I shot him an evil grin and was rewarded by his brief look of trepidation. “Please. Did you forget who you’re talking to, ice-boy? Just leave everything to me.”

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

FOR OBERON IS PASSING FELL AND WRATH

It was twilight when we crossed the barrier from the mortal realm into the wyldwood. Then again, it was always twilight beneath the wyldwood’s huge canopy. Sunlight couldn’t penetrate the thick branches of the trees rising hundreds of yards into the air. Unlike the vivid brightness of Summer and the frigid harshness of Winter, the wyldwood was eternally dark, tangled and dangerous. It was constantly changing, so you never knew what you’d run into next.

I loved it. Even though I was Summer, this felt more like home than anywhere else.

“Here we are,” I said, stepping beneath a pair of cypresses twisted together to form an arch between the trunks. Around us, the murk of the wyldwood closed in, though a few lone will-o’-the-wisps bobbed through the leaves, looking for lost travelers. Thick black briars crawled between trunks, creeping along the ground as they strangled the life from all other vegetation. “Arcadia isn’t far. I would’ve used the trod that takes us through the quartz caverns, but I’m afraid a lindworm has taken up residence since the last time I was there.”

Ash looked around, always alert, and raised an eyebrow. “You do realize you’ve brought us right into the middle of hedge wolf territory.”

Inwardly I winced. I was hoping he wouldn’t notice that small fact. “Well, we’ll just have to sneak through nice and quiet.”

“Hedge wolves don’t have ears,” Ash continued. “They hunt by sensing the vibrations in the ground. And in the air. They’re probably listening to us right now.”

“Do you want to reach the Summer Court or not, princeling?” I challenged, crossing my arms. “This is the quickest way.”

A rustle in a bramble patch drew our attention, and we caught a glint of a baleful green eye as something huge and bristly drew away into the shadows.

“And…there it goes to alert the rest of the pack.” Ash glared at me. “Why do things always happen when I’m around you?”

“Just lucky, I suppose,” I said cheerfully, as we hurried away before the rest of the pack could arrive.

* * *