Chapter 9

The bag of offering was heavy in my arms. I split the top of the bag so that I could tie it cross body, the knot at my shoulder, for ease of carrying it. The golden filament caught the light as I headed for the Fountain in Forsyth Park.

Being close to midnight, the park was quiet. There was a ghost tour, a young couple, and that was about it in terms of people to deal with.

Even so, I let my glamor show through to those who were looking my way and then influenced them to close their eyes as I approached the fountain gateway. I did not need an accidental visitor to the land of faerie.

Making people look away was the simplest way of handling humans. To make them forget would take a hell of a lot more effort, and unlike Bramble it was not a skill set of mine. I stepped through the spray of the fountain and into the land that was—and wasn't—my home.

I took a slow breath. It was night here, the same as it was in the human world.

There was no change in the air, it was as sweet and inviting as ever, the soft call of birds, a breeze lulling me to lay down and rest. To let the worries go for a time.

"How far away is this Seer?" the dagger asked. "Should I take a nap?"

"You should not open your mouth while we are here. Not if you don't want to be vaporized by someone with a distaste for demons and the power to back it up."

"And?"

"I don't know how long. The Seer and I parted on…poor terms. It might take me a good long time."

Nancy grunted but fell silent, leaving me to my thoughts. I wasn't sure that was better. Not with Bree missing. Not with the knowledge of what she would become if I didn't save her.

I had to save her.

It was her turn to be saved, and I would not fail her. I couldn't. Which was why I was here.

My final hope was set into a Seer who'd kicked me in the ass for being rude. Literally kicked me in the ass.

"Seer. I need your help," I said, and let the words be carried away. "I owe you an apology and I would beg your guidance."

There was no answer. Not even a bird chirping. But it was the first step in finding the Seer.

"Please." I whispered the word, putting all the love I had for Bree into it, the fear and hope of trying to find her. "Please."

I stepped into a jog, covering ground. Not sure where I would go, but letting whatever would tug at me draw me forward.

All around me the grass flowed and waved, eternally spring even at night. But above me the black sky filled with deep dark clouds, covering the stars, hovering lower and lower, until they cracked open, and rain fell like tears from the sky.

I knew the land of faerie was connected to me, as its king. In the past, I'd always been able to keep my emotions in check, so that they did not spill out into the magic of the realm. Now, not so much. Lightning cracked across the sky and a flurry of tiny, winged cats flew from the long grass to perch in the trees to my right. A few hissed at me as I passed, and I could not blame them. The rain would ruin their hunting at night and their feathers.

I kept running, the movement giving me something to focus on. Hours slipped past, but they were not the same as hours on the other side of the fountain. The realm of the humans and the fae did not experience time the same way.

I could only hope that the time slid slower on the human's side.

When I reached the edge of the grassy plain, the rain was in full force, wind howling, the air pressure so heavy I could feel the weight of it on my shoulders.

I paused at the dividing line between the plains and desert, took a breath, and stepped onto the hardened, brilliantly red clay. The sky above this section of the realm was calm, with only a few wispy clouds. Heat rolled up off the baking clay in waves in front of me. Behind me the storm raged, lashing my back with its anger. With my own anger and fear.

The realm did not deserve the destruction that would come with that much fear.

I drew a quick breath and pushed my emotions down, away from the front of my mind, and the storm calmed in a matter of seconds, the clouds pulling away, and the stars peeking through once more.

I took a step, then another and another, and just like that I was in the middle of the red-cracked desert, my mouth dry and my skin tightening as the moisture was rapidly sucked out of it.

I kept my pace steady. Feeling something tug at my feet—the pull of a magic I recognized. Goddess above, would it be that easy? I should have come here first.

"There's no one here, are you sure I can't talk?" Nancy mumbled under his breath.

I sighed. "You can talk. What do you want?"

"Well, this Seer…what's she like?"

"Assuming it's a woman?" I kept my eyes scanning the horizon, looking for the split rock. That was where I'd found the Seer before. But for the Seer to be in the same place twice was odd. Then again, not many people sought the Seer out more than once.

"Well, duh. Women are more sensitive to energy, to the world around them. I'm sure there are some male Seers, but let's be real. If you're so mad you're creating a thunderstorm out of your piss-poor emotional control, are you really going to be in tune with what the world wants and able to interpret it for others? I think not."

The split rock that I was looking for was ahead, and I went straight for it. Towering well over thirty feet in the air, made of the same solid red clay beneath my feet, it seemed to waver in the distance.

"The Seer is not what you'd expect."

"Huh. Can't wait. Shock me with something new? That'll be a treat."

The distance to the split rock took me what felt like most of the day to trek. My skin was tight, and it felt as though I hadn't had a drink in weeks.

When it was only a hundred or so feet away, I slowed and approached the split rock with a bit more trepidation. I was not sure of the welcome I'd receive. Even putting out that I owed an apology.

Ten feet away, a voice called out to me from the other side of the split.

"So, the king returns? Surprising after you told me to never speak to you again of what I saw in the future. I doubt I can help you, king of the realm. Or at least, not in the way you wish."