“Uh, meet up where, ice-boy?”
Ignoring Puck’s question, I thought of Meghan, holding the image of her in my mind and pushing everything else aside.
“After I dealt with my own thing, all I could think about was finding you,” she had said. “When the world began to come apart, I just started walking, and it led me here.”
“Come on,” I told Puck without turning around. “We’re leaving. If Meghan found the others, they’ll be waiting for us on the other side of the mist.”
“Right behind you, ice-boy. I still have no idea what you’re talking about, but I am more than done with this place. Let’s go.”
We strode back through the Summer Court, between the crowds of unraveling fey, and stepped into the fog, leaving that world and Robin Goodfellow’s nightmare behind.
* * *
We emerged from the mist, and stumbled into what looked like another forest, this one much darker and more tangled than the pristine woods of Summer. Huge trees surrounded us, interlocking branches shutting out the sky, and the world was dim and gray save for small, shockingly bright splashes of color interspersed through the wood.
Puck drew in a slow, wary breath. “Okay,” he said quietly, gazing around. “This is the wyldwood from the looks of things, which is better than the void or a giant spider’s nest. But I don’t see...oh.”
I followed his gaze. A figure stood in the center of a clearing, pale hair glowing softly in the gloom of the wyldwood. Meghan turned, relief crossing her face as her gaze met mine, and my own relief soared. I crossed the space between us and pulled her close, and she relaxed against me with a sigh.
“Ash.” Drawing away, Meghan smiled as Puck joined us, giving her a quick, one-armed hug in greeting. Her expression was worried as she gazed up at him. “Puck. I’m glad you made it. Are you all right?”
He shrugged, a somewhat wry grimace crossing his face. “Never better, princess. I really thought I was going to be dumped into some sort of freaky upside-down spider world, but apparently, spiders are not my biggest fear. Who knew?”
Meghan’s face was sympathetic. “I won’t ask if you won’t.”
“I can live with that.” Puck sighed and glanced around the wyldwood, obviously searching for someone. “So, where are Nyx and Furball?”
Meghan winced. “I haven’t been able to find them,” she said apologetically. “I’m sorry, Puck. I followed Grimalkin’s trail here, but I haven’t seen either one of them. Either Grim is somewhere else, or he doesn’t want to be found.”
“Dammit.” Puck scrubbed a hand through his hair. “And if Nyx is still in her own nightmare, it’s going to be hard to find her, too. Cats and assassins, ugh.” He shook his head. “Well, I guess we’d better start looking under every rock and behind every twig until we find them.”
A faint chuckle. “That won’t be necessary.”
We spun. At the edge of the trees, the mist parted, and Nyx appeared like a phantom, making no noise as she did. “I’m here,” she stated quietly. “No need to go looking for me. I thought it would be best if I found you, instead.”
Puck immediately left Meghan’s side, walked across the clearing, and pulled her into a relieved, very passionate kiss, which she returned. A wry smile crossed her face as they pulled back, her golden eyes both relieved and amused as she gazed up at Puck.
“Nice to see you, too, Goodfellow.”
“Are you all right?” Puck asked, serious for once. “Meghan and ice-boy keep talking about nightmare worlds. Were you able to get out of...wherever you were, on your own?”
She nodded, and a haunted look flickered through her eyes, gone in the next blink. “A few near-death moments with my old Order,” she muttered. “The Lady sent them after me, and I had to watch myself kill them all. Every single one, brothers and sisters I had known my whole life, dead by my hand.”
“Ah, man, that’s screwed up.” Puck’s brow creased in sympathy, and he pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry, Nyx.”
The Forgotten shook herself. “It wasn’t real,” she said in a practical voice. “My Order has been gone for a long time, as has the Lady. I serve a different king, now. Once I remembered that, it wasn’t easier, but I could let myself fight without hesitation or regret. After I’d killed them all, the world started to come apart, and I realized I was still in the Between. I followed a tunnel of light, and it led me here.”
“We experienced something similar,” Meghan said, coming forward. “I don’t know what the Evenfey was trying to do—maybe it thought we wouldn’t be able to defeat what we fear the most. But we made it. We came out of our nightmares and found each other again.”
I suddenly felt eyes on my back and turned, staring into the trees surrounding us. For just a moment, I saw a huge black shadow fade back into the undergrowth and disappear. Shining, green-gold eyes flashed in the darkness for a single heartbeat and were gone.
I frowned. Was that the Wolf? What would he be doing here?
Puck sighed, still keeping his arms around the Forgotten, who seemed content to stay there for now. “Yeah, but now we have to find Furball,” he complained. “And who knows what horrible things lurk in that cat’s mind. On the other hand...” He gave an evil grin. “I can’t wait to see what our high and mighty Furball is afraid of. He’s never gonna live it down, that’s for certain.”
Something snapped in the trees, drawing everyone’s attention. We waited, hands straying to our weapons, as the branches started to move, rustling and snapping as something large came toward us through the forest. The ruckus grew louder as whatever it was drew closer, crashing through undergrowth and snapping twigs, as if it was just plowing its way through the tangle. The bushes in front of us shook violently...
...and Grimalkin stepped into the open.
Everyone blinked and stared at the cat, who peered disdainfully up at us. “Ah, and here you are,” he stated, as if he had been searching for us for hours. “Standing around again, I see. I will never understand. Are you ready to depart, or do you wish to stay and debate the circumstances a bit longer?”
“Wait, what the hell, cat?” Puck scowled at the feline, who regarded him calmly. “We were about to go looking for you. This isn’t fair—what happened to your nightmares?”
“Nightmares? Me?” Grimalkin gave a contemptuous sniff and trotted away, tail held up straight behind him. I noticed then that the wyldwood had gone even paler, the edges starting to fray apart and drift into the air. “What are you implying, Goodfellow? Do I look like the type of creature that would have such things? As it is, the nightmares are dissolving, as things do in the Between. I suggest we depart, now, before the Evenfey can complete their ritual. We should appear in the same place we first vanished into the nightmare. If you wish to stop the Nightmare King, I would hurry.”