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"Find the Dark Queen. Take it all. "
I woke up to the skeletons of trees framing the sky. Someone was crying softly and I turned my head to see Donna, cradling a seal in her arms, stroking its fur and whispering to it. Next to her Grnlllll lowered Nona halfway into a hole in the ground, then motioned with her pawlike hands; the dirt filled in around the tree spirit and Grnlllll sat heavily, staring at Nona's body with half-lidded eyes.
I wanted to feel sad, wanted to find out if Kari would be okay and if Nona could somehow fix herself by being planted like that, but I couldn't. There was nothing I could do to help them right now, and if I let myself mourn, it would take time and energy. I didn't have room left to worry about anyone except Lend. I wouldn't lose anyone else to the Dark Queen. It's what Nona and Kari would want; they loved Lend, too.
"Where's David?" I sat up in Reth's arms, then pushed out of them and stood. We were on the banks of Cresseda's pond; he must have brought me here while I was asleep.
"I believe he's trying to secure help. Cresseda should be here shortly, along with most of the elementals. Including that rather distasteful dragon and those horrid, depressing banshees. "
"Doesn't matter. Take me to the Dark Queen. Now. "
"I may be wrong, but I don't believe your boy sacrificed himself so you could get killed. "
"I'm not going to get killed. I'm going to kill her. "
Reth laughed.
I punched him.
It hurt.
Me, not him, unfortunately. He just stared at me with those depthless golden eyes, and had the nerve to look sad. I waved my hand back and forth, trying to shake out the pain. "You think I can't do it?"
"I've no doubt you think you can. But, Evelyn, my love, I've fought to protect you for years now. And, unlike you, I won't so lightly disregard your Lend's last wish that I keep you safe. "
"I'm not yours to keep safe! And if you had done something instead of just sitting there holding me back, Lend would be with us right now. "
"Yes, but you would be lost. "
"Are you going to help me or not?"
"Of course not. "
"Fine. I'll get there myself, then. "
I turned and stomped up the path toward the house, mushy dead leaves muffling my steps. Lend's car was still here; I could figure out this driving thing well enough to get myself back to the diner. I needed Tasey, and my cell phone, and Raquel.
I was out of faerie names now that Reth had a new one, Fehl would kill me at first sight, and my creepy alcoholic faerie father was banished to the Faerie Realms forever. Raquel, however, had a whole bunch of faerie names at her disposal. And if I had their names, I could control them. And if I could control them, I could get to the Faerie Realms. Too bad I'd given up my communicator. Raquel would help me-all I had to do was get in contact with her.
I broke out of the woods at the house and nearly ran into two tall, broad-shouldered men in suits. Frowning, I looked at their faces. Yellow wolf eyes beneath their blue and brown ones. Werewolves. Must be here to help Lend's dad.
"I think everyone's meeting at the pond with a bunch of elementals," I said, hoping that maybe together the werewolves and elementals would come up with some miraculous plan, but not counting on it. I didn't have time to wait for them to decide on a course of action; in fact, I seriously doubted anyone besides David would be willing to risk themselves to save Lend. It was up to me.
"Evelyn?" one asked.
"Yeah," I said, waving a hand dismissively and moving to walk past them. Lend always hung his keys on a ring near the door. I'd get those, and-
"You're under arrest for violating statute one point one of the International Paranormal Control Charter. "
I stopped. "Wait, seriously? Seriously? You guys are here to arrest me?" I started laughing. "Wow, you so picked the wrong day. Come back next week, okay?"
Before I could move one of them shoved a shiny silver Taser at me; the last thought that went through my head before I collapsed, shaking on the ground, was that, bleep, being tased really sucked.
Chapter Nine
NEW JEWELRY
Oh. My. Galloping. Gremlins. My head hurt so bad that when I opened my eyes, everything was the same shade of blinding white. My tongue felt thick and dry and too big for my mouth, and my entire body ached. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again, trying to blink away the whiteness.
