ash stepped forward, bowing his head respectfully. "elder," he murmured, "we were told you might know the secret to slaying the iron king."

the ancient dryad regarded him solemnly. "yes, young prince," she whispered. "you heard true. there is a way to kill machina and end his reign. you need a special weapon, one that cannot be forged with tools, something as natural as a flower growing in the sunlight."

ash leaned forward eagerly. "where can we find this weapon?"

the elder dryad sighed, and seemed to shrink in on herself. "here," she murmured, looking back at the great oak, her voice tinged with sadness. "the weapon you require is witchwood, from the heart of the most ancient of trees, as deadly to machina as iron is to normal fey. a living wood containing the spirit of nature and the power of the natural earth-a bane to the faeries of progress and technology. without it, you cannot hope to defeat him and save the human child."

ash fell silent, his face grim. bewildered, i looked to him, then back at the elder dryad. "you'll give it to us, won't you?" i asked. "if it's the only way to save ethan-"

"meghan," grimalkin murmured from the grass, "you do not know what you are asking. witchwood is the heart of the elder's tree. without it, the oak will die, and so will the dryad connected to it."

dismayed, i looked at the elder dryad, whose lips curled in a faint smile. "it's true," she whispered. "without its heart, the tree will slowly wither and die. and yet, i knew what you came for, meghan chase. i planned to offer it from the beginning."

"no," i said automatically. "i don't want it. not like this. there has to be another way."

"there is no other way, child." the elder shook her head at me. "and if you do not defeat the iron king, we will perish all the same. his influence grows. the stronger he becomes, the more the nevernever fades. eventually we will all wither and die in a wasteland of logic and science."

"but i can't kill him," i protested. "i'm not a warrior. i just want ethan back, that's all."

"you won't have to worry about that." the dryad nodded to ash, standing silently nearby. "the winter prince can fight for you, i imagine. he smells of blood and sorrow. i will happily grant the witchwood to him."

"please." i looked at her, pleading, wanting her to understand. puck had already possibly given his life for my quest; i didn't want another's death on my hands. "i don't want you to do this. it's too much. you shouldn't have to die for me."

"i give my life for all fey," the dryad replied solemnly. "you will simply be my instrument of salvation. besides, death comes for us all, in the end. i have lived a long life, longer than most. i have no regrets."

she smiled at me, an old, grandmotherly smile, and faded back into her oak. ash, grim, and the other dryads stood silently, their expressions somber and grave. a moment later, the elder reemerged, clutching something in her withered hands-a long, straight stick, so pale it was almost white, with reddish veins running down its length. when she stepped up and offered it to me, seconds passed before i could take it. it was warm and smooth in my hands, pulsing with a life of its own, and i almost hurled it away.

the elder placed a withered, knobby hand on my arm. "one more thing, child," she added as i struggled with holding the living wood. "you are powerful, much more so than you realize. oberon's blood flows through your veins, and the nevernever itself responds to your whims. your talent still sleeps within you, but it is beginning to stir. how you use it will shape the future of the courts, the fey, your own destiny, everything.

"now," she continued, sounding weaker than before, "go and rescue your brother. the trod to machina's realm is an abandoned factory down by the wharfs. a guide will lead you there tomorrow. kill the iron king and bring peace to both our worlds."

"what if i can't?" i whispered. "what if the iron king truly is invincible?"

"then we will all die," said the elder dryad, and faded back into her oak. the other dryads left, leaving me alone with a cat, a prince, and a stick. i sighed and looked down at the wood in my hands.

"no pressure or anything," i muttered.

part iii

chapter twenty

iron dragons and packrats

we left at dawn. time enough for me to catch maybe two hours of sleep on the lumpy ground, and say my last goodbyes to puck. he was still sleeping, deep within the tree, when i woke up in the still hours before sunrise. the dryad attached to the oak told me he still lived, but she didn't have any idea when he would wake.

i stood beside the oak for several minutes, my hand against the bark, trying to feel his heartbeat through the wood. i missed him. ash and grimalkin might be allies, but they were not friends. they wanted to use me for their own ends. only puck truly cared, and now he was gone.

"meghan." ash appeared behind me, his voice surprisingly gentle. "we should go. we can't afford to wait for him, not if it could be months before he wakes up. we don't have that time."

"i know." i pressed my palm into the bark, feeling the rough edges scrape my skin. wake up quickly, i told him, wondering if he dreamed, if he could feel my touch through the tree. wake up quickly, and find me. i'll be waiting.

i turned to ash, who was dressed for battle, with his sword at his waist and a bow slung across his back. looking at him made my skin tingle.

"do you have it?" i asked, to hide the burning in my cheeks.

he nodded, and held up a gleaming white arrow with red veins curling around it. he'd asked for the witchwood the previous night, claiming he could turn it into a suitable weapon, and i gave it to him without hesitation. now i stared at the dart, feeling my apprehension grow. it seemed like such a small, fragile thing to take down the supposedly invincible king of the iron fey.

"can i hold it?" i asked, and ash immediately placed the arrow in my palm, his fingers lingering on mine. the wood throbbed in my hand, a rhythmic pulse-pulse, like a heartbeat; i shuddered and held it out, waiting for him to take it back.

"hold on to it for me," ash said softly, his gaze never leaving mine. "this is your quest. you decide when i'm supposed to use it."

i blushed and opened my backpack, shoving the dart inside. the shaft of the arrow stuck out of the pack, and i closed the zippers around it, securing it in place before swinging the thing over my shoulders. the bag was heavier now; last night, i'd raided a park fountain and scraped up enough change to buy food and bottled water for the rest of the journey. the clerk at the nearby gas station seemed a bit annoyed at having to count handfuls of dimes and quarters at one in the morning, but i didn't want to start the final leg of our journey empty-handed. i hoped ash and grim liked beef jerky, trail mix, and skittles.

