“One or two monsters is not enough to cause a panic, Iron Queen,” Oberon said.
“No?” Puck asked. “How about a few thousand, then?”
“We tracked Keirran to the mortal realm,” Meghan continued into the grave silence that followed. “What we found there was hundreds of these creatures, much smaller versions, but they were both attracted to and emitted the same kind of negative glamour of the large monster. These creatures were...almost fey-like, though I’ve never seen them before.”
“Another type of faery?” Oberon wondered. “Have they come from the Deep Wyld, then, like the Forgotten?”
“We don’t know what they are,” Meghan admitted. “Or where they come from. But the new oracle mentioned something called Evenfall, if that means anything to anyone.”
Mab frowned. “Evenfall,” she repeated softly. She had a strange look on her face, as if trying to recall a memory that kept just out of reach. “I do not believe I have heard that prophecy before, but it feels important.”
“Yes,” Oberon agreed. “Evenfall. It is familiar, though I cannot seem to remember why.”
I shared a look with Puck. Fey memory was long, able to hold grudges and remember slights for centuries, and the rulers of the courts were not prone to forgetting. If the rulers of Faery could not remember a name, it wasn’t a coincidence. Something was blocking that memory.
Which made things even more serious.
“Something is coming,” Meghan went on, after a few seconds of obvious frustration from the Faery rulers. They didn’t like the notion that something was deliberately blocking their memories, either. Only Titania, who had a pleased smile on her face as she watched Mab, seemed unconcerned. “I think Faery needs to prepare for the worst,” Meghan continued. “If these creatures make it through the Between and invade the Nevernever, it will be chaos.”
“Are you certain they are that much of a threat, Iron Queen?” Titania asked. “Perhaps they cannot enter the Nevernever at all. If they are content to remain in the Between and the mortal realm, we need not do anything. After all—” her lips curled in a smug smile “—there is little in the Between worth saving.”
In that moment, I wondered how hard it would be to kill the Summer Queen.
“We cannot take that chance, Queen Titania,” Meghan replied, unaware of my murderous musings. “Faery is surrounded by enemies. Unknown creatures stalk the Between, turning fey into monsters, and only the Veil separates them from the Nevernever. We have delivered our warning; make of it what you will. But the Iron Realm will be prepared should these creatures invade Faery. I suggest the other courts do the same.”
“Agreed,” Oberon said. “Something larger is happening, and I find the fact that something may be obstructing our memories troublesome.” He rose, drawing his robes around himself in a regal manner. “I will return to Arcadia and gather my forces. If it is to be another war, the Summer Court will be ready.”
“War is something we know very well,” Mab stated. “Whatever the threat, the Winter Court will meet it with ice and death. Should these Monsters invade the Nevernever, they will find Tir Na Nog will be waiting for them.”
Meghan nodded, but as the council seemed to draw to a close, there was a sudden, high-pitched beep that caused everyone to jerk up. Frowning, she pulled out the strange device Kenzie had given her, watching as it buzzed and flickered with a neon blue light.
“What is that—?” Titania began, sounding horrified. But before she could finish, there was a flash of blue, and a tiny, bat-eared gremlin winked into existence on Meghan’s arm.
All three rulers of the other courts recoiled in some fashion at having an Iron faery suddenly appear in the heart of the Faery council. Titania’s reaction was the most extreme; her lip curled and she made an expression like she had swallowed a spider. Mab rolled her eyes and Oberon simply frowned, but though it was clear none of them were happy about the intrusion, no one shouted or ordered the abomination taken away. Strangely enough, a gremlin popping into even the most sacred of areas had become almost commonplace now.
“Razor.” Meghan held up her arm as the tiny Iron fey buzzed frantically, bobbing up and down. “What happened? Are Ethan and Kenzie all right?”
“No!” The gremlin shook his head frantically, huge ears flopping from side to side. “Not all right. Pretty girl says come back right away. Monsters! Monsters outside the window!”
11
THE EVENFEY
The Chase residence didn’t look any different as we emerged from the woods late that night. The ranch house sat peacefully in the moonlight, intact and undisturbed. No chittering hordes surrounded the walls, no blank-eyed Monsters lurked in the trees beyond the fence line. The air was still, the shadows empty, as if everything was holding its breath.
But the woods felt menacing as we slipped through the trunks toward the distant house, and I could feel eyes on me in the branches. There was something here, lurking in the forest, a predator keeping just out of sight. Thankfully, I was certain it was not the Monster. Its presence would be impossible to conceal. Nor did I didn’t think it was the small piskie things, either. Whatever prowled the trees with us, it was something new.
“Something is here,” Nyx said quietly, confirming my suspicions. “I can feel its glamour. Like the piskie creatures, only stronger.”
“We should check on Kenzie and Ethan,” Meghan said. Razor had already fled, zipping back to Mackenzie as soon as we were back in the real world. “We need to make sure they’re safe before we go searching for whatever is out here.”
We started toward the house, but as one, everyone suddenly paused. There was a ripple in the shadows, an almost silent rustle of air over the leaves, and I knew we weren’t alone.
“It’s close,” I growled.
“No, Winter prince,” whispered a voice, the sound slithering out of the trees behind us. “It is here.”
We turned, hands on our weapons. A figure stood in the trees a few yards away, watching us. Different than the hordes of monsters we’d seen before, this creature was human-size and had an almost human body, though the differences were disturbing. It was tall and almost emaciated, with thin, withered arms that reached all the way to the ground, and long, long fingers that ended in points. It wore a bleached stag’s skull over its face, the empty eye sockets blank and hollow as the mask swiveled on its neck to face us. “Wait,” the thing commanded as we tensed, swords and daggers flashing as they were pulled free. Its voice grated in my ears like metal scraping against metal, causing a shiver to crawl up my back. It was a voice that didn’t belong, to anything, in either Faery or the human world. Like the Monster and the nightmare piskies, the creature radiated negative glamour: fear, anxiety, and a very subtle disquiet that made my skin crawl. It was akin to being in a pitch-black room, seeing nothing, but knowing something was there with you. “Creatures of the overrealm, stay your blades,” it whispered. “I would speak with you.”