Enchanted Ivy

overlooked the chapel. Brass organ pipes protruded from the back wall.

A woman knelt in the pew closest to the railing.

As Mr. Mayfair closed the door behind him and Lily, the woman rose in a single fluid motion and faced them. She was as beautiful as a doll, with plastic-smooth skin and shimmering blonde hair. She wore a simple white summer dress that showed off her flawless skin ... and her gossamer wings. An iridescent pair framed her head like twin halos and then swept down to the floor like a bride's train. Lily stared at the wings and wondered what the hell was going on.

The fairy asked, 'A present for me? Oh, you shouldn't have.'

'She's a Key,' Mr. Mayfair said.

The fairy laughed, a tinkling sound like crystal shattering. 'Splendid! So this must be the dryad's daughter.'

Lily took a step backward. Mr. Mayfair laid a hand on her shoulder, halting her retreat. 'Mr. Mayfair, who is she?' Lily asked. She tried to keep her voice even. There was no cause for alarm, she told herself. This was Joseph Mayfair, leader of Vineyard Club, a knight in shining armor, and Grandpa's oldest friend.

In a kindly voice, Mr. Mayfair said to Lily, 'I hope you understand that this is nothing personal. I admire your intelligence and resourcefulness. But so long as travel between worlds is possible, the war between humanity and Feeders cannot end.'

Please, Lily thought, let me be hearing this wrong. She looked into his earnest blue eyes. 'What are you saying?'

'All magic creatures are potential Feeders.' He was patient, grandfatherly. 'The only way to truly protect humanity is to eliminate all access between the worlds.'

The fairy laughed again. 'Lock the door and throw away the key,' she said. 'Pun intended, of course.'

Lily yanked away from Mr. Mayfair and lunged toward the door. With ease, he darted in front of her. He caught her wrist in his iron grip.

'I am deeply sorry for how this has turned out,' he said. She twisted, trying to pull away from him. 'Your grandfather insisted that you take the Legacy Test for your mother's sake. I did my best to convince him to keep you safely in ignorance. Indeed, when persuasion failed, I set the goblin on you to frighten you, but you persisted.'

She felt her mouth drop open. 'You sent the goblin?'

'My goblin,' the fairy chimed in behind her.

Mr. Mayfair ignored the fairy. 'You see, I didn't want it to come to this,' he said to Lily. 'For the last sixteen years, I tried to avoid extreme measures. The tiger boy was easy enough to discredit with the knights. He was no threat to my plans. But you, the daughter of a highly respected knight ... Already the knights accept you as our new Key. Already they talk about new alliances and renewed relations. This cannot be. Our worlds must be separate. It is now clear to me that I have no choice. Your death is the only way to protect mankind. Do you understand, my dear?'

She kicked at his knee and swung her free fist. He caught her hand easily and evaded her kicks. 'You're supposed to be good. You're supposed to be a goddamn knight!'

Behind her, so close that Lily could feel her soft breath in her hair, the fairy said, 'You shouldn't blaspheme in a church.'

Tears poured down Lily's cheeks. 'My grandfather trusted you.'

'Your grandfather is a good man, blinded by idealism,' Mr. Mayfair said. 'Your death by a Feeder will convince him at long last that the war with the Feeders must end. This is a necessary and regrettable sacrifice for the cause of a greater good.'

Oh, God, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't do this. She tried to think of something to convince him, anything to stop him. 'But your grandson ... Jake will die!'

Mr. Mayfair froze. 'Explain.' His voice was low. It shot through her.

'The dryads have him,' Lily said. 'They'll exchange him for my mother. Tye is with them, so that means I'm the only one who can save your grandson. You have to let me go!'

Mr. Mayfair turned away from her. 'And let you reveal what we have discussed here? There is too much at stake. There is the world at stake.' His voice was flat.

'You can't let Jake die!' she cried. 'He trusts you. He believes in you. He loves you.'

'And I will mourn him,' Mr. Mayfair said simply.

Tears poured down Lily's cheeks. 'Please!'

To the fairy, he said, 'For Jake ... make it hurt.'

Lily spun around to see the Feeder smile at her as beatifically as one of the angels in the stained-glass window that rose gloriously behind her. Her wings fluttered, and her feet hovered six inches above the floor. Lily felt a breeze in her face, and it smelled of lilacs and lavender. She backed toward the door and kept backing up until she realized Mr. Mayfair was gone.

Run, she thought. She turned and—

The fairy was there.

CHAPTER Fourteen

The fairy laid a delicate finger on Lily's lips. 'Shh,' she said.

Lily's heart beat as fast as a hummingbird's wings. Oh, God. 'Please,' she said. 'Please, don't kill me. Don't listen to Mr. Mayfair. He's not on your side. But I can help you. I can take you home. I'm a Key.'

The fairy looked amused.

'Just think—you'd never be hunted by knights again,' Lily said. 'You'd be safe.'

The fairy's iridescent wings fluttered. Bits of sunlight flashed off them. 'But I am safe,' she said. 'I have assurances from the leader of the Princeton knights himself: in exchange for my cooperation, he will ensure my survival.'

'He doesn't mean it.' Lily said. 'You heard him. He's willing to sacrifice his own grandson to keep his secret. There's no way he'll let you live. Even if he didn't hate Feeders, you know too much.'

'Oh, but he is a noble knight,' the fairy said. 'Virtue personified.' She let out a happy bubble of a sigh. 'Don't you feel elevated simply from his presence?'

Slowly, Lily inched backward. 'He makes me sick.'

The fairy pressed her hands to her cheeks in mock horror, and then she careened backward with peals of laughter that bounced off the cathedral ceiling. 'Of course I know he plans to kill me, silly.'

'You do?'

Swooping close to Lily, the fairy smiled conspiratorially, as if she planned to tell her best friend her most secret dream. 'But before Joseph Mayfair double-crosses me, I shall double-cross him. You, my dear darling dove of delight, will open the gate for me.'

'Oh!' Lily said. 'Oh, wow—you want to go home!' Relief rushed through her so fast and strong that she swayed. She felt her muscles turn to puddles.

The fairy scooped up a cloak from the coatrack by the door. Her wings flattened back as she swirled the cloak over her shoulders. It settled on her back, and she draped it artfully over her wings until the delicate appendages were lost in the shadows of black cloth. 'I have been waiting for this moment for many years.' The fairy linked her arm through Lily's. Cloak sweeping the marble floor, she descended the staircase arm in arm with Lily. 'It is high time that I end my association with Joseph Mayfair, as entertaining as it has been. Tell me, my dear, how did you come to keep such unsavory company as the Princeton knights?'

'I just wanted to get into college,' she said. A few days ago, it had all seemed so simple: take a campus tour, complete an application, cross her fingers, and that was it. 'And then things got complicated.'

The fairy patted her hand. 'They always do.' She waved up at the Chained Dragon as they passed under him. 'Off to claim my freedom, old friend. Pity you can't join me.'

Above, the dragon hissed. 'Set me free. Give me the Key.'