The Faerie Prince (Creepy Hollow, #2) (11 page)

“Are we in Creepy Hollow?” I ask.

“It feels like it.”

“Yeah, it does.” I climb to my feet, smoothing my hands down my dress. “But why would she send us back here? I thought she said something about locking us up.”

Ryn shakes his head as he stands up. “I don’t know.”

I look around. “Hey, isn’t that our gargan tree? The one we always used to climb?”

“Yes.”

I walk slowly toward it, feeling a small tug at my heart. The last time I was up there, Nate was with me. We lay in the hollow created by the arms right at the top of the ancient tree. Nate asked me out on a date. A date where he then betrayed me. It makes me sad to think about it, but not as sad as it used to. I think I’m getting over it.

As I get closer, the shape of a person comes into view just on the other side of the tree. “Hello?” I call. I think of my bow and arrow, and they appear immediately, fitting perfectly into my outstretched arms. I tilt my head. “Who’s there?”

The person steps away from the tree and turns around to face me. My heart begins pattering out an uneven rhythm because I
know
this guy standing in front of me. I can’t remember ever meeting him, yet something about him is undeniably familiar. He looks a bit like Ryn, but he also looks a lot like an older version of—

“Reed,” Ryn whispers.

My bow and arrow fizzle away into nothing as I realize that that’s exactly who I’m looking at. But how? He’s supposed to be
dead
.

“Vi, is that you?” he asks. He takes a step toward me as his mouth turns up in that exact same smile that always used to warm my heart.

My throat tightens, and moisture gathers at the corners of my eyes. “This can’t be real,” I whisper.

He takes another step toward me and holds out his hand, but I don’t take it. I so badly want this to be real. I so badly want it to be Reed who’s standing in front of me, but it
can’t
be. It isn’t possible. We had a celebration-of-life ceremony. I watched his body float magically upriver in a flower-laden canoe and vanish beneath the Infinity Falls.

As if in a daze, Ryn walks slowly past me until he’s standing right in front of Reed. “Am I imagining you?” he asks.

That smile again. “Don’t I look real to you, brother?”

Ryn pulls Reed into a tight hug and says thickly, “I’ve missed you so much.” It’s so odd to see them together that I begin to think I must have hit my head when the Queen pushed me to the ground. This has got to be a dream, right?

Reed pulls back and rests a hand on Ryn’s shoulder. “I’ve missed you too, Oryn. But you know I always loved Violet more than I loved you.”

Okay, what?

“That’s why I went to visit her on that terrible day, even after you begged me to stay home. She was more important to me than you ever were.” Reed’s eyes slide away from Ryn’s and meet mine. “She’s the one I’ve missed the most.”

No way. This definitely isn’t the Reed I remember. I take hold of Ryn’s arm. “This isn’t real, Ryn. Don’t listen to him.”

Ryn stumbles backward, looking a little stunned. “I really think it might be,” he says. His eyes are glazed over as he stares at nothing. “I always wondered if . . . if that was really the way he felt.” He shakes his head and looks down, his face the picture of defeat. It unnerves me.

“Hey!” I lightly slap his cheek. “Snap out of it. I don’t know what’s happening here, but I’m pretty sure none of it’s real.”

“Pretty sure?” Reed says. I turn to look at him. “We live in a world of magic, V. Is it really so impossible that I’m standing right in front of you? Is it so impossible that I might love you? We grew up together. We did everything together. You were my best friend and—”

“And then you died,” I fill in. I let go of Ryn’s arm and begin drawing power from the center of my being. “And it was horrible and it sucked and it
still
sucks, but that is what happened. And the Reed I knew wouldn’t have said what you just said to Ryn. He loved his brother more than anything else, so I don’t know what twisted creation of magic you are, but you need to GO!” I throw everything I’ve got at him: a translucent, shimmering ball of raw magic. It strikes him in the stomach and throws him backward onto the ground.

Abruptly, the black smoke returns, dancing and swirling around us. I grasp Ryn’s hand before the darkness engulfs us once more. We spin faster this time, landing on the hard floor within seconds. I blink, taking a moment to orient myself. I swat at the last remaining wisps of smoke, then get to my feet as quickly as I can.

Wind sweeps my hair off my shoulders. The sounds of smashing, splintering and shouting fill the air. Objects fly past as they get caught up in a whirlwind of debris. In the midst of it all, Zell and his mother are doing battle. Savyon appears to be gone.

I point my bow and arrow into the heart of the fight as Ryn stands up beside me. “You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“What the hell just happened?” I dodge a flying book and a stray spark of magic.

“I don’t know, but we need to get some other guardians here as soon as possible.”

“Okay, you open the doorway, and I’ll make sure you don’t get hit by—Whoa!” I jump out of the way of a spinning broomstick. It strikes the floor and cracks in half, emitting a high-pitched screech as the two halves strike relentlessly at the floor. “Stuff like that,” I finish.

“Stop!” the Queen shrieks. Everything in the room freezes, then crashes to the floor. I look up and see Zell struggling behind a tangle of enchanted vines. The Queen is staring directly at me.

“Quickly!” I say to Ryn. I let my bow and arrow vanish and throw up an invisible shield of magic instead. The air ripples where the Queen’s magic strikes against it. A doorway opens beside me. Ryn reaches for my hand—but I’m thrown backward as a blast of black sparks breaches my shield.

