The Foolhardies 116 The Missing

I didn't think I would go through all this all over again. The pain, the stress, the anxiety, the general frustration of the situation—I didn't think I would have to go through it all again. Isn't that why I'd chased after my little brother and had to put myself in danger over and over again, so I wouldn't feel like this ever again?

Yet here I was, chasing after Ty's ghost like I did Luca's. Fate just couldn't give me a break.

Luca's disappearance shattered my family. I didn't want that to happen to Ty's. Plus, Arah, who was riding on her bike alongside me, looked like she was blaming herself for what happened to Ty. But their little spat last night didn't have anything to do with it. It wasn't her fault. It was mine.

We stopped pedaling once we'd reached the end of the street and found ourselves staring into an evergreen field and the dark forest beyond it.

"Why are we here, Dean?" Arah asked although she was probably smart enough to know the answer herself. "We should head back and help the police form a search party for him…"

"They won't be able to find him." I answered a little too quickly. "There are some things the police can't help us with…"

I pointed toward the Elfwood.

"This is the closest place they could go if they wanted to take Ty to the other side," I explained, as I got off my bike and tied it to a bike rack on the side of the road.

I glanced over at Arah who hadn't moved.

"The Elfwood Circle Stones," I clarified. "It's a gateway, remember? You have to pa.s.s through it at least once in order to visit the Fayne…"

"I know that… but why are we headed there?" Arah asked. "Ty has nothing to do with fairies!"

That wasn't entirely true and Arah knew it which is why she'd bit her lip to stop herself from speaking. The frustration on her face was clear for anyone to see.

"Let's go," I said, and forged ahead without looking back.

It was a relief to hear Arah's footsteps follow me into the gra.s.s. Having her at my side made this whole ordeal a little more bearable. Then she asked a question that sent the guilt careening up the surface of my anxiety.

"Why do you think fairies took Ty, Dean?" Arah's voice wasn't accusatory but I could feel her eyes burning a whole into my back.

"Because," I hesitated for a moment before finally caving. "Because I think he was being followed by a fairy… no, I'm definitely sure he was."

I glanced back at Arah who was looking at me like I'd slapped her face.

'Let's hurry," I said. "I'll explain on the way."

We trekked through the woods while I told Arah everything I learned after Ty told us about his dream. I even told her about the elf who was stalking Ty. But I left out the part where I eavesdropped on their conversation. That was a conversation for another day, preferably one where tensions weren't so high.

Arah had stayed quiet throughout the trip, but as we drew closer to the Circle Stones, she'd finally reached boiling point and said, "This is all your fault…"

For some reason, I took offense at that. Yes, it might be my fault but I had warned them against knowing about the Fayne. It was a fact I pointed out to her, and I even added, "You two wanted to know more even after I told you how dangerous knowing about fairies was!"

"Well, if you had brought us along like we'd ask then maybe—l"

"—Maybe you and Ty would be dead, Arah!" I countered.

"Or maybe we would have been better prepared!" she spat back at me.

Arah broke down and sat on the gra.s.s, laying her head on her knees to keep me from seeing the tears falling down her face.

I knelt beside her and hugged her lightly.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you guys," I said. "I thought I'd have time to sort it out before it became a problem…"

Arah looked up at me and wiped the tears from her eyes with the jacket sleeve of her left arm.

"Yeah, well, you suck at problem-solving, Dean," she said in a tone that suggested she wasn't as angry as I thought. "We have to find him… we can't let him end up like Luca…"

My brow furrowed. That really would be a worst-case scenario. Just saving Luca from the Fayne was hard enough and I knew who took him. Finding Ty after he was taken would be like finding a needle in a very large haystack.

"We'll find him I pro—"

I was interrupted by the sound of people talking in the clearing beyond. It was eight in the morning. No way anyone would have been at the Circle Stones before us unless they had something to do with Ty's disappearance.

