Del called down, “Kayley wants to know if you’re broken.”

Only Rika could see the faeries who circled Del and Kayley in a mockery of a dance.

“Want to see if you can catch two at the same time?” one faery asked. He ran a hand through Kayley’s hair, lifting it and letting it fall into her face.

Absently, Kayley shoved her hair out of her face and stepped to the side.

The faery smirked.

Kayley might not know the cause, but she felt something. Mortals often reacted without knowing what they were evading, chalking it up to wind or insects. Faeries took amusement in it. Such was the normal order of things.

This time, however, Rika tensed. These mortals mattered. Even though they’d never spoken to her, they were the closest things she had to friends in the human world. The faeries who circled them knew it; they knew exactly how to hurt her—and right now, they wanted to hurt her.

All because Keenan had visited.

“Jayce?” Kayley prompted, sounding a bit more concerned now.

Oblivious to Del and Kayley’s danger, Jayce stretched, bending both arms, shifting weight from foot to foot, testing his body before answering Del. “Just bruised and bloodied . . .”

Del stepped forward and tossed a rucksack down. “Steri-wipes and bandages in here. Use ’em. We’ll be down soon.”

Then the two mortals walked away, breaking through the ring of faeries that they couldn’t see, going farther back on the cliff where they were out of sight.

While they were talking—and Jayce wasn’t looking at her—Rika had started walking away. She wasn’t up to dealing with the confrontational faeries or the fact that she’d revealed herself to mortals. She couldn’t become invisible just yet in case one of the mortals looked her way and caught her, but she might be able to quietly slip away.

When Jayce turned, he called “Hey!” and came after her. As he reached her side again, he added, “Hold up.”

“I need to be gone.” She stepped farther away.

Jayce held his hands up. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was an accident. . . .” He glanced briefly at the cliff. Del and Kayley were well away from the edge, and since he couldn’t see the faeries on the edge of the cliff, he saw nothing amiss.

Rika, however, could see the faeries watching; several were now sitting in postures akin to gargoyles. They perched and watched her. She knew that their irritation was a result of Keenan’s meddling in the desert, but she had no idea what to do about it. Later, she’d talk to Sionnach, but for now, all she could do was get away from the mortals, draw the surly faeries’ attention away from them.