Infernal Hunt Complete Set

by Holly Evans

  Raif’s eyes went wide when he walked in with Iona to find Kadrix and Quin in the kitchen. He looked between me and Lysander with a look of panic. I smiled sweetly.

  “How nice to see you again, Iona. Have you met my twin Quin and his lover Kadrix?” I said.

  “Very briefly, when I met Raif,” she said.

  She stood with a relaxed ease about her that almost hid the effectiveness of her stance. I tilted my head a little as I watched her walk and was pleased to see she carried herself well. There was no doubt that she could hold her own in a fight; the cub had chosen well. Raif narrowed his eyes at me when he saw me watching her so closely. Lysander handed me a glass of wine and curled up next to me while Raif hovered somewhere between an armchair and the table.

  Elise and Bryn let themselves in. Bryn brandished two bottles of wine, no doubt with a hope of keeping the evening relaxed.

  “Ah you must be Raif’s girlfriend,” Bryn said with a smile.

  Raif blushed; Iona, however, smiled politely.

  “A pleasure to meet you properly,” she said.

  “What exactly is your breeding?” Kadrix called out from the kitchen.

  For once, I didn’t object to the elf’s manner; it was a fair question with everything going on around the city. Iona looked between the kitchen and the rest of us. Quin said something I didn’t catch.

  After a long moment, Iona called back, “I’m half pixie, half human.”

  “I suppose it’s fitting that the lycan would choose an equal level of misfit,” he replied.

  Quin swatted him around the back of the head; Lysander held me down to stop me from doing something more.

  Elise cleared her throat and said, “We apologise for him.”

  Iona laughed and said, “Not to worry, I’ve dealt with many elves over the years.”

  Raif breathed a sigh of relief before Iona took his hand and led him to the armchair. She gently pushed him and made herself comfortable in his lap. I decided she’d be good for him.

  Still, I needed to ask. “Have you heard this talk about hunters aiming to bind the fae? How do you feel about it?”

  Iona blanched.

  “I’ve heard some foolish people talking about it, but it’s absolute bullshit. You’re not the first hunters I’ve met. Yes, there are some who are brash, but you’re an overall benefit to the city. We have a good life here,” she said.

  Lysander nipped the tip of my ear before I could push any harder.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know who’s leading it all, would you?” Quin asked.

  Iona shrugged. “Sorry, they’re not my type of people.”

  Kadrix emerged from the kitchen. He stopped in front of the armchair, crossed his arms and pursed his lips.

  He looked Iona up and down slowly before he turned to Raif and said, “I trust this means you've removed the burden of your virginity?"

  Raif turned bright red.

  “You did use protection, didn't you?" I asked.

  I really didn't want to deal with a pregnant woman.

  Iona smiled politely and said, “Yes, we did use protection, Miss Hawke."

  I smiled and relaxed.

  Raif tried to curl up into a little ball. Kadrix raised an eyebrow and looked between me and Iona before he said to Raif.

  “Don't worry, young cub, I will advise you in the best ways to pleasure your young woman."

  Raif put his hands on the back of his head and tucked himself into an even smaller ball. Iona stroked his hair and let him have his moment. We continued preparing the meal and gave him some time to recover from his embarrassment. Quin commented on how well Bryn’s wine went with the meal. It wasn’t as relaxing as we’d hoped, but it was better than nothing. There was too much chaos going on out in the city to put it entirely out of our minds.

  “Did you hear what happened to Tomaš’s family?” I asked Quin.

  He frowned. “No…?”

  I squeezed the bridge of my nose and pushed the horrific images that formed out of my mind.

  “He went out to help a jogger who was being savaged by a nymph. He got back to find a redcap clan finishing the remains of his young family,” I said.

  “He killed the redcaps, but he is understandably heartbroken,” Lysander said.

  Quin dragged his fingers through his hair.

  “They targeted him because he’s a hunter? Because of what the witch has been telling them?” he asked.

