Ashley chuckled. “I think not.” He held the gnome out farther from his own body to eliminate the blows that he could have sustained. “Finn!” Ashley called out. His brother stepped from the bushes and held open a burlap sack.
“You,” the gnome snarled.
“Yes, me,” Finn taunted.
“Let me go.” The gnome was red with rage. The wind was beginning to slow. “I can still catch the wind, but not for much longer,” he warned.
“I’ll have my wish,” Ashley said as he stuffed the gnome into the burlap sack. “I would consider you well and truly caught,” he said as he helped Finn to tie a knot into the top of the bag.
“What do you intend to do with me?” the gnome asked, his voice muffled by the sack.
“I intend to get my wish,” Ashley said. But first, he needed to talk with Sophia’s parents. He turned to Finn. “Can you keep that thing under control long enough to put it in the coach?”
“With pleasure,” Finn smirked as he tossed the bag over his shoulder. Finn grunted when Ronald kicked him in the back through the bag.
***
Sophia felt as though the wind was taking her breath, and she’d never been so strangled, not in all the many times she’d ridden the wind back to the land of the fae. She held tightly to Margaret’s fingertips until a sob welled within her. The woman reached for her and drew Sophia into her arms.
“I was wondering how long you could maintain,” the maid murmured. She stroked Sophia’s back gently. But then Sophia looked up. Ronald was there in the wind with them for a moment. But suddenly, a darkly clad arm reached into the mist and jerked him from it. Ronald let out an oath and disappeared from sight.
“What the devil?” Margaret breathed.
“He pulled him back.” Sophia’s heart leapt. “Why would he do such a thing?”
“Your duke knows the gnome is the keeper of wishes.” Margaret didn’t look very pleased.
“You don’t think…” Sophia began. But it was too ludicrous to even consider.
“I do think,” Margaret said. She shook her head. “He’s a fool if he thinks he can get to the land of the fae using a wish.”
Suddenly, Sophia reached for her reticule. She opened it quickly and pressed a hand to her heart when she saw what was inside. She tipped it over and not a thing fell out.
“Where is your dust?” Margaret cried. Her face blanched white.
“I don’t know,” Sophia said, suddenly unable to take a full breath.
“You’re going to be in big trouble, miss,” Margaret said, shaking her head.
Yes, she was.
Twenty-Nine
Sophia stepped off the wind when it stopped swirling, still clutching tightly to Margaret’s hand. The grass always seemed greener in the land of the fae. But aside from that, it was no different from Ashley’s land. Aside from the magic, that is. For once, the grass didn’t look greener. It didn’t smell nicer. The sun didn’t shine more brightly. All because Ashley wasn’t there.
“Sophia,” Marcus called from the front door of their home. “Glad to see you finally arrived.” He leaned casually in the doorway. But he nearly vibrated with tension. “Do come in and join us,” he said with a nod of his head.
Us. The Trusted Few had arrived already. Sophia took a deep breath for fortification and pushed past Marcus into the house. “Where is Grandmother?” Sophia asked.
“She stayed with Mother,” he whispered out the side of his mouth.
Sophia tripped over her own toe. “She didn’t return?”
“Apparently, she knew she wasn’t returning when she left. There’s a bit of a tale that you’ll need to hear.” Sophia let Buncomb, the butler, take her pelisse. “I had to hear it twice before I believed a word of it.”
Sophia nodded and stepped into the drawing room. Four gentlemen came to their feet and waited for her to curtsy to them. “Gentlemen,” she said, slightly distracted by the fact that there were only four. “Where’s Grandfather?” she asked.
Marcus’s face fell. “It appears as though Grandfather is ill.”