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“This’ll be over soon,” I murmured, leaning up to kiss him. “And I’ll be with you. Okay?”

He nodded, clutching the front of my shirt under my coat. His throat bobbed, mouth opening and closing a few times before he rasped, “Vince, I…”

I waited for him to keep speaking, but after a few seconds he let go and stepped back, squaring his shoulders and giving me a nod.

“I’m ready. We should shift now, so we don’t get mistaken for humans.”

“Okay.” I wondered what he’d been about to say, realising my heart was beating a little faster, but not from nerves about crossing over to Otherworld. From something else.

I shifted into my usual form at the same time he did, his huge wings appearing and flexing a few times, like they wanted to stretch out. Taking my hand, Crossbody led me to the ring of mushrooms. We stepped carefully over them and stopped in the centre.

For what felt like at least a minute, nothing happened. Then the thorny growth ahead of us began to slowly retract, creeping back and wrapping itself around the two trees. As it went, it looked like it was pulling fine gossamer threads of spiderweb with it, shimmering strands clinging to each tiny thorn and stretching wider, weaving themselves together until the archway was filled with an opalescent haze.

“We won’t have long to walk through when we leave the ring.” Crossbody’s voice was husky with nerves. “About ten seconds at the most.”

I nodded, gripping his hand tighter. As one, we stepped out of the ring and walked swiftly across the rest of the clearing. I felt Crossbody hesitate when we were just a few feet from the archway, so I squeezed his hand hard and pulled him through myself.

It felt like cool mist was settling heavily on my skin. Like I’d just unknowingly walked through cobwebs. For a split second I felt weightless, and couldn’t feel Crossbody’s hand in mine, which made me start to panic until we were suddenly stepping onto solid ground again and I felt his palm, now damp with sweat, clutched tightly in mine.

I reluctantly dropped his hand—because I was pretty sure butlers weren’t supposed to hold hands with their employers, unless rich people got up to stuff I didn’t know about—and looked around.

It was nothing like a train station.

We were in another clearing, this one far larger, and the trees surrounding us, stretching far into the distance in every direction, looked kind of weird. Their leaves were silvery, and fat apples in all different colours—blood red, off-white, vibrant green and pale pink—hung from their branches.

Within the clearing, four crumbling stone archways were spaced evenly apart ahead of us. The one furthest on the left had a cherry blossom tree growing over it, sprinkling the ground with a constant supply of pink petals despite the tiny, whole flowers still covering every inch of it. Climbing roses and clematis were wrapped around the archway, twining together in an explosion of peach and pale purple.

The one next to it was shaded by a tree dripping with golden-yellow flowers, with what I thought were passionflowers climbing up the archway, the white and blue blooms almost alien-looking.

Further to the right, the tree growing over this archway was dropping golden-brown leaves, creating a blanket of them on the ground. Like the cherry blossom though, its branches were still full.

Lastly, to the far right, the final archway sat beneath a completely bare tree that looked long dead. There seemed to be frost on the stone, making it glitter, before I noticed that there were actually icicles hanging down. It was weird as fuck to see all the seasons at once, somehow coexisting in the same space at the same time.

Two guards stood on either side of each archway, all of them wearing lightweight armour made of brown leather.

And all of them had swords.

Actual swords. Hanging from their hips and sticking up behind their backs. A tiny part of me wondered if there was any way I’d be able to steal one on our way back, just so I could say I owned a real sword.

There were some fae in the clearing, lingering between the archways and conversing. They looked so different from the fae in the human world. Their features were sharper, wings larger, and they were dressed in old-fashioned clothing—long, sweeping gowns and formal tunics like the one Crossbody was wearing.

I’d told him how handsome he looked when he’d put it on this morning, because his expression had been wildly uncomfortable. He did look handsome, more regal than I’d ever seen him before. The tunic was a delicate golden-tan colour that matched his hair perfectly, embroidered with sprays of flowers in pale pink and white. The matching pants were slim-legged, and his boots were made of soft leather.

I glanced over, about to ask him how he was feeling, when another guard suddenly appeared right in front of us with a very bored expression.

“Welcome to Otherworld Crossing two-two-seven, home of Otherworld’s largest mushroom tea shop,” he said in a voice that told me he’d already said it many, many times. Then he held out a hand. “Passports.”

“Otherworld’s largest what?” I asked curiously as Crossbody handed his passport over. It was kind of weird to hear this archaic-looking fae ask for something so mundane and modern, but I supposed, even here, they had to keep up with the times to some degree.

The guard gave me a blank look and jerked his chin to the left. I glanced over and saw a gigantic mushroom that had a window carved into its stalk. A fae was standing inside it, handing a steaming wooden cup to a customer.

“Wait, so is the mushroom the biggest in Otherworld or is the tea shop the biggest?” I asked. “Or is it the biggest tea shop located inside a mushroom—”

“Yes,” the guard said flatly, which didn’t really answer my question. Still looking completely uninterested, he flipped open Crossbody’s passport and scanned it, before his spine suddenly snapped straight.

“Prince Elvis,” he said in surprise. I had to purse my lips to hold in a tiny snort. “Welcome back.”

Crossbody raised his chin, and I could see that cold, aloof mask settling over him. For once, I was glad for it.