"So where does that leave us?" Jed asked.
"As little as either of us like it, I guess we both go to meet the King of the Fae. Although..." I trailed off, thinking.
"Hunter and wolf?" he asked.
I nodded. "My scenting capabilities are more enhanced in fur form and we need every advantage."
Reluctantly he nodded. "At least the hunter takes the point, right?"
I followed his lead and gave him a very reluctant nod. I'd allow him point, to a degree. Of course, if he told me to stand back while he took on the king or his assassins alone, all bets were off.
It took a little time to load all of Jed's equipment into the Jeep, then we both piled in. We took the Jeep since it had the best chance of not disturbing the rest of our pack. I was rather pleased that I had been the one thinking ahead on that part. Even if I was the less experienced one of us.
I'd noticed that Jed had packed his dart gun. I was very familiar with the darn thing, as he had used it on me twice last fall. Of course, to give the man credit, at the time he had thought I was a crazed man-killing wolf.
"Are you really planning on tranqing the faerie?" I asked. "Will our drugs even work on them?"
He was behind the wheel, and I was sitting in the back seat. I needed the extra space to get naked and fur out. Well, actually only partially naked. I was wearing an over-sized tee shirt declaring that I was Bad to the Bone. It had the picture of a B-movie werewolf. You could say I believe in proper product labeling. Of course, I was waiting until we got a little closer to go furry. Being in fur form limited my conversation skills.
Jed glanced at me in his rearview mirror. He seemed disappointed that I still had my clothes on. He sighed, then shrugged. "Yes, I'm planning to try it. I have no way of knowing if it will work or not. To my knowledge, the Luparii has never had to deal with a faerie."
'Deal with'. So much more polite than saying kill, terminate or rub out. It amounted to the same thing but sounded so much nicer. Jed had been the exception to the Luparii rule. An actual humane tracker.
So maybe, for him, the words were more accurate. After all, he'd thought I was a slathering and possibly rabid killer wolf and all he'd done to me was tranq me. He had planned to turn me over to the Luparii organization, though, so his right way of thinking would still have ended very badly for me. But in a way, it kept his heart pure. He honestly didn't have a clue at the time who and what the Luparii really were. We, my little pack and me, had changed his life view permanently.
I started to ask why he would risk a tranq shot that might not work. I mean, for sure the hunter would be shooting back by the time he switched to a gun with live bullets if the tranq didn’t work. Maybe with poisoned arrows instead of spelled ones. Although the spelled ones would work if he didn't miss.
But then I remembered I was dealing with a reborn Spirit Hunter. He wouldn't kill unless he knew there was no other way. I wished again that Jed was safe back at his house. Endangering myself on this quest was okay by me. I mean, the pack wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for me getting my sister back.
But Jed...how does one choose between a sister and a mate? I wanted them both safe and the Fae off our backs for good. There had to be a way. The Creator just wasn't that cruel. He wouldn't give me a family again just to take it all away from me. Would he?
I blinked the tears away and turned to the window so Jed wouldn't see them. We were getting close. I shucked my under the waist clothes, and right before I furred, I said what I truly hoped weren't my last words.
"I love you, Jed."
He met my eyes in the mirror in that brief instant that the change took me. When he answered me back, it was a wolf he said the words to.
Somehow, they meant even more that way.
We were about a half mile from the cabin when I spotted the cycle partially hidden off the road. I leaned my front paws on the back of the front seat and huffed to get Jed's attention. When he met my eyes, I turned to the window. He slowed down, searching in that direction until he saw the bike.
He nodded back to me. "Looks like our visitor has returned."
Yeah. The funky faerie with the spelled arrows. I was kind of hoping to only have to deal with one Fae at a time. And the Erlking counted for more than one on his own. More than enough challenge even for the two of us.
Jed pulled off and opened the back door for me. I really wish they would come up with a car door that a dog could open. It hadn't been an issue back when I was on my own, but it would really be nice now that I had a doggy chauffeur. While he gathered his tranq gun and supplies, I lifted my nose to taste the scents on the breeze. It didn't take me long to find it. Cedar.
I wanted to take off immediately, but I knew better than to leave Jed. After all, he had the tranq gun. And I knew from past experience that he wouldn’t have any qualms using it on me. I really didn't want to go through that again.
So I waited. Impatiently, but I waited. Brownie points for me. I hoped Jed was noticing what a good girl I was being. One shouldn't have to try so hard to be good if one didn't get the credit for it.
Finally, he was ready. He gave me a short nod. "Stay close."
I nodded back, doggy style, and took off back toward the cycle and the scent of cedar. The faerie had made two mistakes that should work in our favor. He'd let us get behind him, and he'd left us a scent trail. With any luck, it would be enough.
Chapter 18
I'VE SAID BEFORE JED was good. Believe it or not, this was the first true hunt we'd been on as a team. It felt good. Scary as hell, knowing the prey we were after, but good to have a team.
He may have more experience than me in hunting, but I have far more experience in being a wolf. Since a wolf was a creature of nature, I figured that gave me a bit of an edge. Either way, no noise came from our passing through the trees. And thanks to the Luparii's rather unfair trickery, no scent came from us either. It was nice to know that Jed's shady past was finally paying off for us.
