“Ringo and I can go in and ask if you want,” I said. It really wouldn’t take long to find one of the nymphs, and hopefully they would have answers for all of us.
Gabriel cleared his throat behind me, and I looked back and shrugged. “Hey, unless any of you have nymph blood, it’s our only option. Sebastian‘s free pass expired after our meeting with Penelope.”
The nymphs were closely tied to the earth, but that didn’t mean their boundary wasn’t powerful. In fact, it was probably more so. Knowing everyone was about to argue, I quickly pushed open the gate and stepped through, shifting across the boundary.
I turned back to find both Crispin and Gabriel reaching for me. Sebastian merely narrowed his eyes.
Not noticing the tension, Isadora slid up to Crispin. When she pointed her little device at him, it glowed green and glittery. “Have you ever considered donating some of your magic to science?”
“Eva,” Gabriel warned.
I stepped backwards, further into the park, smiling. “C’mon. Ringo and I can jump right back to you if there’s trouble. This will save us all time.”
Crispin was too busy trying to get away from Isadora to comment, and Sebastian merely made a shooing gesture, no doubt anxious to move on to the pathway business.
Giving Gabriel an apologetic shrug, I turned around and started walking, looking around for any nymphs as I went. With the nymphs as our allies and my great grandfather no longer trying to kidnap me, I should be safe enough. Although, the darkness and the silence of the park had me feeling a little nervous. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and keptwalking, trying to enjoy the moonlit greenery and the feel of water in the air from the small lake. I knew if the nymphs didn’t want me to find them, I wouldn’t, but hopefully someone I knew would pop out soon enough. I could sense the extra magic now that Isadora had mentioned, and it was making me extra nervous.
“Where are they?” Ringo whispered in my ear.
“You know how nymphs can be. They’ll hide in a tree or a puddle until the perfect moment to startle you.” At least, I hoped that was the case.
“You know, I resent that.”
I turned abruptly at the sound of the voice behind me, relieved to see Seraphina standing there. I knew she favored trees above water, so she had probably been hiding in one until I passed. Even her brown skin and darker brown hair matched the varying shades of tree bark. She had a little bit of flour dusting her casual purple floral dress and matching lightweight cardigan, so I knew she must have come straight here from her bakery.
As I thought it, Ringo stood up on my shoulder, lifting his nose in the air.
“Sorry little one,” Seraphina said. “I don’t have any cookies, and your mother never comes by the bakery anymore.”
“Been kind of busy.”
She walked toward us, then moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with me so we could both look out toward the lake. “You most certainly have. How many pathways do we have now?”
“Two,” I answered. “We were supposed to go to a near realm next, but my ex boss texted me about a magical blackout, then a friend said there was some magical occurrence here at the park.” I turned my head to look at her. “Know anything about that?”
She was still looking out across the lake, probably searching for her sister, who favored water. “Something felt different when I woke this morning. I tried to brush it off and opened the bakery like usual, then my assistant, who’s half elf, came in for her evening shift and mentioned the disturbance. I came straight here.” Her eyes narrowed at a ripple of light on the water, but nothing emerged. “Someone should have greeted us by now.”
A little shiver went down my spine. This was officially getting spooky. “Do you think you could give permission for the guys to come in? They might be able to help with whatever is going on.”
She shook her head, still gazing across the lake. “Only my father can do that, or if he’s dead, his successor.”
Ringo huddled closer to my neck as I asked, “Do you really think he’s dead? What exactly is going on here?”
Her eyes remained on the water, worry now creasing her brow. Worry over her little sister, I was sure. “I don’t know, but someone really should have greeted us by now.”
20
Isent a text to Crispin before we continued searching for clues. Fortunately the park was in the middle of the city, so cell service wasn’t an issue. And I chose Crispin for the text, knowing he would be the most reasonable about me traipsing around searching for clues when there could potentially be danger. But if anything happened, I could grab Seraphina and jump us back to the guys. I was getting pretty good at hopping around, and it would be just a short journey.
“Knowing the fairies, I’m not sure I’d like to go to their realm,” Seraphina was saying, after I had told her that was our final big trip.
I kept my eyes on the dark path, not wanting to stumble. “I tend to feel the same, but we did already reach the goblin side of the realm, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Seraphina snorted. “Yes, cutting a pathway to a far realm, definitely not a big deal.”
I laughed. “It’s been a long few months.”
We circled the lake and entered a copse of trees. While we hadn’t discussed it, I knew Seraphina was leading us to where the portal used to be when the nymphs were still in their pocket realm. I had gone there once before Penelope tricked thenymphs into bringing their magical well into the park so she could steal it. Fortunately Sebastian and I were able to get it back, and they had decided to keep their magic in the park rather than creating a new pocket.
