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peered at the two humans lying in the muddy water.
    Olwyn and Dai jumped into the hole. Amazingly, they made no splash . They floated a little above the ground, keeping their black boots dry. Cordelia flexed her toes inside her sodden, dirty leather pumps with a touch of resentment.
    Arian approached her, his eyes shining like an animal’s in the dark.
    She had to focus her will to stand her ground and not back away. “Please bring the two humans up here so we can check if they’re alive,” she asked.
    He didn’t even acknowledge her request. With a sneer, he narrowed his eyes to malevolent glowing slits. “I need some of the child’s hair.” He lifted a hand toward Fin. Cordelia stumbled back out of reach, nearly tripping on her dress’s soggy hem.
    She hugged Fin protectively, his chubby legs wrapped around her, his warm, tearstained cheek pressed into her neck. “Why?”
    By now, she should have known better than to expect an answer. Arian lunged after her, grabbing at the little boy’s head and yanking his hair.
    Fin’s scream rent the damp night air, sending crows flapping into the sky from the shadowy silhouette of an oak tree.
    “You damn—”
    Before she finished her sentence, Michael jumped in front of her. He shoved Arian in the chest, making him stagger back a step. “If you’ve hurt the baby, fella, I’ll—”
    “I’ve only taken some hair.” Arian raised his fist, displaying the fluttering golden strands. “There’s always a price topay when a gate’s opened unlawfully. Be thankful I did not demand blood of the pisky king’s line.”
    As he turned away, Michael shouted, “I’m the king’s brother, you oaf. If you were needing hair or blood, you should have taken mine.”
    When Arian reached the lip of the trench, he glanced back over his shoulder and shrugged. “You denied responsibility.” Then he leaped down , soundlessly, and joined Olwyn and Dai.
    Michael reeled around as though drunk and slammed the heel of his hand against his forehead in time with his words: “When. Will. I. Learn.”
    “Michael.” Cordelia hitched Fin onto her hip and grabbed Michael’s arm before he thumped his head again. “You could n’t have known he’d hurt the baby.”
    He stilled, his angry breaths filling the silence. She released his arm and it dropped to his side. Heaving a sigh, he wrested Fin from her arms, hugging the child desperately, eyes closed. “Sorry, lad. I’m sorry.” Fin’s whimpers faded as he snuggled closer to Michael.
    Cordelia turned away, her heart pinching, unable to bear the anguish on Michael’s face. He might have his faults but he certainly loved his nephew. She glanced behind her to where Tamsy had remained on the fence near the car. At the edge of her mind, she sensed the warm reassurance of her familiar’s presence.
    “Look,” Michael said, still clutching Fin tightly.
    The three gatekeepers had spread out across the trench. Arms stretched wide, they started to chant and glow.
    “Damnation. They haven’t moved the humans.” Michael groaned. With soft words of reassurance, he detached the clinging child and pushed him into Cordelia’s arms.
    “Leave them, Michael.” She tried to grab him but he was already striding toward the trench.
    He paused on the lip of the hole. “Pass up the humans,” he bellowed. The angry compulsion in his tone thumpedinto Cordelia’s chest like a fist. She closed her eyes, struggled to drag air into her lungs. By the time she was aware of her surroundings again, a shining mantle of light extended from the gatekeepers’ hands, shrouding the trench.
    Michael had disappeared.
    With an anguished cry, Cordelia ran forward and saw Michael wading through the water in the hole toward the humans. He caught hold of one, then grabbed the arm of the second, and started pulling them back to the edge of the trench.
    The sheet of light spread farther, gaining speed as it dipped toward the ground on the opposite side of the