I swallowed hard and forced my fingers to relax before I squeezed so hard that I shattered the potion I was clutching. Fox was right. I knew he was. Taliyah would never do anything like that. She’d be the first person in line to kick butt if anyone started magically locking people away. This wasn’t like the last time.

  This wasn’t like the last time.

  “If you can’t trust me, trust Taliyah,” Fox said in a low voice that sounded like rain on the wind.

  “No.” I immediately looked up to face him. “I do trust you. You’ve always done your best to help us and I appreciate that, Fox. I always have.”

  He smiled at me kindly. “And I appreciate it that you’ve always had my back.”

  I smiled at him in return. “I… I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  He grinned, looking more and less human than I’d ever seen him. “I’m not offended. It’s sensible to be wary about unfamiliar magic—especially when it’s in your backyard.”

  I managed a shaky laugh.

  You can do this, I told myself. Just take a deep breath, and walk over to where everyone is waiting to get started. No big deal.

  Fox held out a hand to me, looking very princely and gallant. “Shall we?”

  I linked arms with him like something out of a Robin Hood movie, and we made our way over to the others. It was a little silly that Fox had to give me a pep talk to get me to do my part, but it did make me feel better. Especially when Wanda turned just far enough to watch us approaching. Her dark gaze fell on our linked arms, and she raised a brow in my direction that couldn’t have said, “Do I need to remove his arm?” more clearly than if she’d actually said it out loud.

  I just smiled and shook my head as my eyes searched out Andre and I found him already looking at me. When our gazes met, he gave me a smile that I somehow took to mean that everything was okay—that he was keeping an eye on me and that everything was going to turn out the way it was meant to turn out.

  Or maybe I was just imagining it.

  “The potion, Poppy?” Taliyah asked as she approached me and I dutifully handed it over to her. Then I watched as she walked the perimeter with the vial of Pan’s Delight, her face twisted with the kind of concentration that made her look like she was investigating a crime scene. As she walked, the smell of petrichor and growing things spiraled up into the air behind her. Bright citrus and light floral scents lingered on the breeze, and made the dryad sisters clap their hands in obvious delight. Brooke did a little spin in place, her hair flowing around her shoulders.

  “She truly is a marvel to behold,” Fox whispered as he watched Taliyah. I didn’t say anything because I was fairly sure he hadn’t meant to say the thought out loud.

  As the power started to build, spreading out over the ground, I found myself smiling. The feeling that grew between us all was exhilarating, bright and heady and fun. And the longer I stood there, the more the energy built—growing on itself until the particles in the air were spinning with glee and merriment. I could feel the energy of those who stood around the circle as they responded to the power within it—the excitement was contagious.

  All my worries started to evaporate. Or rather, they weren’t gone so much as they just felt so much smaller, farther away, less pressing and important. Instead, enthusiasm and anticipation grew, faster and headier because it was shared. People started talking faster, laughing louder, fidgeting more.

  Even Taliyah grudgingly took Fox’s hand when he offered it, and she allowed him to tug her into the circle and begin the dance. They moved together so gracefully, I could only watch in awe as Fox twirled Taliyah around the edges of the circle like quicksilver and fire. At least right up until Taliyah stomped on his foot, and I honestly couldn’t tell if she’d done so on purpose or not. I was betting on the former though and for some reason, I loved her for it. I loved her fire, her refusal to disown herself, her refusal to back down.

  Fox threw his head back and laughed, and it was like that was a sign to the rest of us, because all the other fae started piling into the circle, clapping, and cheering and singing as their feet took them away. I took a deep breath, shook off the last traces of nervous energy, and stepped into the circle.

  Instantly, the magic caught me and swept me forward like a strong wave. But it wasn’t an overwhelming, drowning wave. It was more like a warm wind, pushing me along, urging me forward. All the little lingering aches and pains, the worries, the heaviness that I’d just kind of gotten used to vanished in an instant as the magic filled my lungs, my muscles, my bones. Power hung in the air like golden motes of pollen, dancing along with us on the breeze. Even though there wasn’t any music, I could have sworn I heard the notes of a harp, picked by the wind and then a flute joined in and pretty soon we were all swaying in time to a symphony of wind instruments.

