Enchanted Ivy (26 page)

He's going to fail,
she thought. She had to say something.

The tiger man wasn't finished. "Show me one knight who is worth the risk to our people. Show me one that's worth saving."

"Jake," Lily said. "He's here right now, held by the dryad queen."

Tye leaned close to her and said under his breath, "Lily, you know my father hates him. Jake reminds him of losing my mother."

"That's what makes Jake perfect," Lily said, loudly enough for Tye's father and the council to hear. "If he can find something to save in Jake, then he has to save them all!"

"So be it," the tiger man said. He strode out of the chamber. The other council members filed out behind him. He threw

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open the door to Nassau Hall and roared across the yard, "Bring me the boy held by the dryad queen!"

With a caw, the gold eagles pushed off their pillars and soared toward the sky. Lily saw the eagles circle once over the yard and then spiral down into the forest beyond the gate. As she watched them, the Literate Ape joined her.

In a quiet voice, he said, "You are bold. I admire that."

Moments later, the trees thrummed and branches quivered. Soon, the leaves shook as if in a high-speed wind, and the dryads emerged. Lily spotted her grandmother. Her pale green hair was curled on her head and decorated with leaves in the shape of a jeweled crown. Her dress swept around her in green strands like weeping willow branches.

Behind her, two green-skinned men carried Jake. The other dryads flanked them. They moved closer, then lowered Jake to his feet. "Oh, no," Lily whispered. He looked even worse than she'd feared. His face was pale and covered in slick sweat. His hair clung to his forehead.

Standing in front of the council, Jake swayed. Lily started forward, but the ape clamped a stone-cold but fur-covered paw on her arm. "He must speak for himself."

Jake's eyes widened as he focused on the monkey gargoyle. "Professor Ape, you left your post!" He took a step toward the Literate Ape, but one leg caved. He rested his hands on his knees for a second and then straightened. "Why are you here? What's going on?"

"First, we must ask you questions," the centaur said.

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Fanning out in front of him, the council began to question Jake. They grilled him on his childhood, his training, his knowledge of their world, his opinion of the other knights. ... Lily watched him shake and tremble as if every sentence were a stab to his lungs.

Finally, Lily couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop it! You don't need to know his favorite breakfast cereal or how often he clips his toenails. Can't you see he's a good person? He's worth saving."

Everyone looked at her. Jake flashed her a smile, but it was a weak smile that trembled at the corners. Lily felt her face flush bright red and wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

"Are you our enemy?" the tiger man asked Jake bluntly.

"Depends," Jake said. "Am I going to die today?" He straightened his shoulders and looked directly into the eyes of each of the council members. The council members exchanged looks, and Lily couldn't read their expressions.

Oh, God,
she thought,
it's not going to work.
She pictured Mom trapped in the club, not leaving Grandpa's side as the Feeders closed in, and Lily felt sick.

Beside her, Tye cleared his throat. "Council, you're asking the wrong questions." He took a deep breath as his father fixed his cat eyes on him. "It doesn't matter if he's a good ally or not. It doesn't even matter if we like him or not. If we don't aid the humans, we will become their enemies. We can't afford that. We
have
to keep peace between the human and the magic worlds."

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The tiger man stared at his son, as if stunned that Tye had had the audacity to speak. Beside her, Lily felt Tye shrink back. She covered his hand with hers.

Jake frowned. "Aid them in what? Lily?"

"Feeders are attacking Vineyard Club," Lily said.

He jerked as if struck. "I have to help them. Take me back!"

Professor Ape stepped forward. "It is clear from this young man's testimony that we gargoyles have failed our purpose. The new generation of knights has doubts and fears about the magic world that we alone were not enough to assuage. You must make a gesture of goodwill if relations are to be repaired."

The elf spoke. "Of course the half breed wants relations repaired, but
we
don't travel between worlds. We have no need--"

Speaking up again, Tye said, "If you don't help the knights, then the battle will become public and everyone will see magic creatures as the enemy. If that happens ... the humans will come here. They'll force a Key to open the gate, and they'll send their armies. Count on it."

