Issie shudders and grabs on to Devyn’s arm.
She continues, yanking her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten things out. “The pixie king only maintains control through power. When he’s weak he loses control. Some pixies like that Ian or Megan try to take over. To do that, they have to find their own queen.”
“So why Zara? Why did Ian want her?” Devyn asks. He leans forward, fingers twitching like he wants to take notes.
“I think it’s because she has some pixie genes already. We already know that her mother attracts them and maybe—”
“What do you mean some genes?” Nick interrupts.
“Because of who her father is.”
I try to get off the couch, but Nick’s hand holds me in place. “Her father is the . . .”
Betty’s eyes flash. “You didn’t tell them?”
My stomach falls into a broken place, acting just like my arm.
“Her biological father is the pixie king,” Betty finishes.
Nick is the first one to react. He jumps up, his mouth wide open. He basically shouts in Betty’s face. “You always knew this?”
She nods.
His hands clench into fists. He turns on me. “So Zara’s part pixie?”
“I don’t know how the genes work, Nick,” Betty explains. “It’s not like we’ve done a full genetic rundown on her. She seems normal.”
“I seem normal?” I mutter.
“But she’s prettier than normal,” Issie says.
“And she’s a fast runner,” Devyn adds.
“But not supernaturally fast,” Gram explains as Nick stomps around the room. “Nick Colt, would you just calm down? Steam is coming out your ears.”
“Zara’s part pixie!” he yells. His eyes flash, full of menace. “She can’t be part pixie.”
“Are you listening to a thing I’m saying?” Gram asks, and her face is far from happy or patient. “Her father is a pixie. That does not mean that she exhibits any pixie tendencies.”
“She’s a freaking pixie!” Nick yells. He looks at me like he’s never seen me before and he doesn’t like what he sees at all. “Jesus!”
He storms across the room and slams the door. It sends shock waves through my heart.
“Nick!” Issie yells, leaping up after him.
“He’s such a wolf sometimes.” Gram shakes her head. “Leave him be.”
The tires of the MINI squeal. Something inside me scrunches up and heavies.
“We have to go after him,” Devyn says. “He’s dangerous when he’s like this. Sometimes he turns.”
He starts wheeling across the living room floor. Issie starts after him and then runs back to me. She throws her tiny arms around my shoulder, jostling my broken arm. “It’s okay, Zara. Even if you were a hundred percent pixie, you’d still be Zara.”
Tears spring out of my eyes. My throat closes up.
“He won’t be stubborn forever,” she says and then lets go of me, running out the door after Devyn.
Gram and I sit there for a while. I’m on the couch. She’s sprawled across the big red chair.
“So much for the plan,” I say. I lower my voice to a whisper, “How are we going to catch the king without Devyn and Nick?”
I’m supposed to be the bait. He’s supposed to think I’m alone. Then when he brings me outside Betty and Nick will attack. They’re at an advantage outside. Devyn will be the lookout. Then we’ll force him to tell us where Jay is. We know he’s going to come for me because he wants to use me for bait: bait to get my mom back.
“You want to bail?” Gram eyes me. I eye her.
“No. You’re tough enough to take down a pixie king all by yourself, aren’t you?”
“I’m tough enough to take down an entire army of those damn kings. You okay?” she asks.
I shrug and wipe at my eyes with the back of my good hand.
“I wish someone had told me all this a little earlier,” I manage. “Like when I was nine or something.”
She strides over and sits on the couch with me. “Ah, c’mon. We’ve only made a couple hundred mistakes. But you’re in charge now. I think things’ll get better.”
She gives me a tiny fake punch on my thigh and then gives in to the grammy in her and hugs me close. She smells like the forest and wood fires. She smells safe. I lean in and cry.
“You think he’ll hate me forever?”
“He’s a fool if he does.”
I sniff. “That doesn’t help.”
“You should have seen your father when he found out about your mother,” she says. “He was out of his mind.”
“So why?”
“Why what?”
“Why’d she do it?”
“She was trying to save the boys.”
“Huh?”
“Your mom’s a little like Nick. She has a hero complex. She just hides it better. Do you know what turned Nick on to the pixies in the first place? Not that he knew exactly what they were.”
I don’t answer.
“Well, Devyn was out crashing around the woods, running cross-country, when an arrow hit him, right in the spine. He screamed and fell. It hit him in the perfect place to paralyze him. Nick heard him scream and raced to where he was. He carried him to the road, but neither of them had figured out what it was that did that. It wasn’t until you got here and saw the king outside the cafeteria that they all started putting it together.”
“Oh my God. What did the police do?”
“They figured it was a hunter going after a coyote. They saw Nick’s tracks, but pixies don’t leave footprints.”
“Yep.” I swallow hard. “That’s so weird. This is all so weird.”
“So, anyway, that’s what turned him on to the fact that something was happening. All of a sudden he wanted to be this were knight, protecting the world. He’s always out patrolling, every lunch break, every study hall, every cross-country practice. The fact that they’ve taken two more boys . . . It’s killing him.”
I nod. “But what about my mom?”
“The only thing that stops the pixie king’s need is his queen. He’s been too long without her. It’s flaring up again.”