It was cold in the shadowy room, forty degrees, worse than the rain that was filling the pond behind the house. The only warmth inside was Tut singing Madam a lullaby, lovelier than any of them could have imagined from him. Some mornings, Eulalia had heard him singing the same song to the marsh marigolds.

Madam had always suffered from perpetually cold hands and could benefit from some warmth.

The derelict banister wobbled. Eulalia held on so tight. She might've fallen if she let go. It was hard to stay calm when the safety of Rowan's arms was several feet away and Liliana a few more fateful steps.

Whatever I do, I mustn't make any deals with her.

That Eulalia knew.

"You think I've made a mistake?" asked Liliana. "Care to explain?"

"Yes, I do." Eulalia halted at the bottom of the staircase, her slender feet turned in, rumpling the rug. She felt silly in her shabby socks, with her skirt bunched in her fists, a habit she'd kept since her first time at Hampstead House. She untangled her fingers and straightened her back. Though her throat clear was faint, Liliana must have heard it. Their cobwebbed chandelier couldn't dull her smile, white as bleached rice.

"Whatever business you have here is finished. Leave now before we call the police," Eulalia said, with all the base in her voice she could muster.

Liliana's laughter could've withered the shrubbery. "You've made an appearance at last. I was wondering when you would. Clara was never a good liar. So, you're the one she doesn't want to give up." She pinched her chin, her rosy lips pursed. "You're pretty enough for Andris I suppose. He has a taste for brown-eyed girls. What's your name, halfling?"

The look she gave Eulalia wasn't one Eulalia had seen her give the other children, her brows arched perilously high. Eulalia stumbled against the stairs, taken aback by her curiosity. Did faeries have a conscience? She couldn't tell. Liliana's cool exterior didn't give much away. Did she have a heart at all beneath all that velvet?

Eulalia glanced at Rowan. The children had gathered around him, quivering in Liliana's wintriness. Harlow clung to his leg, her little fingers holding taut to the closest thing she had to a guardian now. Eulalia couldn't read his mind, as much as she wanted to, but the fury in his eyes was plain.

Don't do it.

He spoke without saying anything at all.

I have no choice.

Eulalia wished he could read her mind. "Why do you want my name?" she asked.

Liliana shrugged. "It's only polite conversation."

You liar.

"Where has Clara been hiding you away? What has she been telling you all these years? That she cares about you?" Liliana's voice dropped in pitch. "That she kept you here for company? Of course, you didn't believe it, did you?" Her gaze widened. "You're too smart for that."

She looks like Sylvie's porcelain dolls.

Eulalia's palms itched for Rowan's hand to hold or to cling to her skirt again, her fingers just brushing the fabric. "Don't you worry about that," she said. "Like I said, you have no business here." Her tone was unconvincing, but she straightened her shoulders again. What she'd seen Liliana do to Madam was reason enough to be afraid.

I could tell the children to run. Maybe we'll get far enough.

She didn't think so, not from the way Liliana moved.

Liliana's pale arched brows lowered to normal proportions. "My business with Clara has been longstanding. It's not my fault she didn't bother to mention why she's been keeping you lot." She treaded forward, as though on water, because her cloak was too long over her feet. "Do you know about my country? Do you know who I am?" She drifted closer, sending a gust of chilliness Eulalia's way. "No? I didn't think so." She turned with a full sweep of her cloak. "For all of you who are wondering, my name is Princess Liliana Bruma of Mondegreen. I am the daughter of your king, halflings. So, unless you want to end up like Clara, I suggest you do what I say."

Bruma? Where have I heard that name before?

The house had paused and the rats that made their nests in the walls were listening. Eulalia had the children to think of. Madam was of no help. Their cook was a heavy sleeper, probably unaware in the lower level of the house that there was a stranger in Hampstead House come to take them away. If she was, God help her. There was no one around for miles. Besides, as Madam's aide, the children trusted her. Even Madam trusted her in her own way. Eulalia frowned at Madam, bundled in Tut's arms like gossamer silk.

"What business did you have with Madam?" she asked. "Why do something like this?" She pointed, then snatched her trembling hand to her side. She'd rather be in bed, snug until dawn when Madam would screech for her to get up, but Madam wouldn't be yelling this morning.

She was no better than an infant.

"Oh, please. I could've killed her." Liliana rolled her eyes, but her features softened. "You really don't know anything, do you? So, let's start at the beginning."

"The beginning?" asked Eulalia.

"If you want to know why I did it, I'll tell you, halfling."

"Go on then." Eulalia crossed her arms. "Tell us."

Would it take their lives to get Liliana out of their home?

"Clara Rawsthorne is and has always been the worst thing a person could be. A liar," said Liliana, wandering to the rain-drenched windows. "But you might have already guessed that."

When her back was turned, Rowan dashed to Eulalia's side, the children following behind him. Eulalia held his hand in her left and Lena's in her right. It took some weight off her heart holding them so close. Liliana might try to tear them apart, but Rowan's palm touching hers reassured her they wouldn't give in so easily. Forever and always were more than words. It had conviction. The smallest sparrow had strength in her flock.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes." Eulalia pressed her cheek against his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid, Eulalia." He kissed her forehead. "This woman is dangerous."

A storm had come as she'd said, uprooting everything. How would things be without Madam to tell her what to do?

"Promise me?" Rowan insisted, his gaze leaving hers for a moment to Liliana staring out of a frost covered window.

The lie was weighty on the tip of her tongue, one slip and it would ruin his trust in her. In his warm gaze, she saw a life where they were safe and happy. How could she say no to such promises?

