34. Maeve

The four boys fell asleep first, slumping over the sofa arms, their heads lolling to the side. Flynn was right; Arthur did snore, his huge body shuddering with each outward breath.

I longed to move around them, to touch their faces and feel the warmth of their skin, but the draught was starting to work its way through me. My brain fogged over. I stared at the corner of the room, watching the cracks in the lime wash wobble. I tried to lift my arm, but it was like an enormous weight was tied to it.

This is insane. You’ve just taken a drug you don’t understand. You can’t seriously believe you can do magic. Dreams are just the brain’s responses to REM sleep?—

Don’t think about that. Concentrate on where you want to go. Think about the fairy realm…the sidhe…the wormhole across the multiverse…

My eyes fluttered shut, and darkness enveloped me. My body slipped over the edge of consciousness.

I opened my eyes. Bright light poured over me, and it took a moment for my retinas to adjust and discern the shapes around me.

I lay in a bright field of tall, lush grass. Wildflowers of every shape and color swayed in a gentle breeze. The grass wafted over my bare legs, tickling my skin, fresh and light and beautiful.

Why am I sleeping outside? Why am I?—

Then I remembered what I had come to do, and where I (hopefully) was. Slowly, worried that sudden movement might knock me out of the dream state, I got to my feet, and peered across the meadow.

I stood at the bottom of a wide valley. Sweeping forests drew up on either side of me, the high treetops disappearing into dense, fluffy clouds. At the end of the meadow, a series of sidhe peeked out. Smoke puffed from bonfires, and the faint sounds of music and laughter wafted on the breeze.

Okay, the first part of the plan was a success. I was pretty sure I was now in the fae realm. I had crossed the multiverse in my sleep. I could deal with the theoretical physics behind that later. Now, I had to bring my guys with me.

I glanced down at my wrist where the four circles of hair encircled my arm. I unwound the end of the first one, pulling a single hair from the bundle. It was dark hair, wavy and almost black. Corbin. As I unwound the bracelet, I imagined it as a rope in my mind, pulling Corbin from his place flopped over the sofa in Briarwood into the meadow.

“Maeve, you did it.”

I whirled around. Corbin sat on the grass behind me, his face shining with pride. I threw my arms around him, relishing the solidity of his form. He was definitely here. I brought him into the dream with me.

“Now for the others,” I tugged at the bright red bracelet. A few moments later, Flynn shimmered into view, a little further down the valley.

“Einstein.” Flynn ran up and embraced me, his grin wide. He pressed his lips against my earlobe. “I wish you were naked, like the other dreams.”

“Down, boy,” I pushed him away, but I was smiling.

So far, so good.

Arthur was next. His blond hair fell through my fingers as the bracelet unraveled and he appeared next to Corbin, dressed in his medieval garb, his scabbard splayed out on the grass beside him, but neither his sword nor knives were with him. A deep crease marred his cheek.

“I think I fell asleep on the ground,” he said, rubbing his shoulder. “My body hurts.”

“It might be that Guiness bottle I left under the beanbag,” Flynn said.

“I hope you’re fucking kidding,” Arthur grumbled, rolling his shoulder.

“I never kid about the nectar of the gods.”

“You’re a bellend, Flynn.” Arthur’s hand reached for the hilt of his sword. He frowned as he discovered his sword wasn’t there. He immediately rose to his knees, searching through the grass. “Where is it?”

Corbin frowned, his hand clasping the waist of his jeans. “My belt buckle and button is gone, too. I think maybe there’s some kind of spell that prevents metal of any sort from passing into the realm.”

Flynn glanced down at his chest. Sure enough, his amulet was gone. He looked crestfallen. “It took me hours to make that,” he sighed.

I plunged my hand into my skirt pocket – sure enough, my knife and Flynn’s amulet weren’t there, but I still had the twig and Corbin’s paper. They would have to do.

“Forget that, what are we going to do without my sword?” Arthur grumbled. “Do you plan on knocking them out with your Irish wit?”

“Hey, give me a hand here.” I was trying to unravel Rowan’s bracelet, but his dreadlock wouldn’t pull apart. Sticky wax coated my fingers, and all I managed to do was pull tufts off.

“Try this,” Flynn offered, holding his hand over the bracelet. A few drops of water fell from his fingers. The water was surprisingly warm, and it made the wax soft and easier to handle.

“Thanks for doing something useful,” I grinned at Flynn.

“For once,” Arthur mumbled.

“You can wag right off. I’m always useful,” Flynn shot back.

I managed to unravel the bracelet and Rowan appeared beside Corbin, his face lighting up as soon as he saw us. He stumbled forward, his baggy pants catching in the long grass, and embraced me. The warmth of him gave me strength.

