Free Among the Unseen by Jodi McIsaac

gave her a strange look, and she assumed this was yet another thing she should know. “The magical beings of Ériu, like myself. The Merrow. Leprechauns. Pixies. And others.”
    “What kind of sickness?” she asked.
    In a faltering voice, Irial told her about the strange illness that had fallen upon the selkies, and his travels, which had eventually led him to her. “Then I met this woman in the woods,” he continued, “who said she was one of the fili.”
    “Maggie?” Cedar asked, relieved to finally know something.
    Irial nodded. “She kept her distance, but she led me to Logheryman. He’s the one who told me to find you. He said he was sure you could help us.”
    Irial looked at her with desperate, imploring eyes. He seemed so lost, so helpless lying there on the bed, and he had risked so much to find her. She reached out a hand to brush one of the curls off his forehead, but checked herself.
    “Is Logheryman sick too?” she asked.
    “Yes, and worse than I am, I’m afraid, which is why he sent me to search for you rather than coming himself. He gave me his thousand-league boots to make the journey. I don’t think he has much time left.”
    “What do you mean? Is he dying?”
    Irial nodded.
    Cedar’s heart constricted painfully. “Is it contagious?” she asked. “Will it spread to all of the Unseen? And then to us?” As far as she knew, she and Felix were the only Danann to have come in close contact with the gancanagh; perhaps if they quarantined themselves they could keep this sickness from spreading.
    “I don’t think so,” he said. “When I found the púka, he was already sick. And the leprechaun too. The different species of the Unseen do not have so much contact with each other that it would spread that quickly. I do not believe that either the humans or the Tuatha Dé Danann are at risk.”
    “We’re going to help you,” Cedar said earnestly, leaning toward him. “You don’t have to worry.”
    “Don’t make promises I can’t keep, Your Majesty,” said a voice from behind her. Felix was standing in the doorway, his face still hard.
    “What do you mean?” she asked.
    He moved a few paces away and gestured for her to join him. “At this point I have no idea what’s wrong with him—or with any of the other Unseen—if he’s telling the truth,” he said in an undertone.
    “You think he’s lying?”
    “I don’t know. The gancanagh are known to be…devious. It might just be coincidence that the beings he ran into were also sick.” When Cedar continued to look unconvinced, he added, “Look, I know for a fact that he didn’t stop getting involved with women after I told him what he was. There have been too many reports of women wasting away from a broken heart.”
    “And you think that’s because of him?”
    “There are signs,” he answered. “I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be so quick to trust him.”
    “But Logheryman sent him to get help,” Cedar insisted. “He even gave him his thousand-league boots, and you know how much he values those. Are you saying there’s nothing you can do?”
    “No. But it will take time for me to figure out what’s making him sick. And right now my priority is Jane.”
    Cedar couldn’t argue with this. “Should I take her back to Halifax?”
    “No. Her metabolism is running so high right now that she’ll burn through the sedative I gave her quicker than I’d like. I need to figure out exactly what the toxin is doing to her, so I’ll have to ask Irial a few questions. She’s in the next room, and could wake at any moment. Will you stay with her?”
    “Of course.”
    “Restrain her physically if you have to,” he said. “She needs to stay away from him. I’ll work as fast as I can.”
    Sparing one last glance at Irial, Cedar slipped into the hallway. When she pushed open the silver doorway to the next room, Jane was trying to sit up, looking around in confusion.
    Cedar rushed to her friend’s side at once. Jane blinked