Seanna continued, “And then, after they hold me captive, Gabriel and…that…other man—”

“I think you know Patrick. Intimately.” Alexios turned to Helia and whispered, “Old age. You forget everything.”

“Unless you’re us.”

“True.”

“That man is not Patrick,” Seanna said. “I don’t know what his game is, but there’s no possible way—”

“He aged well,” Alexios said.

“Very well,” Helia added.

“Better than you.”

“Much better.”

“They’re adorable,” Ricky whispered in my ear.

“They have their moments,” I murmured.

“That man is not Patrick,” Seanna said. “And whatever happened in that place, with those birds and the earthquake and the floor—”

“Faeries,” I said.

“What?”

“You asked what’s going on. I’m answering. You like fae lore, right? That’s what I heard. Well, there’s your answer.” I waved at Alexios and Helia. “Dryads.” Then Ricky. “Arawn. Or the living incarnation of him. You know who that is, right? Lord of the Otherworld? Leader of the Cŵn Annwn? That’s him. I get to play Matilda. Mallt-y-Nos, technically. And Gabriel? Well, that’s kind of a funny story. You named him after the Wild Hunt—Gabriel’s Hounds—but he’s actually the star of the opposing team. Gwynn ap Nudd. King of the Fae.”

Seanna stared at me. Blinked. Then she snapped, “I don’t like being mocked, little girl. I don’t know who you think you are—”

“Matilda,” Helia said.

“Mallt-y-Nos,” Alexios said, then whispered, “I don’t think she’s paying attention.”

“Hearing loss,” Helia said. “It happens when you get old.”

“Unless you’re us.” Alexios cleared his throat. “Let’s clear this up.” He put out his hand, as his skin thickened to tree bark. “See? Dryad.”

Seanna fell back. “Wh-what— What did you give me?”

Alexios reached to catch her, but his hands were still covered in bark, and she kept staggering away until she hit the couch and toppled onto it.

“Well, that was ill-advised, agori mou,” Helia murmured. She walked over to Seanna and crouched beside her as the woman tried to rise from the sofa. “You’ve taken a lot of drugs in your life, Seanna. They’ve done things to your mind. You’re prone to hallucinations. In fact, everything you’ve seen and heard today? It’s all in your mind. It’s very sad, but we found you like that and contacted your son, and he brought you here to Cainsville. Do you understand?”

I expected Seanna to tell her where to go. Instead, she nodded dumbly, her eyes wide.

“Compulsion?” I murmured to Alexios.

He nodded. “It works best when the recipient wants to believe, which Seanna obviously does. You said she was fond of fae lore, so I thought I was making the right move. Apparently not.”

“Muggles,” I said.

He smiled. “Half-bloods can be even worse. Either they want the answers, or they really don’t. I misjudged.”