by Elle Adams
“What about the tree?” I asked Argyle.
“Oh, I have a buyer lined up to pick it up later,” she said. “The market staff were very understanding and put me in touch with someone who’s legally licenced to sell goblin fruit.”
“Good,” I said. “And good luck.”
The two of them left the hospital waiting room. As they did so, I spotted movement behind a potted plant. Once again, Old Ava was hiding out of sight eavesdropping on people.
“Hey,” I said to her. “Let me guess… you don’t have permission to leave your room. Again.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to miss any of this,” she said. “Let my granddaughter have company in her interesting choice of romantic partners.”
“They weren’t—” I broke off. “Okay, never mind. Anyway, when you told me to be careful, did you know the hunters were coming here?”
“They always follow the call of the fairies,” she said. “They can’t seem to help it.”
I’d always thought she knew more than she let on about my mother, but it was news to me that she knew anything about the hunters’ relationship with the fairies. Did she know about the Inquisitor, too?
“But the hunters were the ones who punished them,” I said. “The fairies who committed the crimes, I mean.”
“Of course they did,” she said. “I hear fairies are sticklers for justice. Even against their own.”
Justice. If they punished only the guilty, what crimes had my dad been jailed for? Without the Pixie-Glass, I might never know. Unless…
“Have you ever heard of a Pixie-Glass?” I asked.
“A what?”
“Never mind.” She wasn’t the person to ask. But I knew who was.
The following day, my parents left Fairy Falls. I went to see them off, and while they walked happily with me, they didn’t know they were already under the influence of a befuddlement spell which would blur their memories so they’d remember taking a walk with me but not where they’d been or what we’d been doing.
“Lovely place, this,” said Mrs Wilkes, as we walked down the cobbled street towards the lake.
“Scenic,” her husband put in. “I see why you like it so much, Blair.”
“And you’re staying here, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes.” My eyes stung with tears. Once the spell kicked in, they’d forget most of this. It was for the best—after all, the hunters’ arrival and our near-miss drove home how dangerous the magical world was for normals like them—but I hated lying to them. And I hated that it was necessary.
“It was nice seeing you,” Mr Wilkes said to me.
“Thanks, Blair,” said Mrs Wilkes.
They knew something wasn’t quite right, but they trusted me. And in that instant, when they hugged me goodbye as though I was a little kid again, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fool them forever.
I didn’t want to. Someday, I’d find a way to tell them the truth. I promise I will.
On my walk back to town, I felt eyes watching me from somewhere nearby. I halted in the middle of the path and spotted a small figure standing behind me. An elf. Not Thistle, but Bramble.
“Blair Wilkes,” he said. “You caught the troublemakers who were bewitching humans.”
“I did,” I said. “The hunters didn’t bother you, did they?”
“Our home is too well-hidden for them to find,” he said. “The king would speak to you, if you are willing.”
“All right.” I’d take the elves over the hunters anytime.
We made our way to the forest in silence. Once we reached the elves’ territory, I walked after Bramble into the tunnel and into the elf king’s domain. As I knelt before him, I realised I’d forgotten to switch out of human mode. To my surprise, however, he didn’t comment.
“You found the perpetrator, then,” he said.
“I did,” I confirmed. “The hunters have left town, and the market will soon follow.”
“The hunters should not have come here.”
“I think they always planned to.” Silence fell between us. I assumed he wanted me to speak, so I added, “But they’ve left, and they’ve taken the fairies with them. Did you ever suspect that some of the fairies might want revenge on the witches for taking away their territory? Even to the extent that they’d want the hunters to come into Fairy Falls to drive away the witches?”
This was my home, Dill had said. He believed the witches had driven the fairies off… and now he was in jail, I could only guess at how much truth was in his words. If the hunters were run by fairies, it explained why he’d trust them over the witches.
“No,” said the king. “Yet it does not surprise me that some would act against their own interests.”
“I mean, some of them work for the hunters.” Including their leader… but I was starting to suspect few people were aware of that fact, even among the hunters.
“Not your father.”
My heart contracted. “Is that why they had him arrested? Or was it because of my mother?”
“I know nothing of the circumstances of your father’s arrest, Blair.”
True. I heaved a sigh. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea which of the fairies are friends or foes these days. Are any of them on my side?”
Even Buck wasn’t, though that was more my fault than anything. He hadn’t known the backstory on my father and the Inquisitor. But maybe he’d change his mind if I had the chance to explain myself to him.
“That, I cannot say,” said the elf king. “Perhaps your father might be able to tell you.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not happening.” A bitter taste filled my mouth. “I didn’t find the Pixie-Glass. There wasn’t one. Not where I could find it, anyway.”
A moment of silence passed. He didn’t answer, but he kept watching me as though he wanted me to say something. Was I supposed to condemn the idea of Thistle dating a human? Or had he got over his prejudices in that regard?
“It might interest you to know that I have been informed of where you might obtain a Pixie-Glass,” said the elf king. “I had a visitor earlier who was rather distressed, and who told me of your plight.”
