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vacantly at me through a mat of greasy hair. Like a lab rat who’s spent all its days in a cage, the clurichaun doesn’t seem to remember how to walk anymore.
    Gently, I take Nibs’s hand and pull him to his feet, surprised at how light he is. Then, slowly, I coax him to move a shaky foot forward, and then another. Finally, we pause at the door, making sure the corridor’s still empty, then tiptoe our way out down the same way Irene and her guard took me just hours ago.
    When we reach the end of the hallway, however, Nibs snatches his hand out of mine.
    “What are you doing?” I ask, startled. “The exit is that way,” I add, pointing at the steps jutting out from the smooth wall.
    “I don’t need you to babysit me,” he says, turning his face away from me so I can only see his unmarred side. “I thank you for keeping your word, but from here on out, we make our separate ways.”
    “But I don’t—”
    “I’ll find my own way out,” Nibs says, bounding down a narrow tunnel that opens up under the stairs.
    I let out a grunt of frustration—after all the pain Puck and I went through to get us out, he’s going to blow it by going solo!
    I’m about to go after Nibs when a long, dark shape slinks into view and meows. With an excited snort, Puck bolts towards the cat, but the feline avoids his outstretched arms and the hobgoblin falls, skidding to a stop at the foot of the stairs, stunned.
    I refrain from crying out and quickly look up the staircase, but nobody seems to have heard him.
    “Puck, get back here,” I whisper harshly, drawing the cat’s attention.
    It’s all Puck needs and, with a wide grin, he grabs the cat’s tail in his pudgy hands and yanks down. With a furious snarl, the cat rakes its paw across Puck’s bewildered face, leaving deep gouges behind.
    Suddenly, the metal door at the top of the stairs opens, and I dive for cover inside the tunnel, my heart pounding wildly. Then, motioning for the two creatures to stay with me, I run down the dark passage after Nibs, my booted feet barely making a sound on the flagstones. A moment later, Puck and the cat scurry by, but too late: As I look over my shoulder I see a guard’s outline delineated in the passage’s entryway.
    “Ring the alarm, the prisoner’s escaped!” the woman yells.
    Crap
. I speed up, mentally cursing Puck for causing trouble so quickly. The tunnel veers suddenly right, a single torch sputtering feebly in the corner. But as I reach the bend something whooshes in the air above me, ruffling my hair, then hits the ceiling in a thunderous explosion, showering me with debris and extinguishing the torchlight.
    Coughing on the billowing clouds of dust, I stumble through the rubble, feeling my way around.
    I gasp as a small hand grabs mine.
    “Over here, stupid!” Nibs hisses.
    The clurichaun pulls me after him, and we both hurtle down the now completely dark passageways until the guards’ muffled shouts die down in the distance.
    “Ouch,” Nibs exclaims when he runs into a wall.
    “Are you OK?” I ask, slowing down.
    “Just keep moving,” he breathes, turning left.
    We sprint forward, ever deeper into the tunnels. Occasionally, I look behind us as the faint sounds of pursuit drift over, but the guards must have gone down another passage and soon, only our footsteps and harsh breathing can be heard.
    Nibs lets out another string of curses as he slams into a wall for the sixth time.
    “Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I ask. “I mean, I feel like we’re just going around in circles down here.”
    I feel Nibs glower at me. “Well why don’t you light the way for us then, stupid hybrid?” he snarls.
    “Look here, mister,” I say, fear and frustration making me raise my voice. “I don’t need you to be all attitude-y because I can’t just call on fire like Fey do!”
    I punctuate my outburst with a snap of the fingers and a flame bursts to life above them. I swallow back a shout of surprise.
    “You