  “We have to assume so,” I said.

  “How much risk is the veil at right now?” I asked Kadrix and Elise.

  Kadrix frowned.

  “I am just about able to maintain my wards at the moment. A small gap has formed where the other two priestesses were killed, but two Sidhe have stepped in for them,” Elise said.

  “The risk isn’t too great, but it is certainly present,” Kadrix said.

  “How present?” I demanded.

  “We can’t afford to lose anyone else,” Kadrix said.

  Elise’s phone rang at that moment. We all watched as she went even whiter.

  “Two priests were just attacked,” she said.

  The scene was a gruesome one. Bryn had refused to let Elise go to the church. He had firmly told her that she needed to heal. That meant that Lysander and I accompanied Kadrix and Quin to the murder site.

  The church was much like many of the other churches around Prague, that is to say old and ornate. The inside was simple and full of bright threads and lights with glaring gaps between. It hurt my eyes at first. I didn’t even notice the blood and entrails; I was too busy trying to clear my vision.

  “There’s so much magic here,” I said.

  “Describe it, Evelyn,” Kadrix said.

  I stood still and looked at it, trying to separate the multitude of colours and textures into something that I could describe.

  “There’s a crimson sheet covering the wall under the window, but there’s a huge hole in it. Then the sky-blue haze flickers and swirls around the hole. Above that is lime-green threads, about an inch wide. Then there are black ropes that are twisted around in what could be Celtic designs. I’ve never studied that stuff. They’re all knotted. On top of all of that are these ice-white angled designs. They could be runes?” I said.

  Kadrix muttered something in elvish.

  “They used blood magic, from the priests, while they were dying. That gave them the extra power they required to break down their wards, thus weakening the veil,” he said.

  “What does that mean for us?” Lysander asked.

  “It means we’re screwed,” Quin said.

  “Fan-fucking-tastic,” I said.

  There had been nothing for us to do. Kadrix had called in an elf and a Sidhe to try and put up some warding to strengthen the veil again, but he wasn’t hopeful. We’d been left with no choice but to return home. I hated feeling so useless.

  Lysander was particularly affectionate through breakfast the following morning. He was trying to distract me from the dark thoughts that insisted on resurfacing. I stroked the bracelet before I glanced out the window, my city was falling apart at the seams, and I had no choice but to wait on other people to tell me who to kill to fix it.

  Quin rang us just after breakfast, asking to meet in the park five minutes’ walk from the flat. It seemed odd that he wouldn’t just come over to the flat, or meet us in Kadrix’s workshop, but I shrugged it off. He was likely tired and wanted some fresh air. I was feeling cooped up and frustrated, myself. My dreams had been a mix of nightmares about the murdered priests, what they must have suffered, and those of the witches stripping my city bare.

  Raif had been fluttering around the flat all morning. He was pissed that we’d left him home when we went over to the church, but I didn’t want him dealing with that. I knew it was stupid: He was a lycan, and he’d likely seen worse, but the tiny shred of maternal instincts that I had made me insist on his remaining home. He had paced around snarling about witches, muttering about not being a worthless cub, and che
cking his phone in case Iona had gotten in touch. He was wearing me out.

  Lysander remained close, even closer than usual, as we walked to the park. We were both on high alert; it seemed that more fae were joining the witch’s side, and they were getting bolder in their attacks.

  Kadrix was standing with an unfamiliar elf and Quin under one of the mature trees. They were talking in agitated tones about something, but stopped abruptly when Lysander and I got close. Kadrix turned to face us.

  “We have half of the recipe. We are planning to ambush the witches when they come to retrieve it. We would like you there to help us. Some witches will need to be kept alive so they can get the other half of the recipe for us,” Kadrix said.

  “Can no one find anything about the witches that have this?” Lysander asked.

  “No. No one is talking,” Quin said.

  “We have interrogated some of their number and gotten nowhere,” Kadrix said.

