The Fey of Central Park
Keirran visibly winced.
“What are you doing here, cat?” I demanded, and Grimalkin turned a slow, bored gaze on me. “If you’re here to take us back to Meghan, you can forget it. We’re not going anywhere.”
He yawned, sitting up to scratch an ear. “As if I have nothing better to do than play nursemaid to a pair of wayward mortals,” he sniffed. “No, the Iron Queen simply asked me to find you, to see if you were still alive. And to make sure that you did not wander into a dragon’s lair or fall down a dark hole, as you humans are so prone to doing.”
“So she sent you to babysit us.” I crossed my arms. “We don’t need your help. We’re doing fine on our own.”
“Oh?” Grimalkin curled his whiskers at me. “And where will you go after this, human? Back to Leanansidhe’s? I have already been there, and she will tell you the same thing I am about to.” He yawned again and stretched on the branch, arching his tail over his back, making us wait. Sitting back down, he raised a paw and gave it a few slow licks. I tapped my fingers impatiently on my arm. From the few stories Meghan had told me about the cait sith, I’d thought she might be exaggerating. Now I knew she was not.
“Leanansidhe has a lead she wishes you to follow up on,” he finally announced, when I was just about ready to throw a rock at him. “There have been a great many disappearances around Central Park in New York. She thinks it would be prudent to search the area, see what you can turn up. If you are able to turn up anything.”
“New York?” Kenzie furrowed her brow. “Why there? I thought New York would be a place the fey avoid, you know, because it’s so crowded and, um…iron-y.”
“It is indeed,” the cat said, nodding. “However, Central Park has one of the highest populations of exiled fey in the world. Many half-breeds also come from that area. It is a small oasis in the middle of a vast population of humans. Also, there are more trods to and from Central Park than you would ever guess.”
“So, how are we supposed to get to New York from Ireland?”
Grimalkin sighed. “One would think I would not have to explain how this works to mortals, again and again and again,” he mused. “Worry not, human. Leanansidhe and I have already discussed it. I will lead you there, and then you can flounder aimlessly about to your heart’s content.”
Razor suddenly blipped onto Keirran’s shoulder with a hiss, glaring at Grimalkin. “Bad kitty!” he screeched, making Keirran flinch and jerk his head to the side. “Evil, evil, sneaky kitty! Bite his tail off! Pull his toes out! Burn, burn!” He bounced furiously on Keirran’s shoulder, and the prince put a hand over his head to stop him.
“What about the queen?” he asked over Razor’s muffled hisses and occasional “bad kitties.” “Doesn’t she want you to return to the Iron Court?”
“The queen asked me to find you, and I did.” Grimalkin scratched an ear, not the least bit concerned with the raging gremlin threatening to set him on fire. “Beyond that, I am afraid I cannot be expected to drag you back if you do not wish to go. Though…the prince consort did mention the phrase, throw away the key, at one point.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw Keirran gulp. Razor gave a buzz that sounded almost worried.
“So, if we are done asking useless questions…” Grimalkin hopped to a lower branch, waving his tail and watching us with amusement. “And if you are all quite finished dancing under the moon, I will lead you to your destination. We will have to cut back through Leanansidhe’s basement, but she has several trods to New York due to the amount of business she conducts there. And she is not exactly pleased with all the disappearances in her favorite city, so I suggest you hurry.”
“Right now?”
“I do not see the point in repeating myself, human,” Grimalkin said with a disdainful glance in my direction. “Follow along or not. It makes no difference to me.”
* * *
I’d never been to New York City or Central Park, though I had seen images of them both online. As seen from above, the park was pretty amazing: an enormous, perfectly rectangular strip of nature surrounded by buildings, roads, skyscrapers and millions of people. It had woodlands, meadows, even a couple of huge lakes, smack-dab in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. Pretty damn impressive.
It was no wonder that it was a haven for the fey.
It was early twilight when we went through yet another archway in Leanansidhe’s dungeon and came out beneath a rough stone bridge surrounded by trees. At first, it was hard to believe we stood at the heart of a city of millions. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful, with the sun setting in the west and the birds still chirping in the branches. A few seconds later, however, it became clear that this wasn’t the wilderness. The Irish moors had been completely silent; stand in one place long enough, and it felt as if you were the only person in the entire world. Here, though, the air held the quiet stillness of approaching night, you could still catch the faint sounds of horns and street traffic, filtering through the trees.
“Okay,” I muttered, looking at Grimalkin, who strutted to a nearby log and hopped up on it. “We’re here. Where to now?”
