The Iron Witch (16 page)

Donna raised her eyes and gritted her teeth. Enough. That was
enough
self-pity. She fixed the Wood Queen with a hard stare. “How do I know you’ll honor any kind of bargain between us?”

“You don’t know, of course. But I will tell you that a deal made in the Elflands is binding. Bound by oak and ash, it is unbreakable as the earth’s core.”

Donna narrowed her eyes. “I want to see Navin. Bring him to me.”

The queen stood, raising herself slowly from the wooden throne and lifting her leafy skirts aside with a low crackling sound so that she could step down from the dais. Her oak-hued skin seemed to shift and fold into new forms as she settled herself a short distance from Donna and Xan, looking down on both of them from her impressive height. She was as tall and straight as a proud tree, unbowed by time and the elements despite her claims that the iron world was weakening her.

As she bent toward Donna, her voice hissed like an angry wind through a forest. “I
will
show him to you, as a gesture of good faith. But know this, Donna Underwood—you will bring me the elixir or you will never see your friend again.”

Gripping her hands into tight fists against the pain in her bones and heart, Donna said nothing. Her whole body seemed to be shaking; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop it. Once again, Xan’s arm tightened around her shoulders. He was amazingly calm—or at least he appeared to be on the outside—and she was grateful for that. She could only guess at the pain he must feel, but perhaps his earlier outburst was helping him cope under what must be unimaginably difficult circumstances for him.

The queen whispered a command to a nearby wood elf, and it disappeared through the trees at the far side of the clearing. Donna stepped out of the circle of Xan’s arm and looked around, trying to make sense of this place. She cast a sidelong glance at the queen, who was standing statue-still. For a moment it seemed as if she were made out of stone rather than wood.

At the sound of footsteps rustling through the undergrowth, Donna moved forward, reminding herself to keep calm. The thought of seeing Navin again swept all else aside, filling her with hope and trepidation in equal measure.
Please, just let him be all right
. The urge to run toward him was overwhelming.

And then there he was, led between two wood elves and looking all in one piece, apart from a slight limp and a nasty bump on the right side of his head. Even from a distance she could see the dark shadows beneath his eyes, and her heart reached out to him. His arms were tied behind his back with some kind of complicated vine. Hot fury rose in her gut and she tasted the furious urge to smash the creatures holding him.

“Navin!” She couldn’t keep herself from calling out. Xan placed a cautionary hand on her shoulder, but she shook him off.

“Donna?” There was uncertainty in Navin’s voice, which was not surprising. These creatures were shape-changers and in their natural element here, with far more power than they had in the iron world. Who knows what Navin must be thinking right now?

And then Donna had to face the possibility that this wasn’t even the real
Navin
standing in front of her, his jeans ripped and his hair messy.
No
, she thought. She couldn’t let doubt undermine her—she wouldn’t allow it. This
was
her friend. It had to be.

“Navin, I’m going to get you out of here.” Her voice trembled, but she tried to smile at him.

A ghost of a smile lifted his lips. “Oh yeah, Underwood? You and whose army?” His eyes fell on Xan, and he frowned.

“You remember Xan, right? He’s going to help us, Nav.”

Navin nodded slowly, looking from Donna to Xan and then back again. His smile seemed sad all of a sudden, the kind you use when you’re saying goodbye. “I don’t think they’re going to let me go, no matter what you do. Maker’s here, too. I’ve only seen him a couple times though.”

Donna hated to hear him sounding so resigned, but her heart lifted at the news of Maker. She tried her best to sound reassuring. “Just hang in there. I’ll get you home, I promise.”

The Wood Queen stepped in front of her, blocking her view. “Now you know he is safe and will remain so, as long as you bring me what we need.” She clasped her twiggy fingers in front of her. “Leave our home, now, by the way you entered. Do not bother to return without the elixir. Speak to anyone about this and your friend will die. The old man might not be so lucky.” The threat hung in the air, poisonous, suggestive of something worse than death.

