Thomas shook his head. “Fascinating though this subject is, further discussion will have to wait. I can smell the dragon. He’s barbecuing again.”
Roman laughed shakily. “Man! I hope that it’s goblin on the grill and not our family of four.”
Zee sat down wearily and pulled off her shoes. She upended them, emptying out a small river of sand. Nick realized that his shoes—his now mostly destroyed leather-soled loafers—were also filled with grit, and that his feet were blistered.
“Nick?” Zee looked longingly at the stream that had appeared in the cavern. “Do you think . . . ? ”
“Let me taste it first,” he answered, kicking off his shoes.
The water bubbled gaily at his approach, bathing him in soft blue light and beckoning him closer. Once again, he could smell the pleasing scent of berries and fern.
The first touch of the water eased the abraded feeling that had plagued his exposed skin. He dipped his hand fully in the water and brought it to his mouth. Instantly, the tightness in his throat eased. “I think it’s okay,” he called. “Just drink slowly. You don’t want your stomachs to cramp.”
Zee and the children approached and did as Nick had done. The dancing water seemed to affect them in the same way. Zee especially looked eased, and the angry flush faded from her skin. Smiling, they all waded into the blue stream. The water felt magnificent, as no water ever had before. They all knelt down and drank deep, reverent draughts until their bodies could hold no more, and all of their fatigue and pain fell away.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” a male voice said behind them. “I didn’t know that these waters could heal half-lutins.”
“And I didn’t know that dragons wouldn’t eat them,” another added.
Startled, Nick got to his feet, hauling Zee up beside him. They stood in front of the children, shielding them as best they could.
“Hello,” a dark-haired man said, shifting to the side of the cavern’s left most tunnel, the one the dragon had requested they watch. Two more men stepped out after him, each a little darker, a little taller and a little stranger than the one before. “I’m Thomas Marrowbone. Welcome to Cadalach.”
“This is Cadalach?” Nick asked in surprise. Zee understood what he was thinking. As strongholds went, it seemed unimpressive and not exactly defensible. At least, not with the dragon away.
“An outpost, let us say. Certainly it is a cavern friendly to the fey.”
Zee studied the one called Thomas Marrowbone first. He was the one who had summoned the jinn and who the dragon had expected to arrive—which probably meant that he was some sort of magician. He had a certain grave wizardly elegance about him—not his clothing so much, which appeared quite ordinarily human. Perhaps it was his posture and demeanor. He had an erect carriage and grave expression that she associated with the portraits of Victorian gentlemen her father had kept in his study.
The man to his left was another matter. He was a creature of the earth, strongly built, almost animalistic. Zee didn’t know how she came by this knowledge, but she was certain that he was some sort of animal fey. Perhaps . . . part river horse? A pooka?
The last of the three men was very special, very dangerous—perhaps not to them specifically, but to the world as a whole. He wore his magic like a dark cloak and had eyes darker than midnight. The first two men were of the day. The third was of the night. He was unseelie. His gaze raised goose bumps on Zee’s skin, and she found it hard to smile at him.
Executioner. The word popped into her head.
Seeing Zee’s expression, Thomas said, “Forgive my manners. These gentlemen with me are Roman Hautecoeur and Abrial Nightdemon.” He spoke softly, moving slowly into the room. He was careful to keep his posture unthreatening and his expression neutral. Nevertheless, Nick moved to stand in front of Zee and the children.
“I’m Dr. Nicholas Anthony,” he said, stepping forward another pace and reluctantly offering his hand.
Thomas stared at it for a moment, then shook the outstretched limb. Roman also shook, and with somewhat greater enthusiasm and strength. Abrial Nightdemon simply nodded.
Zee felt relief. She had a feeling that Nick touching this fey might not be wise. Nor would it be wise for Zee to touch him, either; he would be able to see the monster that haunted her dreams, and he would be hostile to it and perhaps to her.
“I am Zee Finvarra,” she said finally, when it was clear that Nicholas was being protective and would not introduce her. “The children are my brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel.”
