He made more croaking sounds.
I remembered the locket Chrissy had given me, and I pulled it from around my neck. “Here. Pretend this is a mirror.” I opened it up and propped it on the table in front of him. “See, that’s who you are on the inside.”
Jason gripped the sides of the locket, holding his portrait. “Look at me. Look at how awesome I was.”
“Again, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. That’s the moral of those frog prince fairy tales, right?”
He stroked the locket with a green finger. “I had the greatest smile. I miss me.” He let out a wistful sigh, blinked at the portrait with liquid eyes, and kissed it.
The table creaked, shivering and groaning as Jason’s weight shifted. One moment he was a forlorn green frog awkwardly kissing his portrait, the next he was a teen idol in Renaissance clothing crouched on my table.
I should have known all along he would end up breaking the spell that way. After all, Jason loved himself the most.
He gawked at his hands, turning them in front of his face in wonder. Like a shot, he jumped off the table and turned toward the mirror. “I’m me again!”
I shushed him, hoping no servants were passing by in the hallway. The last thing I needed was for the king to find a strange man in our bed chamber.
Penny and Darby must have heard him. They peered back into to the room to see what had caused the commotion. When they saw Jason, they sighed happily. “Oh, that’s so adorable,” Penny cooed. “It’s true love, after all,”
“Sweet,” Darby said. “Now get him out of here before someone sees him, ‘cause I ain’t answering questions about why there’s a Brairdrakian prince hanging out in our room.”
“We’ve totally never seen him.” Penny agreed. She took Darby’s arm, and the two of them disappeared down the hallway.
I strode to the tapestry and took out the key hidden there. “They’re right. You need to leave.”
I went to the fireplace and inserted the key into the notch, just as Rosamund had done the last two nights. With only a nudge on my part, it slid open, revealing the landing.
Jason didn’t move. “Where am I supposed to go? I don’t know the way back to the lake. I rode in your pocket all the way here.”
He had a point. “Wait for us on the stairs. We’ll leave for the lake at bedtime.”
He took slow steps toward the opening. “Bring me a lot for dinner. I’m starving.”
I gestured toward the door. “Okay. Go.”
“Something good,” he emphasized. “No cow tongue or sheep stomachs or any of that other crap they pass off as delicacies here.” He went through the door mumbling, “Seriously, there are no decent places to eat in this century.”
I slid the fireplace closed, glad it was easier to do than it looked.
“So,” a voice came from behind me. “Sneaking guys out of your room?”
I spun around, startled. Chrissy stood there, wearing her Team Sadie T-shirt and a flouncy blue miniskirt that made her wings glimmer with blue highlights. She held her wand loosely like it was a drumstick.
I put a hand on my pounding heart. “You just scared me to death.”
She smiled, unworried about my health, and sashayed closer. “I hear you and Jason kissed last night. Twice. How romantic.”
“He was a frog at the time.”
“Well, it can only get better then, right?”
I motioned for her to walk with me away from the fireplace, in case Jason could hear us. “I’m not kissing him again.”
Chrissy raised an eyebrow. “Have your eye on someone else?”
I blushed. Was I that transparent? I didn’t want to tell her about Donovan. He was supposed to be my competition, and I knew she wouldn’t approve.
Chrissy put her hand on my arm sympathetically. “I know Kailen is the hottest guy you’ve ever seen, but don’t pin your hopes on him. He’s not into mortals.”
“Oh.” Relief. “Okay.”
“Besides, he’s way too cocky.” Chrissy tossed her long pink hair off her shoulder. I would have looked ridiculous swishing my hair around like that. On her, it was graceful, natural. “A few months ago I was at a party with this buff elf guy, and Kailen and a couple of his friends came in. The first thing you know, Kailen was swaggering around, showing off for the girls—making vines snake around the elf guys, stuff like that. My date said something along the lines of, ‘Real men don’t wear wings,’ and the next thing I knew he and Kailen were brawling like drunken frat boys.”
“Really?”
“And then after my date stormed off to have his teeth fixed, Kailen asked for my number.”
“That is cocky.”
Chrissy folded her arms. “He never called.” Another head toss. “Really, I hate it when guys treat me like a trophy.”
I had no idea what to say to that. She’d actually given Kailen her number after he’d beaten up her date?
“Anyway,” Chrissy said, returning her attention to me, “I wanted to check in, give you a pep talk, and remind you that even though I’ve got tons of things to do tonight, I’ll once again be eagerly waiting to hear that you’ve got the goblet.” Her wings opened and closed. “It’s your third night here. Exactly what are you waiting for?”
“I’m going to take it tonight.”
“Good. And you should look your best while doing it.” She brushed a piece of lint off my shoulder and then, still unhappy with my appearance, snapped her fingers. “Much better.”
I glanced in the mirror to see what she’d done. I was now wearing makeup, including deep red lipstick.
“Remember,” Chrissy said, “I can’t go on Queen Orlaith’s land, so you have to make it through the forest and out onto the meadow before I can take the goblet. Call me as soon as you pass the last tree. Once it’s in my hand, I’ll send you and Jason wherever you’d like.” She gave me a cheering smile. “I bet he takes you to some posh Hollywood party.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I pass the last tree.”
“Awesome.” She flicked her wand and sparkles spun in the air around her. “Oh, and after you steal the goblet, keep clear of stray vines. You don’t want to end up as plant food.” The sparkles fountained around her until she disappeared.
I watched her go and wondered which part of the last conversation was supposed to be a pep talk.
Chapter 26
That night, when my sisters and I went down the stairs to the fairy realm, Jason walked beside me, holding my lantern. I’d stopped waiting for him to be chivalrous, and I’d forced the lantern on him, telling him I needed both hands to hold up my skirts in order to lessen the chance I’d trip and plunge to my death.
“After the queen asks her question,” I whispered to Jason, “Offer to sing her a song—your apology for the unfortunate misunderstanding last night. Keep her eyes on you. When you’ve finished singing, apologizing, and groveling in general, look at me. If I touch my hair, that means I’ve got the goblet.
“Tell the queen you still haven’t recovered your stamina after being a frog, so you and I are making an early night of it. We’ll need to get out of Queen Orlaith’s domain as quickly as we can.”
Jason switched the lantern from one hand to the other, nervously wiping his palms on his jerkin. “How come I have to be the distraction?”
“Because I’m the only one who can touch the goblet. It’s a girl thing, remember?”
“Why can’t Donovan be the distraction?”
“Because he’s invisible.”
“He could make something float.”
“We want her diverted, not suspicious.”
Jason scowled and lowered his voice to a hiss. “If Queen Orlaith catches you, she’ll change us both into something horrible. No, thank you. I’ve already done time being repulsive.”
Behind me, Donovan let out a disbelieving cough. “Is that sentence over?”
I kept my attention on Jason. “We have to take our chances. You don’t want to stay here, do you?”