Donna swallowed, trying to speak but not sure what there was left to say. She wondered if the queen would know if she went to the Order for help. But no doubt the wood elves would be watching her—they could move like shadows when they wanted to. She knew that already.

Aliette spoke again. “You have until dawn.”

Dawn?
Panic gripped her and she found it difficult to draw her next breath. It must be mid-afternoon already, which only left her perhaps twelve hours to achieve the impossible.

“That’s not enough time.” She tried not to sound as pathetic as she felt. She took a step forward, putting more strength into her next words. “I can never get it in time—that’s crazy!”

The Wood Queen didn’t respond. She simply turned away and headed toward the far side of the clearing. The surrounding wood elves moved forward, clicking and scraping in the backs of their knobbly throats and looking as if they were going to herd Donna and Xan out of the clearing. Donna wondered if any of them could speak, like their queen did. She glanced at Navin, despair welling up within her as he was led away by his guards. He twisted his head around for one last look at her; their eyes met and held.

In that moment, Donna tried to communicate everything she was thinking and feeling. A single glance really
could
say a thousand things, and she hoped she was transmitting even a tiny percentage to her friend.

Xan grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the tunnel. “Come on, Donna, we’d better get out of here.”

“I can’t leave him. I just
can’t
.”

He pulled her closer to him. “You’ll be back for him. You promised.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Donna sniffed, surprised to feel warm tears filling her eyes. “I never break a promise.” But even as she said it, she wondered how she could possibly keep this one. Twelve hours to discover the place where the alchemists kept the elixir. What she was facing was impossible and unfair, but that didn’t make it any less true.

They walked back along the shadowy path, back through the open door, and out into the tiny clearing. Back through the undergrowth, where there was a sticky moment when Xan wasn’t sure if they were headed in the right direction, and finally back onto the main Ironwood pathway.

Donna’s hands ached less the farther they got from the faery door, but her heart ached more with each step that took her away from Navin. She turned her mind to the new dilemma: how was she going to find something she wasn’t even entirely sure existed? And even if she
did
manage to get it, was she really just going to hand it over to the alchemist’s enemies?
No
, she told herself,
don’t think about that yet
. One step at a time.

She would find a way into Quentin Frost’s house and uncover the secrets hidden inside—even if it meant breaking in tonight while he and Simon and the rest of the household were sleeping.

Donna fiddled with the delicate silver charm bracelet around her wrist and tried not to think about her mother. She’d almost left the bracelet, in its little pouch, hidden among her underwear in the bottom drawer of her dresser, but something made her grab it at the last minute. Mom had wanted her to have this bracelet, and maybe it would bring her luck tonight. Xan would be here to pick her up soon, and she would have to get out of the house to meet him without Aunt Paige knowing about it.

She could use all the luck she could get.

Fortunately, Donna had an idea of where to start this impossible search, and it was the best she had to go on. The
only
thing she had to go on. Her “research” had been a simple matter of cross-referencing all mentions of clocks and time with the elixir of life, and she’d been pleasantly surprised at the number of results. She hadn’t even needed to Google it; her own school books covered the subject. Apparently, European alchemical recipes often called for the elixir to be stored inside a clock, a symbolic gesture that represented the elixir’s legendary ability to slow the effects of time on whomever dared to use it. One
particular
clock stood out in Donna’s mind as she scanned these stories. While she didn’t expect things to be quite so easy, at least it gave her a place to start.

Grabbing her coat from the closet, Donna shrugged into its thick warmth, grateful for its length on this cold November night. The dark gray color seemed well suited to covert operations, and she pulled a black wool hat down over her hair for good measure.

She switched off the light and opened her bedroom door a crack, glancing in the direction of Aunt Paige’s bedroom. The slit of light under the door meant that her aunt had probably fallen asleep while reading in bed. Relieved, Donna carefully closed her door again.

