Rise of Allies (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 4) (44 page)

Malwort, who was just returning with the calcium sulfate, nearly dropped the jar and froze in the middle of the worktable. “Broom? Eek! Where?”

“Oh, it’s all right, Malwort!” Nixie soothed him. “Don’t worry, I only use my broom for flying.”

“You like flying?” Archie nearly shouted, turning to her in sudden amazement.

“Love it,” Nixie said. “Why?”

“Because I invented a flying machine! Flying is like—my favorite thing in the whole world! I mean, we should go out flying together sometime! Unless—er, unless you’d rather not.”

“No, it sounds fun,” Nixie said, blushing.

Suddenly, they both become extremely embarrassed and hurried back to work.

“Ahem. So how’s the potion coming along?” Archie asked a few minutes later.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Nixie brushed her floppy black bangs out of her eyes with a weary sigh. “To be honest with you, I don’t know what else to try.” She shook her head. “I’ve already used the most extreme magic I can think of on Jenny Greenteeth, but nothing’s worked. Why should this time be any different? Hemlock, wolfsbane, belladonna… I mean, what else can I add?”

“How about hydrochloric acid? Pretty nasty stuff.”

She shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

“Oh, yes, it can. Spilled a drop on my hand once. Here, I’ll get it for you. Spider: stay. It’s too dangerous for you.” Archie started moving toward the shelves, then turned around, his brow furrowed. “Actually… Hmm.” He stared into space for a moment, off in genius-land.

“Hullo?” Nixie prompted in amusement when his voice trailed off.

He blinked back to awareness. “You say this hag apparition started out as a nursery bogey, and it was centuries of children believing in her that made her come to life.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, then…wouldn’t it be logical that
disbelieving
in her somehow might make her disappear?”

Nixie gave him a skeptical frown. “How do you disbelieve in something that’s throwing you across the room?”

“Not really sure…” He shook his head, pondering again, then he shrugged. “Magic’s not my forte, so take it with a grain of salt. But to me, it just stands to reason that if belief is what originally brought Jenny Greenteeth into existence, then maybe disbelief is the key to, well, unmaking her. Perhaps fear is the very thing that gives her strength.”

Nixie stared at him for a long moment, then looked at her ingredients again and echoed his “hmm.”

#  #  #

Meanwhile, Isabelle, Maddox, and Dani ventured out across the moonlit grounds of Merlin Hall to scout out their enemies. They had to confirm—from a safe distance—if the Headless Highlander was still haunting the path in the woods where Jake had seen him before, and if Nuckalavee was still lolling about in the naiads’ stream.

After all, they couldn’t defeat these Bugganes if they couldn’t find them.

Dani had Jake’s telescope. While she scanned the landscape through the night vision lens, Isabelle couldn’t help sending worried glances in Maddox’s direction.

All this talk of war had chilled her to the bone.

He caught her eyeing him nervously and smiled. “Don’t be scared,” he teased in a low tone. “I won’t let the monsters get you.”

She blushed. “It’s not that.”

“Good. I was about to be insulted if you thought I couldn’t keep you safe.”

She suppressed a dreamy sigh at his mild brag, but hesitated to share what was on her mind, since the Bugganes were probably enough to worry about.

He marched on, and she had to walk faster to keep up with his long strides, Dani trailing a few paces behind.

“Maddox?”

“Yes, Miss Bradford?” he answered in amusement.

A sound of distress escaped her. “Are you going to go to the war, if there is one?”

“If they tell me to, of course. Why?”

With the guarded look he gave her, Isabelle wished more than ever that she could read him, but he was a brick wall. It was so vexing! She just had to muddle through like any other girl, bewildered by the stoic silence of boys.

“It’s just—if you had to go and fight, I’d worry so. The Dark Druids, Maddox. They can do worse than kill you. You do know that, right?”

“A Guardian goes where he’s needed, Miss Bradford. Oh, don’t look like that,” he chided softly when he saw her wide-eyed stare.

“I should hate for anything to happen to you,” she blurted out.

“No worries. If it does, I’m sure the healers will fix me right up.” He flashed a smile and chucked her under the chin.

“Maddox! Can’t you just—”

“Isabelle! You can’t ask me not to be who I am,” he said impatiently. “Now, you ladies stay here,” he ordered, making it clear by his tone that this topic was not open to discussion. “I’ll be right back.”

“Shouldn’t we come with you?”

“Nixie said the Scot vanishes if he sees more than one person alone.”

She also said if he sees one person alone, he kills them,
Isabelle thought.

He gave her a maddening look of total confidence. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Be careful,” she insisted.

He ignored her, pivoting toward the woods. She stood fretting on the castle’s long driveway while he strode off across the meadow, heading for the opening in the woods.

Toward
the danger.

Dani arrived by her side and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “He’ll be all right, don’t worry.” She hesitated. “It’s just a stupid ghost.”

Like the sort Jake faces all the time
.

Dani did not need to say that part aloud. They were both thinking it.

Isabelle glanced at her, grateful for the redhead’s sturdy presence at her side. But when Dani met her gaze, she could see the same fear in her eyes, and no wonder. Jake, for all his roguery, had the exact same tendency toward heroics as Maddox. Dani gripped her hand a little harder.

