Page 44 of Silver in the Bone

“We just have to find a liminal place to call her,” Emrys said. “Like a crossroads.”

“What about a cave?” Cabell suggested.

“That would work,” Emrys said. “Merlin’s Cave, between land and sea.”

I leveled a look at him. “If you’re so sure he went to an Otherland, why do you need us?”

“Well, for one thing, it seems useful to have a sorceress around,” Emrys said. “And for another, I think Nash went to one of two Otherlands tied to Arthur and his knights. I’m not sure which, and I only have one offering to make to the hag.”

“What are your guesses?” Cabell asked.

“Either Avalon, where the ring was created,” Emrys said, “or Lyonesse, where it’s said the darkest and deadliest treasures known to man were hidden before it was splintered from our world.”

I schooled my expression, revealing nothing. The kingdom of Lyonesse, a contemporary of Camelot, was believed by mortal men to have been drowned by a monstrous storm, slipping into the sea and largely out of memory.

“The treasure hoard is only rumor,” Cabell said, shaking his head. “And if it’s true, then the part about the terrifying monster protecting it is also true.”

“Precisely why I am desperately hoping Tamsin is about to tell us it’s Avalon,” Emrys said.

The darkness crept in so slowly, I didn’t notice that the others were fading from sight until they were nearly gone. What little sunlight had managed to reach us through the cracks in the old wood faded to complete darkness.

“What in blistering hellfire ...” Cabell bumped into me as he felt for the shed’s door.

“Open it,” I told him. “It’s right behind you.”

Cabell’s voice was strangled. “It is open.”

Neve gasped as she felt her way forward, trying to follow the sound of our voices out. “What’s happening?”

The world around us had been submerged in impenetrable darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I could just make out the shapes of the buildings around me.

“Is it an eclipse?” I asked.

“An unforecast one?” Emrys scoffed. But after a beat, he added, “You don’t think it’s the coin, do you?”

“No way,” I said. It couldn’t be. Something that small couldn’t contain enough magic to do this.

Other voices joined ours from the nearby buildings, shouting questions and calling out for their loved ones.

But as quickly as the darkness had come, its stain began to lift, lightening to a funereal gray before the blue of the sky peeked through.

“Whatever just happened can’t be good,” Cabell said. “I say we get a move on.”

“It would help to know where he was going,” Emrys pointed out, turning to look at me. I bit my lip, swallowing the last of my misgivings.

The ring will win the favor of her heart.

With one last look at my brother, I said, “Avalon. I think Nash went to Avalon.”

A sharp laugh split the air. My chest hollowed at the sound of it, even before the others joined in.

One by one, Hollowers stepped out from behind the surrounding fences and buildings, circling in tight around us. Neve started to reach for her fanny pack, but I gripped her hand, stilling it just as Septimus appeared, leaning against the pub’s exposed frame.

“Hear that, boys?” he called to the others. “We’re going to the fair isle.”

The shock that seized us by the throats only lasted an instant. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, Cabell dove for the shed, where all our things waited, only to be brought up short by one of the men who’d taken him prisoner.

“We meet again,” the Hollower gloated. “Thought you’d slipped the noose, did you?”

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