“WHERE IS PRINCE ZEPHYR!” General Zell boomed.
Now the hall broke into full-blown panic. Someone shouted. There was a scream. A few students looked around as though the prince could have been standing behind them, waiting to reveal himself as part of a not-so-hilarious prank.
General Zell stepped forward, and the entire Fae guard stepped forward with him. There were more screams as they pinned the partygoers in, their spear tips and sword points driving us toward the center of the hall.
“Where is Prince Zephyr?” General Zell boomed again.
Dragon spit. Of course Zephyr had skedaddled. He wouldn’t be the Fae prince, and possibly the most annoying person I’d known over the last two days, if he hadn’t left during the biggest freaking event we’d ever held.
Asher and I slipped through the tightening crowd toward the back of the hall as General Zell stalked up and down the line of students, continuing to demand we produce Prince Zephyr.
“Why isn’t he yelling at the Fae?” I heard someone say as we passed. “Don’t the courts, like, hate each other?”
Not far off. But I didn’t expect General Zell to even consider the possibility that one of his own kind would hurt his precious prince.
We elbowed our way to the far edge of the crowd where the Fae guard was thinnest. I spotted Demarcus, Sylvia, and the others, but turned away from them. Some part of me knew that once Lucien managed to calm the General down (if that was possible) Zell would start looking for those he could demand answers from. And he’d start with me, the girl who’d given the prince a personal tour of the Academy. I would become his number one target. There was no need to bring any more of my friends into this than necessary.
“Skylar, hold on.” Asher stopped us right before the nearest Fae guard, keeping us mingled with the crowd so the guard couldn’t pick us out. “You talked with Zephyr last. You have any clue what might have happened?”
“I’m thinking,” I said, resisting the urge to pound the side of my head, as though that might dislodge the answer.
“He said he was here to establish new relations with the Coalition and…what else? What else did he say?”
“He said…”
Then it came to me. It was so obvious, the prince might as well have told me ahead of time that he was going to leave. “He said he wanted to see the sights. He said he never got the chance to leave the Courts when he was here.”
Asher let out a curse that would have made Lucien bop him on the back of the head if he’d heard. “And now he’s potentially caused a paranormal conflict. Great.”
I spied General Zell stalking through the students, Lucien close behind him. It looked as though Lucien was trying to reason with him, but Zell was on a rampage now, pulling couples apart as though this were an elaborate game of hide and seek. The next time he did it, I heard Lucien’s voice lower in warning. The General paid him no mind. The next time he reached for a student, the air in the hall stilled. The falling embers halted, then coalesced into a single fireball above the General’s head.
“Do not lay another hand on my students,” Lucien warned.
“Look what Zephyr’s done,” I hissed. “When I find that little punk…” I mimed throttling him. I glanced at the Fae guard. “I need to leave. Once General Zell finds me there’s no way I’m getting away. And if I tell Zell where I think he went, he’ll believe I was in on it the whole time.”
Asher nodded, as though this was never a doubt. “Yeah, it doesn’t look like he’s in the mood for reason right now. You have any idea which sights Zephyr might be at?”
“Not yet. I’ll find him and let you know as soon as I do.”
“I’ll grab Colson and Mia and we’ll find a way out.” He kissed me, then drew his hand away from me, muttering, “Imatus!”
As his hand drew farther back, a mirror image of my body, solid as I was, was drawn with him, until it was as though I’d never left his side.
“Obscurus!”
My illusion charm tickled as I cast it over me. Once it’d taken full effect, I wasted no time slipping through the gap in the guard. One of them glanced my way, as though they could detect something was amiss, but soon I was through and free.
Now I just had to find a prince.
It was so obvious where he’d gone.
I left the party, sticking to the lesser-used side halls and back tunnels until I reached my room. Once there I set the world record for shortest change into different clothes, grabbed Valkyrie, and escaped out one of the Academy’s rear entrances into the chaotic night of the Norm world. Thankfully, most of the Fae guard were too busy corralling innocent students to watch the Academy’s outer perimeter. I just hoped my friends would be all right until I found the prince and dragged his sorry butt back here to clear our names.
The muggy night air pressed against my skin. I kept my head down, trying not to look too frantic as I fast walked in the direction I needed to go. If I was right (and I really hoped I was) then Battery Park was only a short subway line away.
My subway pass still worked, so a half hour later I was poking my head up at South Ferry Station, looking around for someone who screamed “Fae” among the crowd of tourists and night walkers.
