“If that was the case, there wouldn’t be a whole prophecy about it,” Meria said. “There’s something here we don’t understand.”
“I think there’s a lot we don’t understand,” Eve said.
“But what if you get caught knowing about me?” I said. “This is too dangerous for you.”
“Oh, shut up,” Meria said. “We’re your friends. We’re not going to turn you in. We’re going to help you get to the bottom of this.”
Gratitude welled inside me, fierce and overwhelming.
I looked back at the statue of my parents. I might not have them at my side, but I had Meria and Eve.
“Can we go to the Truth Teller and ask her?” I said.
Meria frowned. “Not if we want to get back here. There are no portals, just the train.”
“And she probably doesn’t know anything,” Eve said. “She already told you everything she knows.”
“That’s what we think, but maybe not.” I was probably grasping at straws, but I desperately wanted answers, and she had seemed all-knowing.
“We can ask the historian,” Meria said. “She would know if there’s someone here who can help.”
“I like that plan.” At this point, I’d like any plan. I wanted to have something to do to solve this. I rubbed at my chest, feeling twitchy with the strange magic inside me. “I want it out of me.”
“I know.” Meria rubbed my shoulder. “There’s something strange about it.”
I looked up at the stars, happy to see them again. Confused, too. “I can feel them more strongly now.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Eve asked.
“Maybe. I hope so.”
“Let’s go.” Meria took my arm and led me from the clearing.
We’d only gone a few steps when I realized the rest of the maze had been destroyed.
“What happened?” Eve’s voice was low with shock.
I spun in a circle, taking in the devastation all around. It looked like the greenhouse—utter destruction. The hedges had been flattened, the statuary destroyed.
All that remained was the hedge around the small clearing in which we’d stood and the statue of my parents. Almost as if I’d created a protective bubble over the part that mattered and destroyed the rest.
“I think it was me,” I whispered.
Shouts sounded from across the lawn, and I turned to see people spilling out of the palace and onto the grounds. One of them shouted and pointed at us.
“Oh, shit,” Meria said.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Eve said.
She was right. With the maze destroyed, it was open fields and gardens for miles. Nowhere to hide.
And the people who’d spotted us were nearly to us.
Last night, I must have staggered away from the destruction before I’d been seen.
Tonight, I wasn’t so lucky.
Lore was nowhere in sight as the palace guards stopped in front of us. There were half a dozen of them, each in a perfect gray uniform. The King of the Irish Fae stood behind them, along with the leaders of several other courts.
“What happened here?” King Fionn demanded.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Everything just…went crazy. But we didn’t see whoever did it.”
Skepticism flashed across his face, and I swallowed hard. It was probably too much to hope that he would believe me. I looked at Meria and Eve out of the side of my vision. They both looked pale with worry. Guilt.
“It was me.” I stepped forward. “I did it. Not them.”
Meria hissed at me and grabbed my hand.
King Fionn smiled, and the cunning in his eyes sent a chill through me. When I looked at the fae behind him, I didn’t see any of the support I’d hoped for. And Lore was still nowhere to be seen.
“The place reeks of a unique sort of magic,” said King Fionn. “And she stinks of that same magic.”
Shit. It was the magical equivalent of a fingerprint. I looked back at Eve and Meria. The worry on their faces cemented the idea in my mind.
They had me.
“Take her to the prison,” King Fionn said.
“No, please don’t! I didn’t mean to do it.” Fear iced my skin. “It was an accident, I swear.”
Two of the guards grabbed me, one taking each arm. Together, they dragged me toward the palace.
Oh, shit.
I looked back at my friends.
King Fionn pointed to them. “Them as well. Until we know if they are innocent, they can’t be allowed to roam.”