“However you want me,” I whispered. “I’ll meet you there.”
CHAPTER 31
Noa
By the time the passage opened into daylight and we stumbled into Aine’s graveled garden, Effa had stopped shrinking. But she was indignant about barely seeing over the low hedges guarding the many-petaled flowers. She had to stand on her toes to reach into the fountain with the statue of cavorting nymphs and the faun, beautiful women, all of them, in flowing marble gowns stained with moss. She splashed petulantly, declaring if she had to look like a child, she would behave like one.
“Every nymph who stays here too long,” Caerwen had advised, “shrinks when she leaves.”
Her words held no soothing value since Effa was intent on her tantrum, which had as much to do with the stress she’d been under as it did with her petulant side. She needed to release it physically, and her antics were—I’d admit—both entertaining and satisfying in some odd way. I wanted to splash next to her.
“The shrinking is Noa’s fault,” Aine declared, rushing from a path in the labyrinth.
“How is that my fault?” I demanded, flustered and hot from the running.
“I’d rather not upset the magic by saying.” But Aine stood at my side and stroked my hair, a riotous dark mess after all the running. “You’ve disrupted everything by coming here.”
“Take that up with Urd, since she planned it all.”
“Nonsense.” The Queen of the Forest kissed my forehead, tucked a strand of errant hair behind my ear. “You aren’t like those queens, you know. You must have something of your father in you.”
“I never knew him.” Only through a letter stored in my mother’s box.
“I’m sure he had courage. And honor beyond measure.” The way Aine said that, I almost asked if she’d ever met my father before she added, “I’m so relieved that you survived.”
“So am I.” My voice shook. “Never let that witch out, Aine. She’s evil. Ask Metis if you have to, but reinforce that prison.”
“I will.” Aine cupped my cheek. “How did you get here?”
“I wished hard enough,” I said and didn’t elaborate. “Will Effa be okay?”
“We’ll get her to her meadow. Same with Caerwen. And you?”
I glanced around. “I need to leave.”
“You need rest.”
I stared at the Queen of the Forest. “Time, Aine. I don’t have it to spare.”
Concern darkened her eyes. “Go through your house. The magic will let you leave.”
I hurried along the path until I reached the house, so like the one in Azul. The magic waited with a warm brush against my face. I lingered long enough to savor the memory, the comfort, and then pushed down the hall, through the replica of Grayson’s cave and out into the snowy sunlight. The altered weather threw me off, the shifting seasons, but if snow was still on the ground, then I hadn’t been gone longer than a week.
It was near dusk when I reached Azul. Lights glowed in most of the houses, reflecting on the lake. My house was dark as I hurried up the steps, slipped inside. The hollow thud of my feet against the wooden floor echoed as I turned on light after light. In my pocket, Amal’s rune stone fluttered with the faintest hint of life—relief rushed at the hope. Hope that I had not failed. But I dared not try to syphon. After the centuries, the wolf might not have much life force left. What if it turned completely mad? Became feral?
My eyes stung when I imagined what that poor creature endured. Perhaps she’d been as greedy as Amal, or as vengeful. But the wolf hadn’t deserved the centuries of what the vampires created—an unending torment—no more than Amal had deserved it when they turned her against her will.
My entire body ached with exhaustion. As I stared at the stairs leading to the bedroom and bath, my legs wobbled. I’d never make it that far.
Behind me, the front door crashed open, and a figure rushed in with a baseball bat raised high and a banshee scream flying from her lips.
“Hattie!” I gasped, my heart in my throat. “It’s me.”
“Oh—bless the gods!” The bat clattered to the floor as she hugged me, swallowing me up in the scent of roses and freshly baked bread. “Leo is on his way.”
It turned out that the nymphs and I had been gone for over three weeks. During that time, fighting in the north had grown fierce and immediate. No waiting around by Amal’s army for better weather. Amal sensed danger and attacked several settlements. The competing packs improvised, with old adversaries needing trust and cooperation when there was little to none to draw upon.
“The Alpen suffered first. Multiple attacks. Then settlements in Sentinel Falls.”