As Nick had, there was some eyebrow-raising. She would have to ask him later to explain why these given names surprised people. Had she inadvertently chosen some notorious humans monikers?
“The pleasure is ours,” Thomas said. “But for now—come, brothers and sisters of the rainbow wherein the ancient magick dwells, enter our lands and welcome,” he invited formally.
Then, abandoning the ritual, he added, “We really should go and save Jack and Cyra a trip down. We wouldn’t normally appear in such strength to welcome you, but we were worried about the goblin trolls. Nasty pieces of work, those.” He paused, as though debating whether to say something else.
The darkest man, Abrial, was still watching them intently, and Zee had the feeling that somehow he knew even without touching her about the hobgoblin at the mall. He didn’t say anything about it, though. Instead he added, “I believe the dragon has that matter under control.”
“But the dragon isn’t back,” Hansel objected. He pushed around Nick and looked up at Thomas. “I’m sure he wants to come with us. He said he would give us a ride!”
Thomas smiled a little. “The dragon may come and visit us later. Indeed, there is very little that dragon will not do if it suits him. But he won’t come by the way we must travel. The tunnels are narrow and he’s . . . too large to fit comfortably.”
“Oh.” Hansel was clearly disappointed. He reached for Nick’s hand and looked up at his new protector with a hopeful expression.
Nick clearly didn’t want to see the dragon again, but he didn’t want to disappoint Hansel either. He had a kind streak that was at least a mile wide and deep. That thought made Zee smile, and she realized that in spite of everything, she was feeling happy and hopeful.
“Don’t worry,” Thomas said kindly. “I’m certain you’ll see the dragon again, and soon. We always see him again. He’s like a bad penny.”
“We should go,” Abrial prompted. His voice was otherworldly. He looked into Nick’s eyes, and his gaze was not as peaceful as his voice. There were small explosions there, miniature holocausts, disasters—destruction. “I’ve told Nyssa to halt her dreamwalk, but she won’t until we return. You know how it is with women.”
Thomas nodded. “I don’t want Cyra leaving the mound, either, and she will if we’re not back soon.” He turned back to his guests. “Okay, folks, there are a couple of things you need to know about faerie roads. One, they’re dark most of the time. Two, they can seem. . . breezy. That’s nothing to worry about. It just means the roads are helping us travel quickly. A walk of five minutes will carry us more than two hundred miles—a handy trick, you must admit. We’ll be fine if we stick together. Children, you need to hold an adult’s hand.”
“Um,” Nick began, “are you certain it’s safe? For us? I’ve heard some stories . . .” Fairy tales he had dismissed as pure fiction after about age seven but was now rethinking.
“Of course it’s safe. None of you are pure-blooded human, are you?”
Zee looked at Nick, feeling a bit shocked.
“You’re part fey?” she asked.
Nick nodded, then made himself answer aloud. “Yes. It seems that I’m part pixie. Surprise!”
He glanced at Thomas, wondering how the man had known he wasn’t pure human. Had he changed somehow in the last twenty-four hours? Had the awakening magic marked him in some manner obvious to other magical beings?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zee asked. Nick couldn�
��t tell if she was merely puzzled or hurt by his omission.
“Because, until a couple of hours ago, I didn’t know.” Nick spread his hands wide. He didn’t want to give details about his ghost in front of strangers, but he didn’t want Zee thinking he was deceitful either. “Look, it’s a little hard to explain. There was this . . . this voice that started speaking to me. It told me I was part pixie—whatever that is. I wanted to say something to you, but it sounded like a crazy thing to bring up out of the blue, so I just—hell, I don’t know. I guess I was hoping that I’d wake up and it would all be a dream. . . .”
Zee blinked and then nodded. She smiled at him, and he felt the same thrill he always did when she was happy.
“I felt it, too—when the mound looked at us. I didn’t hear a voice exactly, but it was like the light could see all the way inside me, and it knew things.” She sounded happy with this explanation, and though Nick felt it was wrong to continue his deception, he didn’t contradict her. “And this is a good thing. It means that you have magic inside you, too.”
