Page 36 of The Iron Vow

Varyn let out a long breath. “All right,” he said. “You win. I’ll try not to antagonize these strangers, even that Goodfellow.” His voice hardened, becoming dangerous again. “But if they betray us or leave us to fight the Wailing One alone, they won’t make it back to the Nevernever. I’ll make sure of that, personally.”

I listened as Varyn and Other Nyx walked away, feeling a heavy weight settle in my stomach. Hundreds of years. For hundreds of years, they had been in Evenfall, living their lives. Fighting the Nightmares. This world, as terrible and horrific as it was, was real to them. We had to save it.

Somehow.

“Meghan?”

Ash appeared, moving soundlessly into the aisle. Seeing me, the expression on my face, his eyes narrowed with concern, and he walked swiftly to my side.

“Is something wrong?” he asked softly.

“No. I’m all right,” I told him, and glanced back at the shelf. “Just...accidentally eavesdropping when I shouldn’t be.”

“Oh?” He reached out and drew me close. “Discover anything good?”

“Good? No.” I leaned into him, feeling his arms around me, and wished I could lie down and forget everything, even for a couple hours. “Varyn doesn’t trust us,” I muttered, “Puck doesn’t trust Varyn, and our Nyx is hiding something.” I shook my head. “Not a great way to start a journey together.”

“Should we be concerned?”

“If Nyx thought Varyn was truly a threat, she would tell us,” I responded. “At least, I hope she would. I’m guessing something happened between her and Varyn in the real world, but I don’t know how much it’s going to affect the mission.”

“We’ll keep an eye on them,” Ash said, running his hands up my back. “But it’s not something that we can fix. The three of them are going to have to figure it out themselves.”

A soft buzz interrupted us. I looked up to see one of the keepers had drifted down and was hovering a few feet away, watching us. Ash turned his head, and I could feel his vague amusement as the small fey twitched an antenna in our direction and gave another disapproving buzz.

“Do you think it’s here to scold us about inappropriateness in the library?” I whispered to Ash, who gave a soft snort under his breath.

“If it is, I don’t care,” he replied, not moving or letting me go. “You’re a queen and my wife, not a first date. It’s going to have to overlook a few things.”

The keeper fluttered down and, after a slight hesitation and a glare at Ash, held a folded piece of paper out to me. I took it, and the tiny faery immediately flapped off, particles of glowing dust falling softly to the ground as it flitted away over a bookshelf and out of sight.

I flipped open the note, scanning the lines of neat, extremely thin handwriting scrawled across the page.

I have researched our quarry and have read all that the keepers can find on the subject, which sadly is not much. I believe I am ready to depart whenever you are. Meet me back at the central pillar, and I will share what I have learned.—Gilleas

“All right.” I took a quick breath, and Ash’s grip tightened for a brief moment before he stepped away. “I guess it’s time to go.”

Gilleas was waiting for us at the center of the library as he’d said, his lean, shadowy form resembling a scar along the pillar. He held a book in his hand and was turning pages with one long talon, his deer skull head moving rhythmically back and forth as he read. As I walked up with Ash, the skull rose, hollow eye sockets fixing on me.

“The Wailing One,” he said by way of greeting. “Not the oldest Nightmare, or the most powerful, but perhaps one of the most dangerous. This is going to be quite the endeavor for you all.”

“We are up to the challenge,” said Other Nyx’s voice, and I realized she and Varyn were already there. They had our Nyx’s innate talent for blending into anything to remain unseen. “Nightmares, even named Nightmares, can be killed. We just have to be careful, and strategic, in our approach.”

“Elder Nightmares care nothing for strategy,” Gilleas warned. “Some are unpredictable and beast-like. Some are eerily intelligent themselves.” He held up the book he was reading. “The Wailing One has garnered quite the reputation for driving fey mad and turning them into Nightmares without even touching them. I do hope, for your sake, that whatever strategy you employ is a sound one. There are no more Wishing Trees in Evenfall, and the jinn and their kind have gone extinct. Wishing is for fools, and blind hope is dangerous.”

“It is better than the alternative,” Varyn broke in, frowning at Gilleas. “I will not sit here and wait for nonexistence. I would rather die having a fighting chance than wait for the king to wake up and for everything to disappear.”

“I am not suggesting otherwise,” Gilleas said, the hollow pits of his eyes seeming to glare at Varyn. “I am merely pointing out that the Wailing One is not an opponent to take lightly, and that wishing for a happy outcome is a futile, fatal endeavor. We must face reality if we are going to succeed.”

Varyn’s golden eyes narrowed, and he seemed ready to snap something in return, when a yelp sounded outside the aisle, drawing everyone’s attention.

Nyx appeared, easing into view from the shadows and looking both amused and exasperated at the same time. It was obvious she was not the one we’d heard, as a moment later Puck stepped into the circle, ducking his head as a keeper fluttered by and hurled a pencil that lodged in his hair. “Ow, come on, stop it already,” he grumbled, pulling it free. “It’s not my fault you couldn’t find much. Dropping encyclopedias on my head seems a bit drastic.” A wadded-up paper ball came flying at his face, and he swatted it away. “All right, I get it! Not welcome in the library. That didn’t take long.”

14

BONE COLLECTORS AND PALE RIDERS

We left Hollownest by a different way than we came in, following Other Nyx, Varyn, and the Order as they took us through the city streets and into another series of tunnels. This time, the passages were filled with huge, bulbous mushrooms that pulsed and throbbed like they had a heartbeat. Pale, glowing bulbs hung from the ceiling on thin green roots, and the air reeked of rot and decay. Farther off the path, strange forms could be seen below the fat mushroom stalks. They were covered in a carpet of slimy moss and flowers, but some of the lumps appeared as if figures were sleeping beneath the layer of fungus. It was hard to tell with the glowing lights and pulsating mushrooms, but sometimes they seemed to move.

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