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“Secrets for secrets,” it rasped and tossed it at me.
I caught it instinctively, and the second the globe touched my skin, there was a flash behind my eyes, and I was somewhere else.
Or maybe someone else. I stood in the same room, facing the lanterns and the crows and the hunched old bird faery in the center of the nest. But I wasn’t me. I don’t know how I knew this; maybe because I couldn’t move or even speak. It was like I was a passenger in someone else’s head.
“And you’re certain this person can help me?”
The voice echoed inside my head, low and familiar. Across from me, the bird faery shook itself. “Secrets for secrets,” it rasped, nodding. “You have what you came for, boy. Leave now. ”
I, or rather, the person whose head I was inhabiting, turned, slipped out of the tent and began walking.
I kept my eyes open, though I didn’t have much of a choice, and tried to pay attention to where I was going. Past the goblin market and the vendors haggling their unearthly merchandise, I ducked down a side alley that took me away from the main stretch. Across a deserted street, a wall of old, crumbling apartments sat at the edge of the pavement. I scanned the line of doors until I found the one I was looking for. Simple, unmarked, painted black.
Walking up the three steps to the stoop, I knocked twice, and the door swung back, revealing a shark-toothed redcap in the frame. The faery’s dull yellow eyes widened at the sight of me, but it didn’t move.
“Yeah?” it growled, baring crooked fangs. “Whaddya want?”
“I’m here to see Mr. Dust. ”
Mr. who? I wondered, but the redcap blinked slowly and nodded, stepping aside. As I crossed the threshold, I felt a pushing sensation, as if I was being shoved back. A tall figure in a hooded cloak, the head I’d been hijacking, I guessed, stepped away from me, walking through the frame and leaving me behind. I tried to follow, but I couldn’t move without my host body, and the redcap slammed the door in my face.
I jerked, opening my eyes, to find Kenzie and Annwyl staring at me anxiously. The bird faery, too, peered at me from beneath its hood, silent and waiting. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake the creepy feeling of being in someone else’s head.
“You okay?” Kenzie asked, and there was a note of real concern in her voice, not just a courtesy offered to a friend. I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m fine. ” Turning around, I stared at the tent flaps, remembering the way they’d parted for the figure, his path through the goblin market and the unmarked black door at the top of the steps. “Better yet, I know where to find Keirran. ”
* * *
“Well, that’s just all kinds of ominous,” Kenzie remarked as we stood at the bottom of the steps, gazing up at the black door. “Didn’t I see this once in American Horror Story?”
“This place feels wrong. ” Annwyl gave the buildings and especially the door a suspicious glare and shook her head. “Why would Keirran come here?”
“Let’s go ask him. ” I double-checked to make sure my swords were still in place, then walked up the steps and knocked twice on the wood.
It creaked open to reveal the same redcap on the other side, who gave me an astonished look as he peered through the frame. “Well, well,” it mused as the shock faded and was replaced by eager hunger. “What do we have here? You lost, human? You can obviously See me, so you should’ve known not to come here. ”
“I’m looking for Mr. Dust,” I said, and the redcap snorted.
“How do you know that name? And why would a human need to see Mr. Dust? He ain’t got nothing for the likes of you. ” The redcap bared its fangs. “Beat it, mortal. Don’t waste his time. ”
“Not an option. ”
“I’m warning you, boy. Get lost, before I bite your tasty little head off. ”
I drew my sword. “My head isn’t the one in danger here. ”
“Hold. ”
A soft hand touched my elbow, making me pause. I blinked in surprise as Annwyl joined me at the top of the steps and faced the redcap calmly.
“I am Annwyl, former handmaiden to Queen Titania herself,” Annwyl stated in an even, almost regal voice as the redcap eyed her curiously. “And I wish to see Mr. Dust. The mortals are of no consequence—they are here to accompany me. The boy is only doing what he has been trained to do. Let us pass. ”
“Ah. ” The redcap smirked and gave me a disgusted look. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” he growled, opening the door and stepping back for Annwyl. She nodded and swept by without looking at him. I swallowed my astonishment and followed with Kenzie as the redcap’s guttural voice trailed us down the hall. “Keep your pets under control next time, lady. I might’ve eaten your little guard dog on principle. ”
“I apologize,” Annwyl said quietly as we walked down the long, narrow hallway on the other side of the door. “I thought that it would be better to try to get through without bloodshed. ”
“No arguments here,” I told her. “In fact, I think you should act like that more often. I mean, I don’t want you to go snooty aristocratic faery on me, but you were part of Titania’s circle. You were kind of important. ”
“Once,” Annwyl said with a faint smile. “Not anymore. ”
The hallway ended at another unmarked black door, and when I opened it, an even longer, thinner alleyway wound off into the darkness.
