He tapped his watch and read. “Missing Magicals. Hidden in plain sight. Mark locations. Free if possible.” He tapped the watch again. The glowing face disappeared, and he leaned closer. “Sounds like Malvyn’s prisoners are trying to exchange information for a lighter sentence.”
I agreed. “Any clues as to what type of Magical we’re looking for? Because we could start with the fountains.”
I pointed to the unmoving figure. Made sense to me the right spell could make anything look like it was concrete. Or marble.
Jasper agreed. Body hovering above the grass, tail streaming behind him, he dashed to the edge of the fountain and stopped. The rim rose about three feet off the ground. The cat hopped up and began to circle. During the day, water flowed out of the sculpture’s mouth. The late hour meant the pump and spotlights were off.
“Stay close.” Bas parted the slender branches and held them open for me.
Side by side, we followed Japer’s path to the fountain. The cat circled once, then again, and began another round, stopping at the ten to our six. His eyes focused on the statue’s face, flickering from amber to a steady bright green. Jasper then hunkered down and spat at the fairy, over and over, firing saliva like it was a weapon.
Cracks split the air like a skater skimming over black ice. Except this wasn’t winter and the water in the fountain wasn’t frozen. A section of the statue fell off and plopped into the water. Jasper hissed again, coughed, and lowered his whiskered face to drink.
Bas and I crept around to the left until we faced the statue—the most delicate, living and breathing creature I had ever seen.
Chapter 14
“What is she?”
“True Fae,” said Bas. “Seelie Court. Usually more on the side of do-gooders than evil-mongers.”
All at once, the front of the statue shattered. Pieces rained into the fountain, splashing us. The last section to go was the claw-like hand clutching her ankle. Three fingers broke off, allowing her to fall forward into Bas’s waiting arms.
“Sister,” she murmured, her jaw trembling. “Free my sister.”
“I know where the other fountain is,” I said.
Jasper had plunged his face into the water as soon as Bas had the fairy and drank greedily.
“Jasper? You ready?” I dashed back to the canvas bag and grabbed the protein bar I’d packed. “It’s not fresh fish,” I said, crumbling the bar to pieces in my palm, “but it’s packed with protein.”
He chewed fast.
“Let’s go.” I dropped the rest into the bag.
I set the pace and led our foursome to the back wall of the property. A slow run got us to the other fountain without getting winded. I was dying for a closer peek at the Fae. Bas seemed determined to get her wrapped in his cloak, but she fought him off, pointing toward the statue and snapping her teeth.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I get it. Sister first.”
Jasper repeated the same projectile spitting routine. The statue’s hard exterior cracked and fell. The sisters had a quick, wordless reunion then scrutinized the cat, the caped man, and me. Either the girls were planning an escape or getting ready to blink themselves to another dimension.
Look at me, travelling by portal and thinking in terms of Magicals occupying different dimensions.
“Wait.” I held up my hand. “Alabastair, do you think these two are it, or are there more trapped Magicals?”
Bas crouched. The fairies were slight. At his full height he could be intimidating, right up until he opened his mouth. He spoke a few words, maybe phrases, in a tongue I didn’t recognize.
The sisters looked at each other. The second one answered, “We speak your language. There are two hidden folk here, trapped as we were. Please free them and help us get back to our…” They turned pleading eyes to me. “Our boyfriends were caught too.”
“Are your boyfriends named Peasgood and Hyslop?” I asked, grabbing my lightbulb moment.
They nodded in unison. They did a lot in unison.
“How did you guess?” asked fairy number one.
“Long story,” I said. “They’re free and safe and with our friends. Let’s get you reunited.” I reached for Bas’s shoulder and squeezed. “Can we go now?”
He unfolded his long legs and stood. “The sooner the better. Grab the cat. I’ll take the sisters,” he said and looked from one to the other, “if they’ll allow?”
They nodded, leapt into his arms, and drew the sides of his cape around their shoulders. Alabastair took off toward the cluster of weeping cherry trees and our portal, and I bent to pick up Jasper. The cat resisted then gave in. I ventured a guess all that spitting was exhausting.
Bas waved at me. “Would you please hurry?” he hissed. “Someone’s coming, and this is going to take two trips.”
“What?” Oh, hell no. No.
He put his forefinger to his lips. “Be right back.”
I stuffed Jasper into the canvas bag and dug my toes into the trimmed and prickly over-watered grass. A heavy body was running toward me—two heavy bodies—and I knew exactly who they were by the amount of stomach acid charging up my throat. I stepped away from Jasper, whipped my wand out of my pants, and pointed in the direction of Doug and his brother.
The men’s faces, silvered by the light reflecting off their outstretched and fully armored fingers, were bloodthirsty. The Doug and Roger I had known in my early-twenties were abandoned to memory, their true faces now revealed more sharply than the night they’d crashed my party.
I gripped my little wand hard. I’d never felt this vulnerable and ill-equipped to handle a dangerous situation in my life. No Tanner, no Christoph, no mother.
Until Bear rose up on its legs behind me, surrounding my shoulders with fur.
A loud and steady heart reverberated against my back. Bear roared its displeasure.
Doug skidded to a stop, arms out to the side in what I was fast learning