The cat sat down and licked dew off his paw. “That is up to you, human,” he stated calmly. “I cannot look over your shoulder every step of the way. I brought you to your destination—what you do next is no concern of mine.” He drew the paw over his ears and licked his whiskers before continuing. “According to Leanansidhe, there have been several disappearances in Central Park. So you are in the right place to start looking for…whatever it is that you are looking for.”
“You do realize Central Park is over eight hundred acres. How are we supposed to find anything?”
“Certainly not by standing about and whining at me.” Grimalkin yawned and stretched, curling his tail over his back. “I have business to attend to,” he stated, hopping off the log. “So this is where we must part. If you find anything, return to this bridge—it will take you back to Leanansidhe’s. Do try not to get lost, humans. It is becoming rather tedious hunting you down.”
With a flick of his bushy tail, Grimalkin trotted away, leaped up an embankment, and vanished into the brush.
I looked at Kenzie and the others. “Any ideas? Other than wandering around a giant-ass park without a clue, that is.”
Surprisingly, it was Annwyl that spoke. “I remember coming here a few times in the past,” she said. “There are several places that are hot spots for the local fey. We could start there.”
“Good enough.” I nodded and gestured down the path. “Lead the way.”
Yep, Central Park was enormous, a whole world unto itself, it seemed. We followed Annwyl down twisty forest paths, over wider cement roads lined with trees, across a huge flat lawn that still had people milling about, tossing footballs or lying together on blankets, watching the stars.
“Strange,” Annwyl murmured as we crossed the gigantic field, passing a couple making out on a quilt. “There’s always a few of us on the lawn at twilight—it’s one of our favorite dancing spots. But this place feels completely empty.” A breeze whispered across the lawn, and she shivered, hugging herself. Keirran put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m afraid of what we might find here.”
“We haven’t found anything yet, Annwyl,” Keirran said, and she nodded.
“I know.”
We continued past the lawn, walking by a large, open-air stage on the banks of a lake. A statue of two lovers embracing sat just outside the theater, together for all time. Again, Annwyl paused, gazing at the structure as if she expected to see someone there.
“Shakespeare in the park.” She sighed, sounding wistful. “I watched A Midsummer Night’s Dream here once. It was incredible—the Veil was the thinnest I’d ever seen at that point. So many humans were almost ready to believe in us.” She shook her head, her face dark. “Something is very wrong. We haven’t seen a single exile, half-blood or anyone. What has happened here?”
“We have to keep looking,” Kenzie said. “There has to be someone who knows what’s going on. Is there another place we could search?”
Annwyl nodded. “One more place,” she murmured. “And if we don’t find anyone there, then there’s no one to be found. Follow me.”
She took us down another path that turned into a rocky trail, winding its way through a serene landscape of flowers and plants. Rustic wooden railings and benches lined the path, and a few late-blooming flowers still poked up from the vegetation. Quaint was the word that came to mind as we trailed Annwyl through the lush gardens. Quaint and picturesque, though I didn’t voice my opinion out loud. Keirran and Annwyl were faeries, and Kenzie was a girl, so it was okay for them to notice such things. As a card-carrying member of the guy club, I wasn’t going to comment on the floral arrangements.
“Where are we?” I asked instead. “What is this place?”
Annwyl stopped at the base of a tree, fenced in by wooden railings and in full bloom despite the cool weather. “This,” she said, gazing up at the branches, “is Shakespeare’s Garden. The most famous human of our world. We come to this place to pay tribute to the great Bard, the mortal who opened people’s minds again to magic. Who made humans remember us once more.” She reached out to the tree and gently touched a withered leaf with her finger. The branch shuddered, and the leaf uncurled, green and alive again. “The fact that it’s empty now, that no one is here, is terrifying.”
I craned my neck to look up at the tree. It was empty, except for a lone black bird near the top branches, preening its feathers. Annwyl was right; it was strange that we hadn’t run into any fey, especially in a place like this. Central Park had everything they could ask for: art and imagination, huge swaths of nature, a never-ending source of glamour from all the humans who passed through. This place should be teeming with faeries.
“Aren’t there other places we could check?” Kenzie asked. “Other…faery hangouts?”
“Yes,” Annwyl said, but she didn’t sound confident. “There are other places. Sheep Meadow—”
“Sheep!” Razor buzzed.
“—Tavern on the Green and Strawberry Fields. But if we didn’t run into anyone by now, I doubt we’re going to have much luck.”