  It was like taking a deep drink of the finest honey mead, my inhibitions falling away as I moved with the throng of people who were all experiencing their own form of bliss. It was beyond exhilarating. I felt so light, so free! I could have danced forever, passing from hand to hand, moving along with the music only we could hear. I understood what Fox had meant now. The power of the circle was nothing like what Wren had weaved when she and Janara had come to the Hollow.

  That circle had been a choking tightness, a hand meant to strangle, to subjugate. They’d wanted us to be afraid and beaten down. This circle was the opposite—this was a hand offered in joy, in love of togetherness and celebration. It would draw you in, hold you close, but only as long as you were willing to come. I didn’t feel trapped. If anything, I felt free.

  I found myself dancing with Rowan, her strong, bark covered hands in mine. For someone who looked like they might be made out of wood, she was extremely graceful and light on her feet. Not quite as much as Brooke, who twirled between the other dancers like a laughing current, light and joyous.

  The dryad’s dark eyes flicked to the side, and then, with a wide grin and a wink, she spun me to my next partner.

  Strong hands caught mine, and flung me into a twirl before pulling me into the warm center of a powerful chest. I found myself laughing as I glanced up into Andre’s smiling face.

  “I was wondering when I’d reach you,” he whispered as he grinned down at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling merrily, and he swept us both forward, twirling along in the circle. The laugh continued to bubble up, and I had to grab hold of his shoulders to keep from stumbling. It wasn’t a choreographed dance, everyone was doing their own thing, but somehow it still worked. Even apart, we all moved together.

  But even though I could recognize that we were in a crowd of laughing, bubbling and happy people, it also felt like it was now just the two of us—that as soon as Andre had gathered me into his arms, a protective bubble had formed around us—one that no one else could penetrate. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t look away from his face. Those gorgeous blue eyes, the wide grin, the strong line of his jaw, it was mesmerizing. He was mesmerizing. I was a bit surprised that I didn’t trip, since I really had no idea what my feet were doing. I could only imagine the magic of the circle helped to carry us along. It certainly made my suspicion that Taliyah had stomped on Fox as a kind of revenge a lot more plausible.

  We weren’t doing any kind of recognized dance. I figured the waltz would be the closest, one of my hands clasped in his, the other at his shoulder. Andre’s hand dropped down to cup the side of my waist, and I felt the heat of his flesh radiate through my skin. We dipped under the arms of a tall, thin fae with leaves for hair, and ended up somehow even closer together, now chest to chest.

  The air was warmer, heating between us like water slowly coming to a boil. I could easily lose myself in the beauty of Andre’s eyes or the way his smile seemed to mimic mine.

  “There is something about you, Poppy Morton,” he whispered as he shook his head. “Some sort of bewitching power I’ve never come across before… and one I still can’t put my finger on.”

  “I could say the same of you!” I answered on a giggle.

  He twirled me around again, before catching me even closer than he had before and the heat between us seemed to take on a life of its own. I could feel my heart rate increasing, my breath coming faster.

  Out of the corner of my eye, among the glowing threads of magic that moved through the circle, a flash of scarlet caught my attention. It was a real effort to turn my head to the side, to look away, but the color was so much brighter than any other I’d seen. Not the muted rusts and browns of autumn, not even the silver and blues of Taliyah’s magic twining around us, keeping us from overheating as we danced. That little flash had been as red as blood.

  I had no idea what it was about dancing the circle together that had caused it, but power wrapped around Andre and me like a scarlet ribbon, looping our hands together, pulling us closer. I remembered seeing the red ribbon before, when Andre had been in Haven Hollow the first time, and he’d performed a magic show at the Half-Moon. Finn had volunteered me as Andre’s assistant, and one spell had done something very similar to what appeared to be happening now—a spell that bound us up in red ribbons, tying our hands together. Andre had looked even more startled than I had, at the time.

