The Iron Daughter (20 page)

I didn't mention that I wished Ash was here. That he was the main reason I'd been brave in the Iron Kingdom. I missed him, his calm, unflinching determination, his quiet self-confidence.

Puck shifted so that he was facing me, tilting my chin to look at me square. I met his eyes and saw a hundred churning emotions in his emerald gaze.

“I'm here,” he murmured, running long fingers through my hair. “Don't forget that. No matter what happens, I'll protect you.” He leaned in, resting his forehead to mine. I smelled apples on his breath, saw my own reflection in his eyes. “I'll never leave your side, no matter what comes at us. Count on it.”

My heart thumped in my ears. I knew I was standing on the edge of a vast precipice, looking down. I knew I should pull away, that if I stayed here, a line would be crossed, and we could never go back.

I closed my eyes instead. And Puck kissed me.

His lips were hesitant at first, brushing lightly against mine, giving me room to pull away. When I pressed into him, he cupped the back of my head and kissed me in earnest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, wanting to forget everything that was happening, to drown myself in feeling. Maybe now the gaping hurt and loneliness would go away for a little while. Puck shoved the plate off the bed and leaned back, pulling me down with him, his lips suddenly at my neck, tracing a line of fire down my skin.

“If you are going to do that, would you mind not jostling
the bed so much?” came a sarcastic voice near the headboard. “Perhaps you could roll around on the floor.”

Blushing furiously, I looked up. Grimalkin lay on the pillow, watching us with a bemused, half-lidded stare. Puck followed my gaze and let out an explosive sigh.

“Did I ever mention how much I hate cats?”

“Do not blame me, Goodfellow.” Grimalkin blinked, managing to sound bored and indignant at the same time. “I was minding my own business long before you and the princess started humping like rabbits.”

Puck snorted. Rolling to his stomach, he pushed himself off the bed and pulled me up with him, wrapping me in his arms. My face flamed, but whether it was from Grimalkin's ill-timed comments or something else, I couldn't tell.

“I'd better go,” Puck sighed, sounding reluctant. “I told Ironhorse I'd look at some blueprints Kimi managed to swipe from somewhere.” His gaze strayed to the scattered food on the floor, sandwiches and apple slices everywhere, and he bit down a sheepish grin. “Erm, sorry about the mess, Princess. And don't worry about the code, we'll figure something out. Try to get some sleep, okay? We'll be right outside.”

He bent down, as if to kiss me, but I couldn't meet his eyes and looked away. He paused, then placed a light kiss on my forehead and left, shutting the door behind him.

I collapsed to the bed, burying my face in a pillow. What had I done? I kissed Puck, because he was there. Because I was scared and lonely for someone else. Puck loved me, and I had kissed him for all the wrong reasons. I'd kissed him thinking of Ash. And…I liked it.

Guilt gnawed at me. I missed Ash, and the longing was ripping my stomach to pieces, but I also wanted Puck to come back and kiss me some more.

“I am so screwed up,” I muttered, flopping back on the bed.
The cracks in the ceiling smirked at me, and I groaned. “What am I going to do?”

“Hopefully obsess in silence so I can get to sleep,” Grimalkin said without opening his eyes. He flexed his claws, yawned, and burrowed deeper into the pillow. “Perhaps you can work on deciphering the code so that we can retrieve the scepter. I would hate to put in all this work for nothing.”

I glared at him, but he was right. And, maybe it would take my mind off Puck for a while. “I mean, it's not like I'm cheating on Ash or anything,” I reasoned, retrieving the crumpled ball of paper and climbing back onto the bed. “He was the one who dumped me and said to forget about him. We're over. Actually, I'm not sure we had anything in the first place.”

Grimalkin didn't answer. I stared at the code and sighed again, heavily, as the numbers seemed to crawl across the paper like ants. “I'm never going to get this, Grim,” I muttered. “This is hopeless. You'd have to be a mathematical genius or something.”

Grimalkin thumped his tail and shifted around so that his back was to me. “Try looking at the code as a riddle, instead of a mathematical equation,” he muttered. “Perhaps you are trying too hard to fit it to a formula. The Iron fey are still fey, after all, and riddles are in our blood.”

A riddle, huh? I looked down at the paper again and frowned. I still couldn't make heads or tails of the stupid code, no matter how much I looked at it.

 

3

13

1113

3113

132113

1…

 

“Grim, I don't—”

“Read it out loud, human.” Grim sounded annoyed but resigned, as if he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep until he helped me. “If you must make noise, at least try to be useful.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “But it's not going to help.” Grim didn't reply, so I started reading it from the top. “Three. One-three. One-one-one-three. Three-one-one-three.” I stopped, frowning. It sounded different, reading it out loud. I tried the third line again. “One-one, one-three.”

