Getting out of his cage was easier with help, Zach reflected, but it was possible alone, just a bit slower. He reached through the bars to drag the outer bit of turf aside, matching the inner one, and began to dig loosened soil out of the channel. Messy but doable.

Which was good. Des needed to stay with JC and Alison. Someone had to release Alison from her pasture and stable, and act as guide. Alison went a number of places while drawing the cart for Gord every day, but that wasn't the same as wandering loose at night; JC was rarely out of the house and not outside the centre's walls at all, eavesdropping all day and searching books and journals at night around endless housework. Erica was still with the wisps, or perhaps on the move with Suzi. She'd spent some time with them that afternoon, helping them strip the blackberries from their thorny stems; she took less damage and had no interest in eating them, which delighted the wisps. They were certainly going to eat better with Erica looking out for them. When they were ready to move to the other swamp, he and Des and Erica had already agreed among themselves that they were going to be close at hand, to make certain they made it safely. Whatever the wisps offered in return as far as concrete repayment didn't matter—they were vulnerable. Even had Suzi not been one of them, it would have been a given.

Now, if there were just a way to make sure that JC and Alison and Theo were all safe from the four employees...

He was fairly sure that none of his friends had asked one major question, and he was reluctant to bring it up to them.

Why had Barry, Felix, Gord, and Lloyd all agreed to live here? They worked hard, especially when they had no house fae or transitional midway fae to do part of it. They rarely got days off. They had no social life apart from each other, which at moments was strained, and there was the perpetual issue of women, which was clearly where the interests of all four lay. JC described their living quarters as 'dormitory level' with a private bedroom with a twin bed and a desk, a dresser and a wardrobe and a bookshelf, plus a minimalist private bathroom, plus a shared lounge. That seemed stingy when there was so much space, but maybe there was a reason. Regardless, opulent living was certainly not a motivation. As far as JC could tell, supplies from the real world were obtained by theft—sending a couple of the henchmen to a big-box store like Costco and bringing them back via magic without the bother of going through checkout. That didn't rule out a payoff in wealth, but it wasn't exactly supportive evidence, either.

Zach wriggled out through the shallow channel on his back, using the bars themselves to drag himself along. Brushing off dirt, he replaced the turf inside and began to scoop the loose soil back. It was tedious, but getting caught would be very bad, and being trapped would be maddening.

The four henchmen weren't actually literally trapped here. They did seem to go back periodically for brief moments, and could probably flee or demand release. There didn't seem to be much incentive to want to be here in particular, which suggested that there was instead a reason not to want to be elsewhere.

Maybe they were being blackmailed or Isabel had some other hold on them, but he figured there was an even higher probability: they were hiding from something they considered worse.

Like, say, arrest warrants. Or powerful enemies.

The police couldn't find you if you were outside the real world nearly all the time. Even if they really badly wanted to. It would be very easy to believe that Barry in particular could have a history of violent crimes and sexual assault, but there were any number of laws they could have fractured that could involve steep penalties. That list included the sort that led to protective isolation to keep the rest of the inmate population from expressing their disgust. Lloyd might be the exception, since he seemed to have a lot more experience with fae and magic, but specialized knowledge didn't necessarily mean that he couldn't have skeletons in his closet.

Zach had no intention of releasing human monsters back into the world, whenever he and his friends found a way to stop all this. Taking one or more human lives wasn't something to contemplate lightly, even when the humans in question had helped with robbing dozens of faelings of their own lives in a very real, if different, way. But if he could find some kind of reasonable evidence, even in Isabel's records, that they'd ever hurt a child or a woman... he didn't think he'd lose much sleep over it.

Not that he intended to ask JC to look for that kind of thing. They needed other information more urgently, and he wasn't going to have Theo thinking about that every time the quartet visited the lake.

It did, however, lead to a further question: why were Isabel and her wizard accomplices bringing humans here to begin with?

He checked that the area looked basically innocent of escape, got oriented, and started off towards Theo's lake.

*On my way, Ali.*

*Awesome. Too bad you're coming from a completely different direction than Erica and Suze, I'm not sure I like you being alone, but if anyone can handle trouble, you can.*

*I'll be fine. I won't do anything stupid, and it's not all that far. At least I'm not having to go across seasons or anything. Although I might veer farther into summer than I need to because I'll make better time, then swing back towards Theo. I'm pretty sure I know the right location well enough.*

*Okay. If you get lost, yell. Des or Erica will probably recognize a landmark or something. We're already moving, so we'll see you soon.*

The island was a weird place at night. The lack of a proper sun was bad enough; the lack of stars at night made it feel like being stuck in a movie set. The fake moon on the pinnacle of the fountain at least kept it from being the sort of utter blackness one would get underground or in a sealed room. Zach's night vision was nowhere near as good as Des', but fortunately, it was good enough when combined with other senses. There was so little ambient sound here that he could detect sound easily, but better still, he could detect heat patterns. He still hadn't figured out quite how, since he perceived it as a kind of overlay, with basic visual information still available under it. Regardless of the biology, it meant that anyone approaching was helpfully highlighted against the fairly steady background temperature map.

