She grimaced. “When Faeries left, they took their magic with them, and the benefits that it afforded us mortals. Technology advanced very rapidly afterward, as people were accustomed to a certain lifestyle, but when it did, many others were angry.”
“Angry at the technology or the Faeries?”
“Both, I suppose.” Mouse shrugged. “The need for weavers was replaced by the need for machine attendants, et cetera. Of course, people were angry about losing their way of life.”
Thornwood hummed. Some of the color had returned to his face, although touches of gray still lingered on his skin.
“What was that, earlier?” she asked as she sank next to him on the grass.
“I am not sure. It has never happened to me before.”
“Do you remember asking me to find something green?”
“Vaguely. Mostly I remember how tired I was.”
Mouse frowned. “There are plenty of small parks and gardens in this part of London, but I do not know them all and most of them are private. What if you collapse again?”
“It is more a matter of ‘when’ than ‘if.’ ”
“How can you be sure?”
“There is too much iron and lead in this modern world for a Faerie. I cannot go far without these patches of green. The last time I was here, there were rivers running through the town. Where have they gone?”
“Underground,” Mouse said. “When the city expanded, the rivers were directed through pipes and streets were laid over them. Do you think you can tap into that magic, now that you know it is there?”
“My affinity is for earth, not water, but I can try.”
He closed his eyes. The grass stretched toward him, covering his fingers as he dug into the ground.
“I can barely feel the magic there at all,” Thornwood said, pulling his hands away.
“There are layers of iron between you and the water now,” Mouse said. “Perhaps we should focus on stopping at patches of green on our way. If you think you can stand it.”
He glared at her. “I will manage.”
“All right, then. I can steer us both toward Beckett’s. Put your arm around my waist.”
“Will the other humans think that is strange?”
“No,” Mouse said firmly, trying to convince both herself and Thornwood that there was nothing odd about the idea. “There are enough people in this city that we will mostly go unnoticed, or people will think we are husband and wife.”
She helped Thornwood to his feet, and together they stumbled back into the city. He walked stiffly at her side, his arm looped aroundher waist. Mouse shifted closer, ignoring the jolt of electricity that flowed between them where his fingers rested against her suit.
Thornwood walked with his eyes open, but they were glazed and unmoving. Mouse knew the bare bones of the path, although she was not sure which roads would get them to Beckett’s office fastest. All her previous visits were marked with stops at museums, restaurants, and bookstores.
Although the streets were the same, the buildings on either side had changed since she’d last been there. Touches of modernity flecked historic streets. Gas lamps rose above automobiles. Horses pulled carts of hay, and newspaper littered the roads in scraps of discarded ink. The look of the buildings changed as they walked. Businesses catering to the elite of Kensington gave way to the residences, fine and tiered.
“I must rest,” Thornwood said, tugging on her arm. They came to a stop beside the looming Natural History Museum. Just before Bertie and Roger enlisted, they had visited the museum together. Roger’s focus was on the assortment of shells from around the world, but Bertie steered Mouse to the wing dedicated to Faerie anthropology.
Skeletons of pixies and Faerie plants pressed flat under glass decorated the exhibit. Mouse had never seen the world of Faerie laid out, stripped bare of the folklore that surrounded it, like flesh to their bones.
Faeries needed their stories, their history, in order to be any different from the skeletal dinosaur at the museum entrance.
Mouse tightened her hold on the living Faerie beside her. Thornwood slumped, his head resting on her shoulder.
“Should we sit down for a while?” she asked. “There is a patch of green beyond the gate.”
“We should not loiter. We need to catch our train. A night in this city would destroy me.”