“I’ll give you a ring,” she said calmly, and the gnome arched a brow at her. “It’s silver,” she continued. “With a pink gem in the middle. It belonged to a princess, once.”

The gnome cocked his head, intrigued. “A princess?”

“Yes. Princess Alexandria St. James.” Kenzie’s voice was completely serious. “She was the previous owner. I’d give you the tiara that goes with it, but the princess lost it when she was trick-or-treating.”

The bridge gnome pondered this a moment. “Let’s see this ring,” he said at last.

Kenzie unzipped a side pocket of her backpack and drew out a gaudy plastic ring. It was a kid’s toy, the kind you’d find in bargain bins at dollar stores. The fake pink gem sparkled in the dim light, and the gnome’s eyes gleamed as he followed it.

“Well...” The gnome tapped his foot, trying and failing to sound reluctant. “I don’t know, human. It is just a ring, after all. Even though it belonged to a princess...”

Kenzie shrugged and withdrew her arm, closing her fingers around the ring to hide it from view. “If you don’t want it...”

“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant.” The gnome let out a huff. “Very well. I accept your toll. But only for you,” he added quickly. “The boy will have to give me something else.”

“Uh,” I hedged, as the bridge keeper shot me an expectant look. I didn’t have anything to offer except my swords and the clothes on my back. And tromping through the Deep Wyld naked or unarmed wasn’t an option. But Kenzie put a hand on my wrist and leaned in with a smile.

“It’s okay, tough guy. I gotcha covered.” Reaching into the bag again, she pulled out a plastic bracelet, the stretchy kind with shimmery, multicolored beads, dangled it in front of the gnome, and the faery’s eyes lit up the same way as before. “Do we have a deal?”

Kenzie smirked, shaking her head, as the gnome nodded once and vanished, taking the pieces of costume jewelry with him. “Firstborn child. Please,” she muttered as we continued down the last part of the bridge, where the Thin Man waited on the other side. “Why do they always open with that?”

I gave her an alarmed look that was only half-teasing. “You’re getting almost scary good at this,” I said, making her chuckle. “Did you take classes or something on how to bargain with the fey before you came back?”

“No, but it’s not that hard...once you realize a few things.” Kenzie held up a finger. “One, never accept their first offer. Two, everything is negotiable. Three, when presented with a choice, faeries will almost always choose to have something right now, rather than have to wait for something better.” She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Cheap costume jewelry now or firstborn child in a few years? Yeah, they always go for the shiny.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re brilliant,” I told her. “You know that, right?”

“Just observant. And a fast learner. I can’t swing a sword around, so I go with my strengths. And you...” she went on as we finally reached the opposite bank, where the Thin Man was slouched against a rock, waiting for us. “Why didn’t you mention this was a toll bridge? You didn’t think that was an important bit of information to share, before we were stuck in the middle of the river?”

“Apologies, my dear.” The Thin Man pushed himself off the stone. “It has been a very long time since I’ve used that bridge. I forgot about the toll. Especially since I have never had to pay one. But everything worked out in the end, didn’t it? And here you are, on the other side of the river.” He waved an arm at the tangle of black forest behind him. “Welcome to the Deep Wyld, humans. It is only going to get more interesting from here.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

GRIMALKIN’S GUIDE

“Why are we waiting around, again?” I asked, pacing up the bank to where a small fire crackled in a shallow pit. Kenzie’s magic survival pack also contained a lighter and a tiny bottle of lighter fluid, and after a couple false starts I’d managed to coax a tiny flame to life, then fed it twigs until it could sustain itself. I had no idea why we were camping on the banks of the River of Dreams, but the Thin Man had told us we had to wait awhile before heading into the forest after Annwyl. Kenzie was sitting on a log close to the fire, and Razor was perched at its edge, tossing leaves into the flames and poking it with a stick, but I was getting impatient.

“Come on,” I told the Thin Man, who was sitting in the sand near the fire, the flat edge of his profile turned toward the flames. “Why are we sitting here? You know the Deep Wyld. You can get us through. We should be looking for Annwyl, not roasting hot dogs and making s’mores.”

“Mmm, s’mores,” Kenzie remarked in a wistful voice. “Hot dogs. Man, I could really go for some real food right now.”

The Thin Man smiled at Kenzie, then gave me an aggravated look. “And where do you suggest we start looking, Ethan Chase?” he asked in a sharp voice. “Do you see that forest behind us?” He didn’t point to the tangle of trees and undergrowth, but I glanced at it anyway. “That is the Deep Wyld. It is not like the wyldwood. You cannot simply march merrily through without knowing where you are going. If you thought it was easy to get lost in the wyldwood, you haven’t seen anything yet. If you stumble or lose sight of the path for even a moment, the Deep Wyld will swallow you whole.

“I do not know where the Summer girl is,” the Thin Man continued, as I gave the forest another wary look. It might’ve been my imagination, but the shadows that marked the edge of the Deep Wyld looked closer. “I do not know what the Summer girl is searching for. The Deep Wyld is far too vast to wander about blindly, hoping we will stumble into her by chance. If we are to have the barest sliver of hope in finding her, we must wait for the cait sith’s contact.” The Thin Man took off his bowler hat and twirled it between his fingers. “We must be patient awhile longer. The cat said he would be here, if he decides to come at all.”

“Yeah, it’s the ‘if he decides to come at all’ part that bugs me,” I muttered, but turned and wandered back to the fire pit. Kenzie scooted aside on the log, making room for me.

“Feeling better?” she asked, as I plunked down and stared moodily into the flames. I shook myself, realizing I was “brooding” again, and leaned against her, resting my head on her shoulder.

“No.” I sighed, as her slim hand came to perch on my knee. “But I’ll try not to whine about it anymore. You’re right. I’m always going to be a part of this world. I may not like it, but...this is my family.” I shrugged and felt Kenzie look down at me. “Time to stop running, I guess, and accept the fact that I’m never going to be normal.”

“Normal is highly overrated,” Kenzie said cheerfully. “I used to think all I wanted was normal, but then I met you. Normal isn’t Thin Men and shadow monsters and talking cats, and crazy adventures through a real-life faeryland. Normal isn’t camping on the River of Dreams with your boyfriend who, oh, by the way, is the brother of a faery queen.”

“Normal isn’t being chased through a nightmare carnival by ugly clowns and creepy dolls that come to life.”