The tiger man flexed his claws. "We are not defenseless."

The ape snorted. "It won't be enough. There will be retaliation on a scale that you cannot imagine. Humans outnumber us by the millions. Casualties of a war would be catastrophic. Princeton ...
both
Princetons were founded to prevent such an occurrence."

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The centaur leveled his gaze at Jake. "Young knight, do you concur?"

"Yeah, we'll kick your ass," Jake said. "And right now, that's fine with me." He doubled over in a fit of coughing.

Tye held up two fingers. "Only two ways to avoid humans pouring through that gate and raining death, destruction, and unprecedented mayhem on our world. One, you help the knights now. Or two ..." He looked directly at his father. "You shut the door. You kill Lily and me."

Silence spread across the yard.

Jake doubled over again in another fit of coughing. Tye went to his side and wrapped his arm around Jake's waist. "Lean on me."

Raising his head, Jake stared at him.

Lily held her breath. It felt as if everyone, including the trees, was holding his or her breath, too, waiting to see how Jake would react.

"Thank you," Jake said, and leaned on him.

Both of them looked at the council.

The tiger man sighed gustily. "You have made your point." He turned to the council. "I will lead our warriors into the human world. Summon them here."

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CHAPTER Fifteen

Lily waited by the gate as dreams and nightmares trickled into the yard. Looking out over the warriors, she saw wings and tentacles, scales and fur. She saw skin of emerald and ruby and sapphire, as well as moonless-night black and earth brown. A few warriors were as tall as the oak trees. Others no larger than moths darted through the air.

"Follow me," the tiger man boomed. He strode toward the gate.

Hastily, Tye stepped against a pillar. His left arm and foot vanished. Lily mirrored him and leaned against the other pillar. She stuck her arm into the human world.

Without pause or even a glance at his son, the tiger man strode through the gate and disappeared. Others followed: a lion with feathers instead of fur, an eight-foot troll, a lady

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centaur, three unicorns. Soon, a steady stream of creatures flowed through the gate.

As the stream slowed to a trickle, Jake begged the dryad queen, "Let me fight."

"Our daughter is not yet returned to us," the queen said. She leveled a finger at the two dryads who flanked Jake. "Keep him here."

"No! Let me go!" Jake cried. The two dryads held his arms tight.

Lily's grandmother swept toward the gate with her entourage. "Mom's inside Vineyard Club, second floor," Lily said.

Leaning forward, the dryad queen brushed her lips against Lily's cheek. The gesture felt as soft and cool as a leaf. "She will be brought home." Before Lily could respond, the dryads disappeared through the gate.

Jake continued to thrash in the grip of his captors. Lily crossed to him. "Jake," she said. She touched his shoulder. "Jake, it's okay. We'll come back for you. I promise."

He sagged against one of the dryads. "Just ... help the knights, okay?"

She opened her mouth to tell him about his grandfather, but he was trembling so violently that she couldn't do it. If she told him, he'd shatter. She'd tell him as soon as he was well. "Hang in there," she said as she hugged him.

Tilting his head, he leaned toward her and pressed his lips against hers. He held the kiss as if breathing her in. Stunned,

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she stared at him wide-eyed. He smiled at her as he drew back. As racked with pain as he was, his smile still had the power to melt icicles. Lily cast around for something to say.

"Go," he said. "I'll see you soon." The dryads led him away. She watched as he stumbled and then disappeared into the forest. Barely able to walk in a straight line, she stumbled back to the gate.

Silent, Tye waited for her.

She stopped in front of him.

He still didn't speak.

"Look, you don't know I'm your soul mate," Lily said. "You barely know me at all. I have terrible habits. I swallow toothpaste. My socks don't always match. I'm not good at small talk. I'm just about the most unpopular kid in my class, a close third behind the guy who doesn't shower and the girl who's a compulsive liar. Besides, it's not like Jake and me ... He was just being nice."

"You are my soul mate, even if you don't know it yet," Tye said.

