Page 83 of The Iron Vow

“Hmph.” The cat appeared, seated a pace away. His golden eyes regarded us disdainfully. “As if I would resort to—urg!”

Whatever he was about to say was lost as I reached out, snagged him around the stomach, and dragged him into my lap. His tail bristled, thumping against my legs, but he didn’t dig claws into my flesh, so I considered it a win. “You realize you are going to pay for this, Iron Queen,” he warned, but settled himself comfortably, curling his tail around himself. “Just because we are victorious does not mean I will lower myself to such indignities.”

I smiled at his words and let myself sink into the warmth and love surrounding me. Everyone was here. We were alive. We had won.

The nightmare was finally over.

30

THE IRON VOW

“Iron Queen.”

The familiar voice echoed from the mist. I rose, disentangling myself from the circle of family and friends, to look around me. A tall, dark figure had melted out of the crowds of Evenfey, his naked deer skull glowing faintly against the gloom.

My heart leaped. “Gilleas! You made it. You’re here.”

“I am. As are we all, it seems.” The tall Evenfaery looked at the crowds surrounding us in awe. “You did it,” he whispered. “We are out of the Dream. We are back in the real world once again. After all this time, I had given up hope of ever seeing the Nevernever again. I... I do not know what to say.”

“I do.” Like a wraith, Other Nyx appeared from the shadows, Varyn at her side. I was relieved to see them both. Unlike some faeries who would not be named, two Nyxes in the Nevernever didn’t seem like a bad thing.

Without hesitation, she walked up to me and immediately knelt, bowing her head low. “We are forever in your debt, Iron Queen,” the Evenfaery whispered, as Varyn followed her example. “The Order is yours to command. Whenever you have need of us, no matter what the circumstances, we will be at your side.”

“You don’t have to do that, Nyx,” I told her, and she shook her head.

“You’ve given my kin their lives back,” she said solemnly. “I will no longer have to watch my people struggle and die trying to exist. It is a small price to pay to be out of the endless nightmare.”

“Yes,” Gilleas agreed, as Ash and the rest of them came forward. Keirran leaned against his father, one arm slung over his shoulders, but he seemed to be keeping his feet well enough. “To be out of the Dream,” Gilleas went on. “To be real once more, it is worth any price. But, if I may inquire...where are we?” He raised his head, gazing around the void and the mist slowly creeping forward. “This is not Evenfall,” he stated. “Evenfall Faded when the king fell into his slumber. Is this Faery? Are we in the Nevernever?”

“I think we’re in the Between,” Keirran said. His voice was hoarse, raspy with what he’d just gone through. But he raised his head, searching the fog and coiling mist, and gave a confident nod. “This feels familiar,” he murmured. “I think... I should be able to lead us all back into Faery from here.”

“Let’s gather everyone together, then,” I said. “They need to know what has happened. Before we all stomp into the Nevernever and give the other rulers a heart attack.” I gazed around at the crowds of dazed Evenfey, an entire realm’s worth of faeries, and took a quick breath. “We might be here awhile.”

They were waiting for us on the other side of the Between. All of them: Oberon, Titania, Mab, the Wolf, and the armies of Summer, Winter, and Iron. As the mists parted, I could see them, the grim-faced rulers awaiting our return, their forces spread out behind them. I caught a glimpse of Glitch at the head of the Iron Kingdom’s forces, a stern-faced Spikerail standing behind him. Both bowed deeply as our gazes met, though not before a flash of relief crossed the face of the First Lieutenant.

They had been standing guard at the site of the broken seal, prepared to meet the vengeful Nightmare King should he make his way into the Nevernever. But now I couldn’t help but think they were also waiting for the Evenfey, ready to stop them from coming any farther into Faery.

I set my jaw, sparing a glance at Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin beside me. “Ready for this?”

“I am,” Ash replied somberly, and Puck bobbed his head while Grimalkin yawned in a very deliberate manner. I looked to my other side, at the quartet of Evenfey waiting there: Gilleas, Varyn, and the two Nyxes.

Our Nyx met my gaze with a single nod. “We are with you, Iron Queen.”

I raised my head, drawing on the mantle of the Iron Queen, and took a deep breath. “Let’s go, then.”

We strode across the ruins, across the site of the battle where vicious Elder Nightmares had clawed their way out of Evenfall and clashed with the armies of Faery. That day, we had gone into Evenfall to stop the waking of the Nightmare King, believing that he was a threat that could destroy our worlds. We could not have imagined what we would find. A Fading king, a world of nightmares, and the Evenfey who were naught but dreams themselves. Who would disappear like they’d never existed, should the king wake up.

Somehow, despite the impossibility of the task, we had triumphed. We had made the Evenfey real and brought them out of the Dream. But, ironically, they weren’t safe yet. The hardest task still loomed ahead, in the gazes of the three fey awaiting us at the edge of the field. Oberon, Titania, Mab.

They were not the only ones. The imposing form of the Wolf loomed off to one side and, even more shocking, a tall faery with billowy copper hair and a glimmering evening gown stood beside him. Leanansidhe the Dark Muse stood with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face as she gazed at Titania, as if knowing her mere presence would needle the Summer monarch. I didn’t know how she was here; perhaps Oberon or even Mab, facing the greatest of threats from the Nightmare King, had called another powerful fey to the forefront of battle. Leanansidhe was not the faery that we needed to convince today, but that she was here at all, defying her exile, showed just how serious the threat of the Nightmare King had been. And now, we had arrived in the Nevernever with all the subjects of the Nightmare King behind us. Even if the other rulers had agreed to bring the Evenfey out of the Dream, I doubted any of them were going to be thrilled about it.

My heart pounded, but I felt resolve spreading through me with every step I took. The Evenfey were counting on us. After all we had been through, I was not going to fail them.

“Meghan!”

I stumbled a bit, then turned as the familiar form of my brother pushed his way through the crowds and jogged up to me, Kenzie on his heels.

“Ethan,” I whispered as his arms closed around me in a tight, almost angry hug. “What are you two doing here?” I asked, extending an arm to Kenzie, who also joined the embrace. On her shoulders, Razor buzzed maniacally and grinned down at us.

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