I didn't make it to the car.
"Artemis, stop. Just wait!" Jay's voice came from right behind me.
I paused, looking through the trees at the parking lot and the highway. Looking at anything just so I wouldn't have to look back at the Light Court and the children and Jay.
"You're trembling."
"I'm upset. You're just screwing around while we have important stuff to do." His calmness was only making me angrier.
"Well, I'm sorry." He did sound sorry if a bit sarcastic.
I was livid. "Why are you here?!"
He paused. "Because you just stopped my conversation by yelling at me."
"No, I mean why are you still here?"
His voice was a whisper. I could not see his face unless I turned and I refused to do that. "Shall I go, then?"
My eyes burned with unshed tears, but I refused to cry right now.
"That's not what I..." I started and my voice hitched. "Look, we don't have time for this shit."
"Artemis—"
"No." I started walking again. "We have to go. Now."
"If you can't calm yourself, you'll do Orion no good."
I stopped walking and threw up my hands. "I can't be calm! I'm not like you!"
He stepped in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I refused to meet his eyes, and abruptly he jerked me forward, pulling my body close to his. My muscles stiffened, but he tightened his hold wordlessly. After a moment, I relented, my tears rushing from me in long streams. His hands stroked my hair. He smelled of syrup, sweat, and the detergent my grandmother used.
I rested my cheek against his chest, closing my eyes.
"I'm here because you were kind to me before you even knew me and because you're lovely and because you're one of the bravest people I've ever met," he said, with so much emotion in his voice. "And because I want to be here...with you."
I looked up at him through my bangs. He smiled and rested his chin on the top of my head.
"You really want to be here with me?"
He laughed. "Yes, I do. You don't believe me?"
I was unable to wrap my mind around the joy that I felt. Joy, for the moment, was enough to push my sorrows aside. Because it was true, somehow, he was here with me, and not with the Light Queen. "I believe you."
"And does that answer please you?"
"Hmm," I tilted my head up, pouting. "Of course it does. Are you joking?"
He drew back to look at me for a moment, looking into my eyes. "Good," he said, and pressed my head once more to his chest, stroking my hair as he closed his eyes. "That's good."
We stood like that for a moment. Then he pulled back from our embrace. "Thankfully," he said, "we don't need the car to get into the Dark Court. Follow me."
The tree was huge. The bark was thin and slightly chipped. At its base, there was a gaping hole where the roots split.
Dreamer popped up from the hole. "No guards," he said.
"And this leads where exactly?" I was trying to control my trembling, trying not to let on just how scared I really was.
"To the kitchens," Jay replied, inching his body, feet first, through the big gap in the tree. I heard a clatter as he dropped down to the floor.