“Well, we can’t give up,” Kenzie insisted. “It’s a big park. There have to be other places we can—”
A cry shattered the silence then, causing us all to jerk up. It was faint, echoing over the trees, but a few seconds later it came again, desperate and terrified.
Keirran drew his sword. “Come on!”
We charged back down the path, following the echo of the scream, hoping we were going in the right direction. As we left Shakespeare’s Garden, the path split before us, and I paused a second, panting and looking around. I could just see the top of the theater off to the left, but directly ahead of us…
“Is that…a castle?” I asked, staring at the stone towers rising over the trees.
“Belvedere Castle,” Annwyl said, coming up behind me. “Not really a castle, either. More of an observatory and sightseeing spot.”
“Is that why it’s so small?”
“Look!” Kenzie gasped, grabbing my arm and pointing to the towers.
Ghostly figures, white and pale in the moonlight, swarmed the top of the stone castle, crawling over its walls like ants. Another scream rang out, and a small, dark figure appeared in the midst of the swarm, scrambling for the top of the tower.
“Hurry!” Keirran ordered and took off, the rest of us close behind.
Reaching the base of the castle steps, I whirled, stopping Kenzie from following me up. “Stay here,” I told her, as she took a breath to protest. “Kenzie, you can’t go charging up there! There’re too many of them, and you don’t have anything to fight with.”
“Screw that,” Kenzie retorted, and grabbed a rattan stick from my hand. “I do now!”
“Ethan,” Keirran called before I could argue. The faery prince stood a few steps up, glaring at the top of the staircase. “They’re coming!”
Ghostly fey swarmed over the walls and hurled themselves down the steps toward us. They were small faeries, gnome-or goblin-sized, but their hands were huge, twice as big as mine. As they drew closer, I saw that they had no mouths, just two giant, bulging eyes and a pair of slits for a nose. They dropped from the walls, crawling down like lizards or spiders, and flowed silently down the steps toward us.
At the head of our group, Keirran raised his hand, eyes half-closed in concentration. For a second, the air around him turned cold, and then he swept his arm down toward the approaching fey. Ice shards flew before him in a vicious arc, ripping into the swarm like an explosion of shrapnel. Wide-eyed, several of them jerked, twisted into fog and disappeared.
Damn. Where have I seen that before?
Brandishing his weapon, Keirran charged up the steps with me close behind him. The evil, mouthless gnomes scuttled toward us, eyes hard and furious, raising their hands as they lunged. One of them clawed at my arm as I jerked back. Its palm opened up—or rather, a gaping, tooth-lined mouth opened up on its palm, hissing and chomping as it snatched for me.
“Aagh!” I yelped, kicking the gnome away. “That is not cool! Keirran!”
“I saw.” Keirran’s sword flashed, and an arm went hurtling away, mouth shrieking. The ghostly fey pressed in, raising their horrible hands. Surrounded by tiny, gnashing teeth, Keirran stood his ground, cutting at any faery that got too close. “Are the others all right?” he panted without looking back.
I spared a split-second glance at Kenzie and Annwyl. Keirran and I were blocking the lower half of the steps, so the gnomes were focused on us, but Kenzie stood in front of Annwyl, her rattan stick raised to defend the Summer girl if needed.
I almost missed the gnome that ducked through Keirran’s guard and leaped at me, both hands aiming for my throat. I stumbled back, raising my stick, but a vine suddenly whipped over the stair rail and coiled around the faery in midair, hurling it away. I looked back and saw Annwyl, one hand outstretched, the plants around her writhing angrily. I nodded my thanks and lunged forward to join Keirran.
Gradually, we fought our way up the steps until we reached the open courtyard at the base of the towers. The ugly gnomes fell back, swiping at us with their toothy hands as we pressed forward. One managed to latch onto my belt; I felt the razor-sharp teeth slice through the leather as easily as paper before I smashed the hilt of my weapon into its head with a curse. We fought our way across the deck, battling gnomes that swarmed us from all directions, until we stood in the shadow of the miniature castle itself. Kenzie and Annwyl hung back near the top of the steps, Annwyl using Summer magic to choke and entangle her opponents, while Kenzie whapped them with her stick once they were trapped.
