Brianna and Paulie continued their trek along the path. Paulie chatted on about his friend, whoever that was. She hung back a bit, lost in her own thoughts of gloom and death. She knew that things could never be the same again. A part of her questioned whether she really wanted them to be.

Her life to that point had been static, unchanging. Her family, the Old Ones, all of them had lived like their purpose was already fulfilled. There had been no sense of urgency, no mystery.

Until Marcas left for California. Everything had changed then.

Her heart ached at the loss of her brother, and she had no idea if Fallon would recover from her injuries. She dearly loved the Old Ones who had been killed. Still, even without her powers as the Seer, she was actually seeing so much more now.

Brianna rubbed her arms. Was it getting colder?

Since entering this strange place she had always known as the Great Nothing, everything had been constant. Now she was certain the temperature was dropping quickly. Dread fell over her as though death itself were approaching.

“It’s okay, Brianna,” Paulie said. “We’re almost there. My friend said so.”

Brianna noted that the earlier confidence in Paulie’s voice was no longer there. He sounded afraid. Brianna felt her own tension rise. She could see her breath in front of her now. Strange how she had spent her entire life in a region in which harsh winters were normal, and yet this was the first time she’d ever seen her breath. Or been cold, for that matter. Never had she experienced anything outside the comfort of her little house. For the first time she was truly living, and it scared her to death.

It seemed they had gone no farther than a few yards when the path ended at a rough wood door. Brianna did not know what she expected, but somehow, she had thought the end would be more dramatic than the beginning.

She could not help but wonder whether this door would open onto a cozy house like the one she had left, or to a nightmare.

Paulie did not hesitate. He grasped the knob and pulled the door open as though he had passed through it a hundred times before. Brianna followed at a more cautious pace. They emerged in what looked to be a subterranean passage of some sort. The walls were rough stone, as were the floor and ceiling. Burning torches lit the corridor.

Without warning, four figures lurched from the shadows. Two of them grabbed Paulie by the arms, and two took Brianna. Brianna’s attackers shoved her hard against the wall and pulled her hands behind her back.

“Stop,” she yelled. “Leave us alone.” Something smacked her hard against the side of her head, and bright lights exploded across her vision. She stumbled, but her attackers held her upright while binding her hands. Beside her, Paulie appeared more resigned to his fate.

“Paulie, what’s happening?” She took another hit to the head for her trouble, this one not as hard but still enough to leave her legs weak. So far, their captors had done their work in complete silence. Brianna had not had a chance to get a look at them. All she knew was that they were tall and dark. And strong. Her struggles did nothing to dissuade them. A hand grabbed her hair and pulled her head back while another stuffed a coarse cloth in her gasping mouth. Another cloth wrapped around her head, holding the gag in place.

She tried to call out to Paulie again, but only muffled sounds escaped her.

Their assailants dragged them up the corridor. The passage was on an incline, and Brianna stumbled up it, fighting to maintain her balance with her hands bound behind her and her head still spinning from the blows.

A dull roar came from somewhere in front of them. Brianna thought she saw a light farther up the passage, and as they continued, the light became a doorway and the roar became the shouts of hundreds of voices. No, thousands of voices—all cheering something she could not yet see.

Brianna expected the light at the end of the passage to grow brighter as they neared, but the same dull glow remained constant. The cheering of the crowd grew louder. Excitement rang through the sound, an anticipation of something long awaited. Whatever it was, she had a strong feeling that she and Paulie were a part of it.

In front of her, Paulie stumbled and had to be held up by the two who led him. She could see him trembling and feel his fear. Though Paulie had not been gagged as she had, he made no sound as he was led up the tunnel.

Where is your friend now, Paulie? Where is he when we really need him? Brianna hated herself for the thoughts but could not help them.

All too soon they passed through the arched exit from the tunnel and into a vast opening. The cheering erupted, making it difficult to hear her own thoughts. The ground shook as the crowd stomped and jumped. Brianna looked up, expecting to be surrounded by a raucous crowd, but instead she saw thousands of lights dancing all around them, from ground level to so high up she lost sight of them. The lights were white and bright yet illuminated nothing. The crowd that held them remained invisible to her.

As though on cue, the din ceased. The silence was so deafening that the only sound was the ringing in Brianna’s ears. In front of her, Paulie looked around at the dots of lights that resembled stars in the night sky. She wanted to reach out to her trembling friend, to comfort him. She hated her own helplessness. Hated it with a passion she had never experienced before. If anything happened to Paulie, she would die trying to save him.

She might very well die anyway.

As their captors led them deeper into the mass of lights, the feeling of an arena was replaced by more of a sense of infinite space. Brianna could feel thousands of eyes on her. At the same time, it was as though nothing existed in all the universe.

Beside her, Paulie looked around, his eyes huge. He turned to her. “Don’t worry, Brianna. It will be okay.”

Brianna did not know how he could say such a thing. She did not see any way this could end up okay. At some point, their captors had slipped away, leaving Brianna and Paulie alone. An intense sense of anticipation surrounded them as they stood in the dark. The twinkling lights that filled the air grew dimmer, as though pulling away. At the same time, pressure built in Brianna’s eyes and ears.

High above, a light soared across the sky like a shooting star. Instead of fading and burning out, however, the light grew brighter as it spiraled toward the ground. As it neared, the pressure continued to build until Brianna felt like an ice pick was being stabbed between her eyes. Her fear intensified as the light continued toward them. The pressure became a physical force that pushed her to her knees. She could no longer raise her head but stared at the blackness that was the ground beneath her.

Her body trembled with tension and fear as she knelt, arms bound behind her, face almost touching the ground. If Paulie was still beside her, she had no sense of him. The silence around her was broken by the whispers of a multitude.

The Prince.

The words filled the air like wind rustling the leaves of a forest. The whispers continued for perhaps a minute before falling hushed once again. Brianna felt as if she were being crushed as she was pressed closer to the ground. She sobbed through the gag and closed her eyes. Never had she felt so small and insignificant.

“At least one of you is wise enough to bow before me,” a voice said. The voice was strong and rang with a tone of great authority. Since Brianna was on her knees, she had to guess that she was the one bowing and that Paulie had somehow remained standing. “All will bow before me. Even you, False One. Even you will bow.”

“You are the false one, Oberon. You set yourself up as lord, but you are nothing more than a pretender.”

Brianna struggled to turn her head. Those words came from where she knew Paulie to be, and the voice was his, yet it held so much authority she knew it could not be him. The pressure that held her down lessened as the creature turned its full attention to her friend.

Could this actually be Oberon? If so, she could no longer doubt that the fulfillment of the prophecy had come to pass.

“You of all humans should know the folly of your words,” Oberon said. “My Princess has come. You yourself have seen her and know this to be true. She comes to me now, of her own accord. Soon, you will be dead, and the worlds of both the fae and the humans will belong to me.”

“The prophesy is only one possibility,” Paulie said. His voice was low, closer to the sound Brianna was so familiar with.

Oberon laughed. “One possibility that no one can stop from coming to fruition. Your time has come, False One. Very soon the Gathering shall take place and the choice be made. And then, my feeble-minded human, Liza McCarthy will cut your heart out and send you to hell where you belong.”