Of Enemies and Endings (14 page)

We waited. The sun hung so low that not even the Tree's leaves could shade us from its glare. No one came through the Atlantis door.

Around dinnertime, Mr. Swallow flitted down and landed on the arm of the sofa beside my elbow. Sarah Thumb actually dismounted and walked closer to me. The news must have been serious. “The Canon meeting's over.”

Silence spread across the sofas. I didn't even notice the others had been talking until they stopped.

“Jack checked in,” said Sarah. “He didn't find Chase. The Unseelie Court's palace has been abandoned. Burning and empty. The Fey have fled.”

I'd visited the Unseelie palace a little more than a year ago. It was colossal and ancient, magically made from trees woven into walls, towers, turrets, arches, and staircases. It was hard to imagine it in ruins. The Fey who had lived there had seemed so powerful.

“Jack stayed in Atlantis,” Sarah Thumb added. “He's trying to track them.”

Sure, Jack got to track them, but I couldn't leave.

Sarah Thumb gathered Mr. Swallow's reins and leapt back into the saddle. “I'll let you know if Jack finds anything. Hang in there, kids.”

After that, none of us talked. I barely breathed.

The next thing I knew, Mom and Amy were hovering over the couch, smiles on their faces. They must have just come home from work. Behind them, the setting sun stained the sky red. “Are you ready for some celebrating?” Mom asked. She looked like she'd never been angry with me.

“We picked up a surprise.” Amy lifted a bakery box, cake–size.

They had no idea. They had missed so much. I couldn't believe it was still my birthday, and I couldn't imagine trying to celebrate it. It was worse than if Mom had just launched straight into lecturing mode. I knew I had to tell them about Chase's disappearance and the fall of the Unseelie Court. I knew I wouldn't even get through telling her about the first part without breaking down.

But I didn't need to speak. Mom's expression shifted from birthday excitement to fury when I didn't move from my spot on the couch. “Rory, we talked about this. The evening is family only.”

She could yell at me as much as she needed to. I couldn't go
home
. I would just stay where I was, where I could see the Atlantis door. “I can't.”

Mom didn't soften.

I braced myself, waiting for her to lay it on me, in front of Lena and everyone.

But before Mom could say anything, Amy said, “Rory, what's
wrong
?”

“Maggie!” Across the courtyard, Dad jogged toward us. “Rory, it's okay. I'll explain.”

I was suddenly sure I had the best father in the world, and for the first time ever, I was glad my parents lived in the same place again.

“Please,” I told Mom. “Just let me wait a little longer.”

Mom looked like she might argue, but when Amy tugged her away to go talk to Dad, Mom let her.

The sun sank behind the western buildings. Gloom descended on the courtyard. The door stayed shut.

I wondered if it was dark in Atlantis yet. I could never keep the time differences straight.

I wondered if I should tell Sarah Thumb about my dream. I wondered if Jack was searching all the Unseelie towers. Chase could be in one right now, one beside a river. He could be knocked unconscious and captured and need us to rescue him. He could be—

I'd been pushing that thought away ever since I found out Chase was missing.

I couldn't remember seeing him breathe in the dream. He might not be
sleeping
.

I drew a big, shaky breath. Beside me, Lena looked up, already listening, ready to hear my terrible theory.

Then the Atlantis door cracked open. A bunch of winged figures stumbled in. The Unseelie Fey, their weapons drawn, their clothing torn, their faces haggard.

One winged guy held open the Door Trek door and directed a stream of angry-sounding Fey at a woman with pale pink wings and dots lining her face.

Chase.

e didn't stand like he was hurt, but his T-shirt was full of stains, tears, and singes. He was missing an entire sleeve. His mother was a mess too. Absentmindedly, she wiped her bloodied blade on her tattered skirt.

I glanced back over to the couches. The other kids just looked dumbfounded. Even Lena hadn't recognized Chase yet. Maybe we could still keep it a secret. Maybe if I distracted them. “We should go get the grown-ups,” I said.

Candice gasped and pointed.
Not
at Chase, thankfully. At the Door Trek door to Atlantis. A young Fey woman and her child eased through the entrance to EAS. One of her emerald-green wings had a hole in it, but Candice wasn't looking at them. She was looking at the person helping them to safety.

The sun hadn't set on the Atlantis side of the door. Light bounced off the figure's pewter skin. The red edging his double-headed ax was easy to spot. Two more Fey children stumbled through, clinging to each other. The pewter figure straightened, and his eyes met mine.

“Iron Hans,” Lena breathed. She was one of the few people who knew he was on our side, but she hadn't actually ever seen him before.

Chase must have recruited his help.

The old Character reached his hand through the door. Half the kids on the couch shrank back. As far as they knew, Iron Hans was still the Snow Queen's deadliest warrior.

I stood up, ready to throw myself between them.

But Iron Hans just reached over, grabbed the handle, and closed the Door Trek door. Well, with that distraction gone, the others were going to get a good look at Chase before his wings disappeared. I had to act fast. “We
need
grown-ups. We need a nurse.
Gretel
—” I started.

“I am here, Rory.” Rapunzel stood beside the couch, holding a silver tube. The ointment of the witch whose power was in her hair. It was almost as good as the Water of Life, and better yet, you didn't need the Director's permission to use some.

