Jumping in Puddles (25 page)

When they walked out onto the bridge, her footsteps slowed.

“Whereabouts are you supposed to do it?” Pixie asked.

“I don’t think it matters,” Ellie mumbled.

The tide was going out, and beaches had been exposed on the river’s sides. They walked in silence over the first arch, and Ellie stopped once they reached the main span.

“Maybe here,” she said.

Jago held her hand tighter, and Ellie eased out of his grip. “Let me give everyone a hug,” she told him.

“Share your power with Ellie and Micah,” her father said.

“I don’t think I have much left,” Pixie whispered.

“Give what you can to them,” said her mother. “After you’ve slept, you’ll be fine.”

Jago watched as one by one her family embraced her until only he was left.

“I can’t let you jump with me,” she said.

“You’re not doing it without me.”

Ellie caught his face in her hands and kissed him. The sweetest, gentlest kiss, and it broke his heart.

“Please—”

She silenced his plea with her finger. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Jago reached for her, and Asher and Ellie’s father pulled him back.

“No,” Jago shouted and struggled to get free.

Ellie climbed up to sit on the rim of the bridge wall, and Micah sat beside her, clutching the hand that held the Kewen. Jago fought hard, but he couldn’t free himself.

“You can’t do this with her,” her father said in his ear. “Micah has to, because if anything goes wrong, he’ll be able to put it right.”

Ellie looked only at Jago, her back to the water.

“Ready?” Micah asked.

“Yes.”

“No,” Jago shouted.

Her face, as she and Micah tipped back, the love in her eyes gave Jago strength to break free. But he’d only reached the side before they held him again. The wind caught her hair as she dropped, and he struggled to follow her, his heart going with her. They yanked him back from the brink, and he waited for a splash that didn’t come.

She was gone.

Jago looked down at the water flowing beneath them, and his knees buckled. Asher and Nev let him go. Micah and Ellie hadn’t hit the water and disappeared. They’d just…gone.

Nev clapped him on the shoulder. “It means a lot that you were prepared to do this with her. But we’d have been fishing you out of the river a couple of hundred yards downstream.”

Jago swallowed to bring moisture back into his mouth. “What now?”

“We go home and wait,” Asher said.

“How long will they be gone?”

Her father shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll stay here,” Jago said.

Asher took his arm. “Come back and get some sleep.”

“You think I can sleep? I’m staying here.”

Jago wouldn’t be talked out of it. Finally, they left him staring down at the black water looking for the woman he loved. How could he move from this spot? Wouldn’t they come back at the point they’d entered? They’d fall into the water. Ellie couldn’t swim.

All night he watched and waited. The tide came in and went out again, and the sun rose, and there was no sign of her.

* * * *

Ellie jumped with her eyes closed.
Actually, did I jump? Or did Micah pull me?
All she knew was that they hadn’t hit water. She could feel something soft under her head, Micah’s fingers and the Kewen still in her hand.

“Ellie?” Micah whispered.

“What?”

“Open your eyes.”

“We’re not anywhere horrible, are we? No rats, snakes, spiders, annoying sisters?”

“No.”

She opened her eyes and gulped. She and Micah lay on a sumptuous four-poster bed in a room with stone walls. Open windows looked out onto a sky bluer than she’d ever seen.

“Not in the Thames, then,” she whispered. “Where are we?”

“What in the four worlds are you doing in my bed?” snapped a male voice.

Ellie and Micah jerked upright.

The man who’d spoken looked about their age. He was tall, dark-haired, and naked. Ellie dragged her gaze away from his impressive…
wow
…and stared into dark turquoise eyes. She let go of Micah’s hand and rolled off the bed to her feet, tightening her hold on the Kewen.

“I’m Ellie Norwood, and this is my brother Micah. Who are you?”

The guy gaped at them, then looked as though he was going to choke and finally laughed. “Oberon the seventh. Your king.”

He turned to grab a robe from a chair and pulled it on.
Nice butt
. Ellie glanced at Micah and saw him looking at the same thing.
Oh?

“I’ll ask again before I call the guards,” the man said as he tied the belt on his robe. “What are you doing in my bed?”

“We…landed here. Don’t you know who we are?” Ellie asked.

Oberon looked them up and down. She couldn’t help but notice his gaze linger on Micah.

