“Like Tinker Bell had a baby with a demon?” Puck interjected.
Kenzie nodded. “Close enough,” she muttered. “They kept buzzing around my head, trying to land on me, and got very angry when I slapped them away. I got my interview—the guy I talked to was pretty typical and said all the typical things, answering questions without telling me anything. It would’ve been normal, except for the hostile little piskie thing glaring at me from his collar—that was kind of distracting. But by that time, I didn’t want to be there anymore. The whole place just felt wrong. And I swear, I could feel something watching me the whole time.” Kenzie shivered and shook her head. “I know fey and technology don’t mix, but if that place doesn’t have some kind of strange magic attached to it, I’d be shocked.”
“We were thinking of sending Razor to the Iron Realm with a message,” Ethan added, glancing at Meghan. “But we weren’t entirely sure it warranted action from any of the courts. Then, more of those piskie things started showing up not long after Kenzie’s visit. Regular humans can’t see them, of course, so we figured they were some kind of fey. Maybe a new kind of Forgotten.”
“They’re not Forgotten,” Nyx said.
“Currently, we’re not sure what they are,” Meghan added. “They do seem to be a threat, and we’ll have to discuss what their presence means for the Nevernever at some point, but...” She paused, put down the mug, and sat up straighter in her chair. “That’s not the reason we came.”
Ethan and Kenzie exchanged a glance. “If it’s not about the piskie creatures, I’m almost afraid to ask,” Ethan sighed. “Is there another war on the horizon, or is it something even worse?”
“Keirran is missing,” I said.
“Again?”
Ethan groaned, then grunted when Kenzie elbowed him in the ribs. My heart sank a little at his reaction. While Ethan wasn’t exactly surprised that Keirran had gone missing, he hadn’t been aware that the King of the Forgotten had disappeared. Which meant he did not likely know where Keirran was right now.
Kenzie shot her husband an annoyed look, then turned to us again. “What happened?” she asked seriously.
“Touchstone was attacked,” Meghan said, causing Kenzie to straighten. “A creature came through and began laying waste to the city, and Keirran was forced to flee with the survivors.”
“One creature,” Ethan began, “was able to take down a whole city, and the King of the Forgotten? How big was this thing?”
“Its size doesn’t matter,” I told him. “We fought one of these Monsters before—they grow stronger from negative emotions like fear, anger, and despair, but that’s not the worst of it. They have the ability to twist regular fey into shadow versions of themselves. Think of it like a negative glamour overload. Affected fey become angry, violent—”
“Or just really sadistic,” Puck said, interrupting. “Also, they might grow horns and shaggy pants. The point is, getting hit by one of these Monsters is bad news.”
“Keirran had to flee Touchstone because the Forgotten were turning on him,” Meghan explained. “He decided he had to save as many of his people as he could, so he opened the Between and took them into the mortal realm. From there, they vanished.”
Ethan frowned, crossing his arms. “And you think we might know where he is,” he mused.
“He’s come to you before,” I said. “And now that he can’t return to the Nevernever, you and Kenzie might be the only ones he can go to for help.”
Ethan shook his head. “Sorry, Ash,” he said to me, and he sounded genuine. “We haven’t seen him since the wedding. And, trust me, after everything we’ve been through with Keirran, I would tell you if we had.”
I clenched a fist on my leg. Another dead end. Ethan and Kenzie had been our best hope of finding Keirran, but now we were back to square one.
“Leanansidhe thought that he might be trying to get to you,” Meghan said, and I could hear the faintest tremble in her voice. “She felt a large group leave the Between and enter the mortal realm. Do you have any idea where Keirran might be, if he could be close or trying to contact you? Any information at all would be helpful.”
“We haven’t seen him,” Kenzie admitted reluctantly. “But... I know someone who would. She knows everything that happens in or around the city, particularly if it has to do with Faery. If an exiled King of the Forgotten came through, she would know where he is, or at least how to find him.”
Ethan groaned, and Kenzie gave him an apologetic look. “I know, I know,” she went on. “We said we were going to avoid contacting her, if possible, but I think this case is an exception. She has resources. She knows how to get information. And we need to find Keirran. I don’t think we have many other options.”
“Who is this person you’re talking about?” Meghan asked.
“Her name is Dreamer,” Ethan said, still wincing a little. “She runs her own little business downtown, and much like Leanansidhe, she mostly deals in information. Her network isn’t as extensive, but she does specialize in finding things that are hard to find.”
“Dreamer is here?” Grimalkin materialized on a high shelf, eyeing the dogs with obvious distaste. “How interesting,” he said. “I was almost certain she had perished ages ago. With her talents, she has been doing a very impressive job of staying out of sight.”
“Who is this Dreamer?” Meghan asked. “Is she an exile? A half-fey?”
“Neither,” Kenzie said. “Dreamer is...unique. From what we’ve been able to gather, she was actually human, once. I don’t know how old she is, but I think pretty old. A long time ago, she either tried to screw over a faery, got the bad end of a bargain, or was just the victim of fey spitefulness. She was stuck with a pretty nasty curse and couldn’t go back to her normal human life. You’ll understand when you see her. If she’ll agree to meet with us.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Puck asked. “I mean, ice-boy and grumpy cat I would understand, but I’m me. Everyone loves me.”
There was a very loud snort from Nyx’s direction, which almost made me smile. Even the Lady’s assassin, who had been around before the rise of the courts, who was older than all of us and didn’t even know the name Robin Goodfellow before she met him, understood the ridiculousness of that statement.
Kenzie just rolled her eyes. “As lovable as you are, Puck, Dreamer is pretty wary of full fey and anyone from the courts,” she explained. “She deals mostly with exiles, half-fey and humans who have the Sight, like me and Ethan.”
“One of her policies is no court fey,” Ethan disclosed. “She was even distrustful of me at first when she found out I was related to the Iron Queen.” He rolled his eyes. “And by distrustful, I mean she tried to poison me to make sure I wouldn’t give her location to anyone in the Nevernever. She’s terrified of being discovered by any full fey, especially if they’re from the courts.”