Adelaide didn't pay any attention to us. “Chase!”

He and Lady Aspenwind both turned to see who was interrupting their argument, their wings fluttering with irritation. The secret was out then: No one could deny the family resemblance.

All of our friends froze. You would have thought an enchantment had turned them into stone.

Chase drew himself up to his full height and scowled, defiant, but he didn't fool me. He stilled his wings with visible effort—a last-ditch attempt to make them disappear.

Rapunzel glided around the couch and the dropped jaws of all the kids sitting there. She paused just long enough to shoot me a look that clearly said,
Are you coming?
Then she began to cross the fifty yards that divided us from the Fey.

I went with her, even though I didn't exactly remember telling my legs to move.

The Fey soldiers noticed. The one in green armor gave a shout. The rest of his comrades fell into line beside him. Behind them, some older nobles were leaning against the wall, half-collapsed with exhaustion. The knights couldn't seriously think we were going to attack. Maybe they remembered me from that time I chewed out Prince Fael.

“Welcome to Ever After School, Fey of the Unseelie Court.” Rapunzel swept out her skirts in a swift but unmistakable curtsy. “We offer you sanctuary.”

Then she glanced at me. I gave it a try. My curtsy was wobbly and awkward, but it
was
the first curtsy I'd ever tried. “Welcome,” I echoed, glancing at Chase.

His eyes locked with mine. He hasn't lost that trapped, defiant look or his wings. All I really wanted was to tell him how glad I was that he was all right and how much he'd scared us. I wouldn't mind a hug, either, but that would have to wait until we were sure nobody would try to fight anyone else.

The newcomers weren't expecting curtsys. The knight in green armor narrowed his eyes. I think he suspected a trick. A noble in the back straightened up. He was the oldest Fey I'd ever seen—with steel gray hair and tiny lines around his eyes. He nodded deeply to Rapunzel.

“We thank you,” he said, “and we accept.”

Some of the tension went out of the Fey, Rapunzel, and especially Chase.

Rapunzel held up the ointment. “I am one of the nurses. Which one of you bears the worst wound?”

The old Fey gestured to someone on his right, and Rapunzel hurried over. The knight in green armor didn't look super happy about it.

I stepped toward Chase.

The relief of seeing him safe spread through me slowly. It was too hard to believe he'd come out fine. The Snow Queen's attack on the Fey courts had been almost twenty-four hours ago. Hours of worry had built up inside me, but they empited out as I looked him over. His left forearm was one big bruise. Besides that, he was okay. He was alive. He was
safe
.

I couldn't speak for a second, and I think he knew.

“Hey,” he said, very gently.

Lady Aspenwind curtsied to me. Her hands left dark smears on her skirts. “A pleasure to see you again. My son tells me it is your birthday. Please give your mother my congratulations.”

I never got a chance to answer that.

“You lying idiot!” Kenneth shouted behind us. “You told me anyone could jump as high as you. You never told me you had
wings
.”

The triplets whooped.

We only had a few seconds. Our friends were going to mob us, demanding answers.

I leaned in. “They're orange. Reddish in the middle, tangerine at the edges. Kind of like leaves in fall. It's a good look for you, actually.”

“Right. Because
that's
what I'm worried about.” But his mouth twitched, and he flapped his wings once slowly, keeping them around. That was good enough for me.

Ben reached us first. “I knew you liked to make an entrance, but you've just taken it to new
heights
.”

“Dude, all the flying jokes you could crack, and you went for that? I must have really shocked you.” Chase's grin grew even wider when the triplets caught up.

“You
can
fly, right?” said Conner.

“Duh,” said Kevin. “Wings aren't just for show.”

“But you can do magic, too, can't you?” Kyle asked.

I knew Adelaide was happy to see him, but she didn't look like it. She shook her long hair back and scowled, arms crossed. “
Rory
knew, and I
didn't
?”

She probably wasn't the only one who'd had that thought. I looked around for Lena.

The last member of our Triumvirate was all the way across the courtyard in front of the Director's amethyst door. She must have followed my advice and went for help. When the Director charged toward us, Lena trailed behind her slowly, hanging back.

She wasn't okay.

“I need to go check on Lena,” I told Chase.

He followed my gaze and spotted her, then the Director. “I'll catch up when I can.”

I slithered through the crowd, letting the Director pass me, and reached Lena. “Want to go talk somewhere?” I asked. I waited for the accusations to start, but Lena just nodded. She had that intense, determined look she got when she was trying to figure out a tricky invention.

We went to her house. She handed me her keys so I could unlock the door, and we shuffled inside. I waved hello to George and Miriam watching a movie on the couch. Lena just headed up the stairs to her room.

By the time I got there, she was sitting on her bed. She'd worked most of it out.

“
Chase
is the Turnleaf,” she said. “Not Jack's father or Jack's grandfather?”

I nodded, pulling her desk chair beside the window and settling into it. Before this, Chase had let her believe he was descended from a Turnleaf. Inheriting the title was one thing. Becoming one was much rarer, and even if the rest of our grade was still clueless, she knew what it meant. She knew that Turnleaf was what the Fey called someone who rejected the chance to live among them forever and decided to join the human world instead.