“The crisis is over,” Beezle announced.
His eyes darted between Nathaniel, Puck and me, and I could see him working things out. I gave him a look that warned him not to say anything.
Jude appeared slightly deflated by the news that he didn’t need to hit anything. “Are you all right?”
“That’s a complicated question,” I muttered. “Yes, I’m unharmed.”
“Puck wanted a private word,” I said.
“Did he have to stop all of us from entering the apartment?” Jude growled. “We thought he was killing you in here.”
“My apologies, Judas,” Puck said.
Jude stiffened at the sound of his old name. He seemed to focus completely on Puck for the first time, his nostrils flared.
“I know you,” he said, and sniffed the air. “I know you of old.”
“Perhaps you do,” Puck said.
Great. Now Puck had some kind of connection to Jude, too. It was starting to feel less like chance that we had all come together. Some fate was pulling all of us—me, Nathaniel, Samiel, Jude, maybe even Beezle and Chloe—to these ancient ones, to Lucifer and Puck and the animosity that was older than the earth.
“Can we talk about this later?” I said to Jude. “I want to get J.B. and get home so that I can take down Therion.”
“If you will follow me,” Puck said, and made a portal in the air. “You must all hold tight to one another. We are going through the old ways, and if any of you lets go, you could be lost forever.”
Puck reached for my hand, and Nathaniel took the other. Jude reluctantly grabbed Nathaniel’s hand, and Samiel’s. Chloe made up the end of the chain.
“You guys look like one of those preschool walking buses,” Beezle said. “All you need are the little waist leashes.”
He flew toward me and stopped in midair. “Whoa. Where did you get the Catwoman pants?”
“You just noticed?” I said, my ears burning.
“Well, yeah, because there’s no pocket for me to nap in,” Beezle said, settling on my shoulder and digging in his claws.
“How about you try to stay awake during the rescue mission, just this once?” I said.
“Children,” Puck said, and he entered the portal, pulling me with him.
This portal wasn’t like the usual ones. Normally when I entered a portal I felt like I was being mashed in a blender. This was a pathway through the universe, a place that no human would ever see. Beneath our feet all the worlds looked like a necklace of jewels. We were draped in a veil of silence, and the stars spun around us.
Chloe and Jude both gasped. Chloe was the closest thing to a human that we had on our team. Even her work as an Agent had not prepared her for this.
“This is what’s behind the Door,” she whispered.
I felt a moment of panic. She now knew one of the secrets that the Agency tried to keep from the Agents. Would that put her on Sokolov’s hit list, too?
Then I realized that just associating with me was enough to put her life in danger. It didn’t really make me feel better.
“Hold tight,” Puck said, and we were descending.
A few moments later we stood in a lush garden, surrounded by flowers so rare and beautiful that they could not have existed in my world. The air was scented and heavy and shimmering with gold dust.
“We just got dropped into a scene from
Everyone had released hands except for Puck, who still determinedly clung to mine. I felt a current of magic strung between the two of us.
“What are you doing?” I said, tugging my hand.
“Giving you a boost. You will need it to find J.B.,” Puck said. “You are blood of my blood, and that makes a connection between us. My power can help strengthen yours.”
“Don’t try any funny business,” Jude growled.
“I would not think of it,” Puck said, his eyes dancing.
“You’re stronger than Titania is,” I said softly. “Why do you stay here, pretending to be her subordinate?”
Puck let go of my hand and touched the tip of my nose with his finger. “Just because you are blood of my blood does not mean you get to know everything.”
“What does he mean by ‘blood of my blood’?” Jude said, looking from me to Puck.
“Later,” I promised. “Take us to J.B.”
“I cannot do that,” Puck said.
“Why not?” I said. “What are we here for, then?”
“If you want him, you must find him,” Puck said.
He was the mercurial Puck again, the court jester. I felt unsure of my ground with this Puck. His changeability made me feel that his loyalty was for sale. Perhaps it was, when he was here.
“I’m not here to play games,” I said.
“Faeries love games,” Puck said. “And so, a quest.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of quest?”
“Your prince is somewhere in the kingdom. To gain treasure, you must have the courage to seek it,” Puck said.
“Is he in the castle?” Beezle asked. “Because I am going to be pissed if we go running all over the place and he was inside the whole time.”
“He is not in the castle, although you are wise to ask,” Puck said. “It is the sort of thing a faerie might do. No, he is outdoors. If you can overcome the obstacles in your path, you may return home with him.”
“Is he alive?” I asked. If Titania had killed him, I would take down this castle brick by brick and destroy everyone in it.
Puck considered. “Technically.”
I didn’t want to consider what kind of condition J.B. might be in. I didn’t want to think about how badly Titania might have hurt him in order to hurt me.
“What did you do—beat him up and then throw him out there somewhere, broken?” I said angrily.
“I did not do anything,” Puck said with a wounded air.
“You’re no angel, either,” I said.
As far as I was concerned the courts were just as complicit as their leaders. The courtiers who did nothing were more interested in keeping their own butts protected than in justice, even if some of them did object to Titania’s choices. I’m sure Nathaniel—and even Jude—would have said I was naive to expect otherwise. But I had been a part of Azazel’s court, however briefly, and much to Azazel’s consternation I had never bent to anyone’s will except my own.
“No, I am certainly not an angel,” Puck said, and he disappeared.
“Well, this is a fine thing,” Chloe said. “He drops us here, tells us we have to find J.B. and gives us nothing to go on.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And Titania is probably watching us in her crystal ball, laughing her ass off.”
“So what do we do?” Chloe asked.
“First, we find a way out of this garden,” I said.
There was nothing to see except the high stone walls that surrounded the greenery, no hint of what might lay beyond.
“Find an exit,” I said. “Spread out. Everyone look for a door.”
“And then?” Beezle asked.
“Start looking for J.B.,” I said. I looked at my palm, which still tingled from the magic Puck had given me. Would this “boost” make it easier for me to find J.B., or would it make it easier for Puck to track me, or use me, or otherwise do something I did not want? It had happened so quickly I didn’t have a chance to object.