We made our way quiet as shadows through the woods. My gray and dark brown fur blended into the darkness beneath the trees. The moon was only a sliver in the sky which was good for hiding and blending purposes, but bad for hunting ones. I figured at least we were on an even standing with the assassin. Maybe even a step up since wolves had excellent night vision. I glanced back at Jed, but he didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up. Must be the Benandanti in him. Good to know.
The scent trail started getting stronger. We were close. I caught a flash of green about halfway up a tall tree just ahead of us. If we hadn't been in silent mode, I'd have snorted. It was pretty stupid to put faerie fashion sense ahead of the common hunting sense. It would work in the spring and summer, but here the leaves weren't even in full bud yet.
I followed what would probably be his line of vision from his make-shift tree stand. He was seated with bow drawn and arrow notched. Staring right through the window of my cabin. Fudge nuts. Now I was going to have to invest in shutters.
While I'm not a retriever and don't go into point mode, Jed could tell we'd reached the end of the trail. I stood to the side and felt much better without that dang tranq gun behind me. He brought the rifle to his shoulder and took aim. I held my breath.
Jed's dart flew true and hit the would-be assassin in the right shoulder. The hunter stiffened and then, in slow motion, the bow dropped from the tree followed closely by the hunter himself. While Jed checked the hunter, I got the biggest stick my furry mouth could hold and destroyed his arrows. Then I buried them in a big pile of dirt. Just in case they were of the poison variety.
I looked up to see Jed's eyes on me. He gave me a short nod of approval. "Good thinking." He glanced back to the ground at the disabled hunter. "Nothing appears to be broken. Don't suppose you'd consider changing back to help me get him to the cabin? I'd like to get him trussed up before he comes around."
Back in skin form, I maneuvered around to take his feet, leaving Jed with the heavier upper body to lift. We had just
started to lift him off the ground when I realized we were no longer alone in the woods.
I dropped his feet and whirled in panic to find myself face to face with the Erlking. Jed dropped the man too and started to bring his rifle around.
In a heartbeat, the Erlking had leveled a small crossbow complete with a notched arrow at Jed's chest. Jed lowered his rifle.
The Erlking raised an eyebrow. "So, the mighty Spirit Hunter is worthy of his reputation." He motioned with the crossbow and Jed and I stepped back from the Fae on the ground.
The Erlking looked down in disgust. "It would seem you have killed one of my finest hunters. That leaves us with only two choices, I'm afraid."
I started to ask what the choices were, but Jed was more worried about setting the record straight.
"He isn't dead. I don't kill unless it's absolutely necessary."
The horned head turned back to Jed. Funny, in this realm, it didn't look like a hat at all.
"Nothing less than a killing blow would disable one of my hunters."
"My mate is a humane hunter, and a man of his word," I said. I was banking on the Benandanti's Good Walker reputation to give my words their backing.
He kicked the fallen Fae over with one booted foot, revealing the dart sticking from his shoulder. His brows bunched together. "Of course, I may be mistaken." He looked back to Jed with even more respect. "A spelled dart? You are worthy of the title indeed, mortal. Only a few of my court’s best mages could work so powerful a magic as to take down one of my own." The king smiled and it was a terrifying sight.
"Which truly only leaves us with one choice. I would not waste such a hunter as you."
I truly didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like good news, bad news to me. I was right.
Jed did the only thing he could, he ignored the Erlking's words and got back to the point of our meeting.
"I believe you are here to continue your talk with Tazlyn. We could better do that at her cabin." He glanced at me. I was shivering in the cold night air standing there in nothing more than an oversized tee shirt. I was thankful as all get out that I had it. The thought of standing naked in skin form before the Erlking was not a pleasant one.
Jed nodded to me. "She needs to change to wolf form to stay warm. Can you help me move this man?"
The king stared down at his man. "He would not come to harm here if he is only sleeping. But if you insist on bringing him with us..." He looked at Jed. "Do we agree to a truce for this night? That no harm or spelled dart or arrow will find their target in the other?"
Jed nodded, and the king slung his crossbow behind his back. Then he bent down and easily picked the man up, throwing him over one shoulder. I took the opportunity to fur. I'd change back once we got to the cabin and my clothes.
We were within eyesight of the cabin, so the trip didn't take long. The Erlking kept glancing around him in wonder. "It's been too long since I've visited your realm. I had forgotten your changes of seasons." He took a deep breath. "It is refreshing, the cold. Though I do miss the green of the leaves."
Jed glanced at him. "You don't have seasons in Faerie?"
"Alas, no. We are in perpetual spring. Not much changes." He looked around him again. We had reached the cabin door. "Here though, I see many changes and have only just gotten here."
Jed took the keys from his pocket and started to unlock the front door. The king watched him with interest. Then he noticed the flap at the bottom of the door. Reb's door in a door. Mine too, in a pinch.