But more kept coming, scaling the walls, rushing us with arms raised. A cry behind us made me look back. Several gnomes stood in a loose circle around Kenzie and Annwyl. They weren’t attacking, but the faery’s hands were stretched toward the Summer girl, the horrible mouths opened wide. Annwyl had fallen to her hands and knees, her slender form fraying around the edges as if she was made of mist and the wind was blowing her away. Kenzie rushed forward and swung at one gnome, striking it in the shoulder. It turned with a hiss and grabbed the stick in both hands. There was a splintering crack, and the rattan shredded, breaking apart, as the faery’s teeth made short work of the wood.
“Annwyl!” Keirran turned back, rushing forward to defend the Summer girl and Kenzie, and in that moment of distraction a wrinkled, gnarled hand landed on my arm. Jagged teeth sank into my wrist, and I cried out, shaking my arm to dislodge it, but the thing clung to me like a leech, biting and chewing. Gritting my teeth, I slammed my arm into the wall several times, ignoring the burst of agony with every hit, and the gnome finally dropped away.
The gnomes pressed forward, sensing blood. My wrist and forearm were soaked red and felt as if I’d just stuck my arm into a meat grinder. As I staggered back, half-blind with pain, a big raven swooped down and landed on the wall across from me. And, maybe it was the delirium from the pain and loss of blood, but I was almost sure it winked.
There was a burst of cold from Keirran’s direction, and the bird took off. Several shrieks of pain showed the Iron prince was taking revenge for the Summer faery, but that didn’t really help me, backed against a wall, dripping blood all over the flagstones. I braced myself as the swarm tensed to attack.
“You really do meet the strangest people in New York,” called a new voice somewhere overhead.
I looked up. A lean figure stood atop one of the towers, arms crossed, gazing down with a smirk. He shook his head, dislodging several feathers from his crimson hair, giving me a split-second glance of his pointed ears.
“For example,” he continued, still grinning widely, “you look exactly like the brother of a good friend of mine. I mean, what are the odds? Of course, he’s supposed to be safely home in Louisiana, so I have no idea what he’s doing in New York City. Oh, well.”
The gnomes whirled, hissing and confused, looking from me to the intruder and back again. Sensing he was the bigger threat, they started edging toward the tower, raising their hands to snarl at him.
“Huh, that’s kinda disturbing. I bet none of you have pets, do you?”
A dagger came flying through the air from his direction, striking a gnome as it rushed forward, turning it into mist. A second later, the stranger landed next to me, still grinning, pulling a second dagger from his belt. “Hey there, Ethan Chase,” he said, looking as smug and irreverent as I remembered. “Fancy meeting you here.”
The pack lifted their arms again, mouths opening, and I felt that strange, sluggish pull. The faery beside me snorted. “I don’t think so,” he scoffed, and lunged into their midst.
Pushing myself off the wall, I started to follow, but he really didn’t need much help. Even with the gnomes sucking away at his glamour, he danced and whirled among them with no problem, his dagger cutting a misty path through their ranks. “Oy, human, go help your friends!” he called, dodging as a piranha-gnome leaped at him. “I can finish up here!”
I nodded and ran to the foot of the stairs where Keirran had drawn back, placing himself between the gnomes, Annwyl and Kenzie, his eyes flashing as he dared anything to come close. Annwyl slumped against the ground, and Kenzie stood protectively beside her, still holding one half of the broken rattan. A few gnomes surrounded them, arms outstretched and glaring at Keirran; one was doubled over a few feet away as if sick.
Leaping from the stairs, I dropped behind one of the faeries with a yell, bringing my stick crashing down on its skull. It dropped like a stone, fading into nothing, and I quickly stepped to the side, kicking another in the head, flinging it away.
Hissing, the rest of the pack scattered. Screeching and jabbering through their nasty hand-mouths, they scuttled into the bushes and up the walls, leaving us alone at the foot of the stairs.
Panting, I looked toward the others. “Everyone okay?”
Keirran wasn’t listening. As soon as the gnomes had gone, he sheathed his weapon and immediately turned to Annwyl, dropping down beside her. I heard them talking in low murmurs, Keirran’s worried voice asking if she was all right, the Summer girl insisting she was fine. I sighed and turned to Kenzie; they would probably be unreachable for a while.
Kenzie approached sheepishly, one half of the broken rattan in her hand. “Sorry,” she said, holding up the ruined weapon with a helpless gesture. “It…uh…died a noble death. I can only hope it gave that thing a wicked tongue splinter.”
I took the broken stick from her hand, tossed it into the bushes, and drew her into a brief, one-armed hug.
