Carrie Jones - Entice

“Get in the car, guys,” I order.

“I think being a pixie brings out a previously suppressed controlling aspect of your personality,” Devyn mutters as he crawls into the back of the car.

We head to our prearranged meeting place, the Brown House, which is this old brick Georgian manor built by some log magnate guy back in the early 1800s. It’s up on this great sledding hill. There’s a museum inside and a trail for running behind it. A couple other cars are here, including Astley’s. Relief and nervous excitement flood through me.

Issie parks in the little rectangular dirt parking lot behind a big barn that used to hold horses. The paint peels from the sides.

She’s shaking still. “You can’t die, Zara.”

“I won’t.”

She keeps nodding. Her fingers squeeze mine. “Zare. It’s just- First Nick, then Mrs. Nix, and you all pixified and Betty missing. It’s all so much to handle. I’m just human, remember?”

“Adorably human,” I correct her. “Strongly and smartly human.”

We let go of each other’s hands. I open the door just as Astley strides over to us. Glitter sparkles in the snow.

Devyn flies out of the car. He perches on the roof and gives an angry eagle screech. “Devyn, be good,” I order.

“Take this sword,” Astley says to me, sounding terribly formal and regal. He fastens it on my belt with the giant peace buckle, which just seems wildly inappropriate. “The ceremony will be in the woods.”

He starts walking on the snow that’s been trampled down by cross-country skiers and dogs and runners like me.

Issie doesn’t follow. “Is it safe?” she asks me. “Are there bad pixies here?”

“Not at the moment,” Astley answers. “We will protect you with our lives, Issie. I promise you.”

Issie looks up at me out of the corner of her eyes and grabs my hand again. Just then Cassidy’s car comes screaming into the parking lot. She flings herself out of it and runs to us. Vaulting into Issie and me, she wraps us both in a hug.

“I’m so scared,” she says. “Are you scared? Don’t answer that.”

We walk together following Astley, with Devyn swooping above. We follow him into the woods. The knots in the tree trunks look like wide, stunned eyes blackened with pain. Boulders hunch on the side of the trail, waiting for whatever will happen.

“There is only one way to cross from the realm of man to the realm of the gods. This is called BiForst. It is a bridge made of a rainbow. It is not a pixie,” Astley tells us. “We’ll be opening it up here during the ceremony. It is hard magic. According to the council, only kings and queens can do it, and only rarely.”

“Like your mother,” I prompt.

“Yes. She came for her brother, the council said.”

“She has a brother?”

“I never knew, but yes. She has a brother. A pixie named Frank. He has other names, but that is the one he currently uses.”

We stop walking. Astley’s eyes move back and forth, surveying the land as he hustles back to us and takes my other hand. “I know. It is a lot to comprehend. I swear to you I did not know before now. It kills me that he is my uncle, that my mother-that she did all this to you, to us, that they are aligned somehow.”

I swallow hard and squeeze his hand. It’s so different from Issie’s, broad and solid. “It doesn’t matter now.”

All five of us seem more connected than ever. Issie says, “You can’t blame yourself for your relatives. We’d all hate Zara if you could, but we love her. It’s okay, Astley. Zara trusts you. Cassidy trusts you. And I trust you. You’re one of us now.”

For a moment Astley seems like he might break. His lip wobbles a little and when he speaks his voice is a humble whisper. “Thank you for that, Issie. You really are outstanding.”

She smiles and lightens the mood, tugging us along. “Come on. Tell us what else you learned.”

“No matter what, do not step on the red. It’s fire, an insanely hot fire,” Astley commands. He drops my hand and starts long power-striding across the snow again. “And just follow my lead during the ceremony. All of you.”

Cass leans in. “I like him, but he’s even bossier than Nick.”

“I know!” I whisper back. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

He calls over his shoulder, amusement in his voice, “I can hear you.”

Devyn squawks unhappily as we step into a patch of woods surrounded by giant hemlock trees. There are seven other people there. All wear long brown robes with hoods that cover their faces. The sky seems low, heavy, weighed down with snow, touching the tops of the trees. The people stand motionless as we come toward them. I grip Issie’s hand fiercely, like I can somehow hold on enough to keep them safe, to make this all go right.

“They look like monks,” Issie whispers. “The robes are so brown and I can’t see anyone’s face.”

“Stand here.” Astley points to a spot in the middle of the trees. “Issie, please stand near the back with the others.”

Issie squeezes my hand. It is one of the hardest things I’ll ever do, but I manage to let go of her fingers, and she moves to a position where she makes a circle with the robed people. One of them hands Issie a robe, and when she moves, I can see that it’s Becca. Her face glows brightly. The one on the other side of Issie nods as she and Cass put on the robes. He is tall, slim. His ears are slightly pointed, but he looks human. He must be some sort of fae too.

At the perimeter of the woods are my pixies. They step into the light so I can see them. They are tall and short, strong every one. They bow as I glance at them. I want to promise them that we will make it through this and be stronger for it.

“Zara, I need you in the center,” Astley reminds me.

I look back over my shoulder at Issie. She’s shivering and her eyes are wide open, which is how she looks when she’s scared. Devyn perches on a tree branch just above her head. He’s a big bird, but he looks so small, dwarfed by the trees and the events. I want to protect them both somehow, but if Mrs. Nix taught me anything, it’s that I can never totally protect anyone. Danger can just explode without warning and take us away.

Astley hands me a spear that’s longer than my body. “It’s iron tipped,” he says. “Hold it in your right hand. Let the butt rest on the ground.”

We wait. I count my heartbeats. I get to thirty. Astley lifts his arms out in some sort of salute. The others do the same. His eyes get deadly serious. He stands in front of me and starts chanting. “ With this ceremony we position our traveler o ne footstep nearer to Odin. ”

The robed fae and Issie join hands and move in closer. I shudder nervously. They circle around us, hands clasped, and are chanting words that I can’t quite make out, but I don’t think it’s the same thing that Astley’s saying. I look up at Astley. He nods at me like he’s trying to be reassuring, but it’s not really working. I flash back to Mrs. Nix climbing that silver bridge, exploding. I tucked the charred piece of her sweatshirt I had recovered into the back pocket of my jeans. I am glad she is with me now. Nick’s anklet touches my skin. He is here too.

“ One heartbeat nearer to Valhalla, ” Astley chants. “ One march nearer to all that is accepted. ”

The earth seems to shake a little. Glitter swirls up out of his hands and around us. At the same time a funky force-field type thing forms around Astley and me. Opaque and massive, it buffers out the noise, the shiver of the trees, the murmurs of the pixies, the frantic breaths of Is. I cannot believe this. The force field curves around us, reaching high into the sky. A shield.