Could Margot have been telling the truth? Was magic real? Because there was literally no other explanation she could think of for what was happening.
Her heart sank as she realized that she had potentially cast off the only people who could help her in this situation… but now was not the time for self-recrimination. That could come later. Because right now, Max needed her.
Poppy tightened her grip around the knife’s handle, and swallowed hard.
I wonder if there are any good defense attorneys in Girdwood Springs.
Lunging forward, she raised the knife…
And suddenly found herself suspended in mid-air, the knife flying across the room to clatter against the wall.
“Wha… what?!”
She struggled and thrashed as much as she could, but her limbs remained stubbornly still. The only part of her that she could move was her eyes – but that was enough for her to see that the chain had loosened around Max’s throat, and that he was taking shallow, rasping breaths.
Relief rushed through her body. As long as Max was okay, that was the only thing that mattered for now. Everything else could wait.
The strange man approached her, and she felt her head turning irresistibly toward him.
“Tut tut, Ms. Z.,” he said, shaking his head with oily condescension. “Is that any way to treat your liberator?”
“L… liberator?” she couldn’t help but ask, struggling against the invisible grip. On the one hand, she knew she shouldn’t humor him… but on the other, she was desperate to know what the hell it was that he wanted.
“Oh, yes.” His smile widened, and the knife was suddenly hovering in front of her face – and then the edge of the blade was running along her jaw. “I’m going to liberate you from your powers.”
“My powers?!”
Poppy really wished that she could keep from repeating everything that this guy said, but every word that came out of his mouth was so incomprehensible that she just couldn’t help herself.
Powers? I don’t have any powers. If I had powers, do you think I would’ve been sitting at home on my unemployed ass and feeling sorry for myself while eating shitty ice cream?!
She could hear Max yelling behind her – something aboutI’m Aubrey Z.andTake my powers, I don’t want them, but her attention couldn’t help but be drawn toward the knife as it did a lazy twirl in front of her face.
None of this made any sense whatsoever. She’d seen enough episodes ofHell’s Kitchento know that restaurants could be pretty unpleasant places, but she’d never in a million years imagined that someone could getthisangry at a reviewer.
And, more to the point – why on earth did this guy think thatshewas Aubrey Z.?!
“I have been tracking you via your reviews for years, trying to predict your next move,” the man said with what seemed like genuine enthusiasm. “So many times I have tried to capture you,but you had always slipped away to the next town before I could get there. Not this time, though. Oh, no. You made the mistake of lingering too long with your pathetic little companion here, and now your powers shall be mine.”
Poppy stared at him, completely baffled. Was this guy some sort of Aubrey Z. fanboy? She could almost imagine him staring feverishly at a giant map on a wall, covered with photos and pins connected by red strings. There was a crazed energy to him now that had been well disguised when they had first met in the woods.
“Your father should have taken better precautions to protect you,” he went on, leaning in close and leering at her. “He thought you would be safe if he left you here, but he did not count on my perseverance.”
“My father?” Poppy said faintly, feeling like her brain was about to explode from all the information this guy kept bombarding her with. “My dad lives in Florida! He’s a retired boilermaker! What have you done to him?!”
“I have done nothing to your father, never you fear,” the man said. “But the idea that he lives in your ‘Florida’ is a convenient fiction. He lives in the fae realm, as you well know.”
Poppy just managed to keep herself from sayingThe fae realm?!, which she thought was quite the achievement at this point. But she had no idea what to make of any of this. The only thing she could think was thathopefullyher dad was safe, since this guy seemed to be fixated on her in particular. And given that her mom saw fit to message her if she so much as bought a new potted plant, she knew that she definitely would’ve heard if anything had happened to her dad. Or if he’d decided to move house to the fae realm.
Max’s voice, in amongst all this insanity, came almost as a shock. It was weirdly calm and clear, despite the pain in it.
“She isn’t Aubrey Z. It’s notherfather who hid a child away in this realm.”
Poppy turned her eyes to look at Max, and her heart did a little lurch. He lookedawful… but his gaze was crystal clear. Like he had just made some kind of realization about the situation.
“What?” laughed the man, and his tone was so patronizing that Poppy wanted to slap him. “Are you saying thatyourfather hidyouaway in this realm to protect you from those who wished to acquire your supposed powers? I admire your attempts to protect her, feeble though they may be, but you should concede defeat.”
He grabbed Poppy’s face suddenly – with his actual hand, this time – and pulled her so close to him that she could smell his strange, unearthly scent.
