Page 26 of Kiss of Smoke

“Let’s go!” He grabbed my arm, hauling me outside to the bike. He was in such a rush he didn’t even make me put on the helmet. “Get on. I have to get you out of here.”

I just managed to stuff Beans inside the front of my jacket and zip it to hold him in—then I saw the twins, spilling down the stairs of our apartment.

I was about to call out, but Gwyn revved the bike and took off.

Within moments, Ceri had joined us, running in his ghostly form alongside the bike. He was snarling, his eyes flashing red.

“Gwyn! What the hell is going on?”

He pulled us well above the street, and that’s when I realized we were far from alone.

Fae were pouring out of Mothwing Falls buildings and into the streets, all of them heading in one direction—Sobek Street.

The twins were below us, their sealskins glistening on their backs, teeth lengthening and growing. They joined the roaring crowd, barking with rage.

The sound of screaming and shouting seemed to fill the world. Beans quivered against my chest, curled into a tight ball.

“What the fuck is happening?” I asked, but Gwyn shouted back, “No idea!”

Several Garda helicopters were circling Sobek Street, drawing so close to my tree, the Blood Tree, that its crimson leaves billowed softly as they passed. It looked like the tree was in the midst of a storm.

I couldn’t take any more bad news. I just couldn’t.

But we didn’t have a choice.

The furious Fae were gathering around the tree, packed on the buildings and balconies of Sobek Street, all of them surrounding the tree. Garda were already there, stringing up yellow tape boundaries around the tree, pushing back the Fae.

I caught sight of a familiar white van. There was Oriande, her lips moving a mile a minute as she reported on whatever it was that had set everyone off.

Gwyn rode closer, and I saw what was behind her, the thing that the Garda were protecting.

Titania’s decree had had the opposite effect on the Unstained Souls.

Dread churned in my gut, because the news we had to bring her might effect an all-out war against humanity.

The body lay at the base of the tree, sprawled over the cracked pavement like a broken doll. Her iridescent dress glittered despite the dust and dirt caked on it, and even if it weren’t for that, I knew that long, golden hair.

Tanaquill’s expression was peaceful in death. That was one small favor, even though we’d all completely failed her.

But like a raw, glaring accusation against us, there was a handprint burned into her chest.

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“We need to go down,”I said insistently, tugging Gwyn’s jacket. “We need to make sure the evidence is preserved.”

I didn’t want to saycorpse, or acknowledge that the pretty young Fae I’d seen only months ago was lying on the pavement as a burned-out husk now.Evidenceseemed like a nicer word in lieu of that.

And if we didn’t hurry, the slavering crowds were going to break through. Some were close to pushing past the Garda barricade, determined to see the evidence with their own eyes, as though that would give them the right to break loose and rain hell down on the heads of mortals.

Gwyn nodded sharply, and the bike dropped so suddenly it felt like all my internal organs flew upwards into my chest. We landed on the pavement, and I was off the bike before Gwyn was.

“Jack,” I whispered, my throat locking up as I drew closer to Tanaquill.

If not for that handprint, the charred areas around it already flaking off in the breeze, she’d look like she was sleeping. One hand was flung back delicately, like her fingers would twitch at any moment, and she’d open her eyes and tell us it was all just a bad joke.

But of course her eyes didn’t open. The Ghosthand had made his opinion of Titania’s decree very clear.

Ice touched the back of my neck, and Jack appeared, looking harried for once in his polished life. His white hair was in disarray and his jacket had been tugged askew.

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