Page 56 of Samhain

“It’s obvious she’s heading to Killwater,” Ivy said. “Back to the woods.”

We fell into a brief silence where the suggestion hung between us, unsaid but undeniable. We all knew it.

“No,” Lex said. “Absolutely not. We talked about this.”

“Why not?” Ivy said.

“The last time we went into those woods, we lost a whole day of our lives,” Lex said. “Who’s to say it’s not a month or a year this time?”

“This is the only way we’ll know for sure,” Ivy said. “We have to get answers from her. We have to demand she tell us the truth.”

“Ivy,” Lex said. “Think about this for a second. You can’t drop everything to fly to Ireland on a whim.”

“This isn’t a whim. This is proof that Siobhan is there.”

“This is a grainy image of a brunette at a gas station.” Lex furrowed his brows, looking at her like she’d said the sky was falling.

“Kit says it’s her.” Ivy put her hands on her hips, a clear sign of a challenge.

“Kit has never met her,” Lex argued. “Kit is still in college.”

Ivy clenched her hands into fists and Lex bit into a cigarette to hold it so he could light it, competition flaming in his gaze. They lived for the thrill of the fight, especially against each other. I glanced at Miri, who pursed her lips and returned my look of reticence.

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Ivy argued.

“No, it means we can’t take her word for it,” Lex said. “Midterm break is almost over. We have to go back to school in five days. We can’t afford to get caught up in this fairy tale bullshit again.”

“We’re already caught up in it,” she said. “This is the only way to break this curse. Don’t you want to be normal again? To have ordinary relationships?”

I might have argued that none of us had ever been normal, and our relationship had certainly never been ordinary.

“I can’t be on set constantly worried about whether the lust is going to hit me again.” I rubbed a hand over my mouth. Fuck me, but I agreed with Ivy. It scared the shit out of me, but we needed to hunt Siobhan down and make her explain herself.

“That means we have to stay together,” Lex said. “Which you already agreed to.”

“What if it gets worse?” Miri argued.

“What if these powers come with a cost?” I remembered what Ashley told us at the orientation. “A fairy gift is never just a gift. There’s always a cost.”

Lex ran his free hand over his face and through his hair. “Fuck.”

“I think we should go, darling,” Miri said, grabbing his hand. “Siobhan owes us an explanation.”

“Even if we can’t find her, we know that’s the source,” I said. “It started there.”

Lex took a deep breath and stared at us. “It’s Samhain. You realize that, right?”

“Shit.” I rubbed my hands over my face.

“This sabbat marks the time when the veil between the realms is the thinnest,” Lex continued. “If Midsummer brought us this bullshit, what do you think will happen now?”

“It’s a different holiday,” Ivy countered, raising an eyebrow in consideration. “It’s a different time of year.”

He gave her a look that said he doubted that mattered. “We go into those woods”—Lex shook his head—“we don’t know what’s going to happen. Fairy king? Fairy queen? A whole fairy army?”

“We made it out last time,” Ivy argued. “We know the risks.”

“Do we?” Lex raised his eyebrows. “This is?—”

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