“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 naïve 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.

“That’s your plan?” Beezle asked.

“Pretty much,” I said. “I’m not sure what else to do right now.”

“All I know is that you’ve been extremely lucky to have survived this long,” Beezle said. “How long do you think your luck will last?”

“It better last long enough to get us home in one piece,” I said, running my hand along the stone wall behind the foliage to check for an exit.

“Here,” Jude called. He was in the far right corner of the garden, beckoning.

I trotted toward him as the others converged on his position. Jude silently lifted some protruding tree branches out of the way to reveal an arch cut in the stone, and a forest beyond.

“There are probably trolls in that forest,” Beezle said as we hurried out of the shadow of the castle and toward the shelter of the trees.

“Yup,” I replied.

“Giant spiders, witches, other things we’d rather not encounter,” Beezle said.

“Yes,” I said, drawing my sword as we reached the tree line. “Jude, you go in front. Then Chloe, then Samiel. Nathaniel and I will watch our backs.”

Jude nodded and took the lead. We all kept tight in line as the forest closed in around us.

“We’re probably going to be running for hours in fear for our lives,” Beezle said.

“No, I’ll be running. You’ll be carried. Is there a point to all of this?” I asked.

“No, I’m just looking for something to complain about because I’m hungry,” Beezle said.

“Well, knock it off,” I whispered, because these woods seemed like a place where you talked quietly. There was menace in the air, a feeling of unfriendliness.

“I’m going to change,” Jude said.

A moment later, his clothing fell to the ground and a wolf stood in his place. He trotted ahead of us, his nose pressed in the dirt.

We followed a rough trail through the trees. All around us was lush green foliage and moss. It looked a lot like the woods in every episode of The X-Files, that Pacific-Northwest-rains-all-the-time kind of woods.

It was very humid. The heavy moisture filled the air with the scents of bark and loam and green growing things. I could tell Jude was having a hard time getting a fix on any one scent because he was running all over the path.

“What’s he trying to follow?” Chloe asked, pausing for a moment. She looked a little wilted. Her vivid purple hair was flattened by the heavy air and her face was pale and sweaty. She leaned on Samiel’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“I’m assuming he’s looking for J.B.’s scent and can’t get a fix on it. We can’t stop,” I said.

“I know,” Chloe replied, her eyes still closed. “Aren’t you beat? You’re the one who’s pregnant here.”

“I think I’m getting used to running around while exhausted,” I said. “And I slept for two days before we got here, so I’m a little perkier than usual.”

“Well, I am definitely not accustomed to this much exertion,” she said tiredly. “I sit at a desk most of the time.”

“Stick with her long enough and it will seem normal to be chased by monsters while tired and starving,” Beezle said.

“We’ve got to move,” I said.

Chloe straightened with obvious reluctance and opened her eyes. “Hey ho, let’s go.”

I glanced down the path toward Jude. He wasn’t there.

11

“JUDE’S GONE,” I SAID.

Samiel raised his fists. Chloe pulled a dagger out of the small of her back. I had no idea she carried such a thing. A ball of nightfire appeared on Nathaniel’s palm. Beezle flew off my shoulder.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Up to see what I can see,” he said.

Without speaking we all turned around so our backs faced inward in a tight circle. And we waited. The others were looking all around the woods, but my eyes were skyward, waiting for my gargoyle to return.

For a few minutes nothing happened. Then I saw Beezle flying back to us as fast as his wings could carry him, his little face set in tense lines. Before Beezle could reach us, Jude burst out of the woods from our back trail, running flat out and barking. He sprinted ahead of us again, his yips and growls telling us that we needed to hurry.

“Whatever you do, don’t fly,” Beezle shouted, as he landed on my shoulder. “And run!”

None of us needed to be told twice. Something large was behind us. It crashed through the woods, making the ground shake. Chloe stumbled ahead of Samiel. He scooped her up easily and tossed her over his shoulder, running all the while. Samiel is exceptionally strong.

“Put me down, you idiot!” Chloe shouted. “I can walk!”

I’m sure Samiel could feel the vibrations of Chloe’s shout in his chest even if he couldn’t hear the words, but he chose to ignore them. He ran at a dead sprint, right at Jude’s heels.

Nathaniel and I were several feet behind them. I was getting a good boost from terror and adrenaline, but I was starting to flag.

“Why can’t we fly?” I panted to Beezle.

“There are things sleeping in the trees,” Beezle said. “It’s better if we don’t wake them up.”

“What could be worse than what’s on the ground?” I asked.

The monster behind us roared. It sounded terrifyingly close. I didn’t want to turn around and see what it was. It was enough to know that it was big, it was angry and it was chasing us.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nathaniel glance over his shoulder. His face paled.

“Beezle, what’s following us?” I asked.

“A spriggan,” he said. “Usually they’re small, but this one has either eaten a lot of human children or it’s swollen.”

“Do I want to know what it will do to us if it catches us?” I asked, finding a whole new running gear as the spriggan’s footsteps pounded closer.

“Do I need to paint you a picture?” Beezle said. “It’s not going to offer you tea and biscuits; I’ll tell you that much for free.”

My lungs burned. My legs were slowing in spite of my desire to live. Even when faced with the possibility of death, I couldn’t keep to an all-out sprint indefinitely.