  The unfamiliar elf stepped forward.

  “We cannot afford to waste more time. The city is turning to ash around us,” he said.

  “I had rather noticed,” I said.

  He glared at me.

  “Then be a good little brute and help us in this,” he replied.

  Lysander snarled at him.

  “Down, boy,” the elf said.

  I put my hand on Lysander’s chest to stop him from ripping the elf’s throat out. We couldn’t afford to get into it, especially not in public.

  “Give us a time and place,” I said.

  “We’re setting the trap this evening. Word has been passed around the magical community about where the recipe is,” Quin said.

  “And that is?” I asked.

  “Old Town Square,” Kadrix said.

  “That’s a rather big area,” I said.

  “We’ll escort you to the exact location, Evelyn. Stand under the astronomical clock at five pm,” he said.

  With that, he turned and walked away, taking Quin and the other elf with him. I couldn’t help but feel that our little group had been split along with the city, and that hurt more than I could express.

  27

  Raif strolled up to the front door just as we were heading out to Old Town Square. He had a faint glow about him and a smooth swagger to his gait that hadn’t been present before.

  “You had fun with Iona, I see,” I said.

  His eyes went wide and his cheeks burnt bright red.

  “Evelyn, don’t be so cruel to the cub,” Lysander said gently.

  I gave him my most innocent look. He laughed. I poked Raif in the chest.

  “Where are your weapons? We’re heading over to this ambush now,” I asked.

  He lifted the hem of his dark T-shirt with some band logo that I didn’t recognise. The hilt of his blades shimmered slightly. I could just about make out the outline beneath the heather-grey magic. Lysander peered at him and growled softly.

  “Who taught you to hide them like that?” he said.

  Raif shrugged. “Bryn’s been helping me figure out my magic. I don’t have anyone from my shaman line to really teach me.”

  I shooed him down the path. “Less talking, more walking.”

  It was a useful little trick, but we could interrogate him about it once we’d stopped the witches. We’d called a cab; there was no point screwing around with the trams at rush hour. I was in no mood to be crammed up against snooty businessmen and jostled by grumpy children. The taxi driver raised an eyebrow when he looked at us. I realised I’d left my jacket at home and my blades were on show. I gave him a sickly sweet smile and got into the taxi. Lysander gave him a dark glare when he kept glancing back at us. He had the good sense to drive quickly and not try and talk to us. Raif was bouncing; his foot kept tapping.

  I put my hand on his knee to stop him and whispered, “Stop wasting your energy,” in his ear.

  I understood his nerves, but that didn’t make them any more useful.

  “Deep breath, cub,” Lysander said.

  I did the same myself as I got out of the taxi. We’d been in many fights, but there was a lot at stake here. Curses flooded my mind again when I saw the silver-haired elf; we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. He bowed low and gestured for us to follow him. I wanted to smash his nose into my knee while he was bent almost double; the moon goddess would have been proud of my restraint.

  The place they’d chosen was both subtle and madness, which struck me as very fitting. We slipped down a narrow alleyway and went down a set of steps to find ourselves in a large room directly under the large statue in Old Town Square. Above us stood a monument with an old guy looking particularly regal, while around us was a pristine modern room. The floor was pale wood, the walls cream plaster with fashionable artwork. I thought I caught sight of a library somewhere down one of the corridors. I turned around slowly, wondering what other places were around the city that I had no idea about. Of course, there were many basements and such, but that really was something else.

  “The hound will patrol the alley,” the silver-haired elf spat.

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “And who will be with Lysander?” I demanded.

  He curled his lip. “Haeyl and myself will be keeping an eye on him.”

  I bristled, but allowed it.

  “We’d like you to stand guard over this room, Evelyn. Myself, Quin, Elise, Bryn, and a number of pixies will be here with you. There will be elves and Sidhe down that corridor,” he pointed behind me, “guarding the front entrance. There will be more down those corridors guarding those entrances. We will be the last line of defence between them and the recipe,” Kadrix said.

