“You’d better not get pulled over,” Nick said.
Since I was driving twenty miles an hour in an area where the speed limit was forty-five, it wasn’t impossible to assume some overzealous cop could pull me over and search me for drugs, but I didn’t want to risk going any faster. We had to figure out what to do with the body, and we had to do it fast.
“Are we going to make it to your house?” Nick asked.
I shook my head. “It’s too far away. I think we just need to go to a park. I can try to get us to the Far Realm from there.”
Glancing at his phone, Nick said, “Turn left here.”
I followed his directions until we were at a small neighborhood park. It was nearly empty when I turned off my engine.
“If we’re going to drop this body in the Far Realm,” I said. “We’d need to at least give Jerome a heads up. After all, it is his grandfather.”
I called the number Jerome had given me, and when I explained the situation, he audibly sighed in relief.
“That’s great,” he said. “I wasn’t looking forward to figuring out how to store him. Can you imagine if I brought a girl home, and she happened to see a dead body in my spare room? Serial killer alert. So you’ll just bill me?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’ll bill you. You don’t want to say goodbye or…”
“No, no,” he said. “He died way before I was born, so I’ve only ever known him as the dead body in grandma’s storage closet. You are way more efficient than your Yelp reviews say you are.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I hung up and shrugged at Nick.
“So we’re going to the Far Realm?” Nick asked.
“I am,” I said. “Or I’ll just open a portal and shove the body through.”
My leg jiggled, and I drummed my fingers against it.
“Parker, youhavedone this before, right?”
“Kind of,” I said. “I can do it.”
There was more confidence in my words than I actually felt. Although I’d taken a position in the fae courts as the neutral arbiter they called the Windrose, I’d never actually come to them before. The monarchs always managed to find me, even when I didn’t want to be found.
We opened our doors and retrieved the body. Luckily Nick’s spellwork was impeccable, and the coffin hadn’t fallen on the ground as it had been dragged behind us like a kid being pulled on a skateboard.
I chose a corner of the park that was surrounded by tall trees. No one was around.
With a wave of my hand, I released the illusion on the coffin, then I placed my hand on the shroud. The magic in it called to the Far Realm.
It sounded like a song, usually sung in chorus, being sung by a lone singer. It was as though it was missing sounds, missing the other voices that would make it whole.
The last time I had used my powers to travel any distance, it had been in desperation. I’d also known exactly where I was going: the interior of a murderer’s office. This time I knew I was going to the Spring Court, but I’d never been there before. I was half tempted to drop the body off with the Summer Court, but that would make a messIwould have to fix.
Desperate, I focused on the music.
If this was a soloist searching for her choir, then the rest of the chorus had to be somewhere. I reached out with my magic, pressing as far as I knew how. I didn’t feel my magic slip through the realms so much as my awareness exploded when I reached the Far Realm.
All at once, I heard a symphony of sound, all different songs sung at once, yet somehow not discordant. In the distance, the rest of the chorus sang.
Now came the tricky part. Keeping my focus on the music, I grabbed hold of the coffin and pushed it forward as I stepped into the Far Realm. When I opened my eyes, we were in a large room, one I was unfamiliar with.
Around us, fae gaped. Raising my hand, I gave a brief wave.
Nick was beside me, and terror clawed up my throat. He was in the Far Realm. What was he doing with me? It should’ve just been me and the coffin that came through. I would’ve been safe.