He glanced at me and smiled. I took that as an invitation and darted through ahead of them, dashing into the bathroom and shutting the door before changing back to skin form. I heard them enter the cabin while I threw on jeans and an oversized flannel shirt. I shivered one last time. This would be a time for the electric heaters. A fire would take too long and I'd gotten too thoroughly chilled.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out from the bathroom and over to the thermostat. I turned it high enough to kick the heat on and only then turned to face the men. They had laid the hunter stretched out on the couch. Jed had angled his rifle against the wall as a signal of their truce. The king's crossbow sat on my tiny kitchen table.
The king was making a tour of my cabin, starting with the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door and stepped back as the coolness reached him. Then he stuck his head in and looked at my meager supply of food. Smiling he reached in and took a cold bottle of Jed's beer.
"May I?" he asked, holding the bottle up to Jed. At Jed's nod, he opened the bottle and took a deep swallow of the brew. Being Jed's favorite brand, it was a dark imported one. Not the cheaper ones you find at the local supermarket. His eyebrows raised in pleased surprise. "Excellent."
He then opened the oven and when nothing happened looked to me for an explanation.
"It's an oven. You put things in it to bake."
He looked puzzled. "Where is the place for the fire?"
I shook my head. It really must have been a while since his last visit. "It runs on electricity to heat up. The same as the refrigerator," I pointed, "uses electricity to keep things cold."
"Electricity," he said slowly, nodding to himself. We went through the house answering his questions. The television required a demonstration. MacDougal's favorite was in the DVR, so the Erlking got a glimpse of Yoda. It drew a smile from him. "Entertainment in a box. And you can change the play at will?"
"We call them movies. Plays that are recorded so that we can watch them over and over again whenever we want." Jed had fielded that one. He seemed way too relaxed for me. I think he was taking this truce thing way too much to heart. I was hoping it was an act, and he was remembering all the loopholes the Fae used to manipulate. The Erlking's words had left himself a lot of room to maneuver.
Finally, they ended the tour at my hot tub built for two. Jed opened it and the Erlking's eyes widened when he saw the bubbling water. He held a hand over the water and looked at me.
"It's hot."
I nodded.
"Electricity again?"
I nodded again.
"Amazing thing that." He stepped around the tub noticing the jets of water. "You bathe in this?"
Jed shook his head. "It is made more for pleasure than purpose. If you sit in the tub, the streams of water come from the sides with enough force to massage your skin. And the heat helps to relieve soreness from your muscles as well."
The Erlking sighed. "Truly there have been many changes since my last visit." He seemed thoughtful. "Perhaps Titania is not so wrong after all." He looked to Jed. "I would be interested in a tour of the changes in your towns and cities as well. Have they changed as much?"
"More so, actually. Tazlyn lives a simple life here. There are pleasures untold for the waiting in our cities," Jed said.
I was worried that Jed might be overselling our realm a little. I mean we didn't want the Erlking to become a permanent resident. Did we?
"You have given me much to think about." The king looked at me and smiled. As faerie smiles go, it was a polite one. "Thank you for having me in your home and showing me the wondrous changes. I would like some time to consider before renewing our conversation of last night."
He walked over to the couch, hefted the hunter over his shoulder again, picked up his crossbow and left.
So why did I feel like we were in even deeper ca-ca than when we started out?
Chapter 19
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN nice if the Erlking had mentioned he was going to call off his hunt temporarily. The next week passed quickly, but we could have enjoyed it a lot more if we all hadn't been so on edge. Looking over your shoulder constantly takes a lot out of a person.
Jed spent a lot of time with MacDougal doing who knows what. All he would say was that they were conducting experiments and that he would fill us in when he knew more. Being the safety conscious male that he was, I figured they were working on the security angle. So that left me pretty much free.
I didn't have any current F
inders clients, and the stone mill didn't have any commissioned carvings for me to work on. If Jed hadn't been sharing the bills, I'd be totally freaking out by now. As it stood, I was actually glad about the free time that gave me. Time to reconnect with my sister.
The two of us visited all of our old haunts, including the tree house, played with the puppies and laughed at their antics. They were so Reb's pups. You could see the intelligence gleaming from their eyes already. It was taking Dell longer than I thought it would to readjust to the human lifestyle. But then when she pointed out things that hadn't even existed sixteen years ago, I started understanding a little better. We take everything for granted, but we got used to it as it happened. She must feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle, waking up to a whole new world.
Rose called to remind me to drop off my mom's journals. After a couple of days of inaction, she and Lily had returned home. Lily couldn’t afford to miss any more school and ferrying her back and forth was becoming tiresome. Of course, Lily insisted that Maggie and the pups went with them. The fact that they had a great fenced in backyard sealed that deal.
Every time we had visited, we got so involved with the pups and de-briefings, that I kept forgetting the journals. So, Dell and I made a special trip. I really did want to read them, but right now time with my sister was far more important to me. We didn't know how long the cease-fire was going to last.
When Rose called and asked for a meeting the day after I'd dropped off the journals, I really didn't think anything about it. The four of us piled in the Jeep, five counting Rebel, and headed up.
She was solemn when she opened the door and motioned us into the kitchen. Her eyes kept darting to Dell, then to me. I had a feeling that there was bad news in the very near future. We all took our customary seats. Lily had pulled out a couple of folding chairs for the guests, and Reb was in the front room visiting his family.
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