Nick wasn’t sure why this fact seemed to delight Zee, but he decided not to mention that he didn’t feel magical, merely haunted.
He looked up and found Thomas watching him. He was willing to bet that the fey guessed there was something slightly off with his story. However, Thomas didn’t say anything.
“Well, if that’s all settled, we can shove off. Right this way, ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages,”
Roman called out, clapping his hands, and his voice took on the cadence of a carnival barker as he stepped back into the tunnel. “Welcome to the amazing, the astonishing, the unforgettable faerie road talked about in ancient fable and song—”
“What song?” Hansel interrupted.
Yeah, what song? Nick echoed as he followed into the black passageway.
Come on, you know this one, Nick . . . ‘You take the high road and I’ll take the low . . .’ the ghost began, just as Roman started singing.
He did know it. Not sure why, Nick found himself joining in. Zee reached out and took his right hand. Hansel clasped his left. Gretel had Zee’s right. Nick felt a bit like they should be skipping.
We’re off to see the wizard—to get a brain. And some courage. And hopefully some answers.
That’s the spirit, the ghost applauded. Much better than just whistling past the graveyard.
Oh, shut up. I am really not happy about all this. How am I ever going to explain you to everyone?
Hey, don’t complain—don’t explain. There’s no way anyone can know for sure that I’m here. Hell, you don’t even know for sure. I might be a hallucination after all. Didn’t you used to believe that?
Ha! Thomas knows about you, Nick half-snarled, and I’m betting that Abrial Nightdemon does, too. I have a feeling that nothing gets past those two. If they’re keeping quiet for now, it’s for a reason.
Hm . . . you may have a point. Still, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. And I am you, and I’m not worried.
I’m sure you’re not, Nick groused. After all, you’re only a ghost. What can they possibly do to you?
You’d be surprised.
Nick noticed Abrial Nightdemon staring at him. It was dark, but he could swear the man smiled.
He hears us—I knew it.
Then shut up already.
Chapter Fourteen
There were more introductions to welcoming strangers when they reached Cadalach proper, and Zee found herself feeling a bit odd as the children happily disappeared with a young woman named Chloe; she herself was left alone with Nick and a room full of fey. The children had not seemed at all surprised by anything they encountered, but nothing was what Zee expected. First, there was Nick being part pixie. She didn’t know what to make of that. Surely it was a good thing, though. . . .
Then there were their hosts. Thomas was not the leader of the fey; that task had fallen to Jack Frost. The fey were not at all what she had been led to believe. They were as beautiful as she had been told— that part was correct and then some—but they also seemed in many ways to be quite human. Just as her father had. In fact, she could see nothing magical about Chloe at all.
Cadalach itself was another matter. Zee could not have envisioned a more wondrous place. She had thought the fey would live somewhere much like a goblin hive, but the shian was nothing like that. Its garden’s astonishing plants were not like anything belonging to any garden she had ever been in—or even imagined. She was willing to bet that these flowers and trees did not have seasons. These gardens were timeless; they had always been and would always be. This place was like what the humans called Eden.
Zee walked through the bower, hardly aware of her companions, dazed by the scents and colors. A part of her, perhaps the fey part, was reaching out to make contact with the life force that she felt moving around her. It was all very wonderful but nearly overwhelming. Sights and scents were all dazzling. There was a series of cascading terraces, each covered in a waterfall of radiant blossoms, flowers of inhumanly beautiful shades and more stunning fragrances. It was all somehow familiar—something she knew—yet not one flower could she identify. It seemed as though she were dreamwalking someplace beyond the human or lutin world.
