A girl lay on the bed, shifting and moaning as if in the throes of a nightmare, her long silver hair spread over the pillow. For one heart-stopping moment, I couldn’t remember her name, though I knew she was important to me. The sudden worry and protectiveness I felt when I saw her proved it was true.
“Go to her,” Grimalkin said, backing away. “Wake her up. I will attempt to rouse Goodfel ow once more. Perhaps he will waken if claws are ap-plied in a strategically important area. Then you can all tackle the dog.
I will certainly not partake in that endeavor.” He wrinkled his nose and padded from the room.
I knelt down beside the bed. “Ari,” I muttered, grabbing the delicate shoulders and shaking them gently. “Wake up. We have to go, now.” Ariel a f linched away from me, raising her hands in sleep as if to reach out for someone. “No, Ash…no,” she whispered. “Don’t…please, no.”
“Ari!” I shook harder, jostling her thin frame, but she only whimpered and sank deeper into sleep. Finally, I gathered her to me, lifting her in my arms.
She was so light, like twigs held together by wispy cloth. Clutching her to my chest, I stumbled from the room.
164/387
Grimalkin met me at the door, followed by a yawning Puck scratching the back of his head. He gave me a sleepy nod as we passed. Together, we ventured into the last room down the hall, where the huge form of the Wolf was curled in a corner, his rumbling snores vibrating the walls.
“Okay,” Puck said, leaning against the doorframe, looking like he was fighting to stay on his feet, “I agree that we have to get out of here now, but…
who wants to wake up the puppy?”
I nodded toward a corner. “There’s a broom. I have Ariel a—I think you should take care of the Wolf.”
“Hmm, that’s okay, ice-boy. I’m kinda partial to not having my head bitten off.”
“Goodfel ow!” Grimalkin spat, right before he disappeared, “Above you!”
I spun, still holding Ariel a, as a Forgotten dropped from the ceiling—the innkeeper from before, only now her eyes were blank and glassy, her mouth an open hole as she lurched toward Puck.
The Wolf ’s eyes snapped open. Without warning, he sprang to his feet with a roar and lunged through the doorway, massive jaws clamping over the Forgotten’s spindly frame. The faery wailed and dissolved like mist in the breeze, and the Wolf shook his head, turning back to glare at us.
“It’s impossible to sleep with the pair of you around,” he growled, baring his teeth. “Now, are we leaving, or are you two going to stand there barking at each other all night?”
165/387
Forgotten were beginning to drift up the stairs like zombies, faces slack and mouths open. Puck and the Wolf met them side by side, teeth and daggers f lashing in the dim light, cutting a path to the exit.
Ariel a sighed and murmured in my arms, and I held her close, determined that no Forgotten would touch her.
We burst through the door of the inn and stopped, staring at the huge mob of Forgotten surrounding the building. The Forgotten stared back, silent and motionless, mouths gaping like landed fish. The Wolf snarled and lunged forward, snapping at the air, and the Forgotten drew back, offering no resistance. But they were so starved for glamour, for memory and emotion and life, that the Wolf stumbled and nearly fell, his strength siphoned away.
The ground lurched, and I nearly sank to my knees, fighting to stay upright. “Keep moving!” I called, as Puck swiped at several Forgotten that pressed closer, driving them back. “Get to the dock! We have to make it to the ferry!”
The Forgotten parted for us like waves, not resisting, forcing no confrontation, but their hunger was a constant thing, draining our life, making it harder and harder to move. I glanced over at Puck and saw him turning as gray and washed-out as the Forgotten around us, his once-bright red hair dull and colorless. I couldn’t see Grimalkin, and hoped the cat wouldn’t simply fade into nothingness while invisible, which we would never know.
The dock loomed before us, a lifeline in the dark, and on the River of Dreams, I saw the faint edges of a ferryboat through the mist. Puck and the Wolf, staggering and nearly leaning on each other, reached it first, and Puck yelled at me to hurry, before vanishing into the fog.
166/387
Just as I reached the dock, something latched on to my arm. I felt a stab of pain, an emptiness so strong it was physical, and went to my knees as the sharp thin man appeared before me, his long fingers grasping my arm.
“I figured it out,” he whispered, as I struggled to make my body move, respond, anything. But I was numb, drained, only barely conscious, as the thin man continued to draw out my life. I felt my glamour slipping away with my strength, sucked into the black hole that was the sharp thin man. Ariel a slumped against my chest as my grip failed, and his gaze followed her.
“My, you’re strong,” he continued in an amiable voice. “So much life.
Such powerful memories and glamour and emotion. You do not belong here.