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Jareth raked a hand through his hair, shaking his head, looking more human and more hurt than I’d seen. “They were waiting for us on the other side of the cave. I suppose there was always a guard. Either way, they knew. An alarm perhaps? A phone call just before you murdered everyone?” He spat a wad of black gunk onto the ground. “Who the fuck knows. All I know is, we ran from one hellhole into another. But this time, we didn’t have each other. We were separated. I was taken to one place, and the others...I’m guessing they were taken to different locations. It wasn’t for a few years before I finally learned that Fables isn’t just this place.” He hissed that word. “It isn’t just a playhouse thought up by Stuart goddamn Page who fancied himself an author of fucking morals and sadism. He was just the manager of this particular funhouse.”
Jareth braced himself and looked at Kas.
Kas shuddered and met his stare, the two men locked together in matching horror.
“It’s a worldwide faction, Kas,” Jareth said, devoid of emotion. “Foster kids, just like us, all groomed and taken. Never missed. Rarely wanted. Nameless and forgotten, serving motherfucking bastards. Shit, the place I ended up in...” He shivered and snapped his lips together. “Anyway, I got out. I’m finally fucking free.” He slapped Kas on the shoulder. “And now, you are too.” Pointing at me with his glowing cigarette, he added, “Go with her, brother. Trust that she has your back like I once did.”
“Once?” Kas asked swiftly. “You’re saying you no longer have my back?”
“I’m saying, you don’t need me anymore. Others do.” Pulling his backpack closer, he unzipped a front pocket and pulled out sheets and sheets of papers. Passing the one on top to Kas, he added, “This is how I found you.”
I peered closer as Kas sca
It was familiar.
The photo of the boulder and the name of the climber—
“Oh, my God.” I ripped it out of Kas’s hands, my eyes sca
“Climber’s Anon?” Kas frowned, looking between Jareth and me.
Jareth stubbed out the end of his cigarette and pulled out a bag of oatmeal cookies from his bag. “I have a computer technician scoring the web for keywords I’ve given him.”
“What keywords?” I snapped.
“Places that I remember. Names I’ve heard. Locations where others are being kept.”
Shivers shot down my back. “Kentucky Khalessi triggered one of those keywords?”
Jareth took a bite of his cookie. “I couldn’t remember exactly where this particular Fables was. I was young when I was first brought here, and they knocked me out when they took me away. While living here, though, I always kept my ears open for any details when Storymaker was feeling chatty, but it doesn’t exactly have an address you can punch into Google.” He smirked. “Kas and I used to play a game, drawing maps in the dark, doing our best to choose which way to run if we ever escaped.”
Kas swallowed a groan. “Fuck, I wish I’d known. I didn’t save you guys. I threw you to an even worser fate.”
“It’s all good.” Jareth licked his lips, uncaring that soot added flavoring to his cookie. “I’m about to fix that. You protected us in here, Kas. You were the big brother we all needed. Now, I get to be the asshole misfit with a grudge.”
“You’re going after them?” Kas asked.
Jareth shrugged, ignoring his question and continuing with his previous subject. “I always knew this particular Fables was hidden in Kentucky’s national park. So, the first keywords I had my guy flag was any mention of caves, boulders, and walking trails that were recently found. Any conversations on hiker’s forums, climbing clubs, wildlife enthusiasts...he flagged it all—just in case someone stumbled upon this hellhole.”
“So that’s how you found my Jeep,” I breathed. “You followed the same ribbon path I did.”
Jareth gri
“What? Why?” I clutched the piece of paper. “What about the guy who originally found the boulder?”
“Guess his directions sucked, or we sucked at following them. Either way, there’s no boulder around here. Not that I found.”
I traced the same image and random directions to get to the boulder that’d given me the impulsive decision to pack my Jeep at midnight and go hunting. It was the entire reason I’d found Kas in the first place. It’d been my insurance policy for my brother to find me. He had my log-in details for the site. I’d told him which post I was following.
Yet...it would’ve been taken down.
How soon after I’d seen it did Jareth’s guy have it removed? No wonder my brother never turned up! He probably didn’t even look for this post for a few days until finally putting Operation Find Stupid Sister into effect.
My heart raced as I stared at the page.
That was why no one came.
That was why Joshua never appeared.
I’d vanished without a trace.
Snatching the page back, Jareth tore it into ribbons and watched them twirl to the ground, flickering orange and yellow from the fire still roaring in front of us. Slowly, he wiped his hands on his black pants, looking like a swat member about to go to war. Grabbing the cookie bag, he snagged another before passing it to Kas. He waited as Kas took a bite and moaned at the taste of refined sugar and oats before tapping the rest of the sheets of paper on the ground.
The stack was big enough to make my stomach clench and my heart sink.
Did each page represent a different Fable location? A different family member still trapped in hell?
“I came after you first, Kas. I had to know if you got out. And I’m glad I did. But I’m done here. You’re safe. You’re moving on.” Jareth threw me a wink as if this was a strange snack break and not a confession by mansions bonfire. Throwing me a cookie, he said, “Gem will make you move on. You don’t need me.”
“Like fuck I don’t. What are you saying, Jareth? That you’re go
“Slaughter them first. Then burn them.” Jareth nodded matter-of-factly. “And I’ll enjoy every fucking moment of it.”
Kas swallowed, coughing under his breath. Steely determination came to his eyes. “Well, I won’t let you do it on your own. You’ll fuck up at some point. You need someone there to guard your back.”
“Nah, I like working on my own.” His teeth flashed, reflecting the roaring fire. “More fun that way.”
“But—”
A noise sounded on the horizon, shutting Kas up as we all stared into the dark sky.
“What is that?” Kas murmured, slowly climbing to his feet, stuffing the rest of his cookie into his mouth.
Jareth stood too, folding the paperwork into his bag. He zipped it closed and cocked his head. After a second, he suddenly grabbed his backpack and slung it onto his shoulders. “That’s my cue to leave.”
“Why?” Kas looked at him just as a helicopter appeared from the darkness. Its bright searchlight sca
Grabbing Kas in a hug, Jareth looked at me over Kas’s shoulder. “Look after him, Gemma Ashford.” Pulling away from Kas, he smacked a kiss on his brother’s cheek. “Thanks for protecting us when we were younger, Kas. I’ll always be there for you, if you need me. Just like I know you’ll always be there for me.”
Another helicopter arrived, this one carrying a massive water bucket, flying directly over Fables before dumping the entire contents in a waterfall. The fire hissed and sizzled, white smoke blooming toward the sky in a mushroom cloud.
The noise of their rotor blades shredded any and all serenity of the valley.
Wind reached us, tearing up autumn leaves in a vortex, making it hard to hear.
“You can’t just vanish, Jareth,” Kas growled, stepping out of his brother’s embrace. “You only just found me. We have things to discuss. Things I need to—”
“Too bad. I’m rather busy right now. Places to go. Throats to slit.” Jareth gave us both a mocking salute and a chilling smile. “Happy lives, guys. Don’t get caught and trafficked again, please. I’ll be busy for a while so don’t expect a quick rescue.”
“Wait—” Kas held up his hand.
“See ya round.” Jareth gri
Kas shielded his eyes, his attention on Jareth as he gave us one last wave, threw a one-finger salute at the helicopter as its skids touched the grass, and then he was gone.
Vanishing into the web of trees as if he never existed.