“Okay, well, the rumor mill was right. This warrior works alone. So hop off, pixies.”
“If we do, how are you going to find those you seek?” Dum chimed in.
“I—”
A group of gryphons charged through the forest in front of us. My mouth fell open as I watched the beasts, part eagle and part lion, run gracefully through the forest.Their scent, earthy, a bit like petrichor, as if they’d just been flying through a storm, and also something unnamable—at least to me—filled my nostrils.
The pixies were right. I was out of my depth.
The phone in my pocket wouldn’t work, or help me navigate. I knew I was in Wonderland Court, but not where that court was in Faerie. I didn’t even know if the stars were the same here. Or the cardinal directions.
And come to think of it, now that I was in Faerie, shouldn’t I be getting sick? Most people who visited Faerie from my world became ill—like they were severely drunk.
“Why don’t I feel funny? Like drunk?”
Dum gave me an understanding smile. “You were born here, Alice. Even if you haven’t been back in a while, Faerie is in your blood.”
“Theoretically, anyhow,” Dee said sassily.
I glared at her, but couldn’t retort, because the little shit was right. I didn’t feel at home here. “Fine. You can come with me. But only until I find Herald, and he introduces me to my family.”
The pixies exchanged a glance before Dee held out her tiny hand.
I lifted my big one to hers, and she grabbed the tip of my finger to shake.
“We’re in this together!” she beamed. “And now that you’ve agreed, I should tell you that you’re going the wrong way.”
Chapter 4
We’d been trudging through the woods for hours by the time we exited the forest path onto a larger road. My eyes trailed down the lane.
If we went right, there was nothing but a stretch of dirt road, but on the left, a building—a house, by the looks of it—rose in the distance.
“Go that way,” Dee commanded and pointed in the direction of the house. She was definitely the bossier of the two pixies and had been directing me for almost the whole journey.
“Who lives there?”
“No one anymore. The last occupants left years ago,” Dum said, her mouth downturned and a tear beginning to sparkle in her eye. “That’s a memorial. A very, very sad one.”
“Okay,” I said, not wanting to dig deeper.
Xavier didn’t put much stock in fragile things like feelings. As a result, other people’s emotions made me uncomfortable. I never knew how to best support them.
Probably because I wanted to avoid talking about it, we reached the house in no time at all. Up close, its derelict state grew more obvious. The roof was caving in, and many bird nests lined the openings of each window. A stench that reminded me faintly of compost and rotted wood teased my nostrils.
But the strangest thing was the long table spread out over an expansive lawn. It could have easily seated twenty people, and by the looks of it, at one time, it had. Teacups, cake platters, and plates rimmed with gold ran the length of the wooden surface, all of them covered in dirt, and most chipped or broken.
I took in the table and the front door, still cracked open on its hinges. “It looks like people got up mid-party and never cleaned up . . .”
Dum burst into tears, making me cringe, so I turned to the other pixie.
Dee shot her sister a disapproving look and shook her head. “They didn’t come back because the Red Queen either killed them all . . . or worse.”
Herald had mentioned the Red Queen. Was she the same woman who’d sent people after me? I’d been too caught up in dreams about my family that I’d never asked for clarification. “Why? And is the Red Queen the same one who is after me?”
“I’m afraid so.” Dee pressed her lips together. “The people who gathered here were the first rebels to oppose the Red Queen. Their bravery cost them their heads.”
“I see.” I felt as if I should say more, but what? If the people who perished here had been rebels, they probably knew my parents, but I didn’t know them.
