Can't you feel it? It's like a starving animal, clawing at us. We should kill every one of them now.”
“I would advise against that,” Grimalkin said, appearing from nowhere. He narrowed his eyes at the Wolf, who stared back murderously. “You would be surprised how many Forgotten exist in this world,” the cat went on. “More then you can imagine, I assure you.
And strong emotions like anger and fear will only attract them like ants to honey. So do try to keep your teeth in your jaws without ripping someone's head off. We might actual y make it out of here.”
The Wolf 's baleful glare shifted between me and Grimalkin before he turned away with a snarl, snapping at the air. As he did, I saw the fur on his back and shoulders, normal y pitch-black, was streaked with gray, but then he shook himself and the color faded from sight.
“Geez, this place is making even Wolfman twitchy,” Puck said to me in a low voice, watching the Wolf pace back and forth, growling. Beyond him, a crowd was slowly gathering, curious faces emerging from the mist, blank eyes fixed on us. “Let's find that boat and get out of here before he starts tearing down the wall s.”
We followed the muddy street until, at last, it reached the banks of the River of Dreams, stil shrouded in white, dark waters lapping softly against the mud. A single wooden dock stretched away until it vanished into the fog, but nothing moved out on the river or through the mists. Everything was overly quiet and stil .
“Well, here's the dock,” Puck said, squinting as he peered through the fog. “But I don't see a boat. Maybe we have to buy a ticket?”
“You won't find what you're looking for standing there,” said a soft voice behind us.
I turned, slower this time, refusing to jump at every creature that popped up out of nowhere. But I stil drew my weapon, and I stil put a hand on the Wolf 's shoulder to keep him from spinning and biting the speaker's head off.
At first, I didn't see anyone behind us. The voice appeared to have come from no one, though there was a long, lean shadow on the ground that seemed attached to nothing.
“Show yourself,” the Wolf growled, curling back his lips. “Before I lose my temper and start tearing out your guts, invisible or not. I can smel you well enough, so you can stop hiding right now.”
“Oh, apologies,” said the voice again, right in front of us. “I keep forgetting….” And, a tal , impossibly thin figure turned out of nowhere, standing in profile so we could see him. He was nearly paper-thin, like the edge of a blade, only visible when viewed from the side. Even in profile he was stil impossibly lean and sharp, with gray skin and a striped gray business suit. His fingers, long and spiderlike, waved a greeting, making sure we could see him.
“Better?” he asked, smiling to show thin pointed teeth in a lipless mouth. A name f lickered through my mind, keeping just out of reach, before it was gone. “I am the caretaker of this town, the mayor, if you will ,” the thin man continued, watching us from the corner of his eyes.
“Normal y, I am here to greet newcomers and wish them a long and peaceful stay while they wait for the end. But you…” His eyes narrowed, and he tapped the ends of his fingers together. “You are not like the rest of us. Your names have not been forgotten. I am unsure how you even found this place, but it matters not.
You do not belong here. You need to leave.”
“We will,” I said as the Wolf 's growls grew louder, more threatening.
“We're just waiting for the ferry. When it comes, we'l be out of your way.”
The thin man tapped his fingers. “The ferry does not stop here often.
Most citizens of Phaed are not even aware of its existence. But, every once in a blue moon, someone will grow tired of searching for something that is clearly not here. They come to the decision that what they seek is beyond Phaed, beyond the river, and they embark on a journey to find what they have lost. Only then does the ferry appear at the end of that pier.” He pointed a long finger toward the dock that vanished into the mist. “The ferry only goes in one direction, and when it comes back around from wherever it has been, it is always empty.
No one knows what happens to the passengers that step aboard that ship, but they never come back to Phaed. It's like they vanish off the edge of the earth.”
“That's fine,” I told him, ignoring the mock spooky looks Puck was giving me. “We don't plan to come back, either. When does the ferry appear?”
The thin man shrugged. “Usual y a day or two after the decision is made to leave. If you truly wish to wait for it, I suggest you find yourself a place to stay until then. The Wayside Inn is a good choice. Just fol ow the bank until you see it. It really can't be missed.”
And with that, he turned, becoming a straight, nearly invisible line, and disappeared.
Ariel a sighed, pressing close to me. I felt her shoulder touch mine and resisted the urge to put my arms around her. “Looks like we're staying here a little while, after all .”
“Only as long as the ferry takes to arrive.” I could feel eyes in the mist and shadows around me, and that strange pul tugged at my insides.
“Come on. Let's find that inn and get out of the street.”
Like the thin man promised, it wasn't difficult to find the inn, a large, two-story structure on stilts that leaned over the water as if it might topple into the river at any moment. Not surprisingly, it was empty as we walked through the door into a dark, gloomy foyer, the ever-present mist coiling along the f loor and around the scattered tables.
“Huh.” Puck's voice echoed off the wall s as we ventured cautiously inside. His boots creaked horribly against the wooden f loor as he circled the room. “Hel oooooo, room service? Bel boys? Can anyone take my luggage to my suite? Guess this inn is self-serve.”