The garden didn’t end its gifts with what could be taken in with the eyes or inhaled through the nose. There were pleasures of sound as well: a soft phantom birdsong and a faint musical humming that rose from the azure-tinged water of the gentle stream meandering through the cavern always near them, whichever way they walked. There was also an affectionate breeze that moved around Zee, sometimes dusting her hair with a flurry of faded petals more tender than a mother’s caress, or at least they were more tender than Zee’s own mother’s infrequent caresses had ever been. This was a place that spoke coaxingly to the child in Zee who had always felt unwanted, who didn’t belong anywhere. It was a balm to her troubled heart. If she let herself, she knew that she could belong here.
She wanted to say something to Nick about the stunning sensations bathing her senses, but . . . Zee looked about helplessly. Some experiences could not be communicated with words. Or at least, not with the words she had. This felt sacred—an answer to an unknown prayer. Many times after her father was gone, Zee had wanted to pray to the Goddess her father worshipped, but she had not known how.
Another fall of petals caressed her. They said that the Goddess had heard her confused call, and that She understood—and loved. Zee was Hers now; she should let go of worry and let the Goddess guide her.
Zee nearly wept. In the very last place she would have expected, she felt that she had finally found her roots, her homeland. And the gardens knew her, accepted her, loved her. Other than her time with Nick, she had known no peace. Now, in the space of only two days, she had been twice blessed. And she might have to let both sources of happiness go—and soon. It was too much to hope that she would be allowed to stay. Yet, to leave now would be to face exile.
And Nick . . . He had kept his word and brought her to Cadalach, but would everything he saw here drive him away? She couldn’t imagine how strange it must be for him to find out that he wasn’t human.
As though sensing her sudden emotion, Nick reached out and took her hand. He smiled encouragingly.
“I know that you’re tired,” Thomas Marrowbone said softly, stopping by a stone table surrounded by glass chairs. “But we really need to talk about what you know of the hobgoblin, Qasim. We have part of the story already, but he’s a tricky bastard to follow and any help you can give us will make our task easier.”
“Yes, of course.” Zee tried to gather herself. It was difficult, because what she really wanted was to stay lost in the enchantment around her; that was so much better than facing her fears. Thomas smiled at her encouragingly.
“The others will be—”
“The others are here,” announced a silver-haired fey with piercing eyes, appearing suddenly near the table. Zee knew instinctively that this was the leader, Jack F
rost. “Please be seated. We will begin without Nyssa. She is doing another dreamwalk, seeing if she can locate Qasim. Abrial is riding shotgun with her but will join us shortly.”
“Qasim is Zee’s monster?” Nick clarified. “The fake Santa at the mall?”
“Yes. A hobgoblin. The leader of the hobgoblins, and a truly nasty bit of work.” Jack poured something into the goblets at the head of the table, and then passed the cups around. “Drink this. It will help you stay awake for a short time. We will speak briefly, and then you may rest.”
Zee tasted the drink Jack offered. It was a sweet wine that she knew would make her feel heady. She hesitated a moment, then took a deep swallow. She would need help speaking of the creature.
Jack spoke gently to her. “First of all, let me say that you were right to come to us. Qasim knows about you—you can count on it—and you will need help to survive until he is dealt with. Just begin with when you saw him, and don’t worry that we won’t believe you if you can’t be specific. We know that you have knowledge that cannot be grasped by the usual senses. Just give us your impressions.”
Feeling reassured, Zee began her story. But even with the wine and Nick’s hand tucked in hers, she found it difficult. Mentioning Qasim’s name seemed to summon his shadow. But she went on anyway.
“It’s all true,” Jack said several minutes after Zee had finished her story. He had been sitting in silence while the others talked, his head cocked to one side as though listening to someone else. “Qasim’s taken human children and is holding them somewhere near Death Valley. Nyssa is hunting for his lair even as we speak. My main concern at this point is what he means to do with them. Zee, do you have anything else you can tell us which might explain?”
“I . . .” She hesitated. “I don’t have any proof. But I believe he means to sacrifice them. It wouldn’t be enough, just kidnapping, to make the humans go to war. And I think that’s what he wants.”
“Would he do that?” Jack asked Abrial. Nightdemon had slipped into the room a few moments before. “Would he kill hundreds of human children to start a war?”
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