CHAPTER NINE
The night was full and dark by the time they left the Holly Oak’s chamber, this time by the front doors, which swung open onto a wide, comfortable platform.
“Well, that was weird,” Nula said, turning to Mack. “Her face … did you get the feeling—”
Mack raised one eyebrow. “I definitely did.”
“What do you think it was?” Nula asked.
“Let’s get out of here first,” Mack insisted, leading the way down the curved stair.
Poppy couldn’t follow what they were talking about and she couldn’t stop thinking about her parents. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, her heart had squeezed into a tiny knot. Mack cast a concerned look at her as she took a shuddering breath.
She had to force the fear out of her head. She couldn’t allow herself to doubt. If fear dug its claws into her, she’d crumble right here and not get up again. They were alive. She would find them, and free them. She ran the words through her head like a warning.
Under the pavilions, food had been laid out, and all the creatures still waiting for an audience with the Holly Oak milled around. Some chatted softly with one another, but all fell silent when Poppy and her friends arrived. Eyes of all colors turned to watch them pass. Two of the werewolves standing on their hind legs let out low snarls, and Dog instantly bristled.
“Easy, Dog,” Poppy murmured. She turned slowly. Every face, without exception, seemed angry. Apparently, jumping the line was not to be forgiven. Her gaze fell on the hobbled old woman with the clawed hand. Gnarled and bent, she looked back with sparkling ice-blue eyes that were so full of malignant intent that a cold sweat burst across Poppy’s forehead. When the woman smiled, she felt the blood drain from her face. Her teeth were sharp—and there were too many.
Poppy stumbled back. “Maybe we should…”
“Go somewhere else?” Mack suggested, tugging at Dog’s collar. “Yeah. Nula already went.”
Poppy backed up, moving away from the pavilion until, afraid of falling, she turned. Nula’s tufted ears were just visible beyond a mass of roots at the edge of the meadow, where the cobbles of the Alcyon rose to meet it. Poppy shivered. She wished she’d remembered to pack a jacket.
“Make any friends?” Nula quipped as they joined her, ducking down behind the roots.
Mack’s mouth twitched as he settled to the ground, his back against the biggest section of root. Poppy pulled a face and flopped to sit against the tree.
Mack scooted closer and nudged her. “You okay?”
Nula shifted nearer. “I wonder who has them!”
Mack scrubbed a hand over his face. “And why!”
“Can’t be anything good,” Nula muttered.
Poppy didn’t answer either of them as she fought back a wave of nausea. Instead, she dug the last of the sandwiches out of her pack and passed them around. She gave the last one to Dog. “We just have to find them, that’s all. That’s what we need to focus on.” Her voice hitched. “We … we just need to find them.”
Mack gave her a sympathetic look and changed the subject, unwrapping his sandwich. “Well, one thing’s for sure. The Holly Oak is under a geis. I’m sure of it.”
Nula took a vigorous bite of her sandwich. “Defnutluh.”
Poppy squinted at her, then turned to Mack. “What’s a geis … wait, is that … is that like a spell or something?” She rooted around in her backpack.
“Sort of,” Mack began.
“Wait, I think I remember that. It’s in my glossary.” She pulled out her notebook and flipped to the back.
“Geis—a vow or curse. Wait.” She flipped the page. “That’s it?” She closed the book with a sigh. “That’s it.”
Mack held up a finger as he finished chewing. After a moment he explained, “It means she made a promise.”
Nula spoke through another bite of sandwich. “Made of stone.”
“Huh?”
The pooka swallowed. “Promises—they’re made of stone in the Grimwood. That’s what they say.”
“Made of … stone?”
“It means they’re unbreakable. Promises can’t be broken.”
“What kind of promise did the Holly Oak make?” Poppy wondered.
Mack’s eyes cracked open. “Something she knows that she’s not allowed to tell.”
“I agree.” Nula’s face grew somber. It made her look older, and stranger.
Poppy fell quiet for a moment, thinking. “What do you think it’s about?”
Mack took a deep breath. “Hard to know for sure. What did she say, again? Right before she went weird?”
Nula snorted. “Well, she told Poppy she was clever. Maybe that’s what made her go weird.”
“Hey!”
Nula smiled. “Sorry. Couldn’t help it. She said … uh … she said her magic holds us together, and that magic has a cost. Blah blah blah … Every tree … blah blah.”
“That’s right!” Mack sat up. “She said all magic comes with a cost.”
Poppy chewed, considering the Oak’s words. She said her power was in the trees and the soil … That would mean that her power was in everything in the wood.
“What does it matter?” Nula shook off the gloom and took a happy bite of her sandwich. “I don’t see how any of that helps. If we went to the faeries … but I know you won’t do that.” She lay back and laced her fingers under her head. “So, what now, oh stubborn one?” she asked.
Poppy rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, okay, fine. Let’s try the faeries.”
Nula sat up. “Really?”
“That’s a terrible idea. No one can trust the faeries,” Mack grumbled.
Poppy frowned. “What’s so terrible about it?”
Nula snarled. Poppy hadn’t noticed she had sharp canines. “They might leave things out sometimes, but the truth is, the faeries have what everyone wants, probably what you want, too.”
Mack’s expression turned shocked. He stared at Nula. “Oh yeah, and what do I want?”
“The truth is that most creatures envy the Fae,” Nula said imperiously. “They have it all. Beauty. Power. Beauty.”
“They’re liars,” Mack spat back.
“Just because they don’t stick to your smug elven ways—with your whole ‘Do right, and you’ll be right’ thing—”
Color rose in Mack’s cheeks. “Our ‘thing’? That is our code.”
Nula
