Luke walked Maura back to the safety of the building, where everyone was dancing and laughing and having the time of their enviable human lives. Maura paused at the threshold of the entrance and turned to him, the fabric of her dress brushing against his hand. "Thank you. For . . ." Her words trailed off and she gestured to the hill behind them. "You know."

"You're welcome," he replied, not knowing if she meant thank you for throwing a punch at the guy who had been all over her, or if she meant thank you for asking her to dance. He figured it didn't matter either way. She was welcome on both accounts.

Maura's heels dangled from the fingers of her right hand as she stood barefoot before him. He glanced down and saw her curl her toes into the cool, soft earth. The gesture made her seem even more vulnerable than she already was. Goosebumps pimpled her pale arms.

"You should go inside," he said. "It's cold out here."

She nodded and glanced over her shoulder at everyone dancing. Still, she didn't move. "Do you . . . do you want to hang out with Leanne and me? I know she wouldn't mind." And then she added, "I wouldn't mind."

He stared at her, considering the invitation. Judging the risk. "Thank you, but I can't."

She nodded again. "Okay. Just thought I'd ask. Well, thanks again." With a small wave, she vanished into the crowd.

Luke retreated to the dark interior of his car. He turned the ignition but didn't immediately drive away. All he had to go back to, after all, was an empty room. With the window rolled down, he could hear the music as it pulsed and vibrated. How desperate he was to be like them, if only for the night. He raised his hand to touch the glass vial tucked protectively under his shirt, trying not to recall how pleasant Maura had felt pressed against his chest, her head on his shoulder and her small, warm hand tucked into his. The vial was a shackle around his neck, a death sentence for them all. What would it reveal if he looked at it now?

"I know you're here," Luke said to the emptiness beside him. He had known Evelyn long enough that he could sense her presence, even when he couldn't see her. The darkness seemed to shimmer as the faery threw off her glamour and revealed herself.

"She is falling in love with you," Evelyn sing-songed. "But not fast enough." When he did not reply, she continued her goading. "You thought you could stop it from happening, but you cannot. Love always finds a way. Have you seen it?"

Luke didn't have to ask to know what she was talking about. "No."

"Go on, then." She could barely contain her excitement. "Take a look. See for yourself the effect you have on her."

Evelyn switched on the dim overhead light, and only then did he notice the notebook clutched in her hand. He recognized it as the one in which Maura had recorded his story. Anger flared in his chest and he snatched it from her. "Where did you get this?"

Evelyn's bottom lip jutted out with mock sympathy. "Such a sad, sad tale. But you already know that, don't you? What a shame that mortals never get their happily ever after."

"Where did you get this?" he demanded again. "It doesn't belong to you."

"Doesn't it, though? This story is just as much mine as it is yours. It belongs to all of those in The Otherworld."

Luke turned away from Evelyn and focused instead on groups of students trickling from the building. It was getting late. The dance would be over soon. This night would be a pleasant memory they would remember for as long as they lived. He knew he shouldn't confront Evelyn here or now, but he couldn't help himself.

"I discovered something interesting when I was at Maura's house."

"Oh? Please, do tell." Evelyn's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"I found a photograph of Maura's family."

Her slender shoulders rose and fell. "That's hardly interesting."

"Isn't it?" he challenged. The corner of Evelyn's mouth pulled up in silent reply, waiting for him to go on. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to wrap his hands around her neck and squeeze, an urge that took him by surprise. He clenched his hands in his lap. "Maura is not just another girl," Luke said. "She is Brendan's daughter."

Evelyn's eyes widened, visibly taken off guard. Had she not known, then? She raised her chin. "Our queen has a right to whomever she pleases, regardless of the girl's lineage."

"Why was I not told who she is?"

"Because the queen does not owe you an explanation! You have a duty to perform, regardless."

Luke turned away from Evelyn and stared out the open window, wrestling his emotions. He remembered Brendan. Maura's father had been an ever-present figure at Siobhan's side, serving the queen before he chose to leave The Otherworld and forcing Luke to take his place.

"Serving the queen is a life sentence," he said.

Evelyn tutted. "You make it sound so unpleasant."

He ignored the barb. "Meaning, I was under the impression we served for life. Why did the queen allow Brendan to leave?"

Evelyn didn't answer right away. "Perhaps he made the queen a promise she couldn't refuse."

Luke closed his eyes. "Are you suggesting he bargained his daughter's life?"

"Now, now. Don't be too hard on him," Evelyn said, patting his knee. "You see, he had become much as you are now."

"And what is that?" Luke asked through gritted teeth.

"Too . . . moral." She said the word with disgust, as though it was something to be ashamed of. "Maura would not have even been a thought in Brendan's imagination. He was a boy when he left. No older than you are now. I suppose he would have made this promise based on the assumption that he would leave The Otherworld and never woo another girl. The queen, I suppose, let him go because she was certain he would one day return to her."

"I know Maura," he whispered as a realization came to him. "I have met her before. I did not recognize her." The pieces of the puzzle were scattered in front of him, though he couldn't quite fit them together.

"Yes," Evelyn said, though more to herself than to him. There was a look on her face that he could not decipher.

"He didn't even tell them goodbye," Luke said. "He just disappeared."

Evelyn sighed as though tired. Or annoyed. It was sometimes hard to tell with her. "The queen loves Brendan. She always has."

"She told you this?" Luke asked. Evelyn had been the queen's handmaiden for an eternity, but he couldn't fathom that Siobhan, usually so stoic, would confide her secrets to the girl.

"Not with her words," Evelyn confirmed. "I know it the same way that I know Maura has feelings for you, and you for her. It is just so."

Luke's heart raced at the surety of Evelyn's words. "I do not believe he abandoned his family," he said. "I believe he is in The Otherworld."

Evelyn shook her head. "No. I would have known."

"Don't you understand? Maura is a debt to be paid. What if Brendan agreed to return if my mother promised to forgive that debt?" Luke looked at her sharply then. "But she hasn't forgiven it!"

"Siobhan is queen," Evelyn said, that undecipherable look returning to her face. "The queen will do whatever pleases her."

"My mother is going after Maura to spite Brendan for leaving," Luke said, feeling certain of the truth of his words.

"I don't pretend to know the queen's motivations," Evelyn replied. "I am nothing more than her handmaiden, remember?"

The faery breathed in deeply as her eyes welled suddenly with tears. Luke had never seen her cry before and wasn't entirely sure she was capable. It would come as no great shock if the heart she once possessed now hung black and shriveled in her chest. Even though Evelyn had begun life as a mortal, as some faeries did, she had been immortal now for eons. Just as quickly, however, she seemed to recall herself, furiously blinking away the tears.

"Not even immortals are immune to death," she said, her voice a fierce whisper. "Despite what they say. All of The Otherworld grows weak. Please, my sweet Lucas, if you care for our kind at all, you must play your part."

*****

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