Then she took a deep breath and did something she hadn’t done since she and Navin had first become friends, when they used to visit each other after lights out, their respective guardians thinking they were in bed. She climbed out the window and, using the half-rotten trellis and the drain pipe for support, shimmied down to the ground. The magical strength in her hands and arms always made the task so much easier than it should have been. She only bashed her shin twice, which she took to be a good sign; maybe luck was on her side after all.

The moon was almost full and Donna was glad of the light, but also worried that she might be too easily spotted if anyone happened to be looking out their back windows. Thinking invisible thoughts, she sprinted to the back of the yard, climbed over the fence, and walked down the alleyway that led out onto the main road.

Xan was there waiting, as promised, leaning against his car and holding his cell phone as though expecting her to call. She’d told him that if she had trouble getting out of the house, he would have to create a diversion. Thankfully, that part of the plan hadn’t been necessary. His face broke into a grin of pure relief the moment he spotted her.

Donna smiled back and touched his hand. “Thank you for doing this, Xan.” She raised herself up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

He shrugged, his eyes filled with warmth. “Sure.”

She slipped into the passenger seat and buckled up, trying to steady her breathing. This was crazy, she knew, and they were taking a huge risk. She was trying not to think too far ahead, but already it was eleven o’clock and there were only a handful of hours until dawn. Could she really be planning to hand over something so valuable to the alchemists’ lifelong enemy? How would she ever explain it to Aunt Paige—or to any other members of the Order? She would be a traitor. And what would her father think of her, if he were alive today? Donna angrily turned her mind away from such thoughts, staring out the window and watching the dark Ironbridge streets pass by.

She would do whatever it took to save Navin. He hadn’t asked for this—to become a bargaining piece between warring factions of fey and mortals, themselves fractured remains of an ancient time when things had probably been a hell of a lot simpler. Navin was an innocent bystander, and she wouldn’t let him suffer for something that he could never truly understand, no matter how much he might try.

They approached the Frost Estate and parked around the corner, leaving themselves a short walk to the main gate. It would be tricky gaining entry without alerting anyone, Donna knew, especially since there were magical wards in place.

Xan pondered this problem as they huddled by the wall on the south side of the estate. “I think we’ll be okay. You’re not a threat to them—you come here all the time for classes, anyway—so I doubt you’ll trigger any of the defenses.”

Donna frowned. “What about you?”

He pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I honestly don’t know. If I had the power I should have, I could make myself invisible to most magic. But … ”

Donna touched his arm. “It’s okay. We’ll just have to chance it. Maybe you’ve got some natural protection that you’re not aware of.”

“Maybe. And ever since we opened that door into the
otherworld
I’ve been feeling different, somehow. As though something is awakening inside me.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what it means—or if it means anything at all. But it could be a good sign.”

He turned and climbed the wall with relative ease. Once again Donna saw how agile he was; was this ability part of his fey heritage? Xan crouched at the top in the darkness, and for a moment all she could see was a shadow cloaked in the familiar black coat. His bright green eyes blinked down at her like a cat’s.

And then she was hauled unceremoniously to the top, scrambling slightly as the toes of her sneakers struggled to find purchase against the smooth areas of the wall, until she rolled next to Xan and caught her breath.

Without speaking, they dropped down into the grounds of the Frost Estate.

Donna looked up at Quentin’s mansion and bit her lip, wondering what to do next. If only she could’ve searched for clues during a study break tomorrow … but there was no time for that. Navin—and Maker—only had until dawn. She glanced over at Xan and wondered what he was thinking.

They were standing outside the window of the Blue Room, but what Donna hadn’t accounted for were the wooden shutters closed firmly over it, no doubt locked from the inside. Of course, they could probably break them open, but what sort of noise would that make? And it would be obvious the next day that something had happened.

She caught Xan’s eye and raised her eyebrows. “Any ideas?”

“I think we should try the back door.”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and led the way around the house, checking that all the lights were off at the rear as they were in the front. Satisfied that the household had definitely gone to bed (Quentin and Simon weren’t young men, and Donna knew they tended to retire close to ten o’clock during the week), they took turns examining the back door.

