“What?” Devyn asks.
I let go of Issie and cross my arms over my chest. “To keep trying to get Nick back.”
“If there’s a chance that we can, I think we have a moral obligation to rescue him, not just because he’s our friend and not even because he’ll help us deal with the pixies, but because he is a person. How can we not try to rescue a person?” Devyn asks honestly. “You’re the one who fights for people all around the world. Would you call off a rescue mission for a tortured monk because military personnel might die?”
“No,” I say honestly. “But they chose the risk. They know they might die.”
“And so do we,” Issie says. Her eyes are big and scared but solid tough.
“If you’re selfish, then we all are,” Devyn says, standing up straight. “Okay?”
When I nod, he reaches out and grabs my hand, shaking it the way he used to shake Nick’s, some kind of guy bonding thing. He smiles and says, “Let’s go.”
Dude, sometimes I
Dude, sometimes I think my whole town is a horror movie set. I heard screams in the woods. #Bedford, less than 5 seconds ago
We say good-bye to Issie’s mom and make up an excuse about going to a study session at the high school, which is allowable under the grounding rules, especially since we’re traveling as a group. We grab some cookies and steak knives to go. Once we’re out the door there’s no time for talking. Danger waits in the trees; I can smell it. I push Devyn and Issie ahead of me and whip out a knife, ready to strike, trying to provide them cover if any bad pixies attack.
“Issie,” something whispers from the woods. “Come to me.”
“Ignore it. It’s not the king.”
The whisper comes again. “Issie.”
“Leave my girlfriend alone!” Devyn yells, stiffening up as tall as he can. His hands are fists. It’s really sweet, actually, but I am in charge here now.
“Get in the car, guys,” I order.
“I think being a pixie brings out a previously suppressed controlling aspect of your personality,” Devyn mutters as he crawls into the back of the car.
We head to our prearranged meeting place, the Brown House, which is this old brick Georgian manor built by some log magnate guy back in the early 1800s. It’s up on this great sledding hill. There’s a museum inside and a trail for running behind it. A couple other cars are here, including Astley’s. Relief and nervous excitement flood through me.
Issie parks in the little rectangular dirt parking lot behind a big barn that used to hold horses. The paint peels from the sides.
She’s shaking still. “You can’t die, Zara.”
“I won’t.”
She keeps nodding. Her fingers squeeze mine. “Zare. It’s just- First Nick, then Mrs. Nix, and you all pixified and Betty missing. It’s all so much to handle. I’m just human, remember?”
“Adorably human,” I correct her. “Strongly and smartly human.”
We let go of each other’s hands. I open the door just as Astley strides over to us. Glitter sparkles in the snow.
Devyn flies out of the car. He perches on the roof and gives an angry eagle screech. “Devyn, be good,” I order.
“Take this sword,” Astley says to me, sounding terribly formal and regal. He fastens it on my belt with the giant peace buckle, which just seems wildly inappropriate. “The ceremony will be in the woods.”
He starts walking on the snow that’s been trampled down by cross-country skiers and dogs and runners like me.
Issie doesn’t follow. “Is it safe?” she asks me. “Are there bad pixies here?”
“Not at the moment,” Astley answers. “We will protect you with our lives, Issie. I promise you.”
Issie looks up at me out of the corner of her eyes and grabs my hand again. Just then Cassidy’s car comes screaming into the parking lot. She flings herself out of it and runs to us. Vaulting into Issie and me, she wraps us both in a hug.
“I’m so scared,” she says. “Are you scared? Don’t answer that.”
We walk together following Astley, with Devyn swooping above. We follow him into the woods. The knots in the tree trunks look like wide, stunned eyes blackened with pain. Boulders hunch on the side of the trail, waiting for whatever will happen.
“There is only one way to cross from the realm of man to the realm of the gods. This is called BiForst. It is a bridge made of a rainbow. It is not a pixie,” Astley tells us. “We’ll be opening it up here during the ceremony. It is hard magic. According to the council, only kings and queens can do it, and only rarely.”
“Like your mother,” I prompt.
“Yes. She came for her brother, the council said.”
“She has a brother?”
“I never knew, but yes. She has a brother. A pixie named Frank. He has other names, but that is the one he currently uses.”
We stop walking. Astley’s eyes move back and forth, surveying the land as he hustles back to us and takes my other hand. “I know. It is a lot to comprehend. I swear to you I did not know before now. It kills me that he is my uncle, that my mother-that she did all this to you, to us, that they are aligned somehow.”
I swallow hard and squeeze his hand. It’s so different from Issie’s, broad and solid. “It doesn’t matter now.”
All five of us seem more connected than ever. Issie says, “You can’t blame yourself for your relatives. We’d all hate Zara if you could, but we love her. It’s okay, Astley. Zara trusts you. Cassidy trusts you. And I trust you. You’re one of us now.”
For a moment Astley seems like he might break. His lip wobbles a little and when he speaks his voice is a humble whisper. “Thank you for that, Issie. You really are outstanding.”
She smiles and lightens the mood, tugging us along. “Come on. Tell us what else you learned.”
“No matter what, do not step on the red. It’s fire, an insanely hot fire,” Astley commands. He drops my hand and starts long power-striding across the snow again. “And just follow my lead during the ceremony. All of you.”
Cass leans in. “I like him, but he’s even bossier than Nick.”
“I know!” I whisper back. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
He calls over his shoulder, amusement in his voice, “I can hear you.”
Devyn squawks unhappily as we step into a patch of woods surrounded by giant hemlock trees. There are seven other people there. All wear long brown robes with hoods that cover their faces. The sky seems low, heavy, weighed down with snow, touching the tops of the trees. The people stand motionless as we come toward them. I grip Issie’s hand fiercely, like I can somehow hold on enough to keep them safe, to make this all go right.
“They look like monks,” Issie whispers. “The robes are so brown and I can’t see anyone’s face.”
“Stand here.” Astley points to a spot in the middle of the trees. “Issie, please stand near the back with the others.”
Issie squeezes my hand. It is one of the hardest things I’ll ever do, but I manage to let go of her fingers, and she moves to a position where she makes a circle with the robed people. One of them hands Issie a robe, and when she moves, I can see that it’s Becca. Her face glows brightly. The one on the other side of Issie nods as she and Cass put on the robes. He is tall, slim. His ears are slightly pointed, but he looks human. He must be some sort of fae too.
At the perimeter of the woods are my pixies. They step into the light so I can see them. They are tall and short, strong every one. They bow as I glance at them. I want to promise them that we will make it through this and be stronger for it.
“Zara, I need you in the center,” Astley reminds me.
I look back over my shoulder at Issie. She’s shivering and her eyes are wide open, which is how she looks when she’s scared. Devyn perches on a tree branch just above her head. He’s a big bird, but he looks so small, dwarfed by the trees and the events. I want to protect them both somehow, but if Mrs. Nix taught me anything, it’s that I can never totally protect anyone. Danger can just explode without warning and take us away.