“The rooms are upstairs,” whispered a voice, and an old woman slithered down from the ceiling. She was more spiderweb than anything, fraying at the edges, though the eyes in the cloudy face were sharp and black. “Five guests? Good, good. You can each choose one.
Except for him—” She pointed at the Wolf, who curled a lip at her. “He can take the big room on the end.”
“Good enough,” I said, secretly relieved for the chance to rest. Whether I was stil feeling the effects of the hobyah poison or my body was simply reacting to the strain of keeping everyone alive, I was tired, more weary then I had been in a while. I knew the others were feeling it, too. Ariel a looked exhausted, and Grimalkin had somehow fal en asleep in her arms, his nose buried under his tail. Even Puck looked wornout beneath his constant energy, and the Wolf didn't seem as alert as he normal y was, though his temper was definitely wearing thin.
Upstairs, the rooms were smal , each containing a table and a single bed beneath a tiny round window. Gazing out, I saw the River of Dreams stretching away beneath me, and the lonely dock in the distance, nearly swal owed up by the mist.
For just a moment, I couldn't remember why I wanted to go to the dock, though I knew it was important. Shaking my head as memory returned, I sat on the thin mattress, rubbing my eyes. Tired. I was just tired. As soon as the ferry arrived, we could leave this place, and continue toward the edge of the world. And then the Testing Grounds, where I would finally reach the end of my quest. And then my fate would be decided. I'd return to Meghan as a human with a soul, or I wouldn't return at all . That simple.
Lying back, I put an arm over my face, and everything faded away.
I was kneeling in a field of bloody snow, countless bodies of Winter and Summer fey surrounding me.
I was standing before Queen Mab, my sword plunged deep in her chest, her dimming eyes fil ed with shock.
I was sitting on a throne of ice with my queen beside me, a beautiful faery with long silver hair and eyes of starlight.
I was standing on the field of battle once more, watching my army tear through the enemy forces, feeling a savage glee as they kill ed and maimed and destroyed without mercy. The darkness in me reveled in the blood, drank in the pain, and spread it as far as it could go. But no matter how much pain I felt, the emptiness swal owed it, demanding more, always more. I was a black hole of death, needing to kill , needing to fil the terrible nothingness that existed inside. I'd become a demon, soul ess and without pity, and not even Ariel a's presence could sate the despair that drove me to slaughter everything I had once cared for. Only one thing would stop me, and every death, every life I destroyed, brought me that much closer.
She came for me in the end, as I knew she would. I'd made certain it would be her. The terrible Iron Queen, her eyes fil ed with fury and sorrow, facing me across the ravaged fields of the Nevernever. The days of her pleading with me, trying to reason with me, were long gone. I didn't remember why I wanted to see her; I didn't even remember my own name. But I knew she was the reason for my emptiness.
She was the reason for everything.
She'd grown stronger during the long years of the war, infinitely more powerful, a true Queen of Faery. I'd kill ed so many of her subjects, so many fey had died by my hands, but it was the death of a certain Summer Court jester that finally pushed her over the edge. We faced each other, Iron Queen and Unseelie King, as the cold wind howled around us, and knew that whatever feelings we'd once had for each other didn't matter now.
We'd chosen our paths, and now, one way or another, this war would end. Today, one of us would die.
The Iron Queen raised her sword, the sickly light gleaming down the edges of the steel blade as Iron glamour f lared around her, a mael-strom of deadly power. I saw her lips move, a name on them, perhaps mine, and felt nothing. My glamour rose up to meet hers, cold and dangerous, and our powers slammed into each other with the roar of dueling dragons.
Flashes of images, like broken mirror shards, fal ing to the earth. Iron and ice, clashing against each other. Rage and hate, swirling in vicious, ugly colors around us. Glamour and pain and blood.
Myself, deliberately failing to stop the blow that would kill me. The point of a saber, piercing my chest…
I blinked, and the world slowed. I lay on my back, a dul throbbing in the vicinity of my heart, cold and numb and unable to make my body move.
Above me, the Iron Queen's face fil ed my vision, beautiful and strong, though her face was streaked with tears. She knelt, smoothing the hair from my forehead, her fingers trailing a line of heat across my skin.
I blinked again, and for just a moment, I was the one kneeling in the dirt, clutching the Iron Queen's body to my chest, screaming into the wind.
Her fingers lingered on my cheek, and I gazed up at her, my vision starting to go fuzzy and dark. A tear splashed against my skin and in that instant, the old me regretted everything; everything that had brought us here, everything I had done. I tried to speak, to beg forgiveness, to tel her not to remember me like this, but my voice failed me and I couldn't force the words out.
From the corner of my eye, I sensed another presence, watching us from the shadows. It seemed terribly invasive, until I realized it didn't belong here, that it was somehow separate from this reality.
Meghan bent down, and though I couldn't hear her, I saw her lips murmur, “Goodbye, Ash.” Then those lips touched my forehead and the darkness f looded in.