I looked again at the obscenely serene and beautiful scene around us. There was nothing sinister, nothing threatening, nothing even remotely creepy about it. Unless you had really bad allergies, in which case the flowers might be considered evil.

“Are you sure?” I asked Reth, still dubious.

“Positive.” His eyes darted around, scanning our surroundings as though he expected something horrid to come screaming out of the candy-colored trees.

“Well. Okay then.” I was so confused. Why was this the Unseelie headquarters? Compared to that silver lake with black shores and red sky, this was somewhat lacking in the intimidation factor. I couldn’t imagine the Dark Queen in all her soul-sucking black hole glory anywhere near this idyllic setting. “Any idea where they keep the prisoners?”

Reth waved a hand at the entire forest. “Anywhere around here.”

“No jails? Or cages? Or, you know, chains?”

“You underestimate the power that comes with making humans happy and content. I seem to recall you overlooking several key problems with our relationship back when you allowed me to warm you.”

I scowled. Oh, I so didn’t like him. But he had a point. I hadn’t cared that I was fifteen and he was ageless, or that we were entirely different species, or that he controlled every aspect of our time together. This was the same way, all happy and warm and nice smelling. Who would want to escape? “Let’s find Lend and get out of here.”

Maybe the Dark Queen wouldn’t even be here. This didn’t seem like her scene. It could be just a huge, elaborate, bizarrely butterfly-filled prison, after all. All we had to do was find the area Lend was in and hope he wasn’t permanently screwed up by being in Happy Land for too long. Oh, please, please don’t let him be permanently changed.

One of the huge butterflies alighted on my outstretched hand, fluttering its wings slowly. I looked closer, and realized that the brightly colored blue-and-purple scales all looked like miniature eyes. Interesting camouflage.

Then the eyes blinked.

“Bleep!” I shouted, shaking my hand until the creepy bug flew away. Jack gave me a weird look. “It had eyes! On its wings!”

“Of course it did,” Reth answered, annoyed. “They already know we’re here.”

“Fabulous,” Jack said, reaching down and plucking a crimson flower. A small scream sounded from it as he severed the stem. He smiled maliciously, then started stomping with abandon through the beds of blossoms, a chorus of tinny, shrill screams punctuating every step.

“Maybe you shouldn’t aggravate the flowers,” I hissed. “Let’s find Lend and get out of here!”

“Lead the way,” Reth said wearily.

I frowned and scanned the trees around us. There seemed to be a path through the flowers winding around the trees to our left. I figured it was as good a bet as anything. A path meant someone was using it, which would hopefully lead us … somewhere.

I walked over to it, followed by Reth and Jack. “I really need better plans.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but … wait, I already did.” Jack shoved his hands in his jean pockets and whistled tunelessly. I scanned the trees constantly as we walked, but the only movement was those creepy butterflies, tranquilly drifting through the trees.

Wait—no, not drifting. Following us. “We have an audience,” I said to Reth, nodding at the clusters of flying insects.

“I suppose we can’t make the Dark Queen any angrier with us than she already is,” he said, then his perfect mouth moved, silently forming words, and he gracefully waved his hands through the air in a semicircle. The warm breeze suddenly froze, and I saw frost eat across the nearest butterflies’ wings. They stopped midair, then dropped to the ground with tiny clinking noises, frozen solid.

A serene smile spread across Reth’s face. “I’ve always disliked insects.”

“If the whole being-a-faerie thing doesn’t work out for you, you definitely have a future in pest control.”

We walked for a few more minutes, the air now devoid of fluttering spies, until the trees grew thinner, revealing a light-drenched clearing. Low, murmuring voices and sweet but strange notes of music drifted back to us on the wind.

“This is bad,” Reth said, frowning.

“What? What’s bad?” I pulled out Tasey and hurried forward, wondering if Lend was in the clearing, wondering what was happening. My feet seemed to dance ahead of their own accord in my eagerness to find him.

Jack, too, rushed with me, reaching out and taking my arm. Then he raised our hands above my head, twirling me in a rapid circle, which made perfect sense with the music. I spun around and around, my hair whipping out, then stopped, skipping forward again with Jack.

He laughed and I laughed with him, dropping Tasey on the path as we twirled together in flawless synchronization. I wanted to be wearing something as beautiful as I felt moving to this music. I wanted a dress made of spider-webs and butterfly wings, with dewdrops for jewels. But it didn’t matter, not anymore, not when we could dance together.

We kicked off our shoes in wordless agreement, then broke through the trees and fell into line with the other dancers. I didn’t know the steps, I couldn’t know the steps, but the music whispered them to me, told me what to do with my feet and my hands, but most of all what to do with my heart.

I laughed again, feeling lighter and freer than I ever had, my face flushed with exertion as I took someone else’s hand, and then someone else’s, and then someone else’s, twisting and turning, exhilarated with the pure joy of movement. We were a circle, and then two, and then three, and then one again, writing patterns and creating tales with our movement.

I closed my eyes, felt the warm light on my cheeks, felt the wind in my hair as hands grabbed mine and twirled me around and around and around again. There was nothing but this, nothing but the dance and the music and the joy. My feet moved faster and faster, tracing their song of happiness on the ground, telling a story that would never end. I never wanted it to.