Page 184 of Pixie Problems

Hawke made a little noise as he canted his head. "Less hot and heavy. More overstepping my manners."

"Uh, hi. Right here," I reminded them.

"Shh," Keir teased, never looking away from Hawke. "She's cute when she's sleeping, though."

"Don't tell me you did the creepy guy thing and watched her sleep?" Hawke groaned. "No, not cool. Not even that vampire movie made it cool!"

"No, not like that!" Keir insisted. "I just woke up before her. But she snuggles."

"So does Wilder," Hawke said just a little too casually. "You should try it. You know, if you want to swap rooms, I can tame the savage beast for a bit."

"Torian?" I asked.

"Uh, yes," Keir assured me. "And gonna pass on that, Hawke. I'm good. The last thing I want to do is screw up my friendships."

I turned and gaped at him. "Uh, hi. Still here."

"And you're not like a fae," Keir assured me. "I'm not fae enough half the time because I grew up here, and too fae the rest. That typically translates to crashing and burning - except with humans. So, call it a fetish if you want, but I'd much rather be seen as fun and entertaining than as annoying and ignorant."

"You're not annoying," Hawke said.

"Yeah, remind me of that the next time my new suitemate goes off on a rant."

"Tor just has a lot on his mind," Hawke pointed out. "Things with Aspen are more complicated than you know. He has to protect her. That's his big vow, Keir. Torian swore that he would - " And Hawke stopped hard. "Fuck."

"Do something you can't talk about," I finished for him. "Yep, this is getting to be a common refrain."

"I'm sorry," Hawke said. "I am, Rain. We didn't even know you existed when we made that promise."

"And you can't get out of it now?" Keir asked.

"Shouldn't," Hawke clarified. "Trust me, it's a protection, not an inhibition, and Ms. Rhodes was right. We want to tell our friends. We want to trust the people who are nice to us. We also can't be sure that in a year, two, or a hundred that they'll still be our friends."

"That's the truth," I grumbled, thinking about all the people who'd erased me from their memory. "I think that's why I don't mind. I mean, if I had to pick between revealing a secret and saving a life, I'd pick saving the life, and then it'd blow up. My intentions might be good, but when the Huntsman had Aspen? Yeah, I would've told him anything to make him let go."

"That," Hawke said, "is exactly why we made the promise. And yes, it was a fair deal. We got plenty back." He jerked his chin at Keir. "Like when she gave you detention with Rain, knowing you'd be there anyway. Ms. Rhodes is a good one." And he gestured to a tree. "This is the first dot on the map."

The three of us spread out. I went around the trunk of the tree. Hawke kicked at the leaves under it. Keir was the one who found the enchantment. After almost fifteen minutes of looking, he pointed up at the branches and called us over. "I think there's a gate attached to this tree. See the edge that cuts into the lower branch up there?"

"No," I admitted, shifting a little for a better angle.

"Ah, yeah..." Hawke said. "See, Rain? Looks like someone cut into the branch and left a gouge."

"From a gate?" I gaped at him in shock. "What the hell?"

"They fit between two pillars," Hawke said. "We use door frames, usually. But if the tree grew the branch downward between the gate being opened?"

"I kinda don't get how gates work," I admitted.

So Hawke held up his hands, parallel. "They have to have supports on the sides. The place they're made must be one we know. Not just that we've passed, but somewhere we actually know well. Typically, it's the sort of place you never really look at, but would notice if it had changed - like the door into the bathroom. Once a gate is keyed in, it can be easily opened, but access must be given. I can open a gate, but not create one from nothing."

"Can Torian?" Keir asked.

Hawke nodded. "Aspen and Wilder too. The three of us?" He glanced at me, then Keir. "We're the weak ones in the court."

"Rain's not weak," Keir countered.

Hawke just lifted a brow. "Neither are we, Keir. That's my whole point." Then he pulled out his tablet and tapped at it. "So, one down. Only several hundred to go."