Less than an hour later, we hustled downstairs with our backpacks—and found the bottom of the stairs guarded by two men in silver armor.

Rachael looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Can we go down there?" she whispered.

I paused at the top of the stairs, one hand on the railing. "I don't know ..." Were they some sort of guard for the crown prince?

One of the two men turned around and saw us standing on the landing between the first floor and foyer. He was broad-shouldered, biceps straining against a long-sleeved maroon shirt that lay beneath a silver chest plate, shoulder pauldrons, and vambraces. Short black hair curled against his forehead and at the tips of his pointed ears. Brown eyes so dark that they were nearly black stared at us with an unreadable expression. The leather-wrapped hilts of two large swords poked over his shoulders.

"Uh, hi," I said, waving meekly at the coolly-menacing man. "May we go through?"

The man's eyes flicked over us in cool judgment. "Go ahead," he said, stepping aside.

"Hurry," I hissed to Rachael, "before he changes his mind."

We hustled down the stairs and found a semi-circular couch to sit and wait for Leihalani. There was little activity in the inn, but I still directed Rachael to keep her hood low over her eyes.

The fact that we hadn't found any sign of Jimmy in this village left my morale pretty low. There was just too much open ground, the villages too far apart. I might as well try and track someone from Boston to Pittsfield.

God. I rubbed at my face. I was so out of my league here.

Someone nudged me in the ribs. I lifted my eyes to see Rachael peering at me with concern. "You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah—well, no," I corrected. Rachael deserved to be told my honest thoughts. "I think we're in over our heads."

She took a deep breath, then loosed it slowly. "Yeah, we probably are. But we're not giving up, are we? I mean, it's only been, what—two days?"

"True."

Rachael cheerfully bumped shoulders. "Cheer up, cuz. Once we find the trail, we're good."

I chuckled. "Glad you're so optimistic."

She laughed. "It's hard not to be optimistic when you're surrounded by hot men day in and day out." She jerked her chin in the direction of the bodyguards. "I mean—look at those guys. They could bench press me any day!"

I had looked at those men—and several others—and no, she wasn't wrong. So I left my dark thoughts on the back burner and joined my cousin in objectifying elven men.

Kesio and Leihalani finally joined us a half an hour later. Leihalani wore a scowl, but her brother had a smile of triumph on his face. Apparently he was coming with us.

As they descended, the pair of bodyguards came to attention, feet together, closed fists at their sides. As I'd been unabashedly staring at them, their general look and posture reminded me of someone, but I couldn't quite place it. Only when did they react to Kesio's presence that the connection finally snapped into place—they reminded me of Marines.

That wasn't a bad thing; my father was a Marine veteran.

"Garin, Arun," Kesio said, addressing the bodyguards, "we'll be accompanying my sister and her guests to Everfell."

"Understood, sir," the one who stopped us on the stairs replied.

"Leaving so soon ... my lord and lady?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes as Mistress Rondolan whirled into the room in a swirl of dove grey skirts. She slid behind the desk, nearly climbing on top of the poor woman working there.

Leihalani waved a negligent hand. "You can stop, Mistress; they know."

A look of relief rolled over the older woman's face. "Oh, praise Esoi," she murmured, pulling a little fan out from a hidden pocket and fanning herself.

Kesio walked over to the desk and slid some coins across the countertop, along with a room key. "That should cover both rooms."

Mistress Rondolan's eyes widened as she slid the coins towards her. "More than enough, Your Royal Highness," she breathed.

"Good. Please have all of our horses brought out."

"Yes, yes of course, Your Royal Highness. Brennan!" the woman turned and shouted.

Seeing the key reminded me that I needed to return ours as well. I got up, walked over, and set the key on the counter.

I turned to the crown prince, making sure that I was facing away from the desk. "Thank you," I said as quietly as possible. "I'd like to reimburse you, if I could."

Kesio smiled. "There is no need, dear lady. Consider this my part in helping find the boy."

"Are you sure?"

"Very. Come, let's wait outside." He reached out and turned me towards the front door by my shoulder. There was nothing I could do to prevent the flush that blossomed on my cheeks at his touch. I ducked my head, hoping the hood hid everything.