Every part of this dream felt so real, from the grass swishing around my legs to Rowan’s lips pressing against my collarbone. I reminded myself that this wasn’t an ordinary dream – it was an astral-projection into another universe. And I’d somehow managed to do it. Possibly.

“What do we do now?” I asked, glancing around. We had no real plan beyond this point.

“Our best bet is to get closer to the sidhe,” Corbin pointed to the mounds. “It sounds as though revels are taking place. We can sneak through the trees and hopefully get closer without being seen.”

“How do we know they’re not holding Connor somewhere else?” I pointed into the twin forests and down the valley. “He could be at any of their main population centers?—”

“Unlikely,” Corbin said. “The realm is deceptive – it looks enormous, but it’s only a glamour fooling your eyes. When the humans first banished the fae here, their witches made the realm small enough that it could be easily guarded. It’s one of the reasons the fae are so desperate to escape. The borders are only a few miles away. The Seelie and Unseelie courts are practically right on top of each other. Come on.”

We crept into the trees and made our way down the valley, staying as far back from the edge of the meadow as we could, under cover of the thick forest. Not that it did much good. We were about as obvious as a herd of elephants shopping at Walmart. Every few feet Arthur’s heavy boots snapped a twig or Flynn yelped as something prickly stabbed him in the arm.

“Could you lot be any noisier?” Corbin snapped. “I don’t think every fae in the vicinity heard you yet.”

“Can’t Maeve just dream us up some non-noise-making boots?” Flynn complained.

“I don’t think that’s how this dream works?—”

“Sssh,” I said, my ears straining. “I hear something.”

The guys stopped in their tracks, crouching down behind me. I peered through the trees, and could just make out the tops of several sidhe in a clearing down the valley. Between the towering mounds – their entrances uncovered and bedecked with garlands – danced the fae.

I gasped as I took in the sheer number. There were hundreds of them, all shapes and sizes, all the monstrous and beautiful creatures I’d seen in the pages of Corbin’s books. Green and black coats twirled around each other, laughing and singing.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Corbin whispered from beside me. “Those are Seelie and Unseelie fae dancing together. This shouldn’t happen. The two courts hate each other. We know they’re working together, but this?—”

“That is all you’ll see of our revels, witch.”

I spun around, my heart in my throat. A fae leapt out of the trees, darting straight at me. I kicked out a leg and caught it in the stomach, but as it sprawled out on the ground another one grabbed me from behind, twisting my arm until I cried out.

“Corbin!” I yelled, but I was too late. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Corbin go down.

Several fae pile on top of his body. They held him in the dirt while they tied his wrists with a thick vine. I couldn’t see the others anywhere, but I could hear Flynn yelling and branches breaking as they crashed through the forest.

Arthur broke through the trees, bellowing as he tried to shake off an ugly fae whose sharp teeth latched onto his arm. Arthur lurched toward me, fumbling for his scabbard, but of course there was no longer a sword there. Five other fae piled on top of him, and he too went down in a fury of fists and teeth.

Remembering one of the wrestling tricks Arthur taught me, I sank against the fae who held me, letting him think I’d given up the fight. His grip loosened as he tried to drag me away, and I took the chance to sink all my weight into a kick to his knee.

The fae howled. It dropped me as it fell to the dirt, clutching its knee. My own foot stung, but I tried to ignore the throbbing as I flung myself toward Corbin. I grabbed the nearest fae and tried to tug its spindly arm from around Corbin’s neck, but for such a tiny creature it held on with surprising strength.

More fae swarmed on top of us. They tore me from Corbin, dragging me back, wrapping my wrists in the thick vines. I kicked and screamed and twisted my body, but there were just too many.

“Hello, Princess.”

My body went rigid.

I looked up.

Blake stepped out from the shadows of the trees. He wore the same black tunic and trousers as always, the long coat swirling dramatically around his legs. A great curved wooden bow rested on his shoulder and a set of arrows in a woven quiver sat diagonally across his back. He looked totally badass.

Hope surged in my stomach.

“Blake!” I cried out. “Help us. We have to get to the?—”

Blake snapped his fingers.

Sound fled from my throat.

I kept moving my jaw, pushing air past my vocal chords, but no sound came out.

He’s taken my voice.

But why would he do that, unless…unless he’s been lying to us the whole time.

My whole body went cold.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

“Shall I finish them, Prince?” asked one of the fae, a tall, willowy guard dressed in a green uniform with the same flawless skin and crystalline eyes of the black-clad fae who first attacked up in the Briarwood meadow. “They have invaded our lands and spied on our rituals. Their deaths will be our greatest victory!”

“We can drink our nectar wine from their skulls!” another piped up.

I held my breath, but to my momentary relief, Blake shook his head. “These are the Briarwood witches. We cannot take such actions, justified as they are, without orders. I say that if they are so desperate to find out our secrets, we should indulge them.” Blake nodded to his sergeant. “Take them to the King.”