  He almost sounded commanding. Almost. The pixies in question led Elise and Bryn into the room. Raif frowned and looked between Kadrix and me.

  “And I will be where?” he asked.

  His voice held the higher pitch of offence; he sounded like the cub he was. Kadrix looked down his nose at him.

  “You will stand with the group down that corridor.” He gestured to his right, down by the library.

  Raif growled quietly at him; we all knew he’d been put in the position that was least likely to be touched. It showed that they didn’t trust him, but the cub said nothing.

  “I thought Elise was supposed to be resting,” I said.

  “I am well enough. I am not going to lie in bed while my city crumbles around me,” Elise said firmly.

  I smiled. “Good to have you back.”

  She returned the smile and relaxed a little. She could take care of herself.

  Kadrix looked around and snapped, “Why are you all standing here? The witches could be here any second!”

  Everyone hustled down their varying corridors into their places. The pixies were all delicate little things with mean glints in their eyes. Their cheekbones looked sharp enough to cut yourself on, and their teeth were closer to needles than normal teeth. When they closed their mouths and put their glamour up, they looked like models, all smooth lean lines and beautiful sparkling eyes. Without the glamour, they looked like what they were: vicious predators.

  I didn’t like Lysander being out there with Haeyl and the elf, but I wasn’t in a place to argue. Azfin had slipped away with some of the elves somewhere. I spun my celestial blades idly while I waited for something to happen. I hated waiting.

  Lysander’s voice formed in my mind. “Relax, Evelyn.”

  I didn’t know if I’d imagined it or if the bond had taken a new leap. I didn’t have a chance to think too much on it. The lights went out, and we were plunged into darkness.

  Lysander’s anger ran down the bond, but the skittering of non-human feet across the floor grabbed my attention. A door cracked and splintered somewhere. The room was quiet apart from the odd footsteps. I couldn’t locate them; they were circling somewhere, but the sound echoed around the room, stopping me from pinpointing them. A cacophony of sound shattered the silence. Screams were cut short, war cries overlaid shattering bones and g
urgling. I took a deep breath and listened. I couldn’t see a fucking thing.

  Footsteps ran down all of the corridors. We were being approached from every side. I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner. The rage formed in my chest and I drove it down my arms. Fire flickered over my bare skin, giving me some light to see the chaos around us. Witches paused and blinked. That was when the magic started flying. I plunged my dagger into the stomach of the closest witch. Someone or something else kicked the back of my knee. My leg buckled. I held onto the dagger and dragged it down, gutting the bitch in front of me. Another kick landed on my ribs. I lashed out and felt the blade cut through flesh. Pushing myself into a standing position, I looked at my attacker.

  A male pixie shifted his weight to punch me in the face. I dodged and punched him in the solar plexus.

  “I’m on your side, you fucking idiot,” I shouted as his shirt caught fire.

  “I stand with the witch,” he snarled back.

  Fuck. We’d been infiltrated.

  I had no idea who was on our side. I attacked everyone that I didn’t know. Curses flew through the air, brightly coloured streaks of pain and suffering. Kadrix hadn’t specified where the fucking recipe was; they hadn’t given me enough details. They didn’t trust me. There was a box in the middle of the room, a plain dark wooden box. That had to be it, didn’t it? I kicked a pixie in the lower back, sending him forward onto one of Bryn’s blades. He kicked him back off the blade, and I slit its throat, to be sure.

  “Duck,” Raif shouted.

  I ducked; he threw a blade over my head. Someone behind me screamed; a hand slid down my leg. I glanced behind me to see a dead elf with Raif’s blade sticking out of her throat. I’d have words with the cub about risking my life once it was all over. My foot slipped in a puddle of blood. It was enough to give the pixie an opening to slice open my ribs. I caught myself quickly enough to hack off his hand. He screamed; Bryn sliced his throat from behind.