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"I don't suppose there are any unicorns here?" I asked, hopeful. If I could get a magic patch job, we could get back to the business of finding Lend.
"No. "
"Crap. How long were we dancing?"
"That's not really quantifiable in terms you'd understand. Long enough that you nearly lost what little soul you have to the dance. But not so long that you weren't retrievable. Honestly, mortals. You never understand too much of a good thing. "
"Jack? You okay?"
He moaned, turning and smashing his face into the flowered ground. "Mmmph. "
I took it as a yes. Or at least, that he hadn't lost his soul to the dance and that eventually we'd both be okay. But we didn't have time for eventually.
"Is there anything you can do?" I asked Reth. "This can't be it. I need to find him. Now. "
"There is something. It will get you walking. But you won't like it, and it will do more long-term damage than good. "
"Do it. "
He nodded, still hesitant, then reached out his perfect, slender, long-fingered hands and wrapped them around my feet. I expected more of his heat, the creeping warmth and later burning that he used to put in me, but gasped as a searing cold left his hands. For an instant there was blinding pain, and then. . . nothing.
"That should hold for a while. "
I looked down to see my feet shimmering with what looked like a light dusting of snow. I stood, but the snow stayed put, not getting brushed off or melting. All my muscles screamed at me, but I could stand, which meant I could walk, which meant I could find Lend.
"Thank you. Do Jack. "
"I think we should send him back," Reth said, glancing at poor, broken Jack with something that looked shockingly like compassion in his golden eyes. "He hasn't your resilience, and, admirable as it was of him to join us, this isn't his fight. "
I knelt down and brushed Jack's blond curls back off his forehead. He opened his eyes. "You always did know how to have fun," he whispered, trying to smile.
"I'm a laugh a minute. Can you get away from here? Back to your room, where you'll be safe?"
"'M not going anywhere," he mumbled.
"Yes, you are. And when you're well enough to make it through the Faerie Paths, go find Arianna. She has a unicorn who can fix your feet. And tell her that when"-my voice cracked, but I hurried on-"when I get back with Lend, we'll talk. "
Jack looked up at me, guilt on his features. "I really am sorry, Evie. "
"I know, you idiot. Now go. "
He nodded, huge blue eyes sad, then held up a hand and rolled to the side, disappearing in a shimmer of light.
I stood again, groaning as muscles and joints I'd never even noticed let me know in the most painful way possible they existed, and took a few deep breaths to push past it.
"Onward?" I asked Reth. He nodded, holding out his elbow like a gentleman, and I put my hand through it.
My feet didn't hurt, but they couldn't feel anything, either, which led to a lot of stumbling on the uneven ground. Without Reth I would have been flat on my face, but even with him progress was slow.
And so we walked, the forest around us shifting from brilliant reds, oranges, and pinks, to rich blues, greens, and violets. Just when I was sure I couldn't go any farther on my trembling legs, we came to another clearing. This one had no music, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
It was filled with six women, girls really, all human, laughing and singing and lounging contentedly next to a babbling lavender brook. They glowed with health in clothes that looked like woven clouds.
And each and every one of them was pregnant.
"What-" I started, and then it hit me in a horrible rush of recognition.
"It would appear the Dark Queen has been busy replacing Vivian," Reth said.
