Page 4 of Woodland Web

I could feel the color draining out of my face. “What does he want?”

“I don’t know—I wasn’t about to ask,” Rebecca said. She handed me a large envelope that felt like it was made out of handmade paper, like papyrus. It was sealed with some sort of waxen seal to keep it closed. With one look, I could tell that it hadn’t been tampered with.

I stared at the envelope in my hand, dreading opening it. “I wonder what would happen if I just ignored it.”

Rebecca let out a little hiss. “Don’t even think it. The last person you want angry at you is one of the Overkings. They’re not even from my sphere, but I know better than to cross them. There’s a reason the Woodlings don’t revolt against their slavery. The Overkings have little in the way of compassion, and they’re arrogant because they’re so powerful—not because they just think they are.” She hesitated, then said, “Do you want me to open it for you?”

I flipped the envelope over. On the front, in a spidery scrawl, it read: Ms. January Jaxson. “I guess…no. I got myself into this situation. It’s up to me to deal with the fallout. But can you stay while I open it?”

“Of course,” Rebecca said, gingerly sitting on the bench near me. She didn’t like being touched.

“Thanks,” I said. I took a deep breath, then decided to rip the bandage off. I broke the wax seal and slid the folded pages out of the envelope. As I opened them, the feel of magic surrounded me. The Fae were powerful and they mirrored the energy coming from the Mystic Wood. I scanned the first page, reading the thin, coiling words aloud:

“January: I am calling in your debt. You will attend to this matter to the best of your ability. I need you to keep this quiet—you may ask your friends for help, in fact, I expect you’ll need to, but this is not something for public knowledge. You are not to tell your grandmother or any other member of the Court Magika. There are some delicate deliberations taking place between the Overkings and the Court Magika, and this could disrupt the balance of those negotiations.

“One of our sub-Fae has escaped the dungeons. A sluagh is loose in the Mystic Wood, and he’s good at hiding. The sluagh is dangerous, and he must be destroyed before he begins terrorizing Moonshadow Bay. We attempted to track him, but he’s managed to enter your world. This means we can’t go about at will to find him, because we will be noticed if we show up in your village.

“He’s an energy eater, and a murderer. He’s killed in the past—at least fourteen victims—when he last escaped. We fear he’ll up his body count, and we can’t afford this to be a stumbling block in negotiations with the Witchblood Queen and our King. This could end our negotiations and send us back to the cold war days when Fae and witchblood were at odds. So do what you can, track him down, and destroy him. We need you to maintain the balance.

“You will report to me on Sunday noon with any progress you have made. Come to the fork in the trail and take the portal crossroads at midday.—Briar”

I stared at the letter. “Crap. I can’t believe he wants me to take on this creature. I can’t imagine how difficult this is going to be. I can’t do it by myself, but he insists that I don’t tell Rowan.”

“Your grandmother would be obligated to tell the Court about it. I’m surprised you aren’t expected to do the same.”

“Technically, I suppose I should, since I belong to the Crystal Cauldron, but I can see how the Fae would blur lines on this. I don’t even know what a sluagh is, let alone how to destroy one.” I leaned back against the bench. “What should I do? If I don’t obey, I’ll be breaking my promise to him and that would be very, very bad, from what I understand.”

“It would be, yes. I suggest you talk to your coworkers and enlist their help.” Rebecca glanced warily at the trail. “Whatever you do, don’t ignore this. You do not want the Overkings on your bad side. Briar isn’t just some lower-echelon peasant in the Fae society. He has power, and he’s smart. And if you cross him, he’ll never stop hunting you.”

I shivered. The day was still warm, but now it felt cold and lonely.

“All right, I’ll contact him. Do you know what a sluagh is?”

Rebecca thought for a moment. “I know the name. I know they’re dangerous. I’m not sure what they look like—they’re sub-Fae so they won’t look human, and they’re also strong and capable of tearing apart a grown man.”

That didn’t sound good.

I grimaced. “All right. I’ll meet him on Sunday.” I paused, then said, “Can I talk to you about something that worries me?” I didn’t expect that she’d have a heart to heart with me, but I couldn’t find enough first-hand information with the Fae in all the studies I’d done. There were some people who worked with them, but most of them kept the Fae’s secrets to themselves.

“What is it?” Rebecca looked curious.

I didn’t exactly trust her, but I had enough interactions with her that I was certain she wouldn’t lie to me. She might not answer, but she had nothing to gain by being dishonest.

“When I met him last summer, Briar was…mesmerizing. I need to know how to ward myself against that. If I can’t talk to Rowan about this, then I’m not sure what to do.” I blushed. What I wanted to say was that Briar seemed to have the ability to turn me on, and I didn’t want anything to happen because of that. I trusted myself, but I didn’t trust him.

Rebecca smiled slyly, disconcerting on the face of what seemed like a lovely young girl. But her eyes—they belied her impish nature. “I see. Yes, I know what you’re talking about. Luckily, the Fae guiles don’t work on demons like me. My advice is that you wear iron hidden on your body, and that you work on a mental shield that can block him from getting into your mind. Or you can just drink mugwort and peppermint tea, and that should help.”

I nodded. The Fae hated iron, I knew that much. “Won’t I antagonize him if I wear something with iron in it?”

“Probably, but it will keep him from touching you. But he won’t know if you drink the tea, and it will help guard against his magnetism. That will keep him from getting into your mind, and it’s probably stronger than the iron itself.” She stood. “I’ve delivered my message.”

“What did he promise you in return for doing so? I’m curious.” When we wanted to encourage or thank Rebecca for her help, Killian barbecued up a rack of ribs and she devoured them. But I wondered what the Fae could offer her.

Rebecca paused, then looked over her shoulder at me. “My life. I may not answer to him, but even I’m not stupid enough to refuse to play messenger. And so, I live another day.” She vanished into the forest just as the clouds rolled over, blocking out the sun.

I glanced at the sky as I headed back to my house. We weren’t due for rain, but the clouds were a perfect foil to my hope that the next few weeks—or months—would be free of stress and worry. Frowning, I shut the door behind me, and not even the cats zooming by, chasing each other, could make me smile.

CHAPTER THREE

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