“So now what?” Heather asked.

“Now,” Riley said, “you make a decision. Niko is working hard on making individual cottages, that’s why he’s not here. If you want to stay, there is certainly room. Only a few minutes have passed in the real world since you got here, it’s still early Saturday evening. If you stay for twenty-four real-world hours, until early Sunday evening, that will be thirty-two days here. By then, I devoutly hope we will have the worst of the chaos under control.”

“Unexpected vacation, I suppose,” Max said. “Even if it’s a working one. We haven’t got the full picture of the current situation, but I’m going to hazard a guess that there are going to be moments extra hands might be useful.”

Riley nodded. “Hands, brains, perspectives, sympathetic shoulders, skills... I have no idea what we’re going to need, but quite likely. Honestly, I don’t think anyone really has that full picture except possibly JC and company. I propose this. I will open the Gate back to Kayla’s living room. You can have... is an hour long enough? An hour to head home and throw together a few clothes and anything else you think you might want, including anything you think your respective partners might be missing after this long here. It is going to be important not to take any longer than necessary—even an hour there is going to mean a day and a half here. I’ll come too—if JC and Erica and Des have anything they’d like me to pick up, I’ll try, or if not, I can do a shopping run.”

“I’m told,” Kayla said, “that you should bring the dogs and cats and Riley’s pet mice as well.”

“I doubt we have a month of dog food on hand,” Levi said.

“Don’t worry about needing that much,” Riley said. “We’ll need to pick up more supplies, probably every few days of local time. We can add pet foods to the list. But bring what you have. One way or another, we’ll make sure that all needs are met. If necessary, I can send you home to get anything you forget or realize later you need, but it will be the same thing, an hour there will be a day and a half here.”

“You do need to know,” JC said. “We will do everything we can to keep all of you absolutely safe. But the other faelings on this island... some of them will immediately see any human as an enemy and they could potentially be violent. It’s unlikely any would pick a fight with us—especially with Zach. But we can only promise to do our best, not that there is zero danger.”

“Don’t care,” Max said promptly. “Staying with Theo and Kay. And would in the middle of a damned war zone.”

Heather smiled. “Warning noted, and I’ll listen to advice. But I’m not leaving. And honestly, I feel a bit sorry for anyone who attacks me.”

“It’s no more dangerous than what you’ve been through,” Levi said. “I’ll get the dogs and we’re staying.” He paused. “Are the dogs in danger? I imagine I could find a place they could stay overnight.”

“Probably less than you,” JC said. “But they can stay in your cottage or here in the pasture. The fence has an old strong spell. The only way in and out is through the stable. They can’t run off and no one else can reach them.”

“Oh lord, Ramses and Ryu will love that,” Kayla murmured, then said, more loudly, “Can we do without you here for over a full day, Riley? You’re a rather central part of the organizing.”

“We haven’t gotten as far as a census yet. We’re honestly still at the stage of setting up a base camp of sorts and collecting resources and gathering relevant people and trying to get up to speed, with that being disrupted by multiple factors. I’m not sure where Nora has gone, but if I had to guess, I’d say she’s exploring and trying to get a sense of the island and who’s here. Don’t worry, she’s not in any danger. Um, Nora is an old family friend, a family doctor who’s a quarter fae. She’s here to help and to make sure there’s a voice the fae will accept in any decisions.”

“A hundred part-fae victims aren’t a voice?” Max said.

“They should be, right? It’s politics. Full fae are often okay with half and quarter fae handling the boring bits about dealing with humans, and Nora is respected for good reason. My family have worked with her lots and she’s a good and caring person—who takes no crap. Please do not ask her what kind of fae she is. That particular kind is not very open to human curiosity, and while Nora won’t, ah, overreact, it might make her grumpy. She’s safe to be around, just leave it at that.”

“Hope she’s careful anyway,” JC said. “Might not be one at a time.”

“She’s fine. And she won’t kill the people she’s here to help.”

“I’ll take care of Des’ apartment,” Max said. “I have keys. Kayla and I brought the cats to our house but we only grabbed enough food for three or four days. I’ll swing by there and gather up as much of their food as I can plus some toys and that kind of thing. Along with anything you want.” He gave Des a questioning look.

“Origami box,” Des said. “Is power here for compu’ers bu’ no wifi. Is box by couch, has books an’ paper an’ all.”

“That’s easy enough.”

“How are you going to get into my apartment?” JC asked Riley. “I don’t have my keys to give you. Where’d they go, anyway? Phones, keys, jewellery, glasses...?”

“Oh, they’re around somewhere,” Riley said. “Was there any moment that you were unconscious?”

“Yes. All at once. Immediately after.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Someone went through and gathered up everything that didn’t change with you. There wasn’t enough time for them to sell it all, so my money is on it all being in a box or drawer or something somewhere. We just need to find it.”

“I don’t know how I’d currently wear my wedding ring,” Theo said ruefully, holding up a webbed hand, “but I’d like it back anyway. Maybe Suze can make me a cord to wear it on as a necklace or something.”

“Of course I can,” Suzi said, “but I can do one that’ll last longer and look better if Levi can grab my sewing basket and my weaving bag.”

“I can get those for you,” Levi said. “And clothes and such for me, and dishes and toys for the girls.”

“Thanks.”

“JC? Erica?” Riley said. “Anything I should get you?”