Lucky me, Zephyr stuck out as much as a monster truck on a freeway. He leaned against the railing near the water, gazing at the lit-up Statue of Liberty. I was used to magic; feeling it, sensing it, practically tasting it when it was strong enough, and from here, away from the residual magic of the Academy, I could detect the distinct power the prince was giving off. It practically emanated off him in waves, making anybody who passed stare like they couldn’t look away.
I dodged a woman with her eyes glued to the prince, right before she collided with a light pole. A man walking his dog waded into a shrub. I stopped another man from keeling over the side of the railing into the water and pushed him away from the prince. The man continued looking at Zephyr as he walked away.
“Can you at least cast some glamour!” I hissed, pulling the prince away from the railing. “Everybody’s staring!”
It took Zephyr a moment to take his eyes off the Statue of Liberty and give me a lazy smile. “I wondered how long it would take you to fetch me.”
I stopped dragging him. “First of all, nobody sent me to fetch you. I’m not a dog, just someone you’ve really pissed off. Secondly, the entire Academy is in lockdown. General Zell is going crazy. And this…”
I started dragging him again as a jogger nearly collided with a woman pushing a baby stroller. I pulled him to a nearby merchandise stand and grabbed a beanie and a New York State of Mime hoodie, complete with a creepy grinning mime face. This I practically forced over his head before shoving the beanie over top of his pointy ears. It didn’t completely disguise the magic oozing off him, but at least innocent bystanders stopped running into each other. The few closest to us shook themselves, as though coming out of a thick sleep.
“Sorry,” I said to the enamored stand owner before shoving the prince toward the center of Manhattan.
“You have a beautiful city here,” the prince said in a dreamy voice. “I’m glad I get to tour it.”
“Yeah, it’s great,” I said. I stopped pushing him and took a moment to think. If I could just get him back, everything would be all right. He wasn’t hurt. Nobody was after him. Despite the threat of Kasia and the acolytes, I didn’t sense any immediate danger. As long as the prince kept his overwhelming magic confined to himself, we should be able stay under any dangerous beings’ radars.
“General Zell will not harm those at the Academy,” Zephyr said, as though that was supposed to make me feel better. “I gave him explicit instructions not to do so.”
“I think you underestimate just what Zell is willing to do to keep you safe,” I said. “He’s rounded up all of my friends. We need to go back right now and tell them you’re okay—”
“But I’m not done seeing everything,” the prince said. He glided out of my reach before I could grab him. “I want to see the square that keeps time, and the bridges. I even heard your Coalition is in a particularly beautiful terminal where trains stop to sleep.”
I pressed my fingers hard between my eyes so I wouldn’t scream. “Prince—Zephyr, I get that you want to see those things. Really, I do. But can you see them after we get back? Then we can make sure everybody is all right, General Zell’s blood pressure can go down to its normal irate levels, and everything will be right with the world.”
“The General would never let me out of his sight without escort again. I would prefer to do this alone. You could join me if you’d like. Or not. It doesn’t matter to me.”
I kept pace with him as we wound our way up Broadway, running through options. I could return to the Academy without the prince, tell General Zell where I thought the prince was. But chances were they wouldn’t find him, and I’d only be in more trouble with Zell than I already was. I also had a feeling any attempt I made to drag him back would only end in failure. The guy seemed confident he could take on Kasia. I doubted I’d have a chance against him.
“Can I at least tell my friends where we are?” I said. “If we’re going to be out here where Kasia’s acolytes are, I’d feel better with them.”
Zephyr paused, throwing an arched eyebrow back at me. “Just your friends? Fellow students?”
“Just students,” I promised. “They’ve dealt with the Society before.”
“And they won’t tell an Academy Master, or General Zell?”
Troll piss. I’d almost found a loophole. I sighed. “They won’t.”
“Very well.”
I cupped my hands and whispered the tracking spell. A moment later a blue bird took flight, fluttering twice around me before a beam of light from Zephyr’s fingertip wrapped around it and it zoomed off.
“To ensure it only finds those you promised it would,” he told me with a demure smile.
I followed after him, imagining all the ways I wanted to hurt his pretty, stupid face.
With Zephyr as a guide, I got to visit all the sights of New York I hadn’t been back to in…well, a while. Times Square, the Empire State building, Broadway lit up at night with lights and jammed with people and color. Before I knew it, the faint blush of dawn was blooming along the edges of the east river, and I was stumbling behind Zephyr into Central Park.