"you'll only get one shot," i murmured. ash smiled without humor.

"then i'll have to make it count."

he sounded so confident. i wondered if he was ever afraid, or had second thoughts about what he had to do. holding a grudge seemed foolish now, since he was about to follow me into mortal danger. "look, i'm sorry about last night," i offered. "i didn't mean to be a psycho. i was just worried about ethan. and with puck getting shot and everything-"

"don't worry about it, meghan."

i blinked, my stomach fluttering. that was the first time he'd called me by name. "ash, i-"

"i have been thinking," grimalkin announced, leaping onto a rock. i glared and bit down a sigh, cursing his timing. the cat plowed on without notice. "perhaps we should rethink our strategy," he said, looking at each of us. "it occurs to me that charging headlong into machina's realm is a singularly bad idea."

"what do you mean?"

"well." the cat sat down and licked his back toes. "given that he keeps sending his officers after us, i would guess that he probably knows we are coming. why did he kidnap your brother in the first place? he must have known you would come after him."

"overconfident?" i guessed. grimalkin shook his head.

"no. something is missing. or maybe we are just not seeing it. the iron king would have no use for a child. unless..." the cat looked up at us, narrowing his eyes. "i am leaving."

"what? why?"

"i have a theory." grimalkin stood, waving his tail. "i think i might know another way into machina's realm. you are welcome to join me."

"a theory?" ash crossed his arms. "we can't break plan on a hunch, cait sith."

"even if the way you are going leads straight into a trap?"

i shook my head. "we have to risk it. we're so close, grim. we can't turn back now." i knelt to face grimalkin eye to eye. "come with us. we need you. you've always pointed us in the right direction."

"i am not a fighter, human." grimalkin shook his head and blinked. "you have the prince for that. i accompanied you to show you the way to your brother, and for my own amusement. but i know my limitations." he looked at ash and pinned his ears. "i would be no help to you in there. not the way you are going. so, it is time we settled our debts and parted ways."

that's right. i still owed the cat a favor. uneasiness stirred. i hoped the cat wouldn't ask for my voice, or my future kid. i still didn't know what went on in that devious little head of his. "right." i sighed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. ash moved to stand behind me, a quiet, confident presence. "a deal's a deal. what do you want, grim?"

grimalkin's gaze bore into me. he sat up straight, flicking his tail. "my price is this," he stated. "i want to be able to call on you, once, at a time of my choosing, no questions asked. that is my debt."

relief washed through me. that didn't sound so bad. ash, however, made a thoughtful noise and crossed his arms.

"a summoning?" the prince sounded puzzled. "odd for you, cait sith. what do you hope to accomplish with her?"

grimalkin ignored him. "when i call," he continued, staring at me, "you must come straightaway without pause. and you must help me in any way you are able. those are the terms of our contract. you are bound to me until they are fulfilled."

"all right." i nodded. "i can live with that. but if you call, how will i know where to find you?"

grimalkin sneezed a laugh. "do not worry about that, human. you will know. but for now, i must leave you." he stood, nodding once to me, then to ash. "until we meet again."

then he slipped into the grass, his bottlebrush tail held straight up, and disappeared.

i smiled sadly. "and then there were two."

ash moved closer and touched my arm, a brief, featherlight caress. i glanced at him and he offered that tiny, endearing smile, one of apology and encouragement, and a silent promise that he would not leave me. i gave him a shaky grin and resisted the urge to lean into him, wanting to feel his arms around me once more.

a piskie spiraled down from the branches, hovering a few inches from my face. blue-skinned, with dandelion hair and gossamer wings, she stuck out her tongue at me and zipped to ash, alighting on his shoulder. ash cocked his head as the piskie whispered something in his ear. one corner of his mouth turned up; he glanced at me and shook his head. the piskie giggled and spun into the air again. i scowled, wondering what they were saying about me, then decided i didn't care.

"this is seedlit," ash said as the piskie spiraled through the air like a drunken hummingbird. "she'll lead us to the wharfs, and then to the factory. beyond that, we're on our own."

i nodded, my heart hammering in my ears. this was it, the last leg of the journey. at the end was machina and ethan, or death. i smirked with rash bravado and raised my chin. "all right, tinker bell," i told the piskie, who gave an indignant buzz. "lead on."

we followed the bobbing light toward the banks of the river, where the cold, slow waters of the mississippi churned under a slate-gray sky. we didn't speak much. ash walked beside me, our shoulders almost touching. after several silent minutes, i brushed his hand. he curled his fingers around mine, and we walked like that until we reached the factory.

a corrugated-steel building squatted behind a chain-link fence, a dark smudge against the sky. seedlit jabbered something to ash, who nodded gravely, before she zipped away out of sight. she had brought us as far as she could go; now we were on our own.

as we approached the gate, ash hung back a little, a pained look on his face.

"what's the matter?"

he grimaced. "nothing. just..." he nodded to the fence. "too much iron. i can feel it from here."

"does it hurt?"

"no." he shook his head. "i'd have to touch it for that. but it's draining." he looked uncomfortable admitting it. "it makes it difficult to use glamour."

i shook the gate experimentally. it wouldn't budge. heavy chains were wrapped around the entrance, padlocked together, and barbed wire coiled along the top of the fence.

"give me your sword," i told ash. he blinked at me.

"what?"

"give me your sword," i repeated. "we have to get in, and you don't like touching iron, right? let me have it, and i'll take care of it."