CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 
EIGHT THIRTY IN THE EVENING
ON THE SECOND DAY OF EMILY’S ADVENTURES.
Emily and Jack left Somerset House by the front door this time. Emily did take one detour, however. Just before they stepped outside, she slipped into one of the rooms that opened off from the large entrance hall. The room was stuffy, filled with chairs and small tables covered in newspapers. Probably some kind of smoking room, thought Emily.
She undid the latch on one of the windows and pushed it up so that it was slightly ajar. Now when she came back to fetch William, she wouldn’t have to mess about around the back of the building. She could simply slip in through the front window.
Proud of this show of foresight, Emily rejoined Jack in the entrance hall, and they stepped out into the cold night.
The fog was even thicker now. It enfolded Emily in a claustrophobic embrace, tendrils of dampness brushing against her face like the chill fingers of the dead. Her world was reduced to an eerie, muffled circle of pale yellow-gray. Her brief, tiny burst of confidence slipped away, leeched out of her by the horrid weather.
She turned to look for Jack, but there was no sign of him. “Jack?” she whispered.
“I’m here.” His muffled voice came from a step or so behind her. She waited until she could see his shadowy form, then reached out and grabbed hold of his sleeve.
They crossed the large square in front of Somerset House. The fog was so thick Emily was unable to see the gas lamps until she was right on top of them, and even then they were just hazy, yellow shapes materializing out of the air, like floating balls of dim light.
It had been strange listening to Sebastian tell the true history of the Invisible Order. Ever since meeting Corrigan, Emily had thought of the Order as some evil, ghastly group of men trying to hunt down and kill the poor, innocent fey. Now she found out that it was actually the fey who were bad, and the Order was actually trying to save people.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She was sure there were some fey who were perfectly nice, just as there were some members of the Order who were perfectly horrible. If she’d learned one thing from all of this, it was to make up her own mind when judging people and not simply listen to what others had to say.
Someone shouted in the distance, the sound muffled by the fog. The sharp clip-clop of a horse’s hooves echoed around her, accompanied by the creaking trundle of wooden wheels. The sounds grew louder, then faded away again as the horse and cart passed invisibly in front of her.
Emily wasn’t sure where they should go. If she was to find the key, she had to figure out what the riddle meant. And she needed to be somewhere safe to do that. The offices of the Order might have been ideal, if it weren’t for the fact that Ravenhill would be there. She’d never be able to concentrate with him close by.
Where would she be safe? She couldn’t go home. Mrs. Hobbs would have cleaned up the room by now, which meant it would be filled with people snoring and making noises.
She gazed around, at a loss. The fog before her swirled oddly, forming spirals and tendrils that turned in upon themselves, almost as though a gust of wind had cut through the thick vapor. But she hadn’t felt any wind.
That was when she realized she was no longer holding on to Jack’s sleeve. She must have let go while she was thinking about what to do.
“Jack?” she whispered. No answer.
And then she smelled it. The murky, brackish smell of stagnant water.
“Well, well,” said an invisible voice. “Look who we have ‘ere, Jenny Greenteeth. I do believe it’s our troublesome friend, Miss Snow. Out on her lonesome.”
“Not a clever move, Black Annis,” said another voice.
“No, Jenny. Not a clever move at all. In fact, I’d say it was a very silly move.”
The ghastly face of the old, wrinkled woman lunged at Emily out of the fog. Black water dribbled from her mouth. “Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Snow?”
Emily screamed, then turned and ran. She heard the loud cackle of the one called Black Annis behind her.
“Ooh, she’s runnin’ away, Jenny. I do like it when they run. Gives the old bones a bit of exercise.”
“Jack!” she screamed. “Jack, where are you?”
Black Annis suddenly appeared right in front of Emily. “Boo,” she said.
Emily veered to the side and ran again. She couldn’t see where she was going, but she kept moving anyway. Where was Jack? Did they already have him? She needed to get back across the square to Somerset House. If she could just get inside, she would be safe.
Something clammy touched Emily’s arm. She looked down and saw a strand of seaweed hanging over her wrist. Laughter echoed from close by.
They’re toying with me, she realized. There was no way she would make it to safety. They would have her before she could even get close to Somerset House.
