“I wasn’t stuck with y’all in the pixie realm. It was the Dark Forest,” Jewel corrected. “And it’s still early. We’ve got a few days before we will need to resort to urine hydration.”
“Or”—Jen said, drawing the word out— “we could ask our friendly high fae friends to get us food and water.”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner.” Heather held up her hand. “Oh, come on, don’t leave me hanging. Someone give me a damn high five.”
Jacque couldn’t help but laugh at the blind healer. She was a breath of fresh air. People like Heather who helped others continue to see the light in dark places.
Anna walked over and slapped Heather’s hand. “There ya go. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
“Thatta girl, Gypsy, way to have your wheeler’s back.” Heather grinned.
“New road name!” Jen hollered as she collapsed to the ground. “Iknewyou guys would be all over it.”
Jacque eased to the ground, her shaky legs no longer able to hold herself up. “I’m shocked you don’t already have a notebook with everyone’s road names preassigned.”
“Who says I don’t?” Jen asked. “But I’m open to suggestions.”
Jacque shook her head at her best friend and then looked at Thadrick. “How long should we take a break?”
Thad examined the group, who almost all now sat on the ground. Lilly, Myanin, and Kale were the only ones left standing. “We shall rest an hour and measure our strength at that point.”
Nissa stood back up and held out her hand. In it appeared a large loaf of bread. “This will help.” She tore off a piece and then passed the rest to Jeff. He did the same and then handed it to Tyler. This continued until everyone had taken their own piece of fae bread. The moment Jacque swallowed it, she felt the magical properties of the food begin to restore her energy. A bottle of water appeared in front of her. She picked it up and looked over at Nissa. “Thank you.”
The high fae bowed her head and then tipped her own bottle up to her mouth.
“So, we’re sitting around in a circle in a forest… man, just like old times.” Heather spoke up again. “Me and my girls have experience with this. Have no fear, friends, this will not be boring. We can do this for days, weeks, months, even. Jewel is an overflowing well of knowledge. Some useful, some scary, and a lot ridiculous. But we love her anyway. In a pinch, Stella can teach us all to pole dance using the closest skinny tree. And Anna can tell us all about her past because, hello, her mom is a witch related to a dark witch that you guys killed. How can that not be an awesome fireside story? ”
“Can we knock her out?” Anna glanced around the group. “I mean, we’ve got a fae here. Surely she can make it painless. We can wake Heather back up when we need her again.”
Myanin sighed and sat down beside Anna. “Perhaps you and I aren’tsupposedto be friends because of the history I have with your mother.” Myanin glanced at Jezebel and inclined her head. Jezebel returned the gesture, her face blank of any anger or judgment. “But I think I like you.”
“Knocking people out is your thing, isn’t it?” Anna pulled her knees up and rested her arms on them.
“Definitely,” Myanin said, mimicking the healer’s pose and glancing at Heather.
“She’s looking at me, isn’t she?” Heather asked dryly.
Jacque leaned over toward Jen and whispered, “I think they’re just as bad as you, me, and Sally.”
Jen’s eyes roamed over the girls, and she nodded slowly. “I keep telling you we have to keep them.”
Jacque threw back her head and laughed. She took a moment to thank the Great Luna. Though they were in the midst of terrible circumstances, for this brief moment, there was also joy and goodness. Who knew how many attempts it would take to get into the draheim realm? Regardless of how long it took, she knew they wouldn’t give up. And she was glad she belonged to such a strong pack that would lift each other up when necessary, even if that lifting came in the form of threats to knock one another unconscious.
“While we’re recovering,” Wadim spoke up from where he sat on the ground with Zara propped up against him, “let’s see if we can make any progress on this riddle. She obviously told it to us for a reason.”
“I doubt it has the answer to why she’s locked herself up with a bunch of dragons.” Jen huffed. “Or how to get her out because she obviously DOESN’T WANT TO COME OUT!” Jen’s head turned toward the veil, and the last sentence increased with volume as she spoke, as if Peri could hear her and the irritation lacing her tone.
“But Wadim’s right,” Zara said. “She didn’t just pop in and toss some stones at us because she was suddenly feeling nostalgic. It’s obviously important.”
“The stones helped us heal Jacque,” Lilly pointed out.
Jacque nodded. “That is true, so that knocks out the first part of the riddle.” She waved her hand at Wadim. “Tell us the words again. Let’s see what we can come up with.”
Wadim pulled out a folded piece of paper from a pocket of his cargo pants and read.
“They go where they are needed most. The power of the stones is a mystery. They heal, and they reveal. And so they’ve brought me here. I bid you listen and do not speak. Now is not the time for questions.”
“She’s bossy even while delivering a riddle … or prophecy … or whatever it is,” Jen muttered.
