Page 6 of The Iron Sword

“Of course, it’s a city,” Puck complained as Grimalkin darted past him to take shelter beneath an overhang. In the distance, a car horn blared, and Nyx jumped, muscles tensing in an instinctive fight-or-flight reaction. “It’s never a sunny meadow or a delightful fruit orchard. There goes my hope of grabbing a snack before we head back into the void.”

“Where are we?” Nyx wondered. She relaxed slowly, never letting down her guard as she gazed around. “What is this place?”

“Oh, right. You’ve never seen a city, have you?”

“Not like this.” The Forgotten continued to stare, taking in the many new sights and sounds. “Are they always so...noisy?”

“Some more than others.” Puck shrugged. “But, yeah. It’s no peaceful forest grove, that’s for certain. Why does Leanansidhe insist on plopping her trods down in overcrowded cities and not in the wilderness like any rational faery?”

“I would guess more exiles and half-fey gather in cities,” Meghan replied. Almost casually, she gestured with a hand, and small scraps of metal and steel particles swirled around her like metallic insects, until they formed a glittering parasol over her head. Nyx’s eyes widened, but Meghan didn’t seem to notice. “Cities are where most of her informants come from—it makes sense that she would have more trods there.”

“That’s a neat trick, princess.” Puck blinked, gazing at the umbrella the Iron Queen had seemed to conjure from thin air. Nyx was staring at it in active alarm. “Doesn’t really work for a human disguise, though. I take it we’re not going to be doing much blending in.”

The faintest of smiles crossed Meghan’s face. “I barely even thought about it,” she confessed. “I’ve been in the Iron Kingdom a long time now—certain things just become habit. But, no, we’re not going to be doing any blending in.” Taking a few steps toward me, she held up the parasol and I wrapped my fingers around the handle, shielding us both from the rain. “We’re not going to be here for long, just until we find the trod that will take us to Leanansidhe’s. I plan on staying glamoured until we’re back in the Between.”

“Which we will do faster if we start moving,” Grimalkin commented, observing us all from atop a dumpster, plumed tail waving impatiently. “Follow me, if you are finished discussing the seriousness of the situation. The trod should be close.”

“Right.” Puck grimaced, then unexpectedly reached down and grasped Nyx’s hand. She blinked at him, startled, but didn’t pull away. He gave her a crooked grin. “Into the heart of oblivious humanity. Don’t panic, stay close, and try not to stab anyone. No matter how much you’re tempted.”

Following Grimalkin, we stepped from the alley onto the sidewalk, and were immediately surrounded by humans striding past us in both directions. They couldn’t see us, of course. We were all glamoured and invisible to mortal eyes, so unless we ran into a human with the Sight, we were free to walk down the street as we were. Which was fortunate, because I was not in the mood to deal with humanity today; I wanted to get to Leanansidhe’s and discover if she knew what was happening in the Between, and where Keirran could have gone. I wanted to find my son; running into a rude or hostile human right now would try my patience and could end very badly for the oblivious mortal.

“So many humans,” Nyx muttered. She had pulled up her hood, hiding her hair and most of her face, and even glamoured and invisible, her entire posture was tense. “Keirran told me there were thousands of these cities all through the mortal realm, but I found it hard to believe.” She peeked up, watching as a young person rushed past, a notebook held over his head. “Maybe I could just meet you at Leanansidhe’s—I’m sure I could find my way there on my own.”

Puck chuckled. “Oh, no, Miss Stoic Assassin,” he said, and raised their joined hands. “This is a team effort, and you’re part of the gang now. If we have to endure the throngs of humanity, you have to suffer with us.”

She frowned at him. “Is that how this works?”

“Yup.” Puck grinned cheekily back, ignoring the assassin’s glare. I had seen the Forgotten’s abilities, both on the battlefield and off. I doubted Puck could have kept Nyx with us if she truly wanted to leave, but she let out a small sigh and pulled her hood up even farther.

“I’d fear what would happen if I wasn’t present, anyway,” she muttered.

I saw a small half smile flit across Meghan’s face, though her eyes remained shadowed, her expression worried and far away. It had been a long time since anyone had come along who could keep up with Robin Goodfellow. Nyx seemed like one of the rare few who could not only handle Puck and all his quirks, but could also give it back. It was obvious my best friend was falling for her, and I hoped it would not end badly for him. She was, after all, a primordial faery assassin who had been around before the courts even existed. That was going to be a challenge, even for Puck.

“What are you looking at, asshole?”

A shout suddenly drew my attention. Across the street, a trio of younger humans seemed to have gotten into an argument. Two young men stood a few feet apart, pointing angry fingers and making sharp gestures as they shouted expletives, while a young woman, perhaps a sister or girlfriend, looked on angrily. I didn’t know what had caused the argument, but from what I could tell, one human had looked at the girl in a way the other didn’t like, and he had taken offense.

Normal human behavior, especially between two younger males. What was not so normal was the creature clinging to the girl’s shoulders.

It was unlike anything I’d seen before, which in itself was astounding. I wasn’t as well traveled as Puck, but I had been to the farthest reaches of the Nevernever, to the End of the World and back. I’d lived a long time, and seen creatures of all shapes and sizes, from towering giants to the tiniest threats. But this creature, much like the Monster we’d fought before, was something completely new.

It was tiny, the size of a piskie or large dragonfly, and had a humanlike frame despite long, spindly limbs and hands tipped with curved nails. Its body was emaciated; bones pressed sharply against dark, oily skin, giving it a skeletal look. From this distance, its features were difficult to make out, but I could see a gaping mouth with jagged, protruding fangs and pointed ears jutting from a bulbous skull. Thin, wasplike wings buzzed and vibrated against its back, only adding to its insectlike appearance. When the tiny creature turned its head in my direction, I saw that it had no eyes, just bulging lumps of flesh where the sockets should have been.

But most disturbing, threads of shadow kept coiling from its body and writhing into the air, like the tentacles of the Monster. I could see them coiling around the arms and neck of the girl the creature was perched on, sinking below her skin. Both the girl and the others around us seemed oblivious to the creature that was obviously out of place in the mortal realm. The three humans were drawing some looks of alarm from those nearby, but it was more a reaction to the shouting match than from the tiny monster clinging to the girl’s back.

Beside me, I felt Meghan shudder. “What is that?” she whispered. “It looks like a piskie, but I’ve never seen its kind before, have you?”

“No,” I murmured. “I never have.” I didn’t want to say what I thought it could be, to voice my suspicions out loud. Apparently, I didn’t have to.

“It feels like the Monster,” Nyx remarked grimly, confirming my fears. “It’s smaller, much weaker, but I can sense its hate. It projects the same negative glamour the big creature did.”

“But why is it here in the mortal realm?” Meghan wondered. “They’re not from the Nevernever, and I haven’t seen one in the Between. Where are these things coming from?”

“I don’t know,” Puck muttered, and gave me an evil grin. “Maybe we should go ask it, ice-boy.”

I gave a serious nod. I doubted the creature would tell us anything, but I wanted to see what it would do, what kind of new threat I was dealing with. Resting my hand on my sword hilt, I started across the street with Puck beside me.

As we approached, the argument between the humans seemed to be escalating. Both boys had puffed out their chests and were standing on their toes, glaring at each other and motioning aggressively. The girl stood a couple paces away, arms crossed, watching the showdown to an obvious fight.

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