Page 59
Dane’s lips split into a vicious grin, and his grip tightened. “You think the little fairy bitch cares for you? You think killing me and your fellow humans will earn you any points with her?”
“No. I—”
“Come to me, Jack. I’ll protect you. Just like I always have.”
A vision flashed across my mind. Something too horrible to put into words, and I wrenched my arm from his grasp, stumbling to the ground.
The scene changed, and we were in our old apartment in Jersey.
He came for me, a manic gleam in his eye, but when I held up a hand to ward him off, it wasn’t my hand.
A simple gold band encircled my left ring finger, and I touched my face, running a finger over soft lips that had kissed my forehead so many times before.
Dane lifted his arm, a long, rusted pipe gripped tightly between his fingers. “Did you think you could keep it from me?” He swung.
“No!” I screamed, wrapping my arms over my head, waiting for the blow.
When it didn’t come, I opened my eyes and exhaled a shaky breath. I was in Central Park, just a few blocks from the AFF compound. I blinked, unsure whether this was still in my mind or if I had made it out the other side.
“You don’t belong here,” a sickly-sweet voice said.
I shot to my feet, searching the dark for the owner of the voice.
“You aren’t allowed on the Seelie side,” a second voice, similar to the first, said.
“Who’s there?”
A set of barking laughs that grated against my spine rang out near the tree that seemed to be bisected by the path I’d just tumbled out of. I inched closer but froze when two sets of faces came into focus. They leaned against the trunk. But that wasn’t right. They were attached to it somehow.
Each on either side of the path.
Dryads. “No, no, no,” I said, backing up. “Stay back.”
They laughed again, and I turned, darting away from them as memories of rough, bark-like hands scraping over my skin resurfaced. Following the same path I had in my strange vision, I stopped outside the Hershey store in Times Square.
Something shimmered from an alley behind the store. I moved toward it and leaned close. Tentatively, I held out a hand. Inky darkness latched onto my arm, yanking me forward. I was pulled through an invisible wall and when my feet touched solid ground, the world exploded with sounds and smells.
Around me, car horns, music and advertisements overwhelmed my senses.
Cooked meat and corn, mixed with bodies doused in perfume or their own natural odors, assaulted me, and I gagged.
Was this how the fairies who came here felt when they arrived?
After so long in a place so quiet, with only the subtlest hints of flora and snow, Earth must have seemed like a nightmare.
“Sav!”
I glanced around the dark alley. Nothing guarded this entrance and now that I had come through it, I could no longer see it.
I struggled to process everything that had happened on my trip.
It was meant to pull me from my destination.
Meant to force me off the path. Those last memories weren’t memories at all, but nightmares that would have left me trapped forever.
It had seemed like a few hours, but how did time work when crossing between realms?
How long had I been in Faerie? A week? Two? There were stretches of days I couldn’t remember or hadn’t been conscious for.
I whipped around in the dark. Surely Sav, a fairy who had traveled through pockets before, would have made it through faster than I had. “Sav,” I whispered again.
In the silence of the dank alley, my chest constricted.
Was she coming, or had it been her plan all along to send me here—away from the danger—while she went looking for the former spring court general?
I’d wanted this test. To see if the feelings we shared were strong enough to bring us across realms. And now I feared I had my answer.
I ran a hand through my hair. Turning in a circle, searching the alley one last time.
It was no one’s fault but my own that she couldn’t put her trust in me. I may not be much help in Faerie, but here, I could do something.
I glanced down at my strange clothes. First, I’d need a change of outfit.
Stepping out of the alley into Times Square, I breathed shallowly and scanned the stores.
Looking both ways, I darted across the street, narrowly avoiding a cab as he laid on the horn.
I reached the other side and stepped into the Ralph Lauren store.
Scanning the shelves, I briefly considered how I’d get out with my new outfit.
My wallet—and all my money—was somewhere in Faerie.
A tee shirt would have been easier to steal, but after my brief stay in the winter and spring courts, I had to up my wardrobe if I hoped to compete for a fairy royal’s attention.
“Excuse me.”
A man looked up, gaze scanning my outfit. His eyes were strangely illuminated and for a moment I wondered if he was a glamoured fairy or if I was losing my mind. “Yes?”
“I’m new to buying button downs. How do you choose the right fit?”
The man’s eyes twinkled, and he sized me up. His gaze roved over the rows of black shirts and he grabbed one handing it to me. “Planning a date night?”
“No.” I scoffed. “The woman I care for isn’t happy with me at the moment.”
The man’s brow rose as he eyed me with interest. He reached out, touching the material of my spring court shirt. “This is fine fabric. Where did you get it?”
I laughed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
He leaned closer. “Try me.”
Those strange eyes were luminescent, and I tilted back. “I have a better idea. We’re close enough in size. You’d only have to shorten the inseam a few inches. Buy me a new outfit and this one’s yours.”
He grinned. “What’s your name?”
“Jack.”
“Pleased to meet you, Jack. I’m Simon.”
Table of Contents
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