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where we last saw her. If she
has
seen us then we may as well confront her.”
    They eased out of the hedge once more and headed onward. Tanya kept her eyes fixed on the spot where she thought Rowan had vanished. When they reached it, they poked about for a bit before determining that there was no break in the hedge at that point. Tanya wandered on a little further, watching Oberon for any telltale signs that they were on the right track. He snuffled at the grass and shuffled forward, pulling her closer to some bushes several meters from where Fabian stood.
    Up ahead there was a fork in the road, with a weathered signpost informing travelers that Tickey End was twelve miles away, in the direction they had just come from. Tanya viewed it, calculating that she and Fabian must have walked at least three miles from the bus stop.
    Then she saw that Oberon had stopped by a gap in the shrubbery and was looking up at her expectantly.
    “Fabian,” Tanya whispered. “This way.”
    They both pressed into the gap. A short distance across the field, a tumbledown building squatted forlornly. The brickwork was crumbling and part of the roof was missing. A few meters from the ruin stood an old feeding trough and a cluster of trees.
    “It must have been used by one of the farms,” Fabian whispered.
    “Doesn’t look like it’s used for anything much now,” Tanya whispered back. “Do you think that’s where Rowan’s gone? Why would she go in there?”
    “Only one way to find out.” Fabian stepped into the scrubby field and began padding toward the building. He motioned for Tanya to head toward the trees with Oberon. She crept past the shabby building and took cover behind the trough, crouching with Oberon at her side. The trees whispered softly above her, their leaves making a canopy over her head, stopping her from feeling too exposed. From her position she saw Fabian moving silently around the building. The scent of rust from the old trough filled her nostrils.
    She saw Fabian stiffen, his back to her. Moments later he crept back and eased himself down next to her.
    “What did you see?” she asked in a low voice. “Was she in there?”
    Fabian nodded.
    “Well, what’s she doing?”
    “Just sitting there on the floor, facing the door. She’s taken the coat off and has it draped over herself. From the look on her face, I’m pretty sure she’s waiting for something, or…” He hesitated.
    “What?” asked Tanya.
    Fabian’s eyes were wide. “I think she’s meeting someone.”

 
    Rowan huddled against the wall of the stone building. The chill of the damp brickwork at her back was giving her the creeps, stirring up memories of the cold, damp cellar once more. She kept her eyes trained upward, watching the moon through the broken roof, and pushed thoughts of the cellar from her mind.
    Once or twice she tensed as rustles came from outside. It was not one of
them
, not yet. It must be some nighttime creature, a fox or badger perhaps. She would know when
they
arrived. She shivered, breaking her stillness to blow into her hands.
    The minutes dragged by, and she grew colder. She got up and began to pace, looking at her watch. Any minute now, they’d start arriving. A noise made her freeze. A footstep, outside.
    The door creaked open, barely staying on its hinges, and a man stepped inside. Though the night had stolen his coloring, washing his features in shades of blue and gray, Rowan knew his face well. Dirty blond hair skimmed his shoulders, kept long to conceal pointed fey ears. His eyes were mismatched: one hazel, one green. She heard him draw breath to speak as the door swung shut.
    “Well, well,” he said in a low drawl. “Red—you’ve come back to us.”
    “Tino,” she replied evenly. “Where are the others?”
    Tino came closer. “They’ll be along. Not much point in us getting started until they arrive. I’m sure they’ll want to hear what you’ve got to say for yourself just as much as I do.”
    Rowan