Relief liquefied my limbs. He was everything that Folk monster wasn’t—rugged and familiar and so perfectly imperfect, sohuman, I nearly wept. I reached out, gripped his warm, rough, freckled hand. His eyes found mine as pink dawn kissed the trees, all the things we had seen and done this night lingering between us, unsaid for now. As the light changed from silver to gold, the Thirteenth Gate swept us up and carried us home.
But I couldn’t unhear the faint note of nightmare laughter that chased me through the Gate.
Chapter Nine
Iwoke that afternoon to thorns in my skull and a mouth choked with weeds.
I turned over in my bedroll and groaned. It felt like a hangover, only worse—my head hollow as a rotten log. But beautiful thoughts and seductive images also teased the back of my eyelids. I reached for them, struck with a sudden awful longing, but they were slippery as green algae.
Mother’s voice echoed through my thoughts.When you are there, Tír na nÓg will take every opportunity to remind you that you do not belong. Once you are gone, it will make you wish you could return.
I gritted my teeth and forced my eyelids open. I was almostgladto experience the aftereffects of my journey into Tír na nÓg—it meant I did not belong there. It meant I was more human than Folk. It meant home was here—notthere.
Rogan’s bedroll was empty, which meant he must have either woken before me… or not slept at all.
As we’d hiked back to the fort earlier, I’d asked Rogan what had happened with the swan maidens. With Eala.
“I went—” He’d shaken his head, his mouth narrow as a blade. “I followed them to a party. At least, that’s what I think it was.”
I’d stared at his profile in the dawn, fighting a burst of confusion. I’d spent less than an hour in Tír na nÓg—of that, I was almost certain. How had Rogan had time to follow the swan maidens to aparty? Did time run differently in the Folk realms?
“And you?” His expression had shifted. “Something sure had you frightened.”
“Oh.” I’d tossed my head and tried to suppress the panic rising in my chest, the adrenaline burning through my sluggish limbs. The dark amusement in the Gentry guard’s voice still nipped at me like fangs.I promise to give you a head start.“I went for a walk in the woods. But the wildlife was unpleasant.”
Rogan had frowned but hadn’t pressed me. And we’d walked the rest of the way to Dún Darragh in silence.
Now I scrambled to my feet and tugged at my rumpled tunic. It smelled like cold water and caged joy and the moment before lightning struck. I resolved to throw it on the fire.
“Corra!” The formless wight might as well put themself to use. “Corra, where are you?”
A stout hedgepig with brambles for spines and a blackberry for a nose rustled to life on the wall.
“Have you decided to renew the gardens, chiardhubh?” queried the little creature adorably.
“I certainly have not,” I scoffed. “Did you see where Rogan went this morning?”
I got a blank stare in response.
“You know.” Annoyance rose in me. “Big, handsome, human? Looks like a prince?Rogan.”
“The one with oatmeal for a face and mushrooms for ears and rocks for feet?” Corra responded uncharitably. “Him?”
“Him. Where is he?”
“He left. But then he came back.”
“So he’s in the fort?”
“He’ll leave again,” Corra warned, leafy spines bristling.
“I’m sure he will.” I sighed. “You’re going to make me open every door on every floor until I find him, aren’t you?”
“Not if you give us your boots.”
“My—” I looked down at the footwear in question, which was several years old and caked with muck from tromping in the woods all night. “Why?”
“Our toes are cold.”
