My parents’ stares were blank.

“I don’t understand,” my mother said. “The green land is a place. It can’t be brought here. Deposited here.”

“That’s no longer the case,” Theo said, and pulled out his screen.

They watched the United Center become hills and flowing grass, the fairy mound in the middle of it all. My mother’s face, already porcelain-pale, seemed to lose all remaining color.

“They did it,” she quietly said. “But how? How could they do it?” The question was quiet, as if she was speaking to herself, had forgotten we were there.

“She took us into that world,” my father said. “And it’s a world of magic. By logical extension, perhaps they could bring that world here.” But he didn’t sound convinced.

“Liege,” Kelley said, “what are we going to do with Claudia? This may not be a popular opinion at the moment, but she’s dangerous. I don’t know that we want her in the House.”

“I agree.”

We looked back to find Yuen in the doorway, Petra behind him. They were becoming Cadogan House regulars. And there were no shifters in their wake on this trip.

“She shouldn’t be here,” he said. “I realize you didn’t have any better options at the time, but her being here is problematic.”

“It is problematic,” my father said, then walked to the window and looked out, hands on his hips. He did that when he was trying to figure out an angle or a solution. “But I want her here.”

“Liege,” Kelley said, “I’m with the Ombudsman. It’s dangerous. If they figure out she’s here . . .”

“They may leave her be,” he said. “If Ruadan wants her out of the way, she is out of the way. She’s our problem now, which actually works for him.

“She’s dangerous,” he added. “No argument. But Chicago is disappearing before her eyes, and she’s tied to that magic somehow. I want her where I can see her.”

“I could overrule you,” Yuen said.

“You could try,” my father said. “And I mean that with all due respect. You could cite the deal with the city, and I could cite the sovereignty of this House.” He glanced around at the other vampires in the foyer. “We fight when we must, and render aid when we can. She will be guarded.”

A long moment passed, and then Yuen nodded. “Dearborn will be told you made an unassailable legal argument regarding the sovereignty of your House.”

My father smiled approvingly. “So I did.” Then he looked at Kelley. “Increase security outside the House. Double the guards.”

“Liege,” Kelley said with a nod.

“When Delia arrives, ask where she’d like to treat Claudia. Perhaps the guest suite or one of the empty Novitiate rooms would be best. Restrain her, and put two guards inside, another on the door.”

“And video feed into the Ops Room,” my mother said. “Just in case she gets creative with the magic.”

A corner of Kelley’s mouth lifted. “Sentinel,” she acknowledged.

“She wakes up, or stirs magic, or anyone disturbs the House, I want an immediate report.”

“Liege,” Kelley said again. “We’ll let you know when everything’s in place.”

“My office,” my father said, and we followed him down the hall.

TWENTY-ONE

“The fairies at the church?” Theo asked, when we were in my father’s office and the door was closed.

“In custody,” Yuen said. “They’re on their way to the brick factory, but for now are refusing to speak.”

“If they were willing to depose their queen, they’ll probably stay silent,” my father said.

Yuen nodded. “I suspect you’re right. But at least they’re two we won’t have to deal with at the immediate time.”

“What happened to the people?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” my mother asked.

“The parking lots around the United Center were empty, so there probably weren’t many people in the building,” I said. “But there might have been guards, maintenance staff. There was no one, not a single person, in the green land, at least the parts that we could see. What happened to them?”

“We’re thinking it’s a kind of phase shift,” Petra said. “The green land is a world of magic that exists in, for lack of a better term, a bubble. Outside our normal physical realm. The fairies want the green land here, which would require an immense amount of energy. They draw on the power of the ley lines, and they make the shift—they switch the green land for our world.”

“And, theoretically, Chicago goes into the bubble,” Yuen said.

“Exactly. An exchange of matter. When the United Center is replaced, it pops into the bubble, along with anyone else who happened to be there at the time.”

“So, they’re alive,” I said, and felt a flood of relief.

“They’re alive,” Theo agreed, but I didn’t like his somber tone. “But their entire world is now the boundary of the United Center. No contact with our world, with those they loved.”

“Wait,” Yuen said, holding up a hand. “If the conjunction is in Grant Park, why did the green land appear at the United Center?”

“We aren’t sure about that, either,” Petra said. “But we have a theory.” She looked at me. “You said the fairies at Grant Park didn’t have guns.”

“Right,” I said. “Knives, bows—that kind of thing.”

“So no modern technology.”

I opened my mouth, closed it again. “Yeah. You’re right.” And I knew where she was going. “They didn’t mean to disappear in Grant Park—they were trying to work magic, to bring the green land forward, so that’s why they had bows and swords and tunics.”

Petra nodded, obviously pleased I’d gotten the right answer. “Exactly. We think Grant Park was a failure. They wanted to pop the green land into place right over the conjunction, but they couldn’t make it work. Instead of using the ley lines’ power to move the green land in, they moved themselves out.”

“Into the green land?” I asked.

“It’s possible,” Theo said. “We’ve been up and down the ley lines’ tracks, and we haven’t been able to find them.” He looked at my mother. “Claudia was able to shift you into the green land, and they’re able to shift part of the green land here. It stands to reason they can shift themselves, too.”

“United Center may be another error,” I said. “They tried again to pull the green land here, this time without the conjunction, and they only made it halfway.”

“They got the green land,” Theo agreed with a nod. “But not in the right place.”

“There’s no ley line near United,” Petra said. “But Claudia was at the church. That might have been enough of an anchor to make the switch happen there.”

“Why are they failing?” my father asked.

“This is big magic,” Petra said. “It would take skill and expertise to make and control.”

“And Ruadan is young,” Yuen added. “He’s discarded their queen, who’s lived long enough to have seen the green land when it existed in our world. She’d have been an asset to the process. Instead, they pushed her away.”

“She probably told them not to do it,” I said, looking at my mother. “It’s her realm, right? If she thought it could be done correctly, wouldn’t she have already done it?”

“Probably,” my mother said.

The office door opened again, and Kelley stepped inside.

“Claudia?” my father asked.

“Nothing yet,” she said. She walked to the monitor, switched the view from the map of Chicago to the twenty-four-hour news station. And we watched grass creep slowly up Lake Shore Drive.

Traffic was stopped, and the grass inched toward the vehicle in the back of the line. Then the grass reached the tire, and the tire began to disappear, like a drawing being methodically erased. Trunk, back seat, front seat, engine, tires.

The car was subsumed, along with everyone in it. And the grass still crept forward, the stalks undulating in a breeze that undoubtedly smelled like salt and time.

People realized what was happening, began abandoning their vehicles, confused or screaming, and running to get away from the danger that crept toward them.

The Ombudsmen’s screens began buzzing. And then the office phone began to ring.