  He didn’t look startled now though. There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t place—something as he watched the red lines of magic twine around our clasped hands. Something that resembled longing? Happiness? Understanding?

  “I wondered if it could be true,” he started as he looked down at the satiny ribbons that bound our wrists together.

  “If what could be true?”

  He motioned to the ribbons.

  “What are they?” I asked, but when Andre brought his eyes back to mine, there wasn’t even a shadow of that surprised expression left on his face. He just grinned and twirled us again, and again, until I was dizzy and almost breathless with laughter. I leaned against his chest to steady myself, using the hand I had on his shoulder to keep myself upright, and turned my head just far enough to see his face.

  The laughter died at the expression Andre was wearing. His eyes had drifted down to my mouth, and my breath just about turned to steam in my throat from the sudden flash of heat that tore through me. My head swam, full of music and joy and the love of movement and song. Magic sang inside me, haunting and wordless. I was still smiling when I leaned forward, my lips parting.

  “Ah,” Fox said, a little too cheerfully to be genuine. “There you are.”

  And just like that, the magic broke around us. It was as if Fox had simply pulled out the ‘revelry’ plug.

  I jerked back, as shocked as if I’d had ice water dumped over my head. Andre looked almost as badly off, blinking away the last traces of the mirth of the circle.

  I felt cold, from the loss of the magic, and from the loss of his warmth.

  I took a shaky breath, all the joy, and the music and the fun withering to ashes of regret and embarrassment in a heartbeat. With shaky hands, I pulled my cardigan a little more firmly around myself, and turned to see just who Fox had caught.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t a short, nervous looking fae with a snub nose and hair like a hedgehog’s quills.

  The little guy looked like he was about ready to pass out, and Fox hadn’t done anything more than pin him in place with a little flexing of power. Of course, the murderous way Taliyah was glaring at him probably wasn’t doing anything good for his blood pressure, if that was even a thing faeries had to worry about.

  “What are you called?” Fox asked as he smiled, but the curl of his lips was as cold as a late November frost. He’d never looked more like a fox then he did just then.

  The faerie squirmed in place, desperately looking for a way out of the trap that pinned him, before finally slumping his shoulders in obvious defeat.

  “Hob,” he said sullenly.

  Bea, who’d slipped up beside me at some point, made a little sound of disgust in the back of her throat, her button nose scrunched up. “Hob just means ‘elf’ in the old tongue.” Fox looked back at her with a nod. “He’s basically claiming to be ‘John Smith’.”

  It was clear Fox didn’t think much of ‘Hob’s’ answer either, with the way the grass withered to gray and yellow under the faerie’s feet.

  Hob quailed, his spines pressing flat to his skull in a smooth cap. “I haven’t done anything! I’m innocent! You’ve no right to hold me here.”

  “You are trespassing, Hob,” Fox explained gently. “You were not invited into the Hollow. Nor do you have permission to be here.”

  Hob looked like he wanted to curl in on himself, his beady eyes darting around, looking for a way out.

  Fox let him stew with that for a moment, maybe hoping Hob would give some further insight as to why he was here, but when that failed, Fox apparently decided to revert to more obvious tactics. “Why are you here, Hob?”

  I was pretty sure, if he was physically capable of it, that Hob (or whatever his real name was) would have curled up into a little ball, his spikes out in defense. But either he wasn’t capable, or, just as likely, he knew exactly how well that would go over with Fox and Taliyah, both of whom I was fairly sure were much more powerful than this little guy.

  Instead, Hob rubbed his palms against the sides of his trousers in a nervous gesture. “I’m… I’m just passing through, just passing through—that’s right. I didn’t mean any harm. I just felt the circle going up, and I couldn’t resist the chance for a dance.” He laughed nervously. “You know how it is.”

