“Besides,” Puck said, grinning his evil grin, “who says I came alone?”“You did,” called another Puck from the rooftop he just left. Glitch’s eyes bugged as the second Puck grinned down at him.“No, he didn’t,” said a third Puck from the opposite roof.“Well, I’m sure they know what he meant,” said yet another Puck, sitting atop a street lamp. “In any case, here we are.”

“Puck threw Ash a mocking smile. “You look like crap, Prince. Did you missme?”Ash frowned, stabbing a faery that was clawing at his feet. “What are youdoing here, Goodfellow?” he asked coldly, which only caused Puck’s grin to widen.“Rescuing the princess from the Winter Court, of course.” Puck looked downas the wire-fey piled on the squealing boar, ripping and slicing. It exploded into a pile of leaves,and they skittered back in confusion. “Though it appears I’m saving your sorry ass, as well.”“I could’ve handled it.”“Oh, I’m sure.” Puck brandished a pair of curved daggers, the blades clear asglass. His grin turned predatory. “Well, then, shall we get on with it? Try to keep up, YourHighness.”“Just stay out of my way.”

“Sounds pretty impossible to me," Puck grinned. "When do we start?”

“Ash blinked. "Are you raiding the cellars now, Goodfellow?""Me? Stealing?" Puck flashed a devious grin and popped another fruit into his mouth. "In the house of my ancient enemy? What gave you that idea?" He plucked another fruit and tossed it to me with a wink.”

“The river will take us where we need to go. To the End of the World.”“Great,” Puck said, grinning and rubbing his hands. “Sounds easy enough. Let’s just hope we don’t fall off the edge.”

“The Desert of Lost Things," Puck said dramatically. "Well, that's appropriate. We're here, aren't we?”

“Here," Rob continued in an amiable voice, "I'll go through the whole thing, so you'll know how to answer next time." He cleared his throat and pounded on the door again. "Knock, knock!" he bellowed. "Who's there? Puck! Puck who? Puck, who will turn you into a squealing pig and stuff you in the oven if you don't get out of our way!" And with that, he banged open the door.”