Dead Ground (Harbinger P.I. Book 4) by Adam J Wright

Author:Adam J Wright
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2016-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The brightness faded and the world around me came into view. At first, I could only see the outlines of trees, then the clearing I was standing in, then the ring of hawthorn bushes around me. I looked around to see my friends standing with me.

“What the hell just happened?” Girard asked, pointing his gun at the surrounding forest. “Where are the demons?”

“We’re in Faerie,” I told him. “They can’t follow us here. For now, anyway.” I turned to Gloria. “Do you know exactly where we are?”

She looked at the trees, at the bright sky, and shook her head. “Not exactly, no.”

“But we’re in Faerie, right?”

Gloria nodded. “Oh, yes, definitely. But Faerie is a big place, at least as large as your world, probably even larger. I don’t know every corner of it. I usually stay in my forest. And this…”—she gestured at the trees—“…is not my forest.”

I turned to the others. “Listen to me carefully. Faerie is a dangerous place. Don’t eat or drink anything, don’t talk to the inhabitants, don’t even look at anything for too long in case you become entranced.”

“Oh, Alec,” Gloria said, “you make it sound so dreadful. This is my home and the folk who live here aren’t monsters.”

“Some of them are,” I told her. “Ogres, trolls, goblins…”

“Yes, yes, all right. No place is perfect.”

“And whatever you do,” I said to the others, “don’t make a bargain with anyone here, no matter how innocent it might seem. You’ve all heard fairy tales where humans get stuck in the faerie realm, right?”

They nodded.

“They’re true. Those stories were written as a warning and as a guide for dealing with faerie beings. Don’t underestimate this place, because if you do, you’ll never go home.”

I looked around at them all in turn, trying to gauge if my words had sunk in. Jim had a look of grim determination on his face. He’d been here before and knew the risks. Leon looked similarly grim-faced. The last time we’d been here, he’d almost been entranced by two faeries in a pool so he knew to be on his guard. Detective Frasier looked worried as hell and I couldn’t blame her for that. I was worried myself. Girard was looking around with a sense of wonder in his eyes, his face slack-jawed.

“Girard, pull it together,” I told him. “If you let this place enchant you, it will.”

He looked at me with dull, confused eyes. “Yeah, okay. I’m…fine.”

I turned to Gloria. “How do we get out of here as quickly as possible and get back to the human world? You said that’s where you hid your torc, so we’re wasting time here.”

“Yes, we need to go to your world,” she said, “but it isn’t as easy as that. First we need to find the right portal.”

I sighed in frustration. I didn’t want us spending any more time in Faerie than we had to, especially searching for another damned portal. Girard looked like he was losing it big time. He’d had a shock that had rocked his deepest beliefs.

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