“Norwood,” she repeated. Maybe Pixie’s faerie friends
had
kept their mouths shut.

Oberon’s eyes darkened as realization swept over him, and he stared at the bag in Ellie’s hand.

“You found the Kewen?”

So he hadn’t known. If she managed to get back, she’d apologize to Pixie. That would be a first. Ellie tipped out the bag onto the bed and picked up the bill of sale.

“There’s a snag,” she said.

“Something missing?” Oberon asked.

“It’s all there.” She handed him the paper. “This was signed by your grandfather. That’s a copy.”

His face paled as he read it. “This is false.”

“No,” Micah said. “I suspect it’s why we arrived in Faerieland in your bedchamber. Your grandfather didn’t want the elders to know what he’d done. After the man he’d traded with died, he didn’t believe the Kewen would ever be found. If it was and the bill of sale was with it, he’d need to control what happened next. I suspect if he still lived, we’d now be lying dead on your bedroom floor, killed as intruders.”

Oberon’s cheek twitched. “Your family guarded the Kewen and lost it. That’s what we were told.”

Ellie shook her head. “Your grandfather traded the treasure for human children and banished my family. Our name should be cleared.”

“That would entail telling an unpalatable truth.” Oberon swallowed hard. “Children. I have no knowledge of this.”

“Why would he want human children?” Ellie asked. “Why pay for them? Why not just take them?”

“He was sick. I think he died not long after the Kewen went missing. Maybe he thought the children might give him new life. I don’t know.”

“Their ancestors might still be alive,” Micah said. “They deserve to know the truth.”

“They’d be more faerie than human after all this time. They couldn’t stay here so long and not absorb this world’s essence, just as you are more of the other world than this.”

“We still have power,” Ellie said.

Oberon smiled. “Some. I feel it.” He sighed. “Your family wishes to return?”

“They’re not sure,” she said carefully. “They’d like the chance to visit and decide for themselves. They fear not being allowed to leave if they come. They don’t want to lose the powers they have if they stay where they are. We visit Whitendale every year to replenish our energy. It’s a hard journey, and there must be easier ways to do it.”

“You want to trade.” The king raised his eyebrows.

Ellie took a deep breath. “There’s nothing for us to gain from revealing what your great-grandfather did, apart from clearing our name, and that could be done in a different way. You stand to lose more. Maybe the throne if the truth gets out.”

Oberon bristled, and Micah stepped between him and her.

“Why should I lose the throne for something my ancestor did?”

“Why should we be punished for something our ancestors didn’t do?” Ellie asked.

He let out a short laugh. “I could kill you now and take the Kewen.”

“Our father has the original bill of sale. If you keep us here, he’ll bring hell down on you.” Ellie suspected that was an empty boast confirmed by Oberon’s slight smile.

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in me asking for the original?” He held up the bill of sale.

Ellie shook her head. “Not until I know I can trust you. Maybe not even then.”

He laughed. “Remember who you’re talking to?”

“Remember how your grandfather lied?” Ellie’s heart thumped hard. “What if you’re descended from one of those human children? Do you want that getting out?”

Micah put his hand on her arm. “He is our king. No threats.”

Oberon paced across the room and stopped in front of Micah. He stared at him a moment before he turned to Ellie.

“Thank you for returning the Kewen. As a token of my gratitude, please choose something from it.”

“That’s very kind but not a fair trade.”

“Ellie!” Micah snapped.

“I can hardly give you back what was traded,” Oberon said.

“Our family has suffered exile for a long time, and the deal is this,” Ellie said. “No more replenishing of our power at Whitendale. I understand you don’t want us at full strength in the mortal world, but let us keep what we have as a constant, not let it fade over the day, over the year.”

Oberon nodded. “As you wish.”

“Will you allow us to visit Faerieland?” she asked. “Decide for ourselves where we want to live?”

“The word will be that the Norwood family found the Kewen, proved to my satisfaction they were not responsible for its loss. As recompense for the length of time spent on the other side, they are allowed to make one visit to Faerieland before they decide where they wish to live.”

Ellie looked for a trick in that and saw none. “Agreed.”

“Do you wish to stay? Look through the window and see your home.”

