Enchanted Ivy (21 page)

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arms. Lily felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and was glad that her back was to Jake. Maybe she shouldn't have jumped into Tye's arms quite so enthusiastically. She barely knew him, after all. The tingle she felt every time they touched--that was just the feel of magic or very enthusiastic static cling, not a sign of destiny.

Ignoring Jake, Tye answered Lily. "Father likes to stick me in here whenever the council debates whether or not I behaved appropriately on my latest trip to the human world. Not a fan of waiting, so I borrowed a spare key." He shrugged. "We Keys are supposed to open doors, after all."

"Your council's security is lax," Jake said disapprovingly.

"You're welcome to stay and lodge your complaint," Tye said. He nodded at the room. "This isn't a cell, though; it's just a waiting room. If the council believed you were a threat, then your lodgings would have been much more secure. Guess you were voted harmless, Pretty Boy. Congratulations."

"I could show you 'harmless.' ..."

Lily shot a look at the staircase. Any second, the stone man could thump down those steps and throw them into a real cell. "Guys, can we chat about this
after
we escape?"

Tye executed a courtly bow. "As my lady wishes." He crooked his arm and looped her hand through as if escorting her to a dance. He then strode down the hallway. She had to half jog to keep pace. His arm muscles, she noticed, were tense under her fingers. He wasn't nearly as cool and collected as he sounded.

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Jake trailed behind them. "Why are you helping us?"

"I'm helping
Lily
," Tye clarified. "Who are you?"

"Her guard," Jake said.

"Nice job on that," Tye said.

"You can't trust him," Jake said to Lily. "He refused to swear allegiance to Vineyard. He hasn't been through our training. All the trainees are told to keep our distance. He's a wild card. For all we know, he could be leading us into a trap."

Considering they'd just come from what was essentially a cell, Lily found it hard to get worked up about that idea. "He's only lied to me once or twice," she said.

"That you know of," Tye added cheerfully. He shoved his shoulder against a door, and it popped open. He ducked through it.

"Tell us why you're switching sides," Jake said. He clamped his hand down on Lily's shoulder before she could follow. "Or we go no farther. I won't let you endanger Lily."

Lily stared at him, her wannabe knight in shining armor. He'd come a long way from calling her a monster.

"Your pretty boy seems to have some trust issues," Tye commented to Lily. To Jake, he said, "I'm a Key. We don't have sides. If we pick a side, we die. One of the many perks. Besides, aren't we supposed to be allies?"

"Please, Jake," Lily said. She touched his arm lightly. "I don't have a better plan. Do you?"

Jake opened and then shut his mouth. He released her shoulder.

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She followed Tye through the door, and Jake followed her. He shut the door behind him, and the three of them hurried down a hall that looked like a stretch of basement: pipes on the ceiling, concrete floor, gray walls.

"So how did you piss off my esteemed paternal figure?" Tye asked.

She hesitated, not quite ready to admit that they might have nailed the coffin shut on a centuries-old alliance. "I'd guess it was Jake's knife."

Jake agreed with her. "He did take exception to the knife."

"You sneaked a weapon into council?" Tye whistled. "And they only put you in a waiting room? Wow, you must be really bad with a blade."

Lily winced.

"Nearly sliced open that monster you call Father," Jake said.

To her surprise, Tye laughed. "Wish I could've seen the look on his face."

"You dislike your father that much?" Lily asked.

"Pretty Boy never would have nicked his fur," Tye said. "But it's been a long time since anyone has done anything but cower in front of my father."

"Including you, I assume," Jake said, disgust dripping from his voice.

"Absolutely," Tye said. "I'm not suicidal."

They turned the corner and faced more corridor. The

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dull gray hall looked as if it stretched on for the length of a football field. It ended in shadows and a red EXIT sign.

When they reached the exit, Tye put his finger to his lips. He pushed open the door and led them into a carpeted hall. Office doors lined either side. At the end of the hall was a wooden door with a window. Daylight shone through--it was a door to the outside.