I pulled out the iron dagger from its strap on my belt and silently ordered Arah to take out the iron chains I'd given her for protection in case we were attacked by fairies here in Mudgard. Although I didn't believe most fairies could stand the sun, and that meant we might be dealing with someone of the human variety instead.

Together, Arah and I made our way as stealthily as we could through the bushes until we could see the clearing ahead. From our vantage point, I could clearly see two identical-looking, sandy-haired teenagers arguing with each other just south of the ditch surrounding the henge. It was the McCord twins.

I jumped out of the bushes and called to them. "What are you two doing here?"

Both boys jumped at the sight of me but they calmed down once they realized who I was.

"We got a message from that git, Qwipps," Collin said, annoyed.

"Right at the crack of dawn too," Connor added, sounding as equally annoyed as his brother. "It was a lot of trouble trying to hide that sprite you sent us."

I frowned. Aura must have asked Qwipps to send the twins a message, but the fact that they received it right before dawn means we didn't come back to Mudgard at the same time like I a.s.sumed, but that the sun had to actually rise wherever you were in the Fayne for one to return home. It was an interesting discovery I made sure to log for later.

By this time, Arah had followed me out of the bushes, the iron chain raised like she was ready to fling it at the twins.

Seeing a mad Asian chick about to pelt them with a heavy iron chain sent both McCords jumping into the ditch to avoid her.

It would have been hilarious to witness in better circ.u.mstances. Sadly, all I could do was prevent Arah from actually hurting my spies. I held her at bay while explaining who they were, and we waited for them to get out of the ditch before we got down to business.

"Well, why are you here?" I asked the twins.

"Like I said, man, your pixie friend said you needed our help, Collin said, patting away the ditch's dirt from his jeans.

"So you know why we're here?" I clarified.

"Yeah-yeah… some friend of yours is missing and you think he's been abducted," Connor answered. "You're right."

Connor looked over to his brother who reached into his jean's pocket and pulled out a stem of something half-burned. On closer inspection, I knew it had obviously been a flower with red petals. Bits of red still clung to the burned plant.

The scent of something rank wafted out of the flower and a.s.saulted our nostrils, causing the twins and myself to cringe our nose in disgust.

"That's red valerian," I exhaled.

"Fox's brush," Collin agreed, calling it by its other moniker.

"Devil's beard," Connor added. "Someone or something's been smoking it near the center of the rings…"

"s.h.i.+t…" I hissed. Sometimes I really hated being right.

We all heard the clang of metal as it hit soft gra.s.s, and we turned around to find Arah staring dumbfounded at us.

"Can someone please explain to the uninitiated what that flower means?" she asked, her voice retaining that half-hysterical tone she'd had all morning.

"It's confirmation…" I turned to her with wet eyes. "The flower's unusual scent is used in a ritual to push someone unwilling into the Fayne… they've… they've taken him."

"No… Dean," Arah's voice was a whisper. "This can't be happening… this is your world, not ours… you said we'd be safe here…"

Ironically enough, I preached that same thing while Arah and Ty insisted I tell them more about the Fayne. Even after meeting Aura who did her best to seem normal, I didn't think it was really real for Arah until Ty was taken.

I couldn't look at my friend who was always the strong one in our trio break down like she did. So I turned away from her and glared at the twins.

"What do you know?!" I yelled. "Did the Scarlet Moon cause this?"

Both boys raised their hands in surrender, and just looking at their clueless faces, I knew they had nothing to do with this, which meant their boss probably wasn't involved this time.

"W-we don't know anything, but we'll try to find out what we can," Collin promised.

His brother nodded in agreement.

I sighed and thanked them. Then I walked over to my friend. My hand reached out for hers, but Arah pulled away. And I honestly couldn't blame her because she was right. If I hadn't gotten them involved in the Fayne, maybe Ty wouldn't have had his nightmares and maybe the fairies wouldn't have noticed him.

"I'll find him, Arah," I said. "I promise…"