“Seriously?” Kenzie muttered. “Good thing I’m not claustrophobic. Somehow, I don’t think Keirran is here to buy unicorns and rainbow dust. ”
The corridor was just wide enough for us to walk through single file. I drew one of my swords, just in case anything came at us, and motioned the girls forward. Kenzie stepped behind me, taking the back of my jacket like she was afraid we’d get separated, and Annwyl brought up the rear. Carefully, we ventured into the darkness.
The alleyway grew even more winding and narrow, until it seemed we were weaving our way through a crack between buildings. Cold, hard stone scraped my chest and back, as if the walls were slowly drawing together, crushing me until I popped like a grape between them. My heart pounded against my ribs, and I imagined it was getting harder and harder to breathe. And just as I was beginning to think we should turn around before we all got stuck, I finally spotted a thin black door at the end of the crazy, twisted passage and hurried toward it.
Spitefully, the door retreated, or at least it seemed that way, drawing farther back even as we rushed forward, keeping the same amount of distance between us. Finally, after chasing the door for several minutes, I lunged forward, and my hand finally latched on to the glimmering brass knob.
Panting, I looked over my shoulder to see if Kenzie and Annwyl were still with me. They were; Kenzie still had a tight hold of my jacket, and Annwyl pressed close behind her, gazing up at the door in fear.
“I can feel the glamour through the walls,” she murmured, drawing back slightly, both hands going to her chest. “This whole place is pulsing with it. But. . . it’s wrong, somehow. Dark. ” She shivered, rubbing her arms. “There is something evil through that door. ”
Goose bumps crawled up my arms. Annwyl wasn’t kidding. Even though I wasn’t sensitive to magic, I could still feel the wrongness of this place. It slithered from the walls, closing in on either side. It seeped from the door in front of me, leaving an oily taint on my skin, making me feel dirty. I gripped my sword with one hand and the knob with the other.
“Stay close,” I whispered to the girls behind me and turned the handle.
The door creaked inward. Beyond the frame, darkness hovered like a ragged curtain, broken only by tiny yellow orbs that looked vaguely familiar. As I stepped cautiously into the room, I saw why.
Forgotten. The lights were the eyes of those strange, shadowy Forgotten that had appeared in City Park this morning. The ones who had killed the Oracle. I could barely make them out in the choking darkness, but there were dozens of twin glowi
ng eyes, perched on shelves, crouched in the corners of the room. And all were suddenly fixed on us.
Behind us, the door slammed shut with a bang.
I raised my sword and put myself between the girls and the Forgotten, hoping the strange, shadowy fey wouldn’t swarm us like ants. But the Forgotten didn’t move, though I saw their glowing eyes shift focus to Annwyl, standing between me and Kenzie. I remembered what the Forgotten had done to her before; drained nearly all her glamour when she was held prisoner by their queen, and I tensed to slice them down if they tried anything like that again. But they stayed where they were, and I took a quick glance around the room.
My eyes weren’t adjusting to the clinging darkness like they should be. Even though I saw torches flickering at the corners and in brackets on posts around the room, everything remained choked in shadow, hidden and unseen. I could make out vague impressions of sofas, shelves, a desk in the corner, but the darkness seemed almost a living thing, smothering something as soon as I focused on it, hiding it from view.
“What is this place?” Kenzie whispered beside me.
Somewhere in the blackness, a door creaked open, and footsteps thumped over the ground toward us. Two redcaps, their fangs glimmering in the gloom, stalked around a corner and stopped short when they saw us.
“What the—” Beady yellow eyes peered at me, mean and challenging. “Humans? How the hell did you tidbits find this place? Ain’t nothing here for you. ”
Before I could answer, the other one tapped him on the shoulder and pointed a stubby finger at Annwyl. “There’s your answer. That one’s a Fader—I’d bet my hat on it. ” To me, he said, “If you’re here to see Mr. Dust, he’s busy with a customer. We’ll tell him you’re here, so stay put till then. The rest of you blighters—” he glared around at the group of silent Forgotten and bared his fangs “—stop thinking you can sneak around back and we won’t notice. You’re real enough that the arms pop right out of the sockets if we pull, so remember that. You’ll get your fix when Mr. Dust gives it to you, not before. ”