Flee (30 page)

"I see." I start to look at the information I have been given again, but Damien stops me once more.

"Poppy." His voice is a bit softer than usual, which alarms me because I have never heard this tone from Damien. I glance up to see him looking not at me, but out into the garden. "You must know that if the seelie queen is able to somehow override our powers, and you are not back in the faery realm…" He pauses for a moment, making my anxiety grow. "You will be trapped in the human world until we are able to gain control over the portals once again." He looks back to me. Along with the seriousness, there is also another look on his face I do not recognize.

A small part of me wishes for it to be concern, but before I can figure it out, it is gone. His face is stern, and he continues. "You must work quickly and return with the halfling as soon as possible. That is an order." With his final command, he rises from the bench, summons his spell, and strides quickly back into the castle.

I am a bit unsettled by the encounter that I have just had with Damien. That quick look of possible concern across his face confuses me. I shake my head as if to clear the thoughts and look back down to the paper in my hand. I turn the page and find a photo of a boy looking back at me. For some reason, looking at his image causes a feeling I have not felt since I was a child to course through my body.

It is one of fear.