“You really have no idea who he was talking about?”
I shook my head. “No. I was hoping you’d know.”
He narrowed his eyes, considering this. For a moment, I thought he looked unnerved, but then he schooled his features again. “Tell me more about the fae.”
“He was beautiful.”
Lyr arched an eyebrow.
“Large, a powerful warrior like you. He had dark hair, skin tinged a little with gold. His eyes looked like dusky indigo and amber. He gave the impression of having wings, but he didn’t have them, if that makes sense.”
“It definitely does not.”
I sighed. “And his magic sounded like… like low drums echoing off rocks. I felt heat around him.”
Lyr stared at me. “Did he wear any symbols of any kind? An insignia?”
“No.”
“Do you know what court he belonged to?”
“No idea. Shadows? He didn’t smell like the sea. He smelled… like smoke and fruit.”
Lyr shook his head. “I have no idea. All we can do for now is look for the athame.” He tucked the chicken under his arm.
I moved for the door, then paused for a second and grabbed a glittery purple pen and a rainbow notepad, and I wrote a quick note—
Sorry we took some food and used your apartment.
I considered writing, “If you ever come to London I’ll give you free demon hearts,” but decided that would probably terrify her more than anything else.
Chapter 29
As I drove, Lyr stared at the road signs with the intensity of a cat watching a rabbit. He had a better sense of Israel than I did, but neither of us was used to driving.
The afternoon sun blazed hot into the car, making it hard for me to see where we were going. I understood now what the air conditioner was all about. It was glorious.
As we drove out of Tel Aviv, past the airport, the vegetation on either side of us began to thin. Lyr thought it was less than a hundred miles from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which meant it might not be long till we found the athame.
And then? All I had to do was tune into the sound the of the Meriadoc magic, find it, and destroy the fuath.
Assuming that the Winter Witch wasn’t just plumb crazy.
“Are we going the right way?” I asked. “I can’t take my eyes off the road to look at the signs, or we will die in a fiery explosion.”
“I think so, yes.”
We’d been driving for over a day with a broken window, and I was surprised that the police hadn’t pulled me over yet. “What’s your situation with human police?” I asked.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug. “We operate with impunity. We keep the demons and goblins in check, so they’re fine with whatever we do. The World Key proves who I am, and the other knights have golden cuffs. Now, I don’t have the World Key, and if humans find a stray fae with no identification, they will probably alert the Court of Sea Fae of Acre. Who are now possessed by the fuath.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose I could kill the police officer to end the problem.”
“Humans definitely frown on that.”
“Even if he inconveniences me?”
“Let’s just try to not attract the notice of the police.”
There wasn’t much traffic at the moment, which was a blessing, but every time a car passed us, my whole body went tense. And it was happening a lot, because it seemed like I was driving half the speed of everyone else. Did humans really not realize that they could burn to death at any moment if they made a wrong move in one of these things? That they could end up with permanent physical deformities and pain because of a momentary lapse of judgment?
How immensely human to be scared of bumblebees and ghosts while speeding around in flaming death machines all day like it was nothing.
“You seem tense,” said Lyr.
“No more talking.”
“Right. We could die at any moment. You have mentioned this several times.”
“I could die. You’re fine.” A tingle ran up my spine as I clutched the wheel. “Are you doing something with your magic?”
“No, but I felt that too.”
It was that sense of being watched.
Lyr leaned forward in his seat. “Someone is scrying. They’ve found us.”
“Bollocks. So they know we’re heading for Jerusalem, and that we don’t have the World Key.”
I bit my lip, eyes focused on the white lines, the few inches of paint that kept me from breaking my neck.
I could feel the tension rolling off Lyr.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “If they can keep seeing us in the scrying mirror, we’re screwed. What we need is basil.”
“Basil protects against scrying?”
“Yep, little-known fact. It’s as simple as that I had some in my apartment, though somehow you found me anyway.” I scowled. “You can put it in your pockets, and no one will see you. Except the shorts I’m wearing have no pockets.”
“The other knights are skilled in magic, but I don’t believe they know that.”
“Well, maybe you should have found me to become one of your knights. I could have taught you things.”
Lyr leaned forward, staring out the window. “Pull over here. There’s a gas station. They have a shop.”
I didn’t love the thought of crossing over a lane, but there didn’t seem to be anyone coming, so I slowed the car even more and rolled into the parking lot. I parked the car crookedly across two spots, and Lyr hopped out. A bell rang when he pulled open the door.
Maybe I was starting to get the hang of this driving thing, I thought.
I watched Lyr searching the shop, filling up a basket with a bunch of stuff—container of herbs, some household items, food, water…
He still had no money whatsoever. I didn’t want to attract any police attention—not when they’d alert the fuath.
But when he crossed to the counter, I caught the smile of the woman working at the register. Lyr leaned closer to her, whispering something. He tucked one of her curls behind her ear. I had no idea what he was saying—but the woman handed him a plastic bag full of his goods. She blushed and wrote something on a piece of paper, then motioned to the door.
Seriously?
Even without the World Key, he really could just get whatever he wanted.
He pulled open the car door. “Let’s go. I’ll make us basil charms.”
“Oh really?”
I pulled out of the parking lot and rolled onto the road again. I could hear the crinkling of the plastic bag next to me. I wasn’t entirely sure what Lyr was involved in, but it seemed to be some kind of arts and crafts.
We had been on the highway for another four minutes or so when something unfortunate happened. Our trusty car that was rightfully ours by virtue of theft sputtered out and died, slowing to a roll. We came to a complete standstill on the highway, the afternoon sun beaming hot into our car.
And to my utter shock—all the cars around us had slowed down, too. All the traffic just—stopped. The car started to bake in the heat.
“What the heck just happened?” I asked.
Lyr looked perplexed. “Melisande knows a demechanization spell. It shuts down all the machinery around her for days. Maybe the fuath got it from her somehow? Maybe they hurt her.”