One 1. One 3.

I blinked. Could it really be that simple? I ran through the rest of the lines, just to be sure, and my eyes widened as it all clicked into place. “I…I got it! I think. Wait a minute.” I scanned the paper again. “Yes, that's right! It's not just a number riddle, it's a language riddle, too! You were right, Grim! Look!” I shoved the paper at Grimalkin, who continued to ignore me, but I went on anyway. “Each of the lines describes the line before it. The first number is a three, so the second line goes, One 3. The next line is One 1, One 3, and so on. So, if that's the case, the last line of the riddle, and the answer to the code would have to be…” I counted the numbers in my head. “1-1-1-3-1-2-2-1-1-3.” I felt a thrill of pride and excitement, somehow knowing I was right, and couldn't help the huge grin spreading over my face. “I figured it out, Grim! We can get the scepter after all.”

Grimalkin didn't answer. His eyes were closed, and I couldn't tell if he was asleep or faking it. I considered tracking down Puck and Ironhorse to share in my victory, but on reflection I wasn't sure I wanted to face Puck just then. So I lay on the bed, listening to the brownies scurry back and forth, cleaning up apple slices, while my mind replayed Puck's kiss until the memory was seared into my brain. Guilt and excitement as
saulted me by turns. One moment, I was ready to drag Puck back here to finish what we'd started, the next, I missed Ash so much my chest hurt. I stayed awake, too hyped up to sleep, until a brownie poked his head in to tell me it was dawn and Leanansidhe was waiting for me.

Operation Scepter

The woman stared at me over the gold rim of her glasses, lips pursed in a disdainful expression. She wore a black business suit that clung to her body, and her hair was pulled into a tight yet elegant bun, giving her a stern demeanor. Her makeup was perfect, and the towering black heels made her seem taller and even more imposing.

“What do you think, darling?” Leanansidhe asked, sounding pleased. “The glasses might be a bit much, but we don't want to take any chances today.”

I stuck out my tongue at the woman, who did the same in the mirror's reflection. “It's perfect,” I said, amazed. “I don't even recognize myself. I look like a lawyer or something.”

“Hopefully enough to get you into SciCorp this afternoon,” Leanansidhe murmured, and all the dread and fear I'd managed to suppress all morning rose up like a black tide. I swallowed hard to keep the nausea down, wishing I hadn't eaten that box
of powdered doughnuts Kimi brought in for breakfast. I wouldn't look very professional if I puked all over my expensive shoes.

Puck, Kimi, Nelson and Ironhorse were in the foyer, huddled around a blueprint when we came in, me wobbling behind Leanansidhe in my flimsy heels. Grimalkin dozed on the top of the piano, his tail brushing the keys, ignoring us all. I saw Leanansidhe glance his way and wince, as if imagining scratch marks on the polished wood.

Puck glanced up at me and smiled. He held out a hand, and I tottered up to him, grabbing his arm for support. My toes throbbed, and I leaned into him, trying to take the weight off my feet. How did women do it, walking around in these things every day without snapping their ankles?

“How's that walking thing coming?” Puck murmured so that only I could hear.

“Shut up.” I smacked his arm. “I'm still learning, okay? This is like walking around on toothpicks.” He snickered, and I shifted my attention to the map spread out between them. “What are we looking at?”

“The plan,” Kimi answered, standing on tiptoes to bend over the table. “This is the SciCorp entrance,” the half-phouka continued, pointing to an obscure line near the bottom of the paper. I squinted, but I couldn't make it out from all the other lines spread over the blueprint. “According to Warren,” Kimi went on, tracing a finger up to another line, “the scepter is being held here, between floors twenty-nine and thirty.”

“I still don't know how that's possible,” I muttered. “How can a building have a floor between floors?”

“The same way I can have a mansion between the mortal world and the Nevernever, darling,” Leanansidhe answered, looking at Grimalkin as if she really wanted to shoo him off the piano. “The Iron fey have their horrible glamour, just as
we have ours. We turn into rabbits, they eat bank accounts. Grim, darling, do you
have
to sleep there?”

“You, Puck and Ironhorse will come in here,” Kimi continued, tapping the bottom of the blueprint. “Past the doors will be the security checkpoint, which will scan your ID card. Puck and Ironhorse will be invisible to mortal eyes, so we don't have to worry about them being seen.”

“What if there are Iron fey on the first floor?” Puck asked.

“There aren't,” Kimi replied, glancing at him. “Nelson and I checked it out. If the Iron fey are going into the building, they're not using the front doors.”

That sounded ominous, like the Iron fey could have hidden doors or trods we didn't know about, but there was nothing for it now.

