“What…Where…?” He sat up abruptly as he realized he was on the ground, surrounded by enemies.
“You missed,” I said.
Bendith narrowed his eyes at me. “I will not miss again when next the opportunity arises.”
“You’re not getting any more opportunities,” I said. “Get up. You can save me a lot of time and energy by taking me to J.B.”
“And why should I assist my enemy?” Bendith sneered.
“Because if you don’t, I will make you hurt like you never have before,” I said.
“If you torture him, you’re no better than Titania,” Beezle said.
“She’s the one who changed the rules,” I said. “He doesn’t have to suffer as long as I get what I want.”
“No, I cannot allow this,” Bendith said. “You must pay for what you have done to Father.”
He pushed himself from the ground in a suicide strike, his hands outstretched, ready to strangle me. He moved faster than I thought he could have, given his injuries. My magic flared. But Nathaniel was already there.
Nathaniel grabbed Bendith’s wrists, and then something strange happened.
Electricity arced between them, and they were surrounded by a blaze of white light. The light faded as quickly as it appeared. The two stared at each other, identical stunned expressions on their faces.
“Your eyes,” Bendith said, and there was wonder in his voice. “Your eyes are like mine.”
I shifted so I could see Nathaniel’s face. It was true. The frozen blue had been replaced by the same sapphire as Bendith’s—and Puck’s.
I grabbed one of Nathaniel’s hands and pulled. He released Bendith, but Titania’s son took Nathaniel’s other arm so that the angel stood between us like a tug-of-war rope.
“Wait,” Bendith said, his eyes searching. “Who are you to me?”
I really didn’t want to have this conversation. I had enough family drama of my own. But maybe I could get Bendith to help us if he knew the truth.
“He’s your brother,” I said. I half hoped Titania was watching us with her magic. I hoped she was gnashing her teeth as I revealed the truth to her son.
“My…brother?” He looked bewildered, his eyes like a lost puppy’s.
Beezle shifted around on my shoulder so that he faced Nathaniel.
“I guess we know who you are now,” he said to Nathaniel in a low voice. “Should I start calling you faerie child?”
“Nathaniel’s a faerie now?” Chloe asked. She looked almost as confused as Bendith.
“Puck is no faerie,” Nathaniel said. “You should know this, gargoyle. You can see the true nature of things.”
Beezle muttered something so quietly that I could barely hear him, and he was perched right next to my ear.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I said, I can’t get a clear reading on Puck.” Beezle sounded disgruntled. “He’s too changeable.”
“That’s interesting,” I said.
I wondered how Puck was able to disguise himself so thoroughly. He had managed to live under Titania’s nose for hundreds of years without her detection. And I still had yet to figure out why. He was playing a very long and deep game in the faerie court, and I hadn’t yet determined how it benefited Puck to pretend to be Titania’s subordinate.
“Are you saying that Puck is my father, and yours?” Bendith searched Nathaniel’s face.
“You know the truth of this in your heart,” Nathaniel said gently. “You have only chosen to believe otherwise.”
Bendith closed his eyes, those orbs of brilliant blue that were exactly like Puck’s. When he opened them, his face was relaxed.
“Yes,” he said. “I have always known this to be true.”
“Does that mean that you’ll stop trying to kill me for diminishing Oberon?” I asked.
Bendith hardly seemed to notice me. He had eyes only for Nathaniel, starving eyes, the eyes of a child who has finally been given some longed-for desire. “I have always wished for a brother.”
“Wish granted,” Beezle said. “Now, can we get on with the quest so we can get out of here? I don’t want to spend any more time in this forest than I have to.”
“Would you aid us, Bendith?” Nathaniel asked.
He seemed so gentle in that moment. I was reminded of Gabriel and Samiel’s first meeting, when they had discovered they were siblings. From the look on Samiel’s face he was remembering, too. I turned my head to one side, taking a few deep breaths so that I would not weep. Sometimes it was hard for me to remember that I wasn’t the only one who’d lost something when Gabriel had died.
“I will help you, but not because I am interested in your quest, or your quarrel with my mother,” Bendith said. “I will help my brother. Because my mother betrayed the man I thought was my father, the father I have loved my whole life.”
“Thank you,” Nathaniel said.
Bendith nodded. “Follow me.”
Nathaniel fell in beside him. I don’t know whether Nathaniel wanted to spend some time with his brother or he wanted to be close enough to punch him if Bendith was tricking us, which was still a possibility.
He turned us off the main path through the woods. The foliage was thicker here, and it was harder to walk. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and not tripping over anything.
Everyone was silent, lost in their own thoughts, except for Bendith and Nathaniel. The two of them spoke quietly, a conversation for their ears alone. I think Chloe, especially, had been disturbed by the prospect of torturing Bendith. She kept glancing warily at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.