“Who?” I straightened upright, forgetting about the low ceiling, and hit my head on the earthen surface. Ow. “You know where I can get one? Where?”
“Be patient, Blair Wilkes.” He and Bramble exchanged glances. “According to our messenger, it is in the hands of someone for whom you have no liking.”
“Someone I don’t like… Blythe?” I rubbed my forehead. “Yeah, I know. The pixie took me to her house, but it wasn’t there.”
“It was he who told me the where Pixie-Glass resides,” said the elf king. “At the home of the hunter in charge of the region.”
“You mean… you can’t mean Nathan’s family.”
“Yes, Blair.”
No way. Nathan’s family had a Pixie-Glass? “I can’t ask my boyfriend to rob his family.”
“Given the right incentive, they might give it to him willingly.”
I shook my head. “I seriously doubt it.”
My mind reeled. Nathan’s family has a Pixie-Glass. Not Blythe’s mother, and not the Inquisitor. Nathan’s dad and brothers weren’t my biggest fans and it wouldn’t endear me to them if I dragged them into my scheme to contact my father, but for my family’s sake, I had to find a way to get hold of that Pixie-Glass.
Nathan waited for me on the path leading out of the woods, accompanied by Erin—and Buck.
“Hey,” said Nathan, taking my hand. “Did it go well?”
“As well as I might have expected, considering how many times I messed up,” I said. “At least he didn’t order me to look after Thistle.”
That role had gone to Argyle Winthrop. Still, maybe they could help each other. Stranger things had happened.
“So we found our culprit,” said Erin. “Or rather, culprits. I like how the whole town comes together in a crisis.”
“Yeah, I guess we do.” I smiled.
“Sorry about running off,” said Buck. “What you said… it was a lot to wrap my head around, and I panicked.”
“So did I,” I said. “I shouldn’t have sprung it on you out of nowhere.”
I’d wanted to know at least one fairy was on my side, though if recent events had proven anything, it was that the fairies weren’t a united front, to say the least.
“No worries,” Buck said. “Like I said—we’re cool. I won’t sell you out to the hunters. Just to make that clear.”
True.
At times like this, I was more grateful for my lie-sensing power than ever.
“Same here,” added Erin. “We’re with you, Blair. We won’t let the hunters lay a finger on you.”
I looked between her and Buck. “I have something to tell you, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that if you tell anyone else, it’ll put more than our lives in danger.”
“Whoa,” said Erin. “That sounds pretty serious, but sure, I’m in.”
“And me,” added Buck.
“Your boss is a fairy,” I told her. “Former boss, I mean. And I think he got my family arrested and killed.”
Erin and Buck listened, open-mouthed, as I explained what I’d concluded from my conversations with my dad, my mum’s ghost, and the various hunters I’d run into. And Blythe, too. She wouldn’t be thrilled at me mentioning her name, but given her mother’s involvement with the hunters, she had to have known it’d come out eventually.
“The Inquisitor?” Erin shuddered. “I always thought there was something weird about him. Inhuman. But…”
“He’s wearing a powerful glamour,” I explained. “I don’t know what his endgame is, but he got my dad arrested and my mum killed, and there’s way too much evidence that he did it on purpose for me to believe my dad was the one in the wrong. Even those three fairies who attacked me yesterday wanted me driven out of town because they thought my dad betrayed the fairies for the witches. Because of my mother.”
Buck watched me for a moment. “I can’t deny there’s something weird about the Inquisitor, but I don’t know anything about your dad. I didn’t even know he was a fairy. I never worked in the jail.”
“So that fairy who attacked you was working with our old boss?” asked Erin.
“No, that’s the weird part,” I admitted. “Last I saw, the Inquisitor wanted to recruit me to work for the hunters. I don’t know if he changed his mind or if Dill and the others were acting alone, but I feel like if the Inquisitor wanted to try to hire me again, he’d come back here himself.”
Erin shook her head. “Wow, Blair. Okay, that’s way too weird for you to have made it all up. Not that I think you did.”
“Nah, even I couldn’t come up with anything that outlandish,” I said. “Anyway, you don’t have to commit to anything. I just wanted someone else to know, aside from me and Nathan.”
“We’re on your team.” Erin nudged Buck. “Right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I won’t tell a soul.”
True. Nathan took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m glad you told them.”
“I wasn’t sure,” I murmured. “It feels like I’m setting others up to take the fall if the Inquisitor finds out I know what he is.”
He shook his head. “He had to know you’d eventually guess.”
“Hmm.” I fell into step alongside him as we made our way back towards his house. “I guess so, but it’s weird that he tried to recruit me before I knew. Maybe he thought I’d be more useful to him if I was ignorant of what he really was.”
And I wasn’t, not anymore. I might have endless gaps in my knowledge of all things fairy, but my eyes were wide open. I could thank the market for that, at least.
“Blair?” Nathan squeezed my hand again. “You haven’t told me how it went with the elves.”
“Oh.” Of course I hadn’t. “So, it turns out there is a Pixie-Glass. The elves asked around and they learned there’s one at the local hunters’ branch.”
“The branch led by my family.” Nathan gave a nod of understanding. “You want me to ask my dad if I can borrow it?”