She had to look away from the fierceness in his golden eyes.

"But we have a battle to win first." Without waiting for her to reply, he walked through the gate, vanishing as he crossed the threshold.

She followed him.

On Nassau Street, a crowd of pedestrians clustered on the sidewalk. Drivers had climbed out of their vehicles. Several

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stood on car roofs and hoods. Everyone was staring at the stream of creatures that flowed toward East Pyne. A few were taking photos.
Uh-oh,
Lily thought.
So much for secrecy.

"New part of P-rade!" Tye called to the crowd. A few cheered.

"You really think that will do it?" Lily asked.

"Humans believe what they want to believe," Tye said. "Of course, all bets are off if they see any violence, especially if humans start dying. Screams, blood, and death are not very paradelike."

"Not so much," she agreed. She tried to keep her voice as light as his, but her heart was pounding fast in her rib cage and her palms felt sticky with sweat.

"The faster this ends, the better," Tye said grimly.

Jogging, they caught up with the tail of their small army as it flowed through the courtyard. She noticed that the Unseeing Reader was missing from her arch. Alone on the chapel, the Chained Dragon lashed his tail against the stone vines.

Passing by a set of Gothic classrooms, Lily heard music blasting in the distance. As they neared Prospect Avenue, the music grew louder until the bass thumped against her skin.

"Clever," Tye commented.

Lily looked at him.

"It's to drown out the sounds of the fighting."

Ahead of them, campus security guards had cordoned off the intersection of Washington and Prospect. Police

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cruisers lined the street, and guards manned the barricade. They had widened a gap between two police cars for the magic creatures to funnel through. Professor Ape stood with the guards, shepherding in the army.

"Ride on me," Tye said. Dropping to his hands and knees, he transformed into a tiger. She climbed onto his back and rode toward the blockade.

When they got closer, Lily saw that some of the guards were clutching their guns so hard that their knuckle bones showed white against their skin. She tried to give them a reassuring smile, but they didn't even focus on her. They'd seen too much in the past five minutes to even notice a girl riding a tiger. She and Tye passed through the police barricade.

Down the street, in front of Vineyard, she saw a snarl of colors. She couldn't identify individual figures. It was more of a mélange of shapes, as if a parade had exploded and left behind a pile of colorful living decorations. It didn't look like a battle, and with the music overpowering everything, it didn't sound like a battle, either, which she guessed was the point.

It was only when they were halfway down the street that Lily began to hear the screams.

One car lay upside down. Up ahead, a centaur fought a fairy. He raised his front hooves and struck at the winged woman's stomach. She sailed backward and then dove forward again. The fairy swung a sword at the centaur's neck. He ducked.

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Lily was acutely aware she didn't have a sword or any fighting ability. Tye had his claws, but what did she have? She could befriend plants, that was all. She didn't belong here.

A massive wolf leaped on top of a car and howled. Lily saw a fireball shoot into a hedge. The bush burst into flames, and Lily heard the plant cry. A unicorn clattered past on the sidewalk, a streak of iridescent white, and a scorpion man scuttled across the street.

As she and Tye padded closer to the battle, Lily saw figures slumped in the street and on the sidewalk. Ahead, a griffin launched himself into the air and then slammed down hard in the yard of a cloister-style eating club. A man in orange and black was tossed like a doll over a stone wall. He thudded onto the pavement and didn't move.

Lily clutched the fur on Tye's tiger neck so hard that her nails dug into her palms.
Run!
her mind screamed at her. She'd never make it through the tangle of monsters between them and Vineyard Club. She couldn't even see the front door.

Three goblins charged toward them. One snarled and raised a sword. Another was drenched in blood so red that it looked like paint. He bared needle-sharp teeth.

"Tye!" she screamed.

Beneath her, the tiger boy tensed, ready to spring forward.

Suddenly, a streak of orange and black slammed into the goblins. Roaring, Tye's father knocked the creatures back. They skittered across the street. He lunged toward them, jaws wide, and the three goblins scrambled to their feet and ran.