“Better the stick than you,” I muttered, feeling her heart speed up, her arms circling my waist to cling to me. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “They were doing something to Annwyl when Keirran came leaping in. He killed several, but they backed off and started doing that creepy thing with their hands, and Annwyl…” She shivered, looking back at the Summer faery in concern. “It was a good thing you came and chased them off. Annwyl wasn’t looking so good…and you’re bleeding again!”
“Yeah.” I gritted my teeth as she stepped away and gently took my arm. “One of them mistook my arm for the stick. Ow!” I flinched as she drew back the torn sleeve, revealing a mess of blood and sliced skin. “You can thank Keirran for this,” I muttered as Kenzie gave me a horrified, apologetic look. “He went swooping in to rescue his girlfriend and left me alone with a half dozen piranha fey.”
And speaking of swooping…
“Hey,” came a familiar, slightly annoyed voice from the top of the stairs, “not to rain on your little reunion or anything, but did you forget something back there? Like, oh, I don’t know…me?”
I heard a gasp from Annwyl as the redheaded faery came sauntering down the steps, lips pulled into a smirk.
“Remember me?” he said, hopping down the last step to face us, still grinning. Kenzie eyed him curiously, but he looked past her to Keirran and Annwyl. “Oh, hey, and the princeling is here, too! Small world! And what, may I ask, are you doing way out here with the queen’s brother?”
“What are you doing here?” I growled, as Keirran and Annwyl finally joined us. Keirran had on a wide, relieved smile, and the other faery grinned back at him; obviously they knew each other. Annwyl, on the other hand, looked faintly star-struck. I guess you couldn’t blame her, considering who this was.
“Me?” The faery laced his hands behind his skull. “I was supposed to meet a certain obnoxious furball near Shakespeare’s Garden, but then I heard a racket so I decided to investigate.” He shook his head, giving me a bemused look. “Jeez, you’re just as much trouble as your sister, you know that? It must run in the family.”
“Um, excuse me,” Kenzie put in, and we stared at her. “Sorry,” she continued, looking around at each of us, “but do you all know each other? And if you do, would you mind letting me in on the secret?”
The Great Prankster grinned at me. “You wanna tell her? Or should I?”
I ignored him. “Kenzie,” I sighed, “this is Robin Goodfellow, a friend of my sister’s.” Her eyes went wide, and I nodded. “You might know him better as—”
“Puck,” she finished for me in a whisper. She was staring at him now, awe and amazement written across her face. “Puck, like from A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Love potions and Nick Bottom and donkey heads? That Puck?”
“The one and only.” Puck grinned. Pulling a green hankie from his pocket, he wadded it up and tossed it in my direction. I caught it with my good hand. “Here. Looks like those things chewed on you pretty good. Wrap that up, and then someone can tell me what the heck is going on here.”
“That’s what we were trying to figure out,” Keirran explained, as Kenzie took the handkerchief and started wrapping my mangled wrist. The slashes weren’t deep, but they were extremely painful. Damn piranha-faery. I clenched my teeth and endured, as Keirran went on. “Leanansidhe sent us here to see what was happening with the exiles and half-breeds. We were trying to find them when you showed up.”
Razor abruptly winked into sight on Keirran’s shoulder. Seeing Puck, the gremlin gave a trill that wasn’t quite welcoming, making Puck wrinkle his nose. “Oh, hey, Buzz-saw. Still hanging around, are you?” He sighed. “So, let me get this straight. Scary Dark Muse has got you tromping all over Central Park on some sort of crazy secret mission, and she didn’t tell me about it? Well, I’m kinda hurt.” Crossing his arms, he gave Keirran and me a scrutinizing look, and his green eyes narrowed sharply. “How did you two get involved in this, anyway?”
Something in his voice made the hairs rise along my arm. Me and Keirran. Not Kenzie or Annwyl; he wasn’t even looking at them. Puck knew something. Just like Meghan. It was as if he’d confirmed that Keirran and I were never supposed to meet, that seeing us together was definitely a bad thing.
I couldn’t think about that now, though. Puck was certainly not going to tell me anything. “My friend Todd was kidnapped,” I said, and he arched an eyebrow at me. “He’s a half-breed, and was taken by the same type of creatures that suck out the glamour of normal fey.”
“I thought that’s what they were doing. Ugh.” Puck gave an exaggerated shiver and brushed at his arms. “Nasty creepy things. I’m feeling very violated right now.” He shook himself, then frowned at me. “So, you just decided to go look for him? Just like that? Without telling anyone about it? Wow, you are just like your sister.”