She held his gaze, hers as forceful as his. "I promise you, Row—"

"It started with the Ever Woods," said Liliana, watching them in that awed expression she'd given Eulalia. She'd been listening all along. "My grandfather built the woods with his bare hands, petal by petal and root by root. Do you know how hard it is for humans to cross the barrier into our world, halflings?" She laughed. "Nearly impossible."

The children shivered closer to Eulalia and Rowan. Eulalia heard each of their inhales and exhales. She wished to ask Liliana to ensure their safety, at the least Harlow and Perrie's.

"Somehow Clara Rawsthorne found a way." Liliana glowered at Madam.

Tut rocked her faster, still humming his song.

"We caught her and her friend eventually after they'd eaten half the fruit in our gardens." Liliana held Madam and Tut in a deadly glare. "You should have seen their engorged stomachs, bursting with faerie fruit. We don't usually let humans live after they've wandered into our lands," she said, releasing Madam and Tut from her attention, her gaze falling on Eulalia instead. "But she's an actress, that one." She nodded at Madam. "She begged for our pity." Liliana's lips curled at the edges. "You should have seen her on her knees, mouth stained damp from goose plums. She tried to convince us she'd been tricked into our realm by one of our own."

"It was true." Tut sniveled. "It wasn't a lie. It was true, miss."

Liliana might've heard his weeping, but she didn't acknowledge him. "Naturally, we made a deal with her for her life. I bet it isn't hard to guess what the deal was." She waved her hand through the air at them. "We Brumas are the charitable sort, my father especially. We kept her friend of course because she was pretty." Liliana batted her eyelashes at Eulalia.

"Enough with this," said Rowan, breathing like a bull beside Eulalia. "What do you want with us? We don't have anything for you."

"All of you are coming with me," said Liliana, polishing her nails on her cloak. "By will or by force. I don't care. Just don't try anything stupid."

"Don't go with her. Please don't go with her," Tut howled.

Heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs from the lower level of the house. "For God's sake it's two in the morning. Can't a woman get any peace and quiet around here?" Orla stormed into the room, tugging her robe closed, rollers wild in her hair and fresh sweat shining on her thick, white legs. She took one look at them—the children clustered, Madam and Tut bundled on the floor, then Liliana—and her mouth moved like a guppy's.

"What... What is this? What's going on?"

Eulalia yanked Lena nearer to her. Her nails pierced Rowan's hand hard enough to draw blood. "I want all of you to run when I say so," she said. "Run and don't look back."

Orla hastened to Madam and Tut. "What's wrong with Madam?" she asked, her thick frame eclipsing Madam's miniature form. She tossed aside the folds of Madam's clothing that were several sizes too big and cringed away. "Why does she look like that?"

Eulalia's teeth pricked her bottom lip. Orla looked around wildly for answers but found none in the children's faces, all drained of color. She grabbed the vase on a nearby end-table, dumping out the scatter of flowers Eulalia had arranged in it only two days ago, and wielded it at Liliana.

"Out," she said. "Get out." Despite her spirit, Eulalia saw that she was trembling.

"Do you always sweat like a pig?" Liliana asked, amused.

"I won't tell you again," Orla said, raising the vase over her head.

Liliana rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you ask nicely."

"I don't have to ask. This is my home." Orla bustled towards her, ready to clobber her with the vase.

"Run children," Eulalia bellowed. "Run as fast and as hard as you can. Don't let her catch you."

Rowan picked up Harlow and Eulalia took Perrie's hand, tugging him and Lena for the door. Whatever Orla planned to do to Liliana might not give them enough time, but it was their only chance. "Go for Tut's shack," she said. The only place they could hide.

Once they were outside, Lena let go of her to follow Fallon. Mud splattered their legs as they ran hard for cover, trekking footprints in the sodden ground. But they didn't have time to worry. They might not be able to elude Liliana for long. It was hard for Perrie to keep up, sliding behind Eulalia, and she was sure she couldn't carry him.

"Come on, Perrie." She dragged him to the small house, blurred by the rain in her vision. "We need to go faster."

"I can't," he said. He was soaked to the skin in his pajamas.

"I know it hurts but you have to try."

Thunder cracked, splitting the starry sky down its middle. Without her boots to cushion her steps, the run wasn't easy on Eulalia's feet. Her socks were thickened with mud and jagged rocks stabbed her toes. "Run. Keep going," she told them. Rowan stretched his hand behind him, and she clasped his fingers, remembering how she'd once kissed the scars on his fingertips.

Please, let us stay safe.

She pulled Perrie ahead. It was so dark still. All the taunts from Madam couldn't have prepared her for this. This was chaos. They stole away down the sloped ground to the shack. Rowan rammed the door open with his shoulder, and they nearly trampled each other to get into the house that reeked of onions and garlic. They hid in the gloom, in the corners near the twin bed or by the fireplace with blackened logs, anywhere away from the windows and door, where the moonlight wouldn't reveal them. A loose nail pinched Eulalia's thigh on the hard floor where she sat with Rowan, Harlow, and Perrie, the only crook of the square-shaped house that didn't have a window.

She was still grasping Rowan's fingers.

"Can we turn on the lights now?" Perrie asked. "It's too dark."

"Listen, Perrie." Eulalia pulled him closer. "Listen to what I say. I want you to be brave okay. No matter what you hear, no matter how afraid you are, try hard to stay calm. Can you do that for me?" He nodded, tucking in his small, pointed chin. Eulalia made out that much in the dark. She pulled him again to rest against her and brushed her fingers along his cheek. "A bad person has come to take us away, but I won't let her."