  By the way Fox’s lips tightened, and the way the power convulsed around Hob, drawing a yelp from his throat, the Prince of the Autumn Court wasn’t buying it and was probably fairly annoyed with the thought that Hob was lying directly to his face. I got the feeling that Fox wasn’t accustomed to people lying to him.

  Taliyah strode forward then, and stepped in front of Fox, who raised an eyebrow at her but fell back enough so she could face Hob without Fox looming over her shoulder. I imagined Fox didn’t like to be the second in charge in any situation, especially where Taliyah was concerned, but point for him in that he didn’t argue it. A little storm of snowflakes flurried around Taliyah before falling down to gently kiss the grass.

  Hob glanced at the snowflakes that were whirling through the air and looked distinctly green around the edges.

  “Passing through to… where,” Taliyah demanded in her Chief Morgan voice.

  Hob blinked. “What?”

  She pinned him with her thoroughly unimpressed stare, the one I was sure could make teenage delinquents cry at forty paces. “You said you were just passing through. So, I want to know: where were you passing through to? I’m assuming you had a destination.”

  “Um, well, yes, of course,” Hob stammered. Then he did this weird, manic little laugh.

  I hadn’t known that fairies could sweat. Or maybe that was just a hedgehog thing.

  Taliyah’s scowl should have frozen him solid on the spot. “I don’t like repeating myself,” she said, her eyes scrutinizing.

  Hob stammered, trying to bluster, but the way he wrung his hands together was pretty telling. He wasn’t a good liar.

  Fox smiled, showing far too many teeth. He looked like, well, a fox that had just caught something tasty. “The heir to the throne of Winter asked you a question, Hob, and I believe it would be prudent of you to answer the beautiful lady.”

  Even halfway across the circle, I could see the nervous bob of the fae’s throat as he swallowed. And I could see the aggravation in Taliyah’s eyes that was, no doubt, aimed at Fox’s comment about her being beautiful. She was definitely one hard egg, but I really admired her for it. In fact, Taliyah Morgan was a woman who was very easy to admire.

  “Portland,” Hob squeaked, his eyes wide. “I’m heading to Portland.”

  Taliyah crossed her arms. “Portland? Really,” she drawled. “You know Portland is in that direction, right?” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, in exactly the opposite direction of the woods.

  “Oh,” Hob said, immediately nodding. “Yes, that’s right.”

  “So, what were you doing hiding out in the forest, then?” Taliyah continued.

  Hob gaped, blinking too much. “I, uh, I like the woods. They’re… well, they’re familiar.” He brightened, apparently thinking that was a pretty good answer.

  Taliyah obviously didn’t agree. “You know, Hob. We’ve been having some trouble in town recently.”

  “Have you?”

  She nodded. “We have. Someone has been using old faerie pranks against our people, doing things like souring all the milk, cursing the humans with elf-knots, and others with dancing curses. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  “Who, me?” Hob laughed, but the sound came out more like a wheeze. It kind of reminded me a balloon slowly deflating. “Why would I do anything like that?”

  Taliyah’s hands dropped to her hips. I’d seen her pull that move before, because in her work clothes, it pushed her suit jacket back to reveal the badge clipped to her belt more clearly, like she was trying to remind people just who they were talking to. She wasn’t wearing her badge at the moment, but the frosty stare and the icy fall of her hair coming loose from its bun was far more intimidating than any human state of office could ever be.

  “You tell me,” Taliyah said, her voice grim.

  “As entertaining as all of this is, I do have better things to do with my time.” Wanda strode forward, somehow managing to stalk across my lawn in her high heeled boots without breaking an ankle. With supernatural grace and attitude, she managed to make my backyard look like a runway as she closed the distance between herself and Taliyah.

  “If the little vermin doesn’t want to confess, there are other ways to go about learning the truth,” Wanda said to Taliyah with her best witchy smile, the one that made her look downright vicious.

  Taliyah hesitated, obviously not used to people jumping in on her interrogations. Normally, she would have snapped at anyone trying to get in on her police work. But something in Wanda’s expression seemed to make her hesitate.