Flicker (50 page)

He consi
dered
the question
. “Yes.
He wouldn’t
stay out more than a
few hours in a time like this. No way.”

Alice shook her head. “What are we going to
do
with that boy?”

Filo joined Lee by the window. He poked his head out and squinted into the alley below. Suddenly, he stiffened. “Wait.”

“What is it?” Nasser asked.

“There’
s something down there
,” Filo said. He beckoned Nasser and Alice with
a wave of his hand. “Lee can’
t see in the dark like we can
.”

The two Seers craned their necks to see around Filo and into the alley below, and gave identical gasps of surprise.

Lee stuck one hand into her pocket, touching the locket. Instantly her vision sharpened. She nudged Nasser out of the way and peered out the window.

And there it was: a
shriveled rope of b
raided vines
, nearly blending into its surroundings.

“Oh, hell,” Nasser groaned. “Some
body tell me I’m not seeing this
.”

* * *

Lee and Alice
were huddled by the blazing fireplace, sitting atop extra blankets,
while the boys scrounged
up some food. None of them could think clearly while
they were both cold
and
hungry, and, despite their worry, they had
all
agreed it was best to think of a plan
, heal and rest
before they rushed out after Jason.

“That was amazing, what you did back there,” Lee told Alice quietly.
“With the origami.
How does it work?”

“It’s a heavy-duty animation charm.
” She smiled gently. “My little warriors. When I need them, I just open the bag and let them go.  They know how to get out.”

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the crackling of the fire and the rustling and clinking noises coming from the kitchen.

“I asked Filo about you,
” Alice said,
“
when you were in the bathroom. He told me everything he knew.”

Lee frowned s
lightly. “You could’ve asked
me.
”

Alice just shrugged.
“
Anyway, I’m sorry I hassled you earlier. I guess I thought
that you
…
” She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter what I thought. Next time, just tell me straight up wh
at’s happening, okay?”
Alice grinned and nudged her playfully. “I would’ve been much nicer to you if I’d known you were Nasser’s girlfriend.”

Lee flushed. “
Filo
told you that?”

Another smile.
“He told me enough.”

* * *

After a hearty meal of Top Ramen, the four of them settled around the fireplace again, blankets draped around their shoulders, though the apartment was plenty warm.

“It was the dryad,” Filo announced. “It has to be. Nothing else makes sense. So the question isn’t who did it. The question is what she wants with Jason.”

“
Bait
,” Nasser said. “She wants us to come to her—at the very least, she wants Lee. She’s hoping we’ll go after him. If we can even figure out where she’s gone.
”

“
I don’t know why Byrony wants me, exactly,
”
Lee started,
“
but as far as I can tell, she wants to bring me back to Umbriel—”

“But, Lee,” Filo interrupted. “Conall just
told
us why she wants you
.”

Lee blinked. “When?”

“Outside, just a minute ago. Weren’t you listening?”

“Filo, I don’t speak old Faerie,” she reminded him.

“Oh. Right.”

“Well, what did he say?” Lee pressed, leaning forward.

“Conall heard about it last week,” Filo explained. “Apparently, the dryad traded you to Nass
er while Umbriel was
at Court
in Otherworld
. But at the time, you were technically Umbriel’s property, so she had no to right to trade you away. The Queens got word of it and got
royally pissed
. Conall hears they don’t like the dryad. I can’t
imagine
why,” he added dryly. “Anyway, they took it as a huge insult, and declared that she had to go into the mortal world, find you and bring you back to Court before Umbriel’s coronation, to make amends and prove her worth.”

Silently, Lee wondered if she was still “technically Umbriel’s property,” or if she belonged to Nasser now,
or to Flicker,
or if she just belonged to herself.

Filo frowned thoughtfully. “Rodney mentioned th
at the coronation was coming up.
He said Queen Feronia is packing up the whole Summer Court for the ceremony. And it’s going to be in
our
world. The mortal world.”

“
Why here?
”
Lee asked.

“The power of the Summer and Winter Courts
comes from their deep magical connection to this world,”
Filo
explained. “Thi
s coronation
isn’t just someone placing a crown on Umbriel’s head, you know. It’s a
huge
magical ritual
to transfer the
power
that Feronia wields as Queen of Summer into Umbriel. The location is extremely important to the effectiveness of the ritual. If Umbriel were crowned King of Summer in Otherworld,
his
power over
this
world would be lessened.”

“When is the coronation?” Alice inquired.

“Sometime in the
first
week of November.”

“Then she’s probably transferring the Court as we speak
,
getting everything set up,
” Nasser
said
. “Filo, do you have any books with maps of the area? Something that might show us the good revel spots?”

“I think so,” he said, then disappeared into the wor
kroom. He returned
toting a thick book. He plunked it down in fron
t of Nasser.

Nasser hefted the book into his lap. It was filled with detailed maps and illustrations, as well as notes describing the areas depicted.
He pointed out a
map of the general area surrounding Bridgestone City.

