and our conversation took all of a minute, concluding with several choice swears on Chef’s part plus, “I’ll leave it on my doorstep. Don’t wake me again.” Click.
I hated doing that. “I’ll be right back. I just have to go over to his house and get the stuff.”
“He lives far in the Haunted Forest, way behind Hansel and Gretel’s Candy Cottage.”
There were several employee cottages there that weren’t attractions. “No problem. Back in a jiffy,” I said, tiptoeing out.
“You can’t miss it,” she called. “It’s the one closest to the Forbidden Zone.”
I stopped and smiled to myself, deciding the Queen must have passed me off for an idiot. This emergency was indeed a test, though not to see whether I’d gone to the party.
It was a test to see if I could catch a spy.
Ian was on his way to the party when I ran into him on the fairy path. “Hey, I’ll go with you,” he said, adding, “unless, um, you’re going to meet someone.”
I laughed at his lame attempt at subtlety. “Like Dash?”
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and kept a brisk pace. “You like him, don’t you?”
“He’s nice enough. I don’t really even know him.”
“To know him is to love him. That’s the princesses’ take, anyway.” Ian kicked a stray stone off the path that, due to the old-fashioned gas lamps, glittered even in the dark.
“Well, obviously he’s kind to animals, even cannibalistic chickens, so that raises his hotness right there,” I teased.
Ian groaned. “No, you’re not going to get me to go that far.”
“As if you would.”
“Really? You wouldn’t believe the lengths I’ve gone to . . .” He quickly changed the subject. “So you must have the scoop. What’s up with that whacked memo the Queen sent out the other day? A traitor? She has to be kidding.”
“Or nuts.”
“Or nuts,” he agreed.
We headed side by side into the Haunted Forest. It was darker there, even with the gas lamps, and more private, for which I was thankful, seeing as how I had to bring up a subject that was probably going to ruin his night. “Look, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.” I took a breath. “Oddly enough, you’re her prime suspect.”
He stopped and turned to me, stunned. “Get out.”
“To make a long story short, she had a camera set up by the hole in the fence to the Forbidden Zone. The images she got back were blurry because of a glitch, but they managed to capture a guy who was slim and dark—”
“And tall and sexy?” He kept his expression dead straight. “Because if he’s so hot he broke the camera, then I was definitely the dude.” He held up his hands. “Guilty as charged.”
Gullible me, I actually wondered if he was serious until his whole face broke into one big grin. “Yeah, I have no idea what she’s talking about. I didn’t even know there was a hole in the fence. Or that there was a fence. And where’s this so-called camera?”
“Wherever it is, you shouldn’t go near it, because she got it repaired and now it’s working.”
“All the more reason, don’t you think? That way she can compare and see for herself that it wasn’t me.” He started heading even deeper into the Haunted Forest, and when we passed Hansel and Gretel’s Candy Cottage, its white picket fence glowing strangely, I grew nervous that he just might try something foolish.
“You don’t know her, Ian. It’ll only confirm her suspicions if you show up on one of those shots.”
He let out another laugh like I was overreacting. “Chillax, Zoe. She might be kind of crazy, but she does manage a huge theme park and has for years. There’s gotta be some grounding to her.”
If only he’d been in her apartment a half hour ago. Help! I am blinded!
“The party is that way,” I said, when we got to the Witches’ Crossing intersection. We could make out the green glow of the Frog Prince’s Castle in the distance and even this far away hear the faint boom, boom, boom of a pounding bass beat.
“You wanna take a shortcut?” He reached out for my hand as easily as if we’d been friends forever. “We can get there without having to do that unnecessary half-mile loop.”
He led me off the sparkling fairy path and through the forest in violation of several rules. My heart fluttered slightly as often happens whenever I’m on the verge of doing something I shouldn’t, especially since