I could have told him I almost never behaved, but it seemed like that might make things worse. “If they exist on a parallel plane, how did I hit them? And how did they manage to manhandle us because I could totally feel them.”
“In the places where the Hidden Ones exist, think of them as being slightly out of phase with our plane.” Rhys’s voice had taken on an academic tone. “There are many theories as to why. I personally believe that they were Fae who chose not to leave this plane during the great retreat. When humans got to be too much, they used magic to hide from them and got caught in an in-between place. Over the years they’ve figured out how to make themselves corporeal on this side of the veil. So they technically exist in both worlds.”
I didn’t see why they would want to be in both worlds. Like pick a side, people, but I often didn’t understand the hows and whys of what any being does. “So some human accidently hits one of these guys and they get punished?”
“Yeah, but if it had been a human, they wouldn’t have tied up the offender. They would have done something more subtle. Like pushing the poor dude into traffic or tripping him so he fell off a cliff.”
“Are you serious?”
“Like I said, they’re on the vengeful side. It doesn’t happen often,” Rhys admitted. “In this case, they will honor my Fae nature and not attempt to kill us.”
I rather thought he wasn’t thinking big enough. “Baby, you’re a Green Man. You do know you rank pretty high in the world of the Fae, right? Tell them to let us go.”
He went silent again, and I got the feeling we were in for a superlong punishment.
If he wasn’t willing to deal with the situation, then it was time for me to take control. “Hey, Hidden Folk, I’m the goddess of the High Priest of Faery and this is my Green Man son. You want fertility? Let me out. I’m very sorry you got your butt hurt by a snowball, which considering where we are, you should be more used to.”
“Mother, please stop.” It was easy to hear Rhys’s frustration.
“You can’t rule a kingdom if you’re skittish about ordering people around.”
“I don’t intend to rule anything at all, and the longer you talk the longer this will likely take. I pray Lee is smart enough to bring Lily with him or he’ll have to figure out how to deal with invisible rope. I’m fairly certain it’s magical.”
So we were stuck. We were supposed to meet Neil in an hour or so, but I worried I would freeze to death before then.
We sat there in silence for the moment. They’d looped the rope around our torsos so we sat back to back, unable to see each other. I had a lovely view of a half-frozen stream. Slushy ice made its way downriver, and the bridge over our heads was a rickety wooden contraption that no one with any sense would actually try to traverse. I could have told Rhys that my godparents would never have considered it a proper bridge. Maybe back in the 1800s when it had been constructed it had been a luxurious place, but not now. It was a murder bridge.
And I couldn’t even get to my gun. Not that I would have known where to point it. Also, if the grand invisible ones had been upset about a snowball, I can’t imagine what they would do if I shot one of the fuckers.
“I thought silence would be more comfortable, but I was wrong. Now I wonder if you’re plotting.” Rhys managed to make each word an accusation.
My son had a bad impression of me. “I promise, I’ll sit here and freeze to death and then you won’t have to talk to me again.”
His head dropped back slightly, leaning against mine. “I don’t understand what you want. Why did you think throwing a snowball at me would make me… See, I don’t even know what you were trying to do.”
I sighed and wished I could see his face. “When you were young and you would shut down because you couldn’t handle what you were feeling, sometimes your dad would make you hit the punching bag in the gym. You would punch and kick and yell, and it seemed to help you.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I do remember that. But you should understand I don’t do that anymore. I fight enough these days. I don’t need to hit things that don’t hit back.”
I thought he kind of did. Rhys was wound tight, but he didn’t seem willing to admit it. Every word I said seemed to make things worse. “So you’re perfectly fine and don’t need any help from anyone. It would have been easier if we’d never shown back up again.”