JC shrugged. “Do you suppose we’ll have time for tabletop gaming? I don’t. Besides, I left my backpack with my dice at a friend’s house because of the weather. Although I wouldn’t mind my own recipe collection from my kitchen. It’s just a rather battered old Trapper Keeper binder with a surreal 3D geometric-shapes cover image, on top of the microwave.” She glanced down at herself, the cherry-red hair draped forward over her shoulder and halfway down her red-clad chest, then rolled her eyes. “The rest of it is red. No joke.”

“Maybe once things slow down we’ll get you to run a game for us,” Theo said. “But yeah, I think we’ll be busy for a while. Getting that recipe book is probably in the best interests of everyone present and then some, though.”

“I know Erica’s been wishing she had her gardening kit,” Alison said, and Erica nodded. “Which I think is probably just inside her balcony door so she can use it on her balcony garden, and knowing Erica, it’s all in one box or bin or something.” Erica nodded again.

They were pretty smooth, Kayla had to admit. Erica’s inability to speak out loud was a serious complication, exacerbated by the adamant refusal to let anyone else know their ultimate defence, but they were clever enough to work around it in subtle ways.

Riley echoed the nod. “One recipe binder, one box of gardening equipment. Piece of cake, if you can give me addresses and we can track down keys.”

“Probably Isabel’s room,” JC said. “There’s a heavy steel box under her bed that locks. Five-digit combination, not key. I can’t get it open. I figured it had cash or something personal in it.”

“I can probably pick the lock,” Riley said cheerfully. “Or Niko might know a trick that’ll work—I bet it wouldn’t be the first time he’s had to deal with locks. And if not, I bet you’re strong enough to force it if we can get any kind of leverage. We’ll get it open. So, is an hour long enough for each of you to run home and get what you need and meet me back at Kayla’s house? I’m not leaving anyone behind but the longer we’re there, the more time passes here.”

“I can do the run to Des’ place in half an hour tops,” Max said. “It’ll take me a bit to throw together some clothes and essentials for Kay and I, but I should be able to finish in an hour total.”

“You think Nora would be okay with possibly helping with a couple of ongoing prescriptions?” Kayla asked Riley. “Because it’s going to be hard to explain to my doctor why I’ve come up a month short. Not impossible, I suppose I could say I was visiting a friend out of town and they got lost somewhere between, or something, but still.”

“She’s done it before,” Riley said. “As long as it isn’t something controlled like opiates, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Nope, nothing like that.”

“Had every intention of grabbing those too,” Max said. “You got them refilled not too long ago, you’re probably good for a bit. Theo? Laptop and speakers?”

Theo grinned, hugging Max with the arm closest to him, almost spilling Max’ bowl. “Oh, yes, please! The only music for weeks has been me singing. You know me so well.”

“Ali? Anything?” Wade asked.

“Just the charger for my phone,” Alison said. “Maybe my little Bluetooth speakers and my headphones. I don’t think my yoga gear is likely to be very useful to me anytime soon, but my meditation playlist would be good to have, and I’m glad that one’s saved, not streamed.”

“Zach?” Heather said. “If I bring your basketball, can you find a place to use it?”

“Good way to work off some energy,” Zach said. “I’ll find somewhere.”

“And if anyone thinks of anything else,” Riley said, “you’ve got a little time to speak up. I want to check with Niko on how the cottages are coming along, although we can keep the animals safely right here if necessary.”

“Kay?” Max said. “Try to give me a quick rundown by then of what you want, eh? Otherwise you’ll be living with whatever I grab.”

“Is it always mild like this?” Heather asked.

“Depends where,” Zach said.

“That’s complicated,” JC said. “The centre of the island is always like this, right around eighteen to twenty Celsius. Most of the island is a ring outside that, where the seasons slowly rotate so each area experiences all seasons. Near as we can tell, it takes a local year for a full rotation. It’s also cooler and more boreal and wilder terrain near the outer rim, warmer and gentler terrain closer.”

“Winter zone isn’t all that cold,” Alison said. “You can see it in the far end of the pasture in daylight, about two-thirds of it is outside the central walls. It’s barely enough to keep the snow and ground frozen, and running or deep water never freezes. Plus there’s not much wind to speak of. I’d skip the February cold-snap parka-boots-tuque-and-mittens gear, and just bring a decent sweater if you want to check out winter.”

“But there are places to swim,” Theo said brightly. “Just let me check first there’s no one living there who might get grumpy. And you can have me and maybe Dulce as lifeguards. My lake’s actually really nice, and it’s in late summer right now.”

“Swimsuits,” Kayla told Max, who laughed.

“Well, for mixed company, at least,” he agreed. “So are meals here always going to taste this good?”

“With Jace making noms, yes,” Des said.

JC shrugged. “Keeping seven or eight humans and seven or more faelings with different needs fed is going to be a challenge. Expect a lot of soups and stews. High on vegetables, low on meat, no need for pasta or rice that I don’t have much of.”

“Sounds very healthy,” Levi said. “But if it tastes like this, I can definitely live with that.”

“The doctor said you should eat better anyway,” Suzi said.

“So let’s track down Niko,” Kayla said, “and see how he’s doing on the cottages, then find keys and all, then get on with that real-world run. Once we’re all done eating, that is.”

With several glances exchanged, Theo, Zach, and Alison all got up and left.