“Would he say yes?”
He shook his head. “I doubt it. He’s not best pleased with me at the moment. Nor at Erin. But I’ll figure out a way. If you really need this Pixie-Glass… I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t realise it’s for you. I won’t put you in danger unnecessarily.”
“I know.”
But he’d do his best for me. I had no doubts about that. I wasn’t alone.
As we neared his house, Sky sat outside the door, waiting for us. I knelt down and gave him a stroke, then turned back to Nathan. “Am I losing my grip, or do you think we have a chance in hell of pulling this off? Of saving my dad and exposing the truth?”
“Only if I am, too.” He brushed a kiss to my forehead. “I think we can do this.”
“Miaow,” Sky said in agreement.
The following day, I went back to my magic lessons. After my successful use of the defensive spell against the fairies, I had enough of a boost in confidence to perform better than I had last time, and both Rebecca and I left the lesson in good spirits.
I’d planned to ask her about her sister, but when we left the classroom, we found Blythe herself standing outside.
Blythe gave me a nod. “Blair.”
“Hey,” I said. “I guess you figured out what happened at the house.”
“It was obvious you were involved, Blair,” she said. “I don’t care. You can steal everything she owns if you want to.”
“I stole a picture of my mum,” I admitted. “I take it she didn’t want to keep it?”
She blinked. “I didn’t even know she had one. I haven’t dared touch her stuff in case it’s booby-trapped.”
“It probably is,” I said. “I don’t know what tripped the alarm. I was looking for a Pixie-Glass, and the other two people who broke in were looking for the same thing.”
“To speak to your dad,” she said. “In jail.”
“How did you—”
“My mother had the same idea,” she said. “She took it with her, in fact.”
“She took the Pixie-Glass?” My last hope evaporated into dust. “So it’s not at your house. It never was.”
“What did you think?” she said. “She wouldn’t leave anything that valuable behind, even with her house spelled.”
“Who’s she using the Pixie-Glass to contact?” I said. “Is she even allowed to have something like that in jail?”
“Don’t ask me.” She shrugged. “I just figured you’d want to know.”
Not a reassuring piece of news. It was bad enough that she and the Inquisitor were in the same place, even if one of them was behind bars. “So there isn’t another way to get a Pixie-Glass?”
“No,” she said. “Sorry.”
Blythe had apologised to me. The world really was ending. I still held hope that Nathan would be able to get hold of the one his family had, but I decided not to mention it aloud in case I jinxed it somehow.
“Your mum told you my family was involved with the hunters,” I said. “Didn’t she? She told you they were criminals and that my dad was a fairy.”
“Among other things,” she said. “She never liked your mother. But she didn’t say much about your dad or why they jailed him. I tried to find out more, but the hunters keep that information under wraps.”
“I didn’t know you tried to learn more.”
“Sure,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s my history, too. Anyway, I’ll see you around.”
Before I could formulate a coherent response, she walked away, through the doors and out of the building.
Since when was Blythe remotely interested in why my dad had been arrested? Did she think he’d been arrested unjustly, too? I didn’t think Blythe of all people would risk her neck on my behalf, but apparently, she had no intention of offering me an explanation. Not yet, anyway.
A chittering noise drew my attention to the corner of the l
obby. The pixie crouched at the foot of the stairs, and one of his wings was bent sideways.
“Hey.” I hurried over to him. “Are you okay?”
Had the police caught him in Blythe’s house? Wait—no, the elves had spoken to him in the forest afterwards. He was the one who’d told them the Pixie-Glass was with Nathan’s family. Nathan’s dad hadn’t hurt him, had he?
I knelt down at his side, seeing that he clutched a letter in his hands. My heart skipped a beat as I gently tugged it from his hands.
Then I saw the words on the paper, and my blood iced over.
Blair Wilkes. I heard about your involvement in current events. Have you rethought your decision to turn down my offer of employment?
The Inquisitor.
He’d sent me a message. He still wanted to recruit me.
“Blair?” said a voice from behind me. “What is that?”
I rose to my feet, my heart lurching in my chest. “Madame Grey.”
The leading witch approached me, one eye on the pixie, the other on the note in my hand. Busted.
“Is that pixie with you?” she enquired.
“No, but he’s hurt, and it’s my fault.” My thoughts were spinning in circles. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. The Inquisitor still wants me to join the hunters. And he knows… he knows I’m a fairy because he is one.” The words came out in a rush. “Did you know?”
She shook her head. “No, but this answers a lot of questions I’ve had ever since his visit. Let me see this message of his.”
I showed her the note, and she leaned over to read it, her glasses perched on the end of her nose.
I swallowed hard. “I think he hurt the pixie to get at me. But I never—I mean, I turned down his offer the last time he tried to recruit me. I didn’t know he was a fairy at the time, but now… he knows I know. He’ll come here.”
“I see,” said Madame Grey.
“And?” My body tensed. This was it. The threat to Fairy Falls was too much, and now she was going to tell me to leave.
“If she wants to make an open challenge to us, then let him come,” she said. “Let them come.”
