He shot up at that, his hands clasped in front of him. “My hydra? You saw it? Was it the best hydra you’d ever seen?”
“It was the only hydra I’ve ever seen.” Wel , now we knew where the glamour on the constructs originated. The question was whether Tiddlywinx was a wil ing participant, as his excitement suggested, or coerced, as the cage made it appear.
Falin must have had the same thought because he asked, “Why did you cast those glamours?”
“Because if I refused she brought in more iron.” He shuddered. I imagined a fae as smal as he was couldn’t handle very much iron.
“And what wil you do if released?” I asked him, because
“And what wil you do if released?” I asked him, because as long as he wasn’t a creature of ultimate darkness, I was letting him out of that cage.
“I wil owe you a massive debt, Sleagh Maith.”
My brows creased as I glanced at Falin. “He means you,”
he whispered.
“Oh, I’m not—” Actual y, I had no idea what I was or wasn’t at this point. I dropped the sentence halfway through and changed direction. “And after that where wil you go?”
“Back to my oak ring. I have to see if the squirrels stole al the stores I’ve been gathering for winter.”
Good enough for me. But I stil had one more question.
“Your mistress—who is she and where did she go?”
The little man shook his head. “A witch of power. She was trapped until recently and now that she’s free, she stil can’t be with her lordly love. I think it addled her brain. As to where she went, I know not.”
Wel , at least it was more than we knew before. I released the latch on the cage and opened the door. Falin didn’t try to stop me this time, but stepped aside as the little man jumped free.
“Oh, so much better,” Tiddlywinx said, scampering in a smal circle around the carpet. PC, who’d been lying with his head on his paws, jumped up to give chase. When Tiddlywinx saw PC, he gave a loud squeak, which did nothing to convince the dog the little fae wasn’t a toy.
“No! Bad dog!” I yel ed, but PC was already into the game, which I became part of once I started trying to grab him.
Tiddlywinx turned suddenly, and he wasn’t a cute mouselike fae anymore, but a giant wolverine. PC yelped, stopping so fast that his back legs skidded out under him.
The wolverine charged.
“No! Don’t you hurt my dog.”
The beast stopped and abruptly transformed back into Tiddlywinx as Falin scooped up my now terrified dog.
“I meant no harm,” the little fae said. “I’m indebted to you,
“I meant no harm,” the little fae said. “I’m indebted to you, dear lady. What do you wish of me?”
“Can you break the curse on Hol y, or at least tel me how?”
“That is magic far outside my power.”
Okay, that sucked. I glanced at Falin, and his lips thinned a moment before he said, “Could you provide us transport to a bar cal ed the Eternal Bloom?” When I gave him a questioning look, he said only, “We can’t pass through the winter court.”
Right. The queen was probably out for my blood, and Falin—wel , if he returned, he’d be hers again.
Tiddlywinx slumped, his lip protruding. “I could spin a glamour of the most beautiful horses you’ve ever seen, but I cannot create a door they could carry you through.”
And that would be a long-winded “no.” I sighed. How the hell are we going to get back to Nekros if the only door that opens to the city is attached to the winter court? I guessed we could take the next-closest door and rent a car to drive back. It would suck, but it would work.
“I might be able to assist you,” Kyran said, pushing off the wal , “but if you plan to help your friend, you’d best hurry.” He reached into the shadow and pul ed the hourglass on its pole into the room. I didn’t bother asking him about it this time.
But he was right. I needed to figure out what to do about Hol y. I turned toward her, and Tiddlywinx scampered around me. He vaulted onto the leg of Hol y’s pants and scurried up to her knee.
“Good lady, I stil owe you a favor,” he said, balancing on the top of Hol y’s thigh.
She didn’t flinch. Her focus didn’t even move, and she was rather squeamish about anything that the word “rodent”
could be applied to. I had the feeling that Tiddlywinx would count as one of those in her opinion. This is not a good sign.
“We’l have to work out the details later,” I told him.
“We’l have to work out the details later,” I told him.
“But—”
“You heard her,” Kyran said.
I turned around and frowned at him. I noticed Falin did the same. What’s the deal with this guy? He reminded me of that kid at school who real y wants to be friends with you, but you just don’t like him. Not that I’d real y known Kyran long enough not to like him; I just didn’t trust him.
Tiddlywinx waited a minute more. Then he said, “Fine”