bounced inside her, drowning out all other sounds. Flames licked up the branches.

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  Through the red orange glare, she saw the Feeder shoot fire at her grandfather again. This time, a fireball grazed Grandpa's arm, and his sleeve burst into flame.

  Lily tried to scream again, but her voice was a croak. She tasted smoke, and she tried to crawl from the trees. Her muscles quivered and gave way. Through the screen of leaves, she saw Grandpa drop to the ground. She had to help him! Lily thrust her fingers into the roots of the underbrush. "Smother the fire," she whispered. She saw leaves curl toward the flickers of flame. She saw the unicorn's horn slice down toward Grandpa. ...

  And then she blacked out.

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  CHAPTER Ten

  Lily woke to her mother's singing. She blinked her eyes open as Mom planted a kiss on her forehead and sang, "Good morning, sleepyhead!"

  "Morning," Lily mumbled. What a bizarre dream, she thought. She rolled onto her back and stretched. Above her, the ceiling was decorated with intricate swirls of vines and leaves and flowers.

  She sat up quickly and faced the drawing of the Chained Dragon by the window, precise and elegant on the cratered plaster wall. It hadn't been a dream. She looked down at her hand. Someone had unbandaged it. The dragon bites were uneven bumps, closer to cat bites than the gashes they'd been just yesterday.

  Yesterday.

  An image flashed through her mind: Grandpa, falling

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  on the grass, flames licking his arm, a unicorn's horn about to stab ... "Where's Grandpa?" she asked. She tried not to sound panicked.

  "Grandpa's friend, that Mr. Mayweather or something, called to say they'd be breakfasting at his club," Mom said. She smiled brightly as she added, "We're to scavenge for ourselves. Like squirrels!"

  Grandpa was alive. Oh, thank God! She felt her ribs release, and she could breathe again. Lily clasped her hands together so Mom wouldn't see they were shaking. If Mom had any idea what had happened last night ... "You dyed your hair," Lily said. Mom's hair was neon orange.

  "Like it?" Mom said, touching a few strands.

  Lily peered closer. Mom's scalp was bright orange, and she had a streak of orange on her forehead. "That's not hair dye."

  "Spray paint," Mom said.

  Lily flopped back down on the bed. A spring poked into her back. "Ow." She wondered if hair-color obsession was Mom's own quirk or a dryad trait. She wondered how much of Mom's personality was her own and how much was due to her tree-ish-ness. She wondered how angry Grandpa was that Lily hadn't stayed hidden last night.

  "I knew you wouldn't like it. Bought you a bribe to win your forgiveness." Mom yanked a shirt out of a bag and tossed it to Lily.

  Lily caught it, sat up, and spread it out on her lap. It had

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  an orange P and a tiger. She touched the tiger and thought of Tye. She hadn't realized how brave he was to try to bring Feeders home. They didn't want to break their addiction. "Thanks," she said belatedly. "Wait, you went shopping on your own?"

  Mom patted Lily's shoulder. "You're such a worrier. I was fine."

  Only because she'd been lucky. If she'd run into a Feeder ... For an instant, Lily considered telling her mother the truth right then, without waiting for Grandpa. You're not human, she could say. You're from an alternate world. Oh, and about the monsters from your nightmares? Yeah, they exist. Mom would force-feed her medicine if Lily said any of that. "Did Mr. Mayfair say anything else when he called?" Lily asked.

  "He certainly did," Mom said.

  Lily felt her heart skip a beat. "What did he tell you?"

  Mom threw her arms around Lily. "I am so proud of you, I could burst! Princeton girl! I'm sorry that I put pressure on you. But I knew you wouldn't fail. You never fail at anything."

  Oh. That. "It's not official yet," Lily said. "It doesn't count until the letter is in my hand. Besides, I might still apply to schools near Philly."

  "Absolutely not!" Mom gripped Lily's shoulders. "Now, you listen to me. I am not letting you sacrifice your future to take care of me. This place is your dream!"

  Her dream had a few hidden nightmares in it. But Mom was right. Until the Old Boys changed their minds, she was

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  a Princeton prefrosh. She'd wanted this forever. She should remember to be happy about it.

  Mom handed her a Ziploc full of toiletries. "We'll buy you one of those bathroom caddies. And flip-flops. College girls shower in flip-flops. I'm not sure why."

  "Remember the time we both refused to clean the apartment and waited to see who would break first?" Lily asked.

  Mom grinned. "We wrote poems in the dust and grime."

  "Bad poems."

  "Some almost rhymed."

  Lily said, "I'm guessing dorm showers are about that clean."

  Mom wrinkled her nose. "We'll buy you flip-flops and Lysol."

  At this rate, Mom would have her packed for college before Lily had finished junior year. "I'll be right back," Lily promised. And then she'd decide when and how to tell Mom the truth. Lily kissed her mother's cheek, fetched her towel, and headed down the hall to the bathroom. She didn't know how Grandpa had lived with such an enormous lie. It wasn't a love-the-new-hair-color kind of lie; it was a lie to top all lies.

  Lily showered quickly and then tiptoed over the gritty and crusty hall carpet back to the dorm room. Still not sure what to say to Mom, she opened the door anyway. "Mom, did Grandpa ever ..."

  Mom wasn't there.

  Lily froze, imagining goblins and trolls and faceless men

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  with fire at their fingertips. She noticed the window was open, but she couldn't remember if it had been open before. Mom did like fresh air, possibly a dryad thing. Lily crossed to the window and looked down at the 50th Reunion tent below. She lacked X-ray vision to see through t
he tent roof. Spinning back toward the room, she scanned for a clue or a note or anything.

  She spotted a piece of paper taped to the ceiling. Her shoulders relaxed, and she grinned. Dryad or human, Mom was still Mom. Craning her neck, Lily read, Gone to forage breakfast. Mom had drawn a sketch of a squirrel with a pile of nuts.

  Lily dressed quickly and wished she'd thought of a way to warn Mom about Feeders. She shouldn't be wandering around campus by herself. Lily tried Mom's cell phone. Voice mail. Standing on a chair, she added to her mom's note: Gone to find you. Call me! She headed out the door.

  Chances were that the Feeders weren't a danger anymore. Someone had returned Lily to her bed and Mr. Mayfair had called Mom, so the battle had to be over and the Feeders taken care of. But still, this was Mom. Lily wasn't about to take any risks with her.

  Across the courtyard, Lily spotted a table stocked with bagels and croissants--if Mom had wanted breakfast, she could have foraged there, but the volunteers at the table didn't recognize Mom's description. Chomping on a bagel, Lily tried the registration desk.

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  The same perfect-teeth elderly woman beamed at Lily as she approached. "Richard Carter's granddaughter, yes?" she asked.

  "Um, yes," Lily said. She hadn't expected to be remembered. "I'm looking for my mother. She was wearing a Princeton shirt and has neon-bright orange hair. Did you see her leave the tent?"

  "Oh, yes, she passed by here with Joseph Mayfair a few minutes ago," the woman said. "So lovely that your families stayed close after the tragedy."