Page 36 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
“Caer,” I say quietly, tears in my voice. “Please.”
He’s breathing faster, a hectic rhythm. After a moment, words grate from between his jaws. “Not yet.”
“All right. But soon.”
“Soon.”
13
For the first few minutes after Alice is taken, I’m sure Riordan will lose his mind. He runs after them a little way, but he’s slow in the armor. Once he realizes they’re already far out of his reach, he begins dashing his metal-clad body against trees, roaring curses.
Jasper sits with his knees pulled up and Fiero cuddled to his heart. Jealousy twinges through me, but I don’t demand that he put my dog down. He looks as if he needs the comfort more than I do.
“I can’t—fucking—do—anything!” bellows Riordan. “Fuck, fuck,fuck!”
“If you’re done,” I say dryly, “Maybe I can use the Tama Olc to track her or something, with your help.”
Riordan whirls and stalks back toward me so threateningly that I recoil, putting both hands up defensively like I did to the West Witch and the crows. A pulse of power bursts from my fingers, sending him crashing backward onto the ground.
“What the fuck?” he snarls.
“Don’tprowltoward me like that.”
He climbs to his feet. “If you can find her, do it.”
I pull the small spellbook out of my pocket. “It will take a while for me to figure out which spell might help us.”
"By then he might have eaten her.” Riordan slams a metal fist against the tree.
Jasper’s blue eyes dart from one of us to the other, and he says meekly, “If it’s a matter of finding her, I can help.”
“Can you indeed?” Riordan’s voice drips with disbelief.
“I can. One of my few gifts is tracking, and the ability is stronger if I’ve been intimate with the person.”
“Intimate?” I frown at him, then look at Riordan, who turns away. “Wait… did the Scarecrow fuck Alice while I was looking for the road?”
Riordan’s silence is answer enough.
“And he did it in front of you? Shit. Things really are different in Faerie.” I tuck the Tama Olc back into my pocket. “Very well, Scarecrow—find her.”
“I’m going with you,” Riordan says.
Jasper eyes him doubtfully. “Can you be quick and quiet?”
A low sigh from within the helmet. “You know I can’t.”
“Then I should go alone.”
“You’ll die.” Perhaps it’s callous of me to say it, but it’s true. “That thing is beyond reason.”
“Reason, maybe. But he did recognize her, at least on a primal level,” Riordan answers. “He took only her, and left the rest of us untouched. He knows who she is. That doesn’t mean he will not devour her, or damage her irreparably.” His anger spent, he sinks to the ground, with his back to the trunk of the great tree.
A new voice sounds from a few paces away—a cool, mocking voice. “Poor little human. Mortals are so soft and toothsome… they never last too long in these parts.”
My stomach flutters and my blood heats immediately.
The slim, long-legged figure of the West Witch emerges from the darkness. He ignites a handful of tiny glowing orbs and sends them sailing into the air over our heads, providing a dim golden light.