"Where are we?" Lily asked.

"Shh," Tye said.

Jake answered, "Stanhope Hall, next building over from Nassau."

Tye glared at him. "What part of 'shh' was unclear?" he hissed. He peered into one of the offices. "Lucky that no one is here," he said. "We should have been intercepted by now."

"You
expected
to get caught?" Jake asked.

Tye shrugged. "It was more than likely. Usually, these buildings don't empty out."

"You still trust him?" Jake said to Lily.

"Yes," she said simply.

Lily walked toward the sunlight that poured through the window in the door. Both boys blocked her before she could go farther.

"You scout; I'll guard," Jake said.

"Logical," Tye agreed. He darted out the door before Lily could even voice an opinion. In a few seconds, he was back. "Garden clear."

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Lily stepped outside with Jake close behind her. She tilted her face up to the sun. Plants around her crooned and hummed. "Jake, how do you feel?"

He flashed his dazzling smile. "Ready for anything."

"Any headache? Spots in your vision? Trouble catching a full breath?"

He frowned. "I--"

Tye clapped him on the back. "He's a knight. Feels no pain."

Lily thought of Grandpa in the hospital bed and frowned. She felt Jake's eyes on her. "We'll be back before he wakes," Jake promised. He pointed to oak trees rising behind a brick wall. "That's the yard. Gate is there."

A green door led through the brick wall to the yard. Motioning for Jake and Lily to stay back, Tye crossed the garden, cracked open the door, and peeked through. Lily leaned against the brick. Moss tickled her shoulder. Absently, she petted it. It cooed back at her.

"Clear," Tye whispered as he tiptoed back to them. "But we'll want to run."

Jake nodded.

Lily stepped away from the wall, and the moss that had curled around her ripped as she moved. She heard it shriek as it tore. She looked at the moss and then at the door. "I can't leave yet," she said. "I have to find the dryads." She told Tye about her mother, the brain hiccups, and Grandpa's plan. "All my life, Grandpa and I have taken care of her.

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And now I have to do this. I have to find out if the dryads can help her. Grandpa would never forgive me if ... Do you understand? There's no guarantee I'll ever get another chance at this."

Tye nodded. "Knew you were no fragile flower."

She exhaled a half snort, half laugh. "Really? Plant jokes? Now?"

"We can find the dryads in the forest," Tye said.

Jake snorted. "Brilliant deduction, Tiger Boy."

"You don't have to come," Tye said. "Gate's right there."

Jake merely glared at him. "Lead on, kitty cat."

Tye crossed the garden in the opposite direction from the gate, and Lily and Jake followed. Stepping onto a stump, Tye vaulted onto the brick wall and balanced catlike on the top. He held a hand down to Lily. She grabbed it and climbed up next to him. Hand in hand, she and Tye hopped down to the other side. They landed in a bed of ivy.

Tye didn't release her hand. "We'll make them help your mom. Don't worry."

She felt her throat close up. She nodded.

"You're not alone in this," he said. He leaned closer. His eyes bored into hers. His lips were so close that she could feel the flutter of his breath. "You never have to be alone again." She wondered if he was still talking about her.

Jake landed beside them, and Tye let go of her hand. She remembered how to breathe. "Everything all right?" Jake asked.

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"Fine," Tye said.

Lily avoided Jake's eyes. "Let's go." She set off at a run. The boys followed her. Together, all three of them plunged into the woods beyond campus.

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CHAPTER Twelve

As Lily ran through the forest, roots flattened under her feet. Branches drooped out of her way as she brushed against them. Leaves caressed her as she passed. Behind her, Jake and Tye swore as they stumbled over roots and were swatted by branches. Lily barely heard them. She was surrounded by the hushed hum of the forest. For the first time since this had all begun, she felt safe.

"Lily, wait!" Tye called.

