“Okay, but first sign that you’re going to do any betrayal nonsense, and I’m leaving you behind.” She pointed at Bitty. “Or dropping a train on you.”
Bitty’s face lit up, her wings fluttering with excitement. “I won’t! I promise!” She paused. “What’s a train?”
Despite herself, Ava felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward. “Never mind.”
Bitty moved closer, still keeping a respectful distance. “So…which way are we going?”
Ava looked back at the fork in the path. “Good question. Any suggestions?”
“The mist is dangerous.” Bitty studied the archways. “It’s what they call the Borderlands—where the Web starts to blur into other places. It’s where we get all of ourstuff.But the overgrown section eventually leads to the Broken City.”
“The Broken City? What’s that?” Ava rolled her eyes. “Besides the obvious.”
“It’s where things that were forgotten end up. Books, buildings, ideas.” Bitty’s wings rustled thoughtfully. “Ever lose something in your house that was really important? Forgot where it was? It’s here. So, if you’re looking for something important, something hidden, that’s where I’d look.”
Considering the choices, she let out a breath. A repository of forgotten things seemed like exactly the kind of place a key might be hidden. And it was as good a destination as any.
“The Broken City of lost and found items it is.” Throwing up a hand in ascrew it why not,gesture, she committed to the choice. “Lead the way, Bit.”
The tiny fae fluttered her wings, buzzing a few inches off the ground in excitement before catching herself and settling back down, looking embarrassed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t get to be useful very often.”
“It’s fine.” Ava chuckled. That was actually kinda cute. “Just don’t make me regret this.”
They set off down the overgrown corridor, Book tucked securely under Ava’s arm, Bitty flitting nervously beside her. The little fae kept a careful distance, as if afraid that getting too close might cause Ava to change her mind.
“So.” Ava broke the silence walking for a few minutes. “How long have you been here?”
“Huh? Oh. Um?” Bitty’s wings twitched. “Two hundred and sixty years? Maybe longer.”
“And you were imprisoned just because…you were born wrong? Or did something take your magic?”
“Nope. Just born like this. No magic, just wings. Useless among the fae.”
“And that’s enough to get you imprisoned?”
“In Tir n’Aill? Being useless is the worst crime there is, I suppose.” Bitty’s voice held no self-pity, just matter-of-fact acceptance. “Being the strangest amongst a society of the strange and bizarre. I wasn’t even important enough to be executed.” She laughed as if that were actually funny. “So they put me here. With the other things nobody knew what else to do with.”
Ava felt a twinge of sympathy. “That’s fucked up.”
“That’s the Seelie Court for you.”
It was hard to believe that the “good guys” of the fae did that. Maybe the Unseelie, sure. But Abigail was supposed to begood,right? Another tick in thekill them allcategory, she supposed.
They continued in companionable silence, the only sounds the crunch of their footsteps on the overgrown floor and the occasional flutter of Bitty’s wings.
Ahead, the corridor widened into what had once been a grand hall. Massive tree trunks now formed impromptu columns, their canopies creating a living ceiling overhead.Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting everything in a green-gold glow.
“We’re heading in the right direction.” Bitty’s smile was a bit too pleased, as if that hadn’t been a guarantee. “The Broken City is about half a day’s walk from here. If we’re lucky.”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
Bitty’s wings flattened against her back. There was the terror in her eyes again. “Then we’ll run into something that wants to eat us, and directions won’t matter anymore.”
“Comforting,” Ava muttered. Hopefully her magic would be able to help her.
“The Web isn’t supposed to be comfortable.”
