me, though Meteor might have guessed. Even Sam himself didn’t know – not after I put him under a forgetting spell. If he ever saw me again, he wouldn’t know me. But though I had made sure he would remember nothing of me, I could never forget
him
.
My friends wouldn’t understand. They would blame me for being drawn to a human at all, for seeking his friendship, and for wishing he could remember me now. I didn’t want to be condemned. Not by them. And even more important, I didn’t want there to be any possible chance for Lily Morganite to learn that a human was important to me. Not that my friends would tell her voluntarily, but Lily’s magic had a long reach.
I had hidden my visits to Sam as best I could, and I didn’t think she’d ever seen us together. If she had, she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him.
And now I was going back to Earth, but I wouldn’t allow myself to seek out Sam Seabolt again. No, I had spied on him for the last time. I would go straight to a grove of trees on a ridge above a field of wild grass. I’d been there before. There, at the base of a tall blue spruce, I had buried my mother’s spellbook to keep it from Lily Morganite. Most important, I had cast a long-lasting spell: no one but me could disturb the ground there. Ever. I could bury the indigo bottle in that same spot. It would be safe, and I wouldn’t have to spend more radia on another enchantment.
Now that I had a plan, I felt slightly less dazed and terrified and tired. All I needed was to cross over to Earth. I should have snooped around Laz’s café looking for a portal. Everyone knew that smugglers had portals; Laz probably had one leading straight out of a room in the back of the Ugly Mug. How else could he run all those Earth goods? He was too stingy to pay someone else to smuggle for him.
Then again, if Laz had a favourite portal to Earth, it probably led somewhere I didn’t want to go. Maybe into a sweetshop or a place that stored coffee beans, somewhere across the world from the grove with the enchanted ground.
Yes, I’d be better off travelling through a portal I’d used before. So, I transported to the Golden Station, the great hub from which most fey travellers made their journeys to and from Earth.
* * *
It was the middle of the night; I’d never been to the Golden Station so late. As a fourteen-year-old fairy, it was against the law for me to be there, no matter what the time of day, so I tried not to attract attention.
Symbols etched the walls, part of the durable spells holding open the portals to Earth. Hundreds of fairies and genies were flying in dozens of directions inside the vast marble room. Hallways branched off it, and each hallway held dozens of portal doors. Judging by the noise, the portals were getting lots of use, clicking open and slamming shut every two seconds. They showed no signs of failing as the Gateway of Galena had failed.
The fey folk were all talking so loud I couldn’t tell what anyone was saying. Besides, I was focused on the hordes of gnomes marching up and down and watching everyone. There seemed to be far more of them than usual, and I feared that some of them could be Lily’s minions. Were they simply keeping order, or were they looking for me?
Laz had said my disguise was terrible, but I hoped it would be enough to fool the gnomes. Head down, my newly dark hair hiding most of my face, I flew to a familiar door in one of the smaller hallways. I had found this portal by chance on my first journey to Earth. It got very little use by other fey folk, so I thought of it as mine. And I had given it a silly name: the Cornfield Portal, because it led to a cornfield on the other side.
Now, rising eagerness flooded across my wings as I opened the door. No one seemed to notice as I stepped through to Earth.
Spikes of rain pelted me, so thick and fast I could hardly breathe. In moments I was soaked and shivering. And the field on Earth had changed. The corn was cut, leaving
him
.
My friends wouldn’t understand. They would blame me for being drawn to a human at all, for seeking his friendship, and for wishing he could remember me now. I didn’t want to be condemned. Not by them. And even more important, I didn’t want there to be any possible chance for Lily Morganite to learn that a human was important to me. Not that my friends would tell her voluntarily, but Lily’s magic had a long reach.
I had hidden my visits to Sam as best I could, and I didn’t think she’d ever seen us together. If she had, she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him.
And now I was going back to Earth, but I wouldn’t allow myself to seek out Sam Seabolt again. No, I had spied on him for the last time. I would go straight to a grove of trees on a ridge above a field of wild grass. I’d been there before. There, at the base of a tall blue spruce, I had buried my mother’s spellbook to keep it from Lily Morganite. Most important, I had cast a long-lasting spell: no one but me could disturb the ground there. Ever. I could bury the indigo bottle in that same spot. It would be safe, and I wouldn’t have to spend more radia on another enchantment.
Now that I had a plan, I felt slightly less dazed and terrified and tired. All I needed was to cross over to Earth. I should have snooped around Laz’s café looking for a portal. Everyone knew that smugglers had portals; Laz probably had one leading straight out of a room in the back of the Ugly Mug. How else could he run all those Earth goods? He was too stingy to pay someone else to smuggle for him.
Then again, if Laz had a favourite portal to Earth, it probably led somewhere I didn’t want to go. Maybe into a sweetshop or a place that stored coffee beans, somewhere across the world from the grove with the enchanted ground.
Yes, I’d be better off travelling through a portal I’d used before. So, I transported to the Golden Station, the great hub from which most fey travellers made their journeys to and from Earth.
* * *
It was the middle of the night; I’d never been to the Golden Station so late. As a fourteen-year-old fairy, it was against the law for me to be there, no matter what the time of day, so I tried not to attract attention.
Symbols etched the walls, part of the durable spells holding open the portals to Earth. Hundreds of fairies and genies were flying in dozens of directions inside the vast marble room. Hallways branched off it, and each hallway held dozens of portal doors. Judging by the noise, the portals were getting lots of use, clicking open and slamming shut every two seconds. They showed no signs of failing as the Gateway of Galena had failed.
The fey folk were all talking so loud I couldn’t tell what anyone was saying. Besides, I was focused on the hordes of gnomes marching up and down and watching everyone. There seemed to be far more of them than usual, and I feared that some of them could be Lily’s minions. Were they simply keeping order, or were they looking for me?
Laz had said my disguise was terrible, but I hoped it would be enough to fool the gnomes. Head down, my newly dark hair hiding most of my face, I flew to a familiar door in one of the smaller hallways. I had found this portal by chance on my first journey to Earth. It got very little use by other fey folk, so I thought of it as mine. And I had given it a silly name: the Cornfield Portal, because it led to a cornfield on the other side.
Now, rising eagerness flooded across my wings as I opened the door. No one seemed to notice as I stepped through to Earth.
Spikes of rain pelted me, so thick and fast I could hardly breathe. In moments I was soaked and shivering. And the field on Earth had changed. The corn was cut, leaving
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