Stopping, she looked back. She hadn't noticed, but the boys had fallen behind. She jogged back to them. Jake was sagging against a tree trunk. "Are you all right?"

He straightened. "Fine."

"Not used to the extra magic," Tye said. "No offense, Pretty Boy, but you shouldn't have come." He shook his head. "You shouldn't be feeling it so fast."

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Lily answered, "He downed a flask of magic with all the other knights last night. Jake, you can go back if--"

Tye swore. "You're
drinking
the magic? Does the council know this?"

Jake scowled at both of them and began walking. "It was necessary."

"Necessary to become a Feeder to fight the Feeders?" Tye said, matching his pace.

"It's not the same," Jake objected. "Magic from a bottle isn't addictive. Only feeding from humans causes the addiction. What we do is perfectly safe and--"

Tye snorted. "Safe for your victims?"

"Our victims are monsters," Jake said.

"Do you bother to check that?" Tye asked.

Jake clapped his hand on Tye's arm, stopping him. "Never accuse the knights of--"

Orange fur suddenly sprouted on Tye's hands and cheeks. "Never put your hand on me." He wrenched his arm away.

"Guys?" Lily said. It felt as if they were about to launch into each other like rival frat boys at a bar--except one of them had warrior training and the other sometimes grew claws. Stepping between them, she put a hand on each of their chests. "This isn't the time or place for this. Isn't it bad enough what happened with the council? Do we really need to fight amongst ourselves too?"

"You're certain everything you do is right," Tye said to Jake. "Do you even listen to the gargoyles anymore?"

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Jake clenched his fists. "You have no idea what it's like on the front lines."

"I
live
on the front lines," Tye said, with an edge to his voice that Lily had never heard.

"And how do I know
you
haven't killed to do that living?" Jake said. He stepped around Lily to stand inches in front of Tye.

"Stop it, both of you!" Lily said.

"Go ahead and try me, kitty cat." Jake said. "I'm trained to take down monsters like you. Like father, like son."

"I don't need training to know which of us is the monster who needs taking down," Tye said. Claws poked through Tye's fingertips. "And I believe my father already kicked your ass."

Jake lunged at Tye.

"Stop!" Lily said.

She was knocked back as the two boys wrestled, slamming each other against the trees.

Lily dove for the nearest one. "Stop them," she ordered the tree. "Hold their arms."

Branches curled around Tye's and Jake's arms, coiling tighter and tighter. Both Tye and Jake yelped as their arms were pinned back. They struggled.

"Don't hurt them," she told the tree. "Just hold them." She put her hands on her hips and scowled at both of them. "You. Are. Not. Helping."

Tye and Jake glared at each other.

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"He's everything that's wrong with the knights," Tye said. "He can't tell the difference between allies and enemies."

"I know a monster when I see one," Jake said. "Lily, we can't trust him."

For an instant, she contemplated leaving them both there, trussed up in branches. "Do you trust me?" she asked Jake. "Or do you still see a monster when you see me? And how about my mother? Is she a monster? Worst crime she ever committed was eating an apple from a supermarket without paying for it." Jake lowered his eyes. She turned on Tye. "And you ... It's not like Feeders are innocent victims waiting to be freed from their debilitating addiction." She told him about what she'd tried at Forbes. "They weren't exactly embracing me as their savior."

"A lot of them don't know any different," Tye said. "Most were born in the human world after the gate closed, the children of the trapped. It's been kill or die their whole lives. But if we could reach them and show them another way ..." Loosening his hand from the branches, he reached out to her. "You and me. We could save them."

Jake cut in, "How many have you 'saved'? Come on, tell us how well your plan works."

Tye kept his eyes on Lily. "Yes, it takes time to rehabilitate, but--"

"Feeders are incurable," Jake said. "The only good Feeder is a dead Feeder."

Glaring at Jake, Tye said, "It's not so great a leap from