“There are three revel
sites
near Bridgestone,” Nasser said, dragging his finger across the page to the different points. “There’s this one, by Bluewood. Then there’s the one at Sandalwood Crossing, and the one at Summerhill.”

“Would she take the Court to one of these revel sites?” Lee asked.

“Sure,” Alice said. “Conall and Tipper were talking about some kind of Summer Court shindig that was coming up.
It was supposed to be nearby.
They must’ve meant the coronation.
”

Chewing his lip, Filo said, “There’s no way Feronia’s headed for Sandalwood. There’s a river by the town. Too much running water. And
Bluewood
’s too close to that scrap yard. Way too much iron
for a delicate ritual
. Which leaves Summerhill.”

“It’s the perfect place,” Nasser said. “If Feronia’s really moving the whole Court from Otherworld, she’ll ne
ed to open a Gate
. That would be easiest to do at Summerhill. The veils between the
worlds are unusually thin there
.”

“Gate?” Lee asked.

Filo sighed.
“When you cut through the world
borders—from the mortal world to Otherworld, or vice versa—you’re creating what’s called a
Gate.
In some places, the borders are very thick. Even if you can cut through,
your
Gate
won’t
hold very long. So it’s always better to find a place where the borders are thinner, so you can construct a solid Gate, especially when you’ve got a large group to tr
ansfer. One of those thin world
borders is at Summerhill.”

“Plus,” Alice added, “it’s deep in S
ummer Court territory, so it’s secure
.”

“So we know where it is,” Lee said. “But what do we
do
about it?”

“
We
don’t do anything,” Nasser replied, standing. “
I
go after them.”

“Don’t be stupid, Nasser,” Alice told him sternly. “That’s what she wants.”

“She’s right,” Lee said. “She’ll hurt you, Nasser. Maybe kill you.”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s my brother, Lee. I have to go.”

Bothgirls just stared at him
, trying to thin
k of something to dissuade him.

“Well,
” Filo sighed,
“
you don’t have to go by
yourself
.”

Nasser looked confused. “What are you saying?”

Shrugging, Filo stood. “That I’m going with you.
”

* * *

Even before he
uttered
his intentions, Filo knew exactly what Alice’s reaction would be.
After a year of almost no contact, he still knew her better than he knew himself.

“No,” she said immediately, her voice firm and commanding, as if she were speaking to a disobedient dog. “Absolutely not.”

“Would you rather Nasser go alone?”

“Of course not! But—”

Before she could finish, Lee jumped to her feet and proclaimed, “If you’re both going, then I’m going, too.”

“Now we’re just being stupid,” Alice bemoaned.

Lee shook h
er head. “
I don’t care. This whole situation is
my fault anyway. If anyone goes, it should be me. You can use me as a bargaining chip to get Jason back, if it comes to that.”

“She has a point,” Filo mused.

Nasser shot him a horrified look. “Filo!”

“
But y
ou’re
not eve
n Sighted, Lee,” Alice said. “I
f anyone else goes, it ought to be m
e
.”

“Alice,” Filo told her, as gently as possible.
“Look. If I know anything
about Lee, it’s that she doesn’t listen to reason. Even if we
say
we won’t take her, she’s just going to try to follow us anyway, and probably cause even more trouble
than if we’d brought her
. Won’t you, Lee?”

Lee nodded sheepishly. “Probably.”

Alice hopped to her feet, then grimaced as she landed on her bad ankle. Still, she whirled toward Nasser. “Tell him he’s spouting nonsense!”

Nasser frowned sympathetically. “Actually, Alice
…
”

“Salt and sage,” Alice muttered, rubbing her temples. “Not you too. Well, then—as long as we’re all surrendering to insanity, I’m coming, too.”

“No
,” Filo said. “I’m sorry. But you can’t come with us
.”

“How can you say that?” Alice demanded, limping toward him. “You’re willing to
take
her
along with you, but not me?”

“
Alice,
” he said honestly, “I would never pick anyone else over you
. I have more confidence in you than in anyone
. But
I
need you to
stay here
this time
.”
“Why?” she demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe I was reading into things, but I always sort of figured that if you decided
to go
on some crazy cowboy rescue mission
, you would
take me with you!
” Alice hissed.
She continued in Old Faerie:
“This is hopeless!
And if we absolutely have to die, I’d rather we all die together.”

He shook his head. “Look. If something happens and I don’t come back, I need someone to take care of Flicker for me.”

Alice was shaking her head
and clenching her fists
, blinking away frustrated tears. “But why
m
e?
”

“Because you can barely walk on that ankle. On any other day, I’d carry you anywhere. You know that. But we don’t have that luxury right now. And besides.” He stooped so he was close to her eye level and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You’re the toughest person I know.
Someone
has to hold
the fort.
Am I r
ight?”