On the other hand, many green fae were cooler than other people while still being warmer than their surroundings, which made them less obvious. Some of them could startle him. That made him stay on high alert.

Motion made him pause to evaluate, all attention on the source while he tried to assess what it was. Not large, fairly cool, off to the left in front of him...

“Hola, Zach.”

Zach relaxed. The diminutive green fae approaching was no threat—that was Theo's Spanish-speaking friend Orfeo. “Hi.” Talking out loud invariably made him anxious, waiting for another painful zap from the collar he no longer wore. Talking silently to Alison was okay, but keeping it to a minimum out loud definitely helped. On the other hand, there was no other way to communicate, sometimes.

Orfeo asked something short, only a handful of syllables, which Zach completely failed to understand, but the tone was inquisitive, and so was the body language. Probably it amounted to curiosity about where Zach was going.

“Theo,” Zach said, altering his path to avoid one of the pocket valleys that held flocks of feral chickens. They could be surprisingly aggressive if alarmed, but if nothing else, they tended to make a lot of noise and draw attention. He'd prefer to avoid that. Orfeo fell into stride beside him, nodding understanding.

The little green fae seemed jumpy, though.

So Zach tried one of the very few phrases Theo had coached them in via Alison, just in case. “¿Estás bien?”

Zach caught only one bit of information out of the reply: los malos. Orfeo gestured off towards the left.

It was going to be hard to get an answer he could understand unless it was super-simple, but he tried anyway. “Paz?”

Orfeo pointed and said something.

*Ali, could you ask Theo please what the hell this means? Sounds something like losadas delaga, which is totally mangled.*

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

*Theo says, and I'm trying to get this one syllable at a time, las hadas del hogar?*

*That's it.*

*That's what Paz and Orfeo call the house fae community.*

*Okay, good. Orfeo seems to think there are bad guys in the immediate area but if Paz is there, she's okay and I don't have to go look for her to make sure she's not in trouble.*

*Right.*

Zach nodded and repeated, though not as a question, “Está bien.” If the extent of the clear communication was “good” or “bad,” well, it was still something. And if Orfeo wanted friendly company in case of running into the bullies, Zach was fine with that—an excuse for another showdown with them wouldn't upset him in the least.

They reached more open ground on the other side of the pocket valley and Zach paused, waiting to see where Orfeo was headed, but the little green fae just gave him an expectant look. Zach shrugged and oriented on Theo's lake, or at least the direction he was fairly sure it was in. He'd only been there once, after all.

Orfeo laid a hand on his arm. “Los malos,” he repeated worriedly.

Zach searched mentally for a way to ask. Did 'how many' sound close enough to be intelligible? Probably not, and he couldn't remember the way to ask in French. He probably should have paid more attention in high school, but who could've seen this coming? “Number? Nombre? Um... Numero?”

“Tres. Trois.” Just to make it even more clear, Orfeo held up three fingers.

*Ali? Ask Theo how I ask about the ice fae? The one we ran into yesterday?*

*Theo says they'll understand the word fae but not sure what to use for ice or snow or cold, maybe neige would sound similar, or froid. She says try but also mime being cold.*

*I'll give it a shot. There's only one that worries me at all. Orfeo says three but as long as that doesn't include that icy one, I'm not worried.*

*Be smart, okay? We need you.*

“Tres,” Zach repeated. “Fae... neige? Froid?” He wrapped both arms around himself, rubbing his upper arms as if cold—though not with much force upwards against the direction of his scales, that didn't feel good.

Orfeo tilted his head to one side, said something that included a word at the end not entirely unlike neige, then shook his head. “No.”

“Then there's nothing to worry about. Está bien.”

Visibly apprehensive, Orfeo shrugged, but stayed with him.

Voices ahead and to one side, clearly audible even before he caught glimpses of moving heat images mostly hidden by a dense grove of trees. They weren't green fae, they were much too hot. The four-armed woman had a distinctive outline, even when it was broken and incomplete. He could rule out the ice woman, both on Orfeo's word and because she was very obvious, being much colder than her surroundings. He saw nothing short and stocky or tall and wiry, so that left the partly-furred, partly-scaled man and the scaled woman, unless there were more than the six they'd encountered yesterday.

Orfeo looked up at Zach, and pointed.

“I know,” Zach said. “It's okay. Está bien.”

Orfeo sighed, but while Zach half expected him to abandon the mad overly-confident newcomer, he kept pace beside him. His attention stayed on that grove of trees, though. Zach laid a hand on his shoulder and stepped around him, making sure that the small green fae was on his far side from that grove.

“Someone out there,” a female voice said clearly.

“That's more interesting than apples,” a male voice said. “Maybe, anyway.”