Ellie and Micah walked to the window, and she gasped. They were high on a hill in a large stone castle, the fields below rolling away like a green-and-yellow sea. Everywhere colors were brighter, more vibrant than any on the other side. Ellie saw herself walking through that long grass, her fingers brushing the feathery seed heads, children running at her side. She could have a home by the river winding away into the distance, learn to swim, learn to fly.
Oh God, fly.

“This is your one visit,” Oberon said quietly.

Ah, there was the trick. “What do you see, Micah?” she asked.

“I see beauty and darkness and pain.”

She turned to him, confused. “No grassy plains and flowing river? I saw myself with children, and learning to swim and fly.”

“Your dreams, not mine.”

Oh Micah.

“I want to go back.” Ellie slipped her hand into her brother’s and squeezed his fingers. “I already have what I love on the other side.”

Oberon smiled. “Pity. I find you very beautiful, though staying might have caused some problems.” He glanced at Micah. “You can still choose something from the Kewen.”

Ellie walked back to the bed and picked up the ring. “This, please.”

“That’s worth the least,” Oberon said.

“No, the most.” She smiled and put the ring in the pocket of her pants.

“You choose too,” he said to Micah.

Ellie watched as her brother moved his fingers over the jewels and then took his hand away.

“No, thanks.”

Oberon laughed. “Any more requests, Ellie Norwood?”

“The house where the Kewen was hidden,” she said carefully. “It’s not a happy place. It doesn’t seem to want to be sold. Bad things have happened to those who expressed an interest in buying it. Those who want to sell it seem to have had an increasingly miserable life in the house but a worse fate if they leave, either them or someone they love. I want that to stop.”

The king sighed. “Perhaps a curse laid by my grandfather. I suspect it will have lifted now that the Kewen is no longer the heart of the house, but you have the power to lift it yourself.”

“I do?”

He put his hand on her face, and Ellie gasped at the warmth.

“You do now,” Oberon said with a smile. “If your family wishes to retain their powers, they will never reveal the contents of this document. If they need extra power for any reason, their circle can be made anywhere, anytime. A circle of five.”

Ellie’s heart lurched. “But there are six of us.”

“He’s staying.” Oberon looked at Micah.

“No.” Ellie wrapped her arms around her youngest brother.

“It’s okay, Ellie.” He stroked her hair.

“No, it’s not. If you want a hostage, I’ll stay.”
Sorry, sorry, sorry, Jago.

Oberon shook his head. “I don’t want you. Someone else does.”

Micah gently pulled out of her hold. “Don’t worry. I never fit in over there. Maybe I will here. Tell Jago he can have my car, but he’s not to teach you to drive in it.”

Ellie brushed the tears from her cheeks and swallowed hard as Oberon ran his thumb down Micah’s chin. Her brother turned into the caress, and Ellie’s heart lurched.

“Darkness, pain, and beauty,” Oberon whispered. “How perfect you are.”

That didn’t sound good to Ellie, but she saw an understanding pass between the two men.

“I need to know what happened to those three children,” Oberon said to Micah. “Will you search for them? Not hide the truth no matter how unpalatable? Be loyal to me and only me?”

Micah stared straight at him. “I’ll search for them, but perhaps the truth will be best left hidden. I don’t know yet what sort of man you are, whether you deserve my loyalty.”

“Don’t chop his head off,” Ellie blurted.

Oberon laughed. “I have something to prove to your brother. Time for you to leave.”

“You better change this portal if you don’t want our parents bursting in on you,” she said. “And it’s really kind to let me learn to drive in your car, Micah. You’re the best brother ever.”

Oberon laughed as Micah growled.

“Communicate via the slate. Oh, and congratulations.” Oberon clicked his fingers, and Ellie found herself plunging into the Thames.

Chapter Nineteen

Three in the afternoon. Jago had watched the same patch of water for fifteen hours, barely blinking, to the point where he felt sick. He needed to pee and had willed the feeling away. He wasn’t going to move.

At times, he wondered if he’d gone mad and was imagining all this. Maybe he’d fallen from the roof when he’d gone up to move those slates, and he lay in a coma in the hospital. It seemed the most sensible explanation. But not the one he wanted to be true. And yet the truth was too painful to contemplate. Ellie was gone. He’d lost her. Not drowned but swept into an alternate universe.