“You are exhausted,” Zephyr said. “Rest now. The last place I will visit can wait until you’re refreshed.”
I wanted to protest. The second I was sleeping, I had no doubt he’d scamper off. But my body didn’t care, and with Zephyr nearby I found the softest mound of grass and immediately fell asleep.
Only to jerk awake a few hours later, feeling like my feet had been punched by golems and my skin damp with dew. I sat up and looked around, momentarily disorientated.
“You are a very hard sleeper.”
Zephyr sat nearby, running a blade of grass through his thin fingers and smiling at the early morning cyclists who buzzed by. “We Fae seldom sleep, and when we do it is a fitful, dreamless thing.”
“Shame,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “It’s good to get some beauty rest—” I cut off as I looked at his achingly beautiful face, realizing how stupid that sounded.
The pervasive sounds of early-morning traffic were filtered by the trees we lounged under. Rafts of ducks chattered as they paddled by the shoreline. Across the water, Bow bridge was already filling with couples taking selfies.
“My friends—” I started.
“Should be here momentarily,” Zephyr said. “Ah…”
I stood and saw Asher, Mia, and Colson veer off the nearest foot path and hurry over to us. Mia squeezed me in a hug, and even Colson gave me a pat on the shoulder that probably caused the ground to crack beneath my feet.
“We ran all over to find you,” Asher said, rubbing the back of my chilly arms. “The tracker you sent couldn’t seem to lock onto your location.”
“You can thank Zephyr for that,” I said. “Are you guys all right?”
“We’re fine,” Mia said. “And the rest of the Academy’s fine,” she added before I could ask. “We were already sneaking out before we got your message, but General Zell finally let everyone go back to their rooms. He’s keeping them all there while they search.”
“And the Coalition? Aren’t they doing anything about it?”
“No,” Colson said, annoyed. “They’ve been notified, but haven’t made a move yet. It seems they don’t want to start an unnecessary conflict.”
“So we’ll just let the Fae hold the Academy hostage in the meantime,” I snarled. “See, this is why we need to go back. Now.” I said to Zephyr.
All of us looked at him. He smiled. “What?”
“What?” Asher said. “That’s all you can say? This is all your fault—”
“I’ve already tried that approach,” I said, suddenly weary. “It won’t work.”
Zephyr smoothly stood. With a single brush of his hand, any particles of dirt that might have stuck to him vanished, leaving him looking as immaculate as ever. “I understand your concern. There is one final thing I must do, then I will return to the Academy and call off the General.”
And with that he walked off, like he actually thought I was going to let him out of my sight for even a second.
“Oh no you don’t.”
Zephyr cast us an amused look when we caught up with him. “While I do not mind the company of such interesting mortals such as yourselves, there is no need for you to attend me during this. It is of a more…personal nature.”
“I don’t care if you’re going to the bathroom. I’m not losing you again,” I said firmly.
Asher looked at me.
“Okay, maybe not if you were using the bathroom,” I amended. “But we aren’t leaving you on your own.”
Zephyr gave an elegant shrug and continued walking. I noticed Mia and Colson looking around nervously.
“I haven’t seen the Society yet,” I said in a lower voice.
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t here,” Colson answered, his hand staying near the hammer hanging from his belt.
Zephyr didn’t slow his pace as we crossed a large meadow, strode past a war memorial, and reached Bethesda Fountain overlooking the lake. He took us around the back and waved his hand. Part of the fountain’s lip crumbled away, revealing a smooth set of stairs descending into the dark. There was a loud splash at the edge of the lake. I whirled, ready.
“Don’t worry,” Zephyr said. “That’s simply the watch we Fae leave behind.”
Of course. Now I wasn’t worried at all.
I followed Zephyr down the stairs.
I’d never been to the Fae Courts before. One, because I’d never had any need. Two, because (for reasons I was learning more about) neither Lucien nor my parents never seemed particularly keen on my visiting. And three, I mean, they were Fae. Since they’d returned, they hadn’t exactly dazzled me with the desire to get to know them better.
The stairs went down, down, down. I was forced to feel my way along the wall until fairy lights sprang to life and illuminated our way to the bottom. Zephyr waved his hand and the entire hall blazed with light. My mouth dropped open.
“Welcome to the new Court of Fae,” Zephyr said.