Several of the faeries took a turn placing a palm in a shallow hollow on the tree’s trunk. Finally, Shar lifted Tamani’s limp arm and placed his hand on the tree. For a few seconds, no one moved and nothing happened. Then the tree began to sway and Laurel gasped in surprise as a crack appeared at the base.

It widened and grew, pushing the trunk out, molding it into an archway. The air glimmered and sparkled until it was almost too bright to look at. Then a brilliant flash shone and Laurel had to blink. In the instant it took to close her eyes and open them again, the shimmering air had turned into a golden gate snaked with brilliant white blossoms and glittering with millions of sparkling jewels.

“Is that the gate to Avalon?” Laurel said breathlessly to Shar.

Shar barely spared her a glance. “Bar her way; Jamison’s coming through.”

Spears crisscrossed in front of her and Laurel realized she’d taken several steps forward. She was almost overwhelmed by the urge to push through the spears and run to the shining gates, but she forced her feet to stay where they were. The gate was moving now, swinging slowly outward in an arc as all the faeries backed away and made room. Laurel couldn’t see much as she strained against the spears, but her eyes found an emerald-green tree, a sliver of cerulean sky, rays of sunshine that sparkled like diamonds. The thick aroma of fresh earth rolled over her, along with a heady, intoxicating scent she couldn’t identify. A white-haired man in long, flowing silver robes waited on the other side of the shimmering gate. Laurel couldn’t help but stare as he made his way forward to stand by Tamani. He ran a finger down Tamani’s face and looked back at several other faeries carrying a stretcher.

“Take him quickly,” he said, beckoning them forward. “He’s fading.”

Tamani was transferred onto the soft white stretcher, and Laurel watched helplessly as he was borne into the shining light that poured from the gate. She had to believe he would be fine now, that she would see him again. Surely no one could enter a world so full of wonder and not heal.

When she looked up, the older faerie’s eyes had settled upon her. “I assume this is her,” he said. His voice was too sweet, too musical to be of this world. He walked toward her as if he were floating on air, and the face she looked up into was so beautiful. He seemed to glow, and his eyes were soft and blue and surrounded by wrinkles that fell not in the uneven crevices she saw on Maddie’s face but in exact, even folds like perfectly hung drapes. He smiled at her gently, and the pain of the last twenty-four hours melted away.

“You’ve been very brave,” Jamison said in that sweet, angelic voice. “We didn’t think we would need you so soon. But things never go quite as planned, do they?”

She shook her head and looked back through the gate, where she could just see the top of Tamani’s head. “Will he…will he be all right?”

“Don’t worry. Tamani has always been stronger than anyone expected him to be. Especially for you. We will take good care of him.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and beckoned her down the unfamiliar path. “Will you walk with me?”

Her eyes stayed locked on the gate into Avalon, but she responded instinctually. “Of course.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Jamison stopped and invited her to sit on a fallen log. He joined her and sat close, their shoulders almost touching. “Tell me about the trolls,” he said. “You obviously ran into trouble.”

Laurel nodded and told him how Tamani had been so careful and brave.

Jamison’s eyes glimmered with respect as she described how Tamani refused to talk even after being shot. She hadn’t expected to tell him about herself, but she began speaking of how she’d held the gun and couldn’t bring herself to shoot the monster until her life depended on it. And even then it was mostly an accident.

“So he got away?” There was no judgment in his voice.

Laurel nodded.

“It’s not your fault, you know. Tamani is a trained sentry and he takes his work very seriously. But you, you were made to heal, not kill. I think I’d have been disappointed if you were able to kill someone, even a troll.”

“But he knows now. He knows who I am.”

Jamison nodded. “And he knows where you live. You must be on your guard.

For your parents’ sake as well as your own. I am appointing you as their protector. Only you know the secrets that can keep them alive.”

Laurel thought of her father lying in his hospital bed, perhaps even now taking his last breaths. “My father is dying, and in a few days there will be no one left but my mother and me. I can’t be what you want me to be,” she admitted in a shaky voice. Her face dropped into her hands and desperation washed over her.

The old faerie’s arms were around her instantly, pressing her against his robes that cushioned her face as softly as down feathers. “You must remember that you are one of us,” he whispered in her ear. “We are here to assist you in any way we can. Our aid is your right—your heritage.” Jamison reached into his voluminous robes and pulled out a small, sparkling bottle filled with a dark blue liquid. “For times of trouble,” he said. “This is a rare elixir one of our Fall faeries made many years ago. We create very few potions that can help humans these days, but you need it now, and you may need it again in the future. Two drops in the mouth should be sufficient.”

Laurel’s hands shook as she reached for the tiny bottle. Jamison placed it in her hand and closed his palm over hers. “Guard it carefully,” he warned. “I don’t know for certain that we have another Fall faerie strong enough to make an elixir like this. Not yet.”