water was too blue and the needles of the tall cypresses too green. The sky was a palette of indigo and plum. A group of girls in long velvet dresses scampered into view, laughing and chatting, though we couldn’t hear what they said.
The girls drew nearer in our sight as if we’d hit a zoom button. Three of them were fairies; I could tell by their slanted eyes and creamy complexion. But the fourth was human. Her shiny hair and too-perfect skin looked the same as the others, but her normal brown eyes gave her true nature away. Then a fifth girl ran up to them, carrying a covered basket. The view adjusted again, focusing on her.
Natalie.
“I did this,” I murmured. I had ruined Natalie’s life along with her families’ and friends’ by playing with magic I didn’t understand.
“You didn’t mean to.”
“That doesn’t make it better.” My fingers slid from his. “Why would he take her?”
Brea had said faeries used to kidnap babies, but Natalie was far from an infant. Reed couldn’t have done it to punish Isaac; Isaac barely knew her.
“Something about her must have intrigued him. It might have been how petite she is or her scent, but luring humans away from their homes is something the Fae are all too good at. It’s one of the reason witches cast them out of our realm.”
“How do we get her back?” I asked. Returning her to her parents was the only thing that truly mattered.
Isaac rubbed his hand on his jeans. “Madison, there’s a reason humans aren’t supposed to accept gifts from faeries. Their food changes our cellular structure. We literally become dependent on it. Now that she’s in Sanctus, she’s better off staying.”
“We’re not leaving her there.” I pointed to the scrying bowl for emphasis.
Isaac tilted his head to the side as he watched Natalie pull a wine bottle filled with clear blue liquid out of the basket. “She looks happy. That’s a good thing.”
“How is that a good thing?” When his mouth opened and closed without a reply, I said, “She’s obviously been brainwashed. So…we…we’ll get her back and unbrainwash her.”
“Unbrainwash?”
“You know what I mean, Isaac!”
“Madison, Natalie’s lived on a diet of their food and spirits for, what? A week? Her body’s changed.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It can’t be too late. She just needs to eat something normal.”
Isaac reached over the bowl and held my hands. “Madison, it doesn’t work that way.”
“I refuse to believe it’s too late! She has family and friends who care about her. She deserves to be with them, Isaac. They deserve to have her back. Three stupid pieces of chocolate can’t mean a lifetime away from the people I love.” Tears streamed down my face, and my body trembled. “I don’t want to forget what I have here.”
“I won’t let that happen to you.”
“I want it. The candy,” I whispered, ashamed to admit it out loud and scared to death because the ache in my stomach was a hunger I’d never felt before. “Even though I now know what it is, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Isaac pulled me into his arms. “But you haven’t crossed realms yet, and I won’t let you. We’ll send Reed packing, and then we’ll find a way to counter what he’s done to you.”
“And if we can’t? If it’s too late for me too?” I sniffed, eyes leaking tears on Isaac’s shirt. “We have to at least try to save her, Isaac.”
He held me tighter. “I’ll see if I can find a way.”
Even though he said the words, he didn’t sound optimistic.
Chapter 15
Discovering Natalie was enjoying herself in Reed’s realm was downright disturbing. Had she willingly left her friends and family behind? Did she miss them? Did she even remember who they were? If faerie food really was like a drug to humans, the answer to these questions was most likely no.
As if it wasn’t bad enough to know that my actions had torn a family apart, I found out Reed had gone back to work after our encounter at the convenience store. The icing on the cake: Dad loved the guy.
“The reception desk is going to be cool,” he said on returning home after Isaac’s and my scrying session. “Not one right angle. Reed designed it that way.”
The worst part was I couldn’t tell Dad the truth of why he should fire the guy, so I said nothing. Caden still worked for my father too—there was another guy I didn’t trust. I even considered the possibility that Caden might also be a member of the Seelie Court. Maybe Isaac was wrong and Reedsnap, Dellis, and Rhoswen were three different faeries and not two. Now that I had my iron bracelets and Caden liked to show up everywhere I went, I was sure it was only a matter of time before I found out.
With all the excitement of the last couple weeks, I almost missed that December seventh was right around the corner. In the nine years Kaylee and I had been friends, I had never once forgotten her birthday, and I wouldn’t let this be the year I did. Thankfully, I’d bought her a present last month when Isaac and I had been at this little Wiccan shop in Salem.
“Kaylee will love this,” I’d said to Isaac, picking up a unique bronze necklace.
Isaac had regarded it a moment. “She’s never going to take off the one Josh gave her.”
“She will if he puts the same energy into this one as he did the cross,” I’d whispered.
“That’s a very special talisman,” the eccentric storeowner had commented when I’d gone to purchase it. “It brings luck and protection to the wearer.”
I had grinned at Isaac, twitching a shoulder smugly. “See. It looks good
The woman at the store had explained that the bronze heart protected the wearer against evil and the different strings of beads dangling from the base of the charm offered their own benefits: blue for inspiration, green for growth, and yellow for courage. She’d spoken about the necklace with such passion that I had bought myself one too. Looking at them now, they were better than perfect. Not only would the metal ward off evil, but the beads would boost Kaylee’s powers.
I lined a narrow pink box with small packages of Jelly Bellies before placing the necklace inside and wrapping it in bright blue paper. I’d just finished sticking a multicolored bow on top when my cell phone rang.
“Hey, Sarah.”
“Hi. You all set for tomorrow?”
“Present’s wrapped, and Isaac is picking me up early so we can stop at the coffee shop to get her mocha coffee. You?”
“Everything’s in my backpack, and Mark’s coming over to help me blow up the balloons for her locker.”
“What did you get her?” I asked as I dropped Kaylee’s present into my purse.
“You, Big Mouth, are going to have to wait and see.”
“Hey! I was thirteen when I blabbed to Kaylee what you’d gotten her, and that was only because she almost bought the same thing.”
“You could have found another way to keep her from buying it.”
“She had it in her hand and was walking to the checkout.”
“You’re not good in a tight situation, so you’ll see the totally awesome gift I found when Kaylee opens it.”
I shook my head even though Sarah couldn’t see me. “Whatever. Josh is going to give her his present before they leave her house to give us a little extra time to get things set up.”
“Perfect. See you tomorrow.”