All three heat-images came into view more or less clearly, broken only by the projecting branches of a fallen and decaying tree.

“Hold on,” cautioned a different female voice. “That's the dragon. Even if the cat and that one green fae aren't in reach, I'm not sure we want to start a fight.”

“You don't,” Zach agreed shortly. “You can start, I will finish.” Instinctively, he coiled his tail loosely around Orfeo, keeping him near where Zach could protect him if necessary. The green fae didn't protest.

“That should probably sound like bragging but, ah, it's kinda plausible. Which would make it stupid for us to do.”

“They sure like hanging out with losers,” the male voice snorted.

“Like them better than you,” Zach said. “Despise asshole bullies.”

“Oh, get over it,” the more sensible female voice said wearily. He saw the four-armed woman lean against a tree-trunk, all four arms crossed in what looked like a complex manoeuvre. “I don't know how much memory you have, but deal with it. We were all kidnapped. We're trapped here forever. There's no law, there's no morality, there's no religion, there's just getting whatever you can out of today. You'll get over this altruism thing sooner or later. We all do.”

“Remember everything. Remember my friends. Remember what acting like a decent human being is.”

“And decent human beings have scales and tails and claws, do they?”

Zach shrugged. “Inside matters. Easy to forgive the ones who don't remember. Harder for someone who gave it up.”

“Get off your damned high horse. You've been here no time at all. I've seen a lot of new fae brought here. And I've seen a lot disappear. Could be me tomorrow. Could be you tomorrow. Any memories make this hell. I'd go ask that bitch in the house for her memory drugs and take them all this time, except she'd probably just kill me. Like they might kill you, if they figure out how useless that cage is and how much you remember. Not that any of us is going to run and tell on you. Even arrogant newbie fae who think they know everything are better than those psychos in the house.”

How long would it take, remembering even part of what had been stolen and being trapped here for an extended period? Maybe without friends to count on? How long to wear anyone down into a state of live-for-the-moment detachment just to survive? That complicated things.

He couldn't tell her that they had plans. That would be suicide.

“Can't be forever. Other wizards will catch on.”

“And you're so sure other wizards will care?” the one male voice said scornfully.

Zach hesitated. “Heard them. They worry.”

“And then they'll probably just kill us all,” the other woman said. “There's no future. The rest of the world'll keep going, but for us, welcome to the end of everything.”

They might not deserve hate for being human enough to collapse under ongoing relentless pressure, but some of their behaviour was unforgivable.

“Bad excuse for making it worse for others. So much fun torturing other victims? Stay away from my friends.”

“Your friends,” the four-armed woman repeated. “The wisps? The little green fae there who can't speak English, and his fast furry friend and their mermaid?”

“Among others.” The house fae community didn't need protecting, but Zach figured the possibility existed that someone, probably Theo, would make more friends given enough time, and he wanted the bullies cautious. “Find a new hobby.”

The four-armed woman shrugged, which was a complicated motion. “It's not worth fighting with you. Can't speak for the others, though.”

“Can warn them. Hurt my friends, I come looking. Not joking, angry enough to kill.”

“Oh, I believe you. And the wizards might even let you get away with it to see what you'll do. For now, you can get that angry, anyway. Give it a while. You won't care forever, and it's easier to wait than to fight. You think you're the first to want to make everyone get along?”

“You'll get tired of the game and give up,” the one male said cynically. “Or we'll get annoyed enough at your holier-than-thou garbage for all of us to jump on you by surprise at once, without your friends nearby to help. How well do you swim tied up with one of the psycho water fae dragging you under for invading her lake?”

“You're an idiot,” the four-armed woman told her companion, straightening from the tree, but she didn't elaborate. “Right now, I'm more interested in eating. I'll tell the others what you said. Personally, fine, I won't mess with your friends for as long as you actually care. That's as good as you're going to get.”

“Good enough,” Zach said, and let his tail relax its protective loop around Orfeo. “Bon apetit.”

Orfeo looked still worried, but also puzzled, as the three fae went back to their apple harvest, or whatever they were doing, and Zach resumed walking.

Zach tried to figure out how to explain, but in heartbeats gave it up as hopeless. Theo probably wouldn't be able to explain it either, especially since Zach wasn't quite sure how to describe the results of the encounter even in English.

He did need to tell his friends about it in detail, though.

He sighed and settled for, “Está bien.”

Orfeo didn't look satisfied, but let it go, maybe understanding that it was going to be too complicated to be worth the effort.

The rest of the trek was uneventful: they saw green fae, but they ignored the two travellers. Many of the green fae, Erica said, had lost any empathy with animal life rather than plant life, and just didn't care as long as the vegetation wasn't in danger.

Twice, Orfeo urged him to go in the opposite direction around obstacles, and once just straight-up drew him onto a somewhat different heading. Zach went along with it.

He was glad he did: Orfeo took him directly to Theo's lake.