“Once you're past the checkpoint, the elevators are here,” Kimi went on, tracing the path with her finger before giving us a grave look. “And this is where things get dicey. I don't know how you're getting up to floor twenty-nine and a half. They might have a certain button only those with Sight can see, or there might be a password, or you might have to press buttons in a certain sequence. I have no idea. Alternatively, you can take the stairs, here, but that will mean climbing up thirty floors from ground level, with no guarantee there will be an entrance to floor twenty-nine and a half.”

“We'll burn that bridge when we come to it,” Puck said, waving it away. “So, what about the floor with the scepter? What can we expect?”

“Wait a minute,” I warned, putting a hand on his chest. “This sounds awfully risky. We don't know if we can even get up to the twenty-ninth floor? How is this good planning?”

“Twenty-nine point five,” Puck corrected me. “And it's not. Good planning, I mean. But, look at it this way.” He grinned. “We either go with our gut, or we don't go at all. Not a lot of
choices, Princess. But, don't worry.” He put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “You don't need a plan. You have the Puck with you, remember? I'm an expert at this. And I've never needed an elaborate plan to pull anything off.”

There was a loud clank from the piano, as Leanansidhe finally convinced Grimalkin to sleep elsewhere. Annoyed, the cat had slid from his perch and landed with his full weight on the keys, then leaped to the bench. “Worry not, human,” the cat sighed, giving himself a thorough shake. “I am going with you as well. With Goodfellow's exemplary planning, someone has to make sure you go through the right door.”

“Huh.” Puck snorted and glared at the feline. “That's awfully helpful of you, cat. What's in it for you?”

“Grimalkin and I worked something out, darling, don't worry about it.” Leanansidhe gave the blueprint a cursory glance over Puck's shoulder before dismissing it with a sniff. “Remember, pets, when you get to the floor where the scepter is being held, you must be prepared for anything. Robin, it will be up to you and the iron thing to protect the princess. I'm quite sure they won't have the scepter lying around where anyone can snatch it. There will most likely be guards, wards, nasty things like that.”

“I WILL PROTECT THE PRINCESS WITH MY LIFE,” Ironhorse boomed, making Puck grimace and Kimi pin back her ears. “I SWEAR, WHILE I STILL LIVE AND BREATHE, NO HARM WILL BEFALL HER. WE WILL RETRIEVE THE SCEPTER, OR WE WILL DIE TRYING.”

“And personally, I'd like
not
to do the dying thing,” Puck added.

I was about to agree, when there was a commotion in the hall, and a moment later a human rushed into the room. It was Charles, the crazy piano player, looking as wild and panicked
as I'd ever seen, even more than when we'd faced the redcaps. His anguished brown eyes met mine and he lurched forward, only to be stopped by Ironhorse stepping in front of me with a warning growl.

“She…she's leaving?” Charles looked utterly despondent, wringing his hands and biting his bottom lip. “No no no. Can't leave again. Can't disappear. Stay.”

“Charles.” Leanansidhe's voice made the air tremble, and the poor man gave her a terrified look. “What are you doing here? Go back to your room.”

“It's all right, Charles,” I said quickly, as he looked on the verge of tears. “I'm not leaving for good. I'm coming back, don't worry.”

He stopped wringing his hands, straightened, and looked at me dead on. And for just a moment, I saw him without the crazy light to his eyes. The way he must have been…before. Young. Tall. Handsome, with laugh lines around his mouth and jaw. A kind yet weary face. One that was vaguely familiar.

“You'll come back?” he murmured. “Promise?”

I nodded. “Promise.”

Then Leanansidhe clapped her hands, the sharp rap making us jump. “Charles, darling,” she said, and was it my imagination, or did she sound a bit nervous? “You heard the girl. She'll be back. Now, why don't you find the other Charles and find something to play tonight? Go on, now. Shoo.” She waved her hand, and Charles, with one last look at me, stumbled from the room.

I frowned at Leanansidhe. “Other Charles? There's more than one?”

“I call them all Charles, darling.” Leanansidhe shrugged. “I'm horrible with names, as you've no doubt seen, and human males look virtually the same to me. So they're all Charles, for simplicity's sake.”

Grimalkin sighed and leaped from the bench. “We are wasting time,” he announced, bottlebrush tail held straight up as he trotted past. “If we are going to get this circus started, we should leave now.”

“Good luck, darlings,” Leanansidhe called as we followed Grim out of the room. “When you return, you must tell me
all
about it. Meghan, dove, don't do anything I wouldn't do.”