“I could probably break it,” Donna said, “but I don’t want to wake everybody up.”

Xan crouched down and studied the lock. “This can be picked, I think. I’m sure they have magical wards in place, but those protect against the big threats to security; nobody expects an old-fashioned breaking-and-entering deal. A credit card and something sharp should do it.” He pulled his wallet out of an inside coat pocket.

Donna scanned the ground, then searched her pockets for a paperclip or something useful. She wished she were the kind of girl to wear pretty hair clips, because then she could present one to Xan and things would be a whole lot easier. As she dug into her pockets, something sharp pressed against her left wrist, inside her glove.
Wait,
she thought;
maybe there’s something here we can use.

She carefully removed her charm bracelet. There were only six charms on the silver chain, each one soldered in place. Donna’s lips curved into a smile—one of the charms was a tiny replica of a dagger. Silently thanking her mother, she pulled off her glove, pinched the silver piece between her forefinger and thumb, and
pulled
.

Glancing regretfully at the twisted link, Donna slipped the bracelet back on and handed the miniature dagger to Xan.

“Perfect,” he whispered, and got to work.

She watched as he concentrated on the lock. He stopped once to smile briefly at her before returning his attention to it. Whatever he was doing looked very fiddly to Donna—he was maneuvering the credit card down the side of the door where the catch would be, while twiddling the sharp blade of the tiny silver knife in the lock. He was down there for some time, his long coat pooled like water behind him on the pathway. At one point, Donna was sure she saw him whispering something, his lips moving almost silently as he concentrated.

After a few more minutes—and a few curses and grunts from Xan—there was a muffled
click
and the door sprung open.

“See?” he said triumphantly.

Donna watched him, a suspicious feeling forming in her gut. “How do you know how to do
that
?”

His face was closed. “You don’t know everything about me, Donna Underwood.”

“So it seems.” But she let it go—for now—as they entered a dark hallway, then took the lead as they made their way to the Blue Room, slipping the bent silver dagger charm into her jeans pocket and making sure to tuck the bracelet back into her glove. Xan had brought a flashlight from the car, but Donna didn’t want to chance it while they were moving around. She used her cell phone to cast just enough light to see by as they padded down the hallway.

Creeping around a huge house at night—while the residents slept peacefully on the upper floors—was making Donna increasingly nervous. She was glad for the plush carpeting that helped to keep their steps muffled.

Just as they approached the entrance to the library, a clock began striking midnight. Someone had obviously reset the grandfather clock after Simon had found her trying to figure out how to do it. Donna held her breath as the twelve chimes sounded from beyond the library doors, gritting her teeth until the ringing stopped. She realized that Xan was holding her hand and she hadn’t even noticed it; the gentle pressure rubbed the velvet of her glove against her palm. The sensation was both intimate and comforting, standing in the dark with the midnight hour chiming in the background. When the clock finally finished its announcement, Donna tugged her hand free and pushed open the double doors.

As they entered the room, Xan indicated that he was going to switch on the flashlight. She nodded, waiting while he angled the beam around until it rested on the grandfather clock. The surrounding bookshelves looked eerie in the half-light, shadows falling over the piles of books and reminding Donna of her recent nightmare.

Trying to ignore the bleak images that filled her mind, she approached the clock with caution and stood there, just looking at it.
Okay, here went nothing
. She reached a gloved hand up toward the ivory clock face, shivering as the shadows on the wall moved under the light of Xan’s flashlight. She ran her hands over the glass that was covering the timepiece, wondering if she’d missed something before. If Simon hadn’t interrupted her, she could have saved a lot of time searching now. Pushing that irritation aside, she focused on the task. There
had
to be an easy way to open this thing.

Could it really be as easy as popping open the casing and finding the elixir inside? Donna couldn’t hold back a wry smile. Yeah, she could hope.