A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(73)

“I was on the balcony feeling sorry for myself when I spotted something,” Red said with bright eyes. “I may be hallucinating from all the misfortune, but I could swear I just saw Conner running toward the palace!”

Mother Goose jerked her head back to Alex. “Or perhaps the portal’s open and we’ll know in a matter of minutes,” she said, finishing her previous thought. “Let’s get to the balcony!”

The three of them ran down the hall and emerged onto the grand balcony of the Fairy Palace. They scanned the gardens below until they saw a familiar young man running toward them.

“Conner!” Alex screamed down at him. Seeing her brother running through the gardens put her in a state of complete shock, as if she were seeing a ghost. Was she really seeing him or had the misfortune of the day caused her to hallucinate, too?

“Alex!” Conner yelled up at her. He was wheezing and sweaty, like he had been running for hours. “I have to tell you something—” His voice faded away, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and Conner fainted on the spot.

Without missing a beat, Alex ran off the balcony, through the palace, and into the gardens to her brother’s side. She kneeled on the ground next to him and placed his head in her lap. Mother Goose and Red arrived right after her.

“Is he dead?” Red asked, hiding behind Mother Goose.

“Conner, can you hear me?” Alex said to her unconscious brother. “Can you hear me?”

Mother Goose removed her flask from her hat and splashed his face with the liquid inside. Conner stirred to life and quickly sat up.

“Ahh! That burns!” he said, wiping the liquid out of his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Sorry, but that usually does the trick,” Mother Goose said.

Alex instantly broke into tears upon seeing that he was all right. She had spent months convinced she would never see him in person again—and now here he was, sitting on the ground in front of her. She wrapped her arms around his ribs and cried into his chest.

“Conner! You’re here! You’re actually here!” she sobbed. “I’ve never been so happy to see someone in my entire life!”

He was panting but still found the strength to hug her back. “It’s good to see you, too, Alex,” he huffed.

Mother Goose interrupted their reunion. “Kid, if you’re here I’m assuming that means—”

“The portal’s open!” Conner said breathlessly. “And the army—they’re here, too!”

Mother Goose suddenly went pale as a ghost. She tipped her head back and drank whatever was left in her flask. Alex didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“Conner, what army?” she asked. “And what have you been running from?”

“It’s a long story,” Conner said. “But first, I have two friends with me from the Otherworld who helped me find the portal. They’re in the woods somewhere behind me; they couldn’t run anymore so I left them behind—we have to find them and send them home as soon as possible.”

“I’m on it,” Mother Goose said, and whistled for Lester. A couple moments later the giant goose swooped down from the towers of the palace and landed on the ground next to them. Lester was just as surprised to see Conner as the rest of them.

“Squaaaw?” Lester squawked.

“Hi, buddy, long time no see,” Conner said, and rubbed Lester’s long neck.

Mother Goose hopped aboard the gander and they took off into the night sky to find Conner’s friends. Conner got to his feet; he was still having a hard time catching his breath.

Froggy appeared at the top of the palace’s front steps and looked across the gardens. He was amazed by what he saw. “Conner?” he gasped. “Is that really you?”

“Yes, Conner’s back!” Red called to him. “The porthole has been re-opened or something.”

Froggy leaped across the gardens and gave his friend a giant hug. He didn’t care how Conner had managed to return; he was just happy something good could come out of this day.

“Hi, Froggy,” Conner said. “It’s so good to see you all again!”

“You look flustered, old chap,” Froggy said. “What’s the matter?”

“Please tell us what’s wrong,” Alex pleaded. “You’re starting to scare me.”

Conner took a few extra-deep breaths to calm his racing heart and then told them what was happening. He started with his trip to Germany and the warning the Brothers Grimm had left in their last story. He explained how he had tried to get ahold of Alex but eventually contacted Mother Goose. He filled them in on how the Brothers Grimm had tricked the Grande Armée into an enchanted portal. Conner told them about his trip across Europe to find the portal and to see if it was open—with Bree and Emmerich’s help. And then, to their absolute horror, he told them that the army of thousands of men had finally arrived in the Land of Stories after two hundred years.

They were all at a loss for words. None of them wanted to believe their horrible week was gravely worse than they’d thought.

“Oh my gosh,” Alex said. “This is unbelievable.”

“Tell me about it,” Conner said. “It’s been a rough couple days.”

Hearing this confused Alex. “A couple days?” she clarified. “Wait, you say you tried contacting me during the ball?”