 

K
IMI AND
N
ELSON LED
the way back to the outside world. We followed them through several rooms, where groups of fey and humans watched us leave, down a red carpeted hallway, then up a long spiral staircase that finally stopped at a trapdoor in the ceiling. The trapdoor was oddly shaped: round, gray and heavy looking. I peered closer and saw that it was the bottom of a manhole cover. When Nelson pushed it up to peek through, bright sunlight spilled through the crack, and the smell of asphalt, tar and exhaust fumes assaulted my nose. While the half-troll scanned the road overhead, waiting for a clear spot, Kimi turned to me.

“This is as far as we go, I'm afraid.” The little half-phouka looked disappointed as she handed me a plastic ID card on a string.

“You're not coming?”

She gave me an apologetic smile, nodding to Puck and Ironhorse. “Nah, you have your champions. Those two are pure-bloods. They'll be invisible to humans just by virtue of being fey. Nelson and I can't work glamour as well, and it would look suspicious if you were seen with a couple of streetrats in tow. Don't worry, though. We're really close to SciCorp, and from here you can take a taxi or something. Here.” She handed me a slip of paper, scrawled on with bright green ink. “That's the address you're looking for. The trod back will be on Fourteenth
and Maple, and you want the second manhole from the left. Got it?”

I nodded, as my stomach fluttered nervously. “Got it.”

“Clear,” Nelson grunted, and shoved the manhole cover out of the way. Puck scrambled out first, then pulled me up after him. As Ironhorse and Grimalkin crawled out, I gazed around the middle of a busy street, A horn blared, and a bright red Mustang screeched to a stop a few feet away. “Get out of the road, you crazy bitch!” the driver yelled from the window, and I scrambled to the edge of the curb. The driver roared off, oblivious to the massive Iron faery who swung a huge fist at the hood, barely missing.

“You ran a light anyway, dickhead!” I yelled after him, as Puck and Ironhorse joined me on the sidewalk. People stared at me, shaking their heads or chuckling under their breath. I scowled, trying to calm my racing heart. They wouldn't laugh if they could see Ironhorse looming over me like a protective bodyguard, glaring at anyone who got too close.

“Are you all right?” Puck asked anxiously, standing so close that his breath tickled my cheek. I nodded, and he kissed the top of my head, making butterflies swarm through my stomach. “Don't scare me like that, Princess.”

“Well, that was amusing.” Grimalkin hopped lightly onto the sidewalk, making a show of taking his sweet time. “Are we quite ready to go, now? Human, you know where we are headed, correct?”

I looked down at the paper, still clutched in my hand. It trembled only a little. “You guys okay with taking a taxi?”

Puck made a face. “Now see, anyone else would have a few qualms about riding in a big metal box, but I've learned to deal.” He smirked. “All those years I took the bus with you was good practice. Still, keep the windows open, Princess.”

We found a pay phone, and I called for a taxi. Ten minutes
later, a bright yellow cab pulled up, driven by a bearded man chewing a thick cigar. He kept glancing at me in the rearview window and smiling, oblivious to the two faeries pressed on either side of me, one glaring, one hanging his head out the window. I sat squashed between Puck and Ironhorse, with Grim on my lap and both windows rolled down, as we tore through the city streets. The smoke from the cabby's cigar stung my nose and made my eyes water, and Puck looked positively green.

At last, we pulled up in front of a gleaming tower, the sunlight reflecting off the mirrored walls as they rose into the sky. I paid the cab fare, and we piled out of the car. As soon as we were free of the cab, Puck started coughing. He looked pale and sweaty, and my heart lurched, remembering Ash in the wasteland of the Iron fey. Ironhorse watched him curiously, as though fascinated, and Grimalkin sat down to wash his tail.

“Ugh, that was unpleasant,” Puck muttered when the harsh explosions finally stopped. He spit on the sidewalk and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I don't know what was worse, the cab or the stench coming from the guy's cigar.”

“Will you be all right?” I gave him a worried look, but he just grinned.

“Never better, Princess. So, here we are.” He craned his neck, gazing up at the looming expanse of SciCorp towers. His eyes gleamed with familiar mischief. “Let's get this party started.”

 

M
Y HEART BEHAVED ITSELF
until we passed through the large glass doors. Then it started beating my ribs so forcefully I thought they would break.

“Oh, wow,” I whispered, stopping to gape at the enormous lobby. A great vaulted ceiling soared above us, maybe eight or ten stories, with strange metallic designs dangling from wires,
glittering in the sun. People in expensive suits rushed by us, designer shoes clicking over the sterile gray floor. I saw cameras in every corner, armed guards hovering by a turnstile security gate, and I locked my knees together to keep them from shaking.

“Steady, Princess.” As I stood there, gawking like an idiot, Puck's firm hands came to rest on my shoulders. “You can do this. Keep your head up, your back straight, and it wouldn't hurt to sneer at anyone who makes eye contact.” He squeezed my shoulders and bent close, his breath warm on my ear. “We're right behind you.”