he thought. “Will, I’d like to get you briefed on Alchemite activity in St. Louis.”
“Temples, Primas, missing persons, that kind of thing?”
“Yes. We’ll home in on the kids using magic, but preparation—”
“Knowledge is power,” he agreed. “How do I get briefed?”
“Igme will take you to meet the seers. I—”
The tuning fork at her neck piped: “Astrid, are you still going with Ev and Patience?”
“Yes, Pike. Tell ’em I’m coming, please. Will, are you okay if I go?”
He nodded.
She reached out, as if to touch him. Then, instead, she turned, vanishing through a gate of thorns on the nearby wall.
Clancy clapped him on the arm. “We’ll have your family back soon, sonny.”
“St. Louis,” Will said under his breath. It had been a long time since he had felt this much hope.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE UNREAL WAS A sunless expanse, lit by the glow cast by the glaciers of vitagua that lay atop most of its land mass. Its nature was poorly understood. Astrid, when explaining it to new volunteers, said that throughout human history there had been tales of other worlds—spirit realms, Hades, Asgard—and that the unreal was one or possibly all of those realms.
Albert had called it the land of the fairies.
The explanation satisfied many of the new volunteers, Ev knew. But it wasn’t that simple: the fairies were long gone. In fact, the unreal’s inhabitants were all aboriginal people, Native Americans who’d fled the European conquest. But Fairyland was a simpler concept to grasp, and a less thorny one.
The three of them—Ev, his daughter, and Patience—had stepped through Bramblegate and now stood on the gritty steppes of the unreal, next to a tumbled-down pile of concrete and steel beams commingled with bits of tree. A sharp breeze blew from within the wreckage, along with a wisp of steam—humidity, from the real, condensing in the cooler air.
“If I hear you’re driving yourself into the ground working, kid, I’m coming back to the real.”
“I feel great, Pop. As long as I’m chanting, I’ve got energy to burn.”
“Don’t think we won’t find out if you’re fibbing,” Patience said. She was wearing a copper-colored silk dress, and its skirt snapped in a gust of breeze, billowing like a sail. “None of us can afford for you to collapse from exhaustion.”
“I’m not gonna die of burnout, promise.”
“I hate you shoving me out of harm’s way like this,” Ev said.
“It might not be as safe as you think, Pop. The Roused know you’re my—” She paused, snagging on his gender. “—parent.”
“Just take decent care of yourself,” he said before things could get awkward.
“I don’t remember there being a breeze here,” Patience said, deftly changing the subject. She turned into the wind, which pressed the dress snug against her figure.
Ev looked away. “Vitagua’s flowing into the real through the Chimney,” he said. “Katarina figured something had to come into the unreal. Otherwise the whole place would collapse.”
“Magic flows out, so air comes in?” Astrid said.
“A little water too, from the look of it. See the steam?” Patience pointed.
Astrid’s expression became dreamy. “Thunder’s going to put a wind turbine here. Cottages, a letrico mill.”
“Let me check with the locals before you go putting up a suburb on their turf.” Patience’s father had been Native—Umpqua Nation, Ev thought, or Chinook?
“Good idea,” Astrid said, missing her sharp tone. “Will you guys be okay if I get going?”
“Of course,” Ev said.
“If everything goes well in St. Louis, they’ll be in a good mood. We’re going to release a lot of magic tonight.”
“Beyond finding Jacks, what do you need me to do?” Patience asked.
“When I first came here, there were these ice statues,” Astrid said. “One of Dad, and his granny. They had all the chanters, I think, going back to Elizabeth Walks-in-Shadow. I’m wondering if
“Temples, Primas, missing persons, that kind of thing?”
“Yes. We’ll home in on the kids using magic, but preparation—”
“Knowledge is power,” he agreed. “How do I get briefed?”
“Igme will take you to meet the seers. I—”
The tuning fork at her neck piped: “Astrid, are you still going with Ev and Patience?”
“Yes, Pike. Tell ’em I’m coming, please. Will, are you okay if I go?”
He nodded.
She reached out, as if to touch him. Then, instead, she turned, vanishing through a gate of thorns on the nearby wall.
Clancy clapped him on the arm. “We’ll have your family back soon, sonny.”
“St. Louis,” Will said under his breath. It had been a long time since he had felt this much hope.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE UNREAL WAS A sunless expanse, lit by the glow cast by the glaciers of vitagua that lay atop most of its land mass. Its nature was poorly understood. Astrid, when explaining it to new volunteers, said that throughout human history there had been tales of other worlds—spirit realms, Hades, Asgard—and that the unreal was one or possibly all of those realms.
Albert had called it the land of the fairies.
The explanation satisfied many of the new volunteers, Ev knew. But it wasn’t that simple: the fairies were long gone. In fact, the unreal’s inhabitants were all aboriginal people, Native Americans who’d fled the European conquest. But Fairyland was a simpler concept to grasp, and a less thorny one.
The three of them—Ev, his daughter, and Patience—had stepped through Bramblegate and now stood on the gritty steppes of the unreal, next to a tumbled-down pile of concrete and steel beams commingled with bits of tree. A sharp breeze blew from within the wreckage, along with a wisp of steam—humidity, from the real, condensing in the cooler air.
“If I hear you’re driving yourself into the ground working, kid, I’m coming back to the real.”
“I feel great, Pop. As long as I’m chanting, I’ve got energy to burn.”
“Don’t think we won’t find out if you’re fibbing,” Patience said. She was wearing a copper-colored silk dress, and its skirt snapped in a gust of breeze, billowing like a sail. “None of us can afford for you to collapse from exhaustion.”
“I’m not gonna die of burnout, promise.”
“I hate you shoving me out of harm’s way like this,” Ev said.
“It might not be as safe as you think, Pop. The Roused know you’re my—” She paused, snagging on his gender. “—parent.”
“Just take decent care of yourself,” he said before things could get awkward.
“I don’t remember there being a breeze here,” Patience said, deftly changing the subject. She turned into the wind, which pressed the dress snug against her figure.
Ev looked away. “Vitagua’s flowing into the real through the Chimney,” he said. “Katarina figured something had to come into the unreal. Otherwise the whole place would collapse.”
“Magic flows out, so air comes in?” Astrid said.
“A little water too, from the look of it. See the steam?” Patience pointed.
Astrid’s expression became dreamy. “Thunder’s going to put a wind turbine here. Cottages, a letrico mill.”
“Let me check with the locals before you go putting up a suburb on their turf.” Patience’s father had been Native—Umpqua Nation, Ev thought, or Chinook?
“Good idea,” Astrid said, missing her sharp tone. “Will you guys be okay if I get going?”
“Of course,” Ev said.
“If everything goes well in St. Louis, they’ll be in a good mood. We’re going to release a lot of magic tonight.”
“Beyond finding Jacks, what do you need me to do?” Patience asked.
“When I first came here, there were these ice statues,” Astrid said. “One of Dad, and his granny. They had all the chanters, I think, going back to Elizabeth Walks-in-Shadow. I’m wondering if
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