Emily stopped and tried to get her bearings. She was somewhere in the large square outside the building, but the swirling fog cut off all sense of direction. She took a deep breath, then shouted at the top of her voice.
“Jack!” She let out a frightened yelp when a voice seemed to answer, right by her ear.
“We’ve got your little Jack, poppet. There’s no one to help you now.” Emily whirled around, searching frantically through the fog. The voice hissed in her other ear. “Jenny Greenteeth’s going to eat your face.”
Emily darted around. Again, she saw nothing. She sobbed with frustration, then turned and ran blindly from the voices.
By sheer luck she ran in the right direction. The steps leading up to the door of Somerset House materialized out of the fog, and she ran straight toward them.
Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth slid into view at the bottom of the stairs. Emily skidded to a stop. Jenny held Jack by the back of the neck. He struggled in her grasp, but Jenny only tightened her fingers, her dirty claws digging into his skin. He stopped moving.
“Well, this has been a lark, and no mistake. Ain’t that right, Jenny?”
Jenny just stared at Emily, hunger plain in her dark eyes.
Emily reached into her pocket and took out the letter opener she had picked up from Sebastian’s desk. She held it out before her, hoping her hand wouldn’t tremble.
“Oh, will you look at that, Jenny. She has a knife.” Black Annis moved forward. Emily backed up a step, then braced herself. “And what are you going to do with that, little girl? Weren’t you ever told that knives are dangerous?”
Black Annis reached out. Emily watched, mesmerized, as the clawlike hand unfurled toward her. The hand drew closer, closer …
… then stopped. The fingers curled in upon themselves. Emily blinked and looked up. Black Annis was staring at the blade. She let out a hiss of frustration.
“Why don’t you just put down the knife, poppet? We don’t want to hurt you. Our King just wants a quiet word, that’s all. He’s nice, the Dagda. Very fair. He told us to bring you to him.”
During this speech, Black Annis didn’t once take her eyes from the blade. Then Emily realized why. The blade was made of iron.
Barely allowing the thought to register in her head, she darted forward and sliced the blade along Black Annis’s hand. There was a hiss, like water on a hot stone. Black Annis jerked back with a strangled, mewling cry that was more animal than human. Greasy smoke drifted up from her arm as thick black blood oozed from the cut.
“Aah, see what she’s done, Jenny? Undone! Undone by a child.”
Jenny Greenteeth stepped toward Emily, her hand still gripping Jack’s neck, and this time Emily did stumble backward. “I’m going to eat her, Black Annis. Nobody cuts you and gets away with it. Nobody.”
But before anyone could make another move, there was a shout from above and an indistinct shape dropped from somewhere and landed between Emily and Jenny Greenteeth.
It was Corrigan.
And he was brandishing a tiny bronze sword about the length of Emily’s finger.
There was a frozen moment of silence. Corrigan brandished his sword in a flamboyant circle.
“Hah!” he said.
Then Jenny started to laugh. Even Black Annis, clutching her hand in pain, let out a snicker. Corrigan pulled himself to his full height, indignant.
Emily knew this was about to end badly. She locked eyes with Jack, raising her eyebrows. He nodded almost imperceptibly, then, while Jenny was distracted by Corrigan, drove his elbow hard into her ribs. Jenny’s grip loosened, and Jack jerked forward. Emily bent over and snatched Corrigan into her arms, then turned and ran. She had briefly contemplated trying to get past Black Annis and Jenny Greenteeth to regain the safety of Somerset House, but that meant she would be trapped in there when Ravenhill arrived, and she didn’t want that.
She heard Jack’s footsteps behind her. Emily kept running as fast as she could, fearing that if she slowed, she would feel Jenny’s claws on her neck.
“Right! Turn right!” shouted Corrigan.
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, you’re going to run straight into a wall.”
Emily veered to the right, half-glimpsing the walls of Somerset House. “Can you see?” she shouted, her breath coming in ragged bursts.
“Of course I can see!”
“I mean through the fog. Can you see through the fog?”
“Oh. Yes.”
“Guide me, then. Get us as far away from here as possible.”
Silence greeted her words.
“Corrigan?”
“Say ‘please.’ ”