Blake folded his. “Fine, then I’m not helping.”
“We’re wasting time arguing.” Flynn held up his knife. “I’ll just kill the gobshite.”
“No, stop!” I shoved myself between them, my fingers gripping Flynn’s wrist, holding the knife back. “Don’t hurt him. He’s a human, not a fae. He’s a spirit user who has helped us. I think we should trust him.”
“He may not be a fae, but he’s been raised by them,” Flynn growled, trying to wrench the knife from me. “You’ve seen that the fae lie. He’s given us no reason to trust him, let alone follow him.”
“You should follow me because I’m your only chance of getting out of here alive,” Blake shrugged. “There, you’ve got your one reason. Can we get going now?”
“Let him go, Flynn.” I tried to pry his arm from around Blake’s throat. Flynn’s muscles relaxed under my touch, but not enough that I wasn’t still worried he’d kill Blake.
Flynn’s expression wavered. “He nearly got us killed!”
“No, I saved you from getting your arse beheaded on the spot,” Blake said. “When they took you back to the barrows, I was figuring out how to get you out of there. I wasjust aboutto step in and free you all, but your barbarian friend there got all stabby with that iron blade and sorted that out for me. Now, if you don’t mind…” he slipped out of Flynn’s grasp and clambered for the log’s entrance. “We need to hurry.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re helping us,” I said.
“I told you,” he said without turning around. “Back at Jane’s house. I explained it all.”
“You really didn’t.”
“Fine. I’ll explain when we’re safely back in your realm. But if you want to bring those babies back with you, we need to go now.”
Flynn forced Blake to walk in front of us. With every step, the tip of his knife jabbed into Blake’s spleen – not hard enough to draw blood, but definitely enough for Blake to be aware of it.
Blake led us back the other way, deeper into the forest. He followed no path, but wound his way along the valley with the ease of someone who knew every inch of the woods by heart.
My stomach twisted with nerves as I realized that without him, we’d never find our way back out again.
My hand patted the stone in my pocket. Maybe we wouldn’t have to get out again. As long as Blake was taking us to the babies?—
Blake stopped, his head tilted to the side. “We’re here,” he said, scanning the forest around us. He pointed ahead at a beautiful ancient oak tree, the trunk gnarled and twisted. Steps had been carved into the enormous tree and moss hung in long garlands like streamers. Blake darted up the staircase and reached into a hollow in the tree.
“Is this your clubhouse?” Flynn smirked up at him.
“Yeah.” Blake pulled out two tiny bundles, balancing them carefully in his arms as he clambered back down the staircase. “I needed some place to get away from the courtly games and the princes and those damn intolerable drums. Here they are.”
He passed a tiny bundle into my arms. I peeled aside a corner of the blanket, and a squishy sleeping baby face peeked into view. It opened one tiny eye, then the other, peering up at me with intelligent curiosity.
Connor.I was pretty sure it was Connor. Babies kind of looked alike to me, but I recognized a bit of Jane’s brashness in his gaze.
My chest soared. We’d done it. We’d found the babies, and they were alive, and safe.
Now we just have to get them home.
Flynn had the other baby in his arms. He made cooing noises and tickled it with a long, freckled finger. Something about the look in his eyes tugged at my chest, and made a lump form in my throat that wouldn’t dislodge.
“What next?” Arthur asked me. He faced away from us, into the forest, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Even as his eyes scanned the forest for danger, his hand reached up and stroked Connor’s cheek. The baby cooed, and the lump in my throat grew larger.
“How do you normally get to the human realm?” I asked Blake. The spell hadn’t exactly been clear on how we got back. I’d figured it would be obvious once we got here, but so far – like everything else in the fae realm – it was anything but.
Blake shook his head. “There’s a gateway, but it will be heavily guarded. Going that way is a surefire plan to separate your head from your body. Your only hope is to go back the way you came – through the dream.”
“Oh, right.”
“Maeve?” Arthur asked. “You don’t sound certain.”
I stared down at Corbin’s lifeless body, my heart racing. “I just…I’m not really sure how to do this. The spell didn’t exactly explain how to return. Corbin usually figures this stuff out, but he’s…”
