A TAIL OF NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY: Old Enemies and Even Older Assholes

I don't know how long we shriek and dance until we all collapse in a heap. The hours melt away like seconds and I don't care. Belle Lake has a way of making things seem not so bad. I don't want to leave. And it's not just because of the Dark Ones. This place calls to me.

The only thing missing is Kon.

Even though I'm not asleep like everybody else, each lungful of air I breathe in makes me feel stronger and stronger.

Because this is where I belong.

And soon, Kon's gonna be safe.

Something jabs me in the nose. Seeing how Cousin Jack spent most of the night buck naked, I really hope it's an elbow.

I don't want to leave, but there's something I have to do. Even if I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell. But I do stand a chance. If I didn't, I'd already be spilling my guts to the Mourner. That, and there's no way I'm leading them into a place where they're just gonna massacre each other.

Dylan Caid took out a lot of Stone Hounds. I can take out one, right?

Careful not to wake the sleeping pile of monsters, I dislodge myself from the tangle of arms and legs.

Pigeon-Blood sits up to watch me.

"Count to thirteen, and then find me," I whisper to him, a knot rising in my throat.

As soon as he's snoring, I cover him with a blanket of soft moss.

Good-bye. Maybe forever.

Then I slip away and start searching for the path I came down, after leaving Mr. Unger. It's gotta be around here somewhere.

"Now I just have to find my way out of here," I grumble to myself. "And then out of Belle Lake. AND then get to the Lonely Lady and then have her get me close to the Once-Kingdom. AND THEN fight a crazy stone hound. Yeah, no problem."

I don't like all the and thens. Each one is a way I can mess this up.

Crouching down, I look for any hint of a path, cussing a little here and there.

"Oh yeah, this'll be easy," I whisper.

The others are far enough behind me that I don't have to worry about waking them up. Then again, maybe somewhere down in me, I kinda hope they do. They'd stop me from doing the stupid thing I'm about to.

After closing my eyes, I'm flooded with all the memories of this place. But the longer I'm here, the more I risk monsters that aren't the Dark Ones figuring out that I have Glass Magic.

And then I don't have to worry about Tulip starting a war at the Once-Kingdom.

Why can't I remember the path out of here? Is that a kind of whammy this place puts on you? You only sneak out if Belle Lake itself wants you to. I keep rambling, talking out loud. Maybe I could ask the Dark Ones for help after all. I mean, we don't have to fight Tulip in the Once-Kingdom. We could lay a trap and take him out. But what if that fails and we end up at the Once-Kingdom?

I'm tired of putting the people I care about in danger! I can't do anything that might hurt my family here or end up causing a war. I don't know what I'm saying out loud and what I'm keeping to myself.

Something throws a rock at me. Whoever's doing it is a much better shot than Lijah and hits me in the shoulder, hard.

"Knock it off!"

"No."

That's when I see William leaning against a tree, smirking at me.

"How long have you been there?"