Kesio swept everyone out the door. One of the bodyguards walked in front of us, the other behind. It was amazing to watch how everyone got out of the bodyguard's way, jumping to one side or the other.

The heat of the day hit me as soon as we cleared the doors. Damn, I'd forgotten that this was the Summer Kingdom. Reaching up, I fixed the folds of the cloak so that I could get some cool air on my skin. When I looked up, I noticed the crown prince staring at me. The flush deepened on my cheeks and spread down my neck to my collarbone. "Uhm, yes?"

He started, then flashed me an impish grin, as if I'd caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. "It is a human custom to tattoo oneself?" he asked, gesturing to my left shoulder.

Oh. I loosed a little laugh and shook my head. "These aren't tattoos," I explained, pulling slightly at both cloak and T-shirt.

Kesio arched an eyebrow. "Then what are they? A skin condition?" He leaned forward to inspect the rosettes on my collarbone.

"It's an outward indication of my animal. They appear upon our first shift."

"How interesting." He linked his hands behind his back. "Are they in the same spot for everyone?"

"Nope!" Rachael came bounding over, eager to show off to the crown prince. "See?" She rolled up long cloak sleeve to show off the large wolf prints that ran up her right bicep.  What he couldn't see—and hoped she didn't decide to take off the cloak—was that the prints continued over her shoulder and down her right side.

"Shapeshifters," the crown prince mused, tilting his head to the side. He turned to his sister and frowned. "You did not say they were shapeshifters."

Leihalani merely shrugged and turned to face the road.

"Honestly," Kesio said to me, "I am surprised that humans have retained any semblance of magic. Especially since you seem to rely heavily on what you call 'technology'."

I started to reply to his first comment, but it was his second that gave me pause. "How is it that you know more about us than we know about you?"

The crown prince smiled. "People like my dear sister here have been crossing the Gates over the centuries to check up on you—you just haven't noticed."

"But we have noticed," I pointed out. "There have been rumors for years of your existence."

"Rumors, but not confirmed." Kesio held up a knowing finger.

Leihalani rolled her eyes.

"Until now," Rachael pointed out.

"Well, the rumors will be confirmed eventually," Leihalani told her, cutting a dark look at her brother. "The Convergence is coming, whether they like it or not."

Try telling that to humanity, I thought dryly. A lot of them will have different ideas.

Just then, a platoon of grooms brought out our horses. I went to my nameless chestnut, backpack in hand, and stared at the saddle. How the hell did I attach this thing again? There were a number of rings and straps, but I had absolutely no idea what went where.

"Help the lady, will you?"

Twisting around, I looked up to see the crown prince staring at me from atop a tall, muscled white stallion. Blue speckles wound around the stallion's eye, down his neck and ended at the slope of his shoulder. A singular blue horn sprouted between icy blue eyes, arched backwards and split into two—like a curved tuning fork. Seated thusly, Kesio looked every bit the imperious elven prince.

"Of course, Your Royal Highness," one of the grooms said, hurrying over to take the backpack from me.

Grunting a wordless sound of thanks as he plucked it from my hands, I tried watching to see how he hooked it on, but he moved too fast for me to follow.

The groom smoothed the nylon, then stood by the stirrup. "A leg up, my lady?"

Now, this was the sort of help I'd accept. I nodded in a deep, exaggerated fashion, the folds of the cloak swaying against my cheeks.

Cupping his hands for my sneaker, the groom effortlessly got me aboard. The chestnut Ságha shifted as I settled awkwardly into the saddle.

"Not a rider, I take it?" Kesio asked, grinning.

I flushed and shook my head, glad that he couldn't see my face.

Chuckling to himself, the crown prince urged his stallion forward. The movement acted as some sort of signal: the two bodyguards rode out with their prince on ram-horned mounts; Leihalani followed had her stallion positioned next to her brother. Rachael trailed not far behind them ... and I, well, I was dead last.

Gritting my teeth and desperately trying not to look like a complete idiot, I urged my mare into a walk.