“We had to do something, Puck,” Keirran broke in. “Exiles and half-breeds all over the world are disappearing. And these…glamour-eaters…are making them disappear. Summer and Winter weren’t offering any help. I could go to Oberon, but he won’t listen to me.”
Kenzie finished wrapping my arm, tying it off as gently as she could. I nodded my thanks and turned to the Summer faery. “But he’ll listen to you,” I told Puck. “Someone has to tell the courts about this.”
“And you think I should be messenger boy?” Puck crossed his arms. “What do I look like, a carrier pigeon? What about you? What are you four planning?” He looked at all of us, Keirran especially, and smiled. “Whatever it is, I think I should stick around for it.”
“What about Grimalkin?”
“Furball?” Puck snorted. “He probably set this whole thing up. If he wants to see me, he’ll find me. Besides, this sounds much more exciting.”
“We’ve got this.”
“Really? Your arm begs to differ, kid. What would Meghan say if she knew you were out here? Both of you?” he added, glancing at Keirran.
“We’ll be fine,” I insisted. “I don’t need Meghan’s help. I survived without her for years. She never bothered to keep tabs on me until now.”
Puck narrowed his eyes to glowing slits, looking rather dangerous now, and I quickly switched tactics. “And we’re just going back to Leanansidhe, to let her know what we found. There’s nothing here, anyway.”
“But the courts have to know what’s going on,” Keirran added. “You felt what those things were doing. How long before they kill all the exiles in the real world and start eyeing the Nevernever?”
“You have to go to them,” I said. “You have to let them know what’s going on. If you tell Oberon—”
“He might not listen to me, either.” Puck sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “But…I see your point. Fine, then.” He blew out a noisy breath. “Looks like the next stop on my list is Arcadia.” That grin crept up again, eager and malicious. “I guess it’s about time I went home. Titania is going to be so happy to see me.”
At the mention of Titania, Annwyl shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The longing on the Summer girl’s face was plain; it was obvious that she wanted to go home, back to the Summer Court. Keirran didn’t touch her but leaned in and whispered something in her ear, and she smiled at him gratefully.
They didn’t see the way Puck stared at them, his eyes hooded and troubled, a shadow darkening his face. They didn’t see the way his gaze narrowed, his mouth set into a grim line. It caused a chill to skitter up my back, but before I could say anything, the Summer Prankster yawned noisily and stretched, raising long limbs over his head, and the scary look on his face vanished.
“Well,” he mused, dusting off his hands, “I guess I’m off to the Summer Court, then. You sure you four don’t need any help? I feel a little left out of the action.”
“We’ll be fine, Puck,” Keirran said. “If you see my parents, tell them I’m sorry, but I had to go.”
Puck winced. “Yeah, that’s going to go over so well for me,” he muttered. “I can already hear what ice-boy is going to say about this.” Shaking his head, he backed up, leaves and dust starting to swirl around him. “You two remind me of a certain pair.” He grinned, looking from me to Keirran. “Maybe that’s why I like you so much. So be careful, okay? If you get into trouble, I’ll probably get blamed for it.”
The whirlwind of dust and leaves whipped into a frenzy, and Puck twisted into himself, growing smaller and darker, until a huge black raven rose from the cyclone and flapped away over the trees.
“Wow,” murmured Kenzie, uncharacteristically quiet until now. “I actually met Robin Goodfellow.”
“Yeah,” I said, cradling my arm. My wrist hurt like hell, and the mention of my sister was making me moody. “He’s a lot less insufferable in the plays.”
For some reason, Razor found that hilarious and cackled with laughter, bouncing up and down on Keirran’s back. The prince sighed. “He won’t go back to Arcadia,” he said grimly, staring at the spot where the raven had disappeared. “Not immediately. He’ll go to Mag Tuiredh, or he’ll at least try to get a message there. He’s going back to tell my parents where we are.”
“Great,” I muttered. “So we don’t have a lot of time, whatever we do.”
Keirran shook his head. “What now?” he asked. “Should we go back to Leanansidhe and tell her the park is basically a dead zone?”
“My vote is yes,” I said. I shifted my arm to a more comfortable position, gritting my teeth as pain stabbed through my wrist. “If we run into any more of those things, I’m not going to be able to fight very well.”
“Back to the bridge, then?”
“Wait,” Kenzie said suddenly. She was staring back toward the castle, her gaze turned toward one of the towers, dark and hazy in the moonlight. “I thought I saw something move.”
I turned, following her gaze, just as a head poked up from one of the observation platforms, looking around wildly. Its eyes glowed orange in the shadows.