Black City

“Will you go and get them, please?” I asked.

“Why? They’re probably hanging outside your bedroom window with a rock as we speak. And now that the spell is broken—”

As if on cue I heard the sound of glass shattering, and Jude’s triumphant cry.

“You’re going to fix that window,” I said to Puck. “I am not sleeping in a room with duct tape over the window frame in the middle of January.”

“Of course,” Puck said.

“You’re awfully compliant all of a sudden,” I said.

From the bedroom came the further sounds of glass falling to the floor, and the thump of Jude’s boots. Samiel grunted, and I imagine he was having a hard time squeezing his wings through the frame.

“You are going to have plenty to deal with when we arrive in Titania’s kingdom,” Puck said. “Our other issues can wait. If you survive.”

“I am not going to be defeated by Titania, so don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of time to take up our issues later,” I said.

Jude and Samiel came panting into the room. Both of them looked like they were loaded for bear.

“The crisis is over,” Beezle announced.

His eyes darted between Nathaniel, Puck and me, and I could see him working things out. I gave him a look that warned him not to say anything.

Jude appeared slightly deflated by the news that he didn’t need to hit anything. “Are you all right?”

“That’s a complicated question,” I muttered. “Yes, I’m unharmed.”

What happened? Samiel signed.

“Puck wanted a private word,” I said.

“Did he have to stop all of us from entering the apartment?” Jude growled. “We thought he was killing you in here.”

“My apologies, Judas,” Puck said.

Jude stiffened at the sound of his old name. He seemed to focus completely on Puck for the first time, his nostrils flared.

“I know you,” he said, and sniffed the air. “I know you of old.”

“Perhaps you do,” Puck said.

Great. Now Puck had some kind of connection to Jude, too. It was starting to feel less like chance that we had all come together. Some fate was pulling all of us—me, Nathaniel, Samiel, Jude, maybe even Beezle and Chloe—to these ancient ones, to Lucifer and Puck and the animosity that was older than the earth.

“Can we talk about this later?” I said to Jude. “I want to get J.B. and get home so that I can take down Therion.”

“If you will follow me,” Puck said, and made a portal in the air. “You must all hold tight to one another. We are going through the old ways, and if any of you lets go, you could be lost forever.”

Puck reached for my hand, and Nathaniel took the other. Jude reluctantly grabbed Nathaniel’s hand, and Samiel’s. Chloe made up the end of the chain.

“You guys look like one of those preschool walking buses,” Beezle said. “All you need are the little waist leashes.”

He flew toward me and stopped in midair. “Whoa. Where did you get the Catwoman pants?”

“You just noticed?” I said, my ears burning.

“Well, yeah, because there’s no pocket for me to nap in,” Beezle said, settling on my shoulder and digging in his claws.

“How about you try to stay awake during the rescue mission, just this once?” I said.

“Children,” Puck said, and he entered the portal, pulling me with him.

This portal wasn’t like the usual ones. Normally when I entered a portal I felt like I was being mashed in a blender. This was a pathway through the universe, a place that no human would ever see. Beneath our feet all the worlds looked like a necklace of jewels. We were draped in a veil of silence, and the stars spun around us.

Chloe and Jude both gasped. Chloe was the closest thing to a human that we had on our team. Even her work as an Agent had not prepared her for this.

“This is what’s behind the Door,” she whispered.

I felt a moment of panic. She now knew one of the secrets that the Agency tried to keep from the Agents. Would that put her on Sokolov’s hit list, too?

Then I realized that just associating with me was enough to put her life in danger. It didn’t really make me feel better.

“Hold tight,” Puck said, and we were descending.

A few moments later we stood in a lush garden, surrounded by flowers so rare and beautiful that they could not have existed in my world. The air was scented and heavy and shimmering with gold dust.

“We just got dropped into a scene from Legend,” Beezle said. “Where are the unicorns?”

Everyone had released hands except for Puck, who still determinedly clung to mine. I felt a current of magic strung between the two of us.

“What are you doing?” I said, tugging my hand.

“Giving you a boost. You will need it to find J.B.,” Puck said. “You are blood of my blood, and that makes a connection between us. My power can help strengthen yours.”

“Don’t try any funny business,” Jude growled.

“I would not think of it,” Puck said, his eyes dancing.

“You’re stronger than Titania is,” I said softly. “Why do you stay here, pretending to be her subordinate?”

Puck let go of my hand and touched the tip of my nose with his finger. “Just because you are blood of my blood does not mean you get to know everything.”

“What does he mean by ‘blood of my blood’?” Jude said, looking from me to Puck.