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The fairy was on the ground, unconscious. Her right eye swollen and dark, her lip bleeding, but her chest rising and falling.
I hadn’t killed her. While I understood death, and understood now that it was inevitable in war, I found that to be a relief.
My hands stung with pain. I looked down, found the knuckles battered and bleeding. But I was a vampire, and the wounds would heal quickly enough.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked. The look on his face said he genuinely wasn’t sure.
“I’m fine.” I looked back, found the fairy he’d also knocked unconscious.
That made me feel so much better, it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“We need to get Claudia out of here,” Theo said, and I nodded.
“I’ll get the door,” I said, and took his hand when he offered one, pulled me to my feet.
Theo went to Claudia. I went to the small lobby and found the front door barred from the inside. I pulled up the long piece ofsteel, tossed it aside, turned deadbolts in the rotting wood, and pushed the door open.
The wash of fresh air, of air that was mostly free of magic, felt glorious.
“Cadogan House is closer than the Ombuds’ office,” I said as Theo carried Claudia through. “And we’ve got a doctor.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go. You’d better make the call.”
“Car first,” I said, and glanced back. “Just in case they wake up sooner than we’d like.”
• • •
The green land hadn’t diminished. But it hadn’t grown, either.
The United Center was still a field of grass, although now with CPD cruisers running crime-scene tape and barricades around Chicago’s newest park. I gave credit to Yuen for moving quickly.
As we drove by, I regretted for an instant that I hadn’t had a chance to walk through it, to see what the fairies’ land really looked like from the inside. Even as I knew that anything touched by fairy hands was dangerous—tricky and seductive and usually a trap for the unwary.
“Would you like to tell me about your... skills?”
The question jerked me from my reverie. Theo said the word with uncertainty, as if he wasn’t entirely committed to the idea it was a blessing, and not a curse.
“No,” I said.
I could feel his gaze on me for a moment. “Okay,” he finally said. “It’s useful, for what it’s worth. And I don’t think anyone would fault you that.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But this wasn’t the time to debate it. “I’m going to call the House,” I said, and pulled out my screen.
“Elisa,” my father answered.
“I need a favor.”
There was a heavy pause, and I could only guess at the questions he was asking himself.
“What do you need?”
Rain or shine, he was reliable. “Theo and I are en route. If you could have the garage open and meet us there, that would be best.”
“What are you doing?”
“You’re not going to like it,” I said. “So it’s best if we deal with it when we get there. Bring Delia, if she’s available.” Delia was the House doctor.
“Elisa—”