Pain tears through my body as I strike the wall and slide down to the floor. I roll my head to the side with a groan. The Queen’s smoky black and grey gown brushes the floor as she comes toward me. I look past her to where Ryn and I were standing. The doorway in the air is gone. So is Ryn.

Oh my
crap
, did he just leave without me?

“I see you managed to break out,” the Queen says, holding a hand up in front of her. I can sense a shield between us.

“Break out?” I ask. I still have no idea how we got to Creepy Hollow.

“Of your head,” she says. “Or his head. I can’t quite remember where I sent the two of you.” A wicked grin spreads across her face. “But you can probably figure it out. Whose deepest, darkest desires and fears did you witness?”

Ryn’s. Definitely Ryn’s.

Great. He is not going to like the fact that I was locked up inside his head with him. And I can’t believe he left me here!

“I have no idea who you are,” the Queen says, “but my son certainly seems to think you’re valuable. Why exactly is that?”

I try to shrug, but it hurts too much. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Her eyes harden and her voice is cold as she says, “I’d love to, but I’m currently trying to get more important information out of him.”

Oh yes. Her eternity necklace—whatever that is. Well, she can torture Zell as much as she likes, but he’ll never be able to tell her the truth: that it’s hidden inside my own necklace.

A ripping sound from the other side of the room alerts us to the fact that Zell is breaking free of his magical bonds. The Queen moves her shield hand behind her. With the invisible layer of protection gone from between us, I think of my knife and take hold of it from the air. I’m about to throw it at the Queen when I feel something tighten around my arm. The knife disappears as thick, leafy vines slither around my wrists. My skin stings where the leaves touch me, and I feel oddly sapped of strength. I scratch feebly at the leaves with my free hand, but they jump across to my other wrist, binding my hands together.

“And up you go,” the Queen says, raising her hand to the ceiling. In one swift motion, I find myself dangling from the ceiling. My shoulders ache as my arms threaten to pop out of their sockets. “You won’t be going anywhere now; you need exceptional strength to get out of those.” She steps away from me. “I shall be back for you when I’m done with my son, and you
will
tell me what is so important about you, or it won’t be long before you know every horror of the Unseelie Court, little guardian.”

The Queen walks away from me, vanishing and then reappearing on the other side of the room. How did she do that? The faerie paths? She slashes her hand through the air in the shape of an X. Icicles materialize in front of her, and she pushes hard against them, sending them straight at Zell. He blasts away the final cords of vine and sends the icicles scattering with one sweep of his hand. They melt before they reach the floor.

“You don’t deserve to be immortal!” he yells at his mother. “I will never give you that necklace!” And with that, he launches himself at the Queen.

Hail, dirt and rain spin around them. They kick and hit and dodge as if in some furious but expertly choreographed dance. I’m not sure how she does it, but the Queen never once trips over her gown. Despite the stinging pain in my wrists and the fact that I really should be trying to escape, I find myself mesmerized. I’m watching Unseelie royalty fight one another; I could learn something from this.

As if he can hear my thoughts, Zell spins out of the way of a flock of crows and disappears into the passage. After throwing a giant ball of licking green flames after him, the Queen follows.

Great. I struggle against the vines, spinning myself uselessly around and causing even more pain in my wrists. I get nowhere. I give up and let out a cry of frustration. Zell and the Queen are gone, Ryn is gone, and I’m hanging helplessly from a ceiling in a long dress. This is
so
not my style.

“Look at you,” a voice below me says, “playing the damsel in distress.”

I glare down at Ryn. “Oh, how nice of you to show up. Where exactly did you disappear to?”

“I’ve been watching from the faerie paths.”

“And you couldn’t help me out a little earlier?”

“I was waiting for the right opportunity, like Zell and his mommy conveniently disappearing into another room.”

“Why didn’t you go back to the Guild for help?”

He frowns. “You’re my partner, V. I wouldn’t just leave you here.”

We stare at each other for a moment before I wriggle some more and say, “Well, are you going to get me down from here or what?”

He crosses his arms and tilts his head to the side. “I’m actually rather enjoying this.”

“Dammit, Ryn, I am in serious pain here!” I shout as tears begin to prick the back of my eyes. The skin around my hands and wrists is screaming out for relief.

“Sorry,” he says, hurriedly swiping his hand through the air. The vine connecting me to the ceiling is severed. I drop swiftly. Ryn steps forward and catches me easily, as if catching falling girls is something he does all the time. With the vines gone, I feel an immediate return of my power. The burning ache around my wrists and hands lingers on, though.

“That looks nasty,” Ryn says as he places me on the floor.

I look up and notice a shimmer in the air over his shoulder. A person exiting the faerie paths. “Hey—”

“Got you!” Savyon says. He steps deftly around Ryn and seizes me by the wrist. He grasps Ryn’s wrist in his other hand. A crazy second passes where we all seem to freeze, then Savyon jumps away from us. Feeling something cold on my arm, I look down. A band of metal encircles my wrist.

“No!” I shout, balling my fists in anger as I recognize the metal. “Dammit!”

“Fun, aren’t they?” Savyon says. “I found them hidden in Zell’s quarters at the Unseelie Palace. Seems my little brother has been hiding many fun toys from me.”

Furious at having to endure one of these magic-blocking bands for a second time, I pull my non-guardian knife out of its strap on my thigh and stab it into the side of Savyon’s neck without a second thought. He’s clearly so shocked I can do anything without magic that he barely manages to retaliate before Ryn kicks him hard in the chest.