Growing up’s horrid,
Isabelle thought. And falling in love with a boy for the first time was even worse.

#  #  #

Dani shared Isabelle’s tension as they waited for Maddox to come back from the woods. Every second dragged. Isabelle borrowed Jake’s telescope from her but then couldn’t bear to look—and couldn’t bear
not
to look, either. She was in a bad way, Dani mused, looking askance at the older girl.

For her part, she was finding her gift of common sense to be a bit of a burden right now.

We’re just kids. Why aren’t we telling the grownups? Why do we have to do this by ourselves?

She chewed her lip uneasily and conceded that, of course, the grownups had bigger things to worry about, since they had just found out that they might be headed for a war.

A war! Dani couldn’t even imagine it. It didn’t seem real. Maybe the vampire was just making it up to scare everybody. That sounded like the sort of thing a vampire would do.

As for the Bugganes, Jake had declared that, together, they could take these creatures on, and far be it from the baby of the group to be the tattletale.

Just then, Isabelle gasped, looking through the lens.

“What?” Dani barely got out, when suddenly Maddox came charging out of the woods with a yelp.

“I see it—the apparition!” Isabelle breathed, and Dani did, too, while Maddox sprinted toward them.

But just like Nixie had described, the moment the Headless Highlander realized the girls were there, it stopped chasing Maddox and faded back into the shadows like a wisp of fog, leaving only a long, dire bagpipe note hanging on the night like a warning.

“Holy Mother!” Upon rejoining them, Maddox leaned forward and braced his hands on his thighs for a moment, catching his breath. “
Whew.
I’m gonna need a bigger sword.”

“Brave warrior,” Dani teased, laughing at how he had bolted in dread just like Jake had. She couldn’t resist.

Maddox sent her a playful scowl and tweaked her nose. “You go talk to him and see how
you
fare, pipsqueak.”

“Yes, but you see, I’m too smart to do that,” she replied.

Maddox straightened up and shook off his brief fright. “A Headless Highlander! Well, you don’t see that every day.” He seemed quite chagrined at having fled the ghost in front of Isabelle, but of course, she was gracious, as always.

She patted him on the shoulder. “Good work. At least we know now he’s in there.”

“Let’s go find the other one.”

“Nuckalavee.” Isabelle nodded. “It’s supposed to be some sort of animal, so I should be able to read it.”

“You’ll be careful,” Maddox told her sternly. “I don’t want you getting too close.”

They started flirting again. Dani found it a little annoying, even though she knew how happy Isabelle was to have met Maddox.

Ever the loyal lady’s companion, Dani hung back to give the pair some room. She was happy to let them chat together, as long as
she
was there to act as chaperone.

Heading down the driveway toward the stone bridge, Dani could hear the water nymphs singing along with the frogs and the light babble of the stream. It was very beautiful and made her feel like nothing bad could ever really happen.

“I wonder if the others are making any progress,” Isabelle remarked.

Dani wondered, too.

#  #  #

Jake did not know how
he
got stuck with Troll Boy.

Well, actually, he did. Og was about to become his accomplice in a burglary. Which probably meant that an ex-pickpocket wasn’t the best influence on the lumbering, child-like monster…

Nevertheless, as they crept through the zoo, with all its supposed nighttime dangers, Jake was surprised—and a trifle worried—at how quietly the big lug could sneak.

When it came to stealth, Ogden Trumbull was a natural. Disturbingly so, given his rock troll instincts.

Having already dealt with one cannibal today on Caliban’s island, Jake kept a close eye on him as they crept toward the thatch-roofed cottage that housed the veterinarian’s office. He had the Bully Buzzer in his pocket and was not afraid to use it if Og so much as looked at him wrong. And yet…

Poor thing. Og still had no idea why he kept having these painful “fits,” as he called them. For the past few minutes, he had been confiding in Jake about his sudden, inexplicable health problems.

“Maybe I should have Dr. Plantagenet check me,” he rumbled anxiously. “A person shouldn’t be falling down like that for no reason!”

“Aw, I wouldn’t worry him,” Jake assured him in a whisper. “You probably just have a virus. It’ll pass. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Are you feeling all right now?”

Og shrugged. “I think so. Just a little sore from falling off the rocks.”

“See? Maybe you’re getting better already. Right! So, er, there’s the office.” He pointed to the cottage nestled in the landscaping ahead. The windows were all dark. “You said Dr. P. keeps the front door locked, right? So what’s the best way to get in?”

“Shh!” Og froze and suddenly pointed to a particular tree nearby.

Jake squinted at it in the darkness, then glanced at his large companion. “What?”

Og folded his hands together and tilted his head to mimic someone sleeping. Jake’s jaw dropped. He looked at the tree again, more closely this time, and realized, sure enough, it was the Green Man fast asleep for the night.

Dr. Plantagenet had doffed his white lab coat; all his roots and vines were showing. His trunk was covered in bark, and his feet were sunk deep into the ground. Jake’s stare traveled over the Green Man in wonder. His eyes were closed serenely, and his face looked leafier than before.