Now I could clearly see the gate—and something else, as well. The lights at the front of the compound were focused on what seemed to be a fenced-off enclosure, like a chain-link pen. A group of guards surrounded the pen, and inside were two men. I squinted, trying to make out what was going on, and then I realized the men were fighting, spurred on by the shouts of the guards. From where I was, I could hear grunts and groans, and the thud of flesh against flesh. One of the guards shifted, and I managed to gain an unobstructed view of the men. I caught sight of a shock of coppery-colored hair, and gasped.
Rafé. That had to be Rafé’s hair.
I eased back away from the edge, trying to think. The way the men were fighting made it clear that it wasn’t in fun. And the guards were egging them on. It was a death match, and given the size of Rafé’s opponent, and Rafé’s skill at fighting, I wouldn’t place my bets on him.
I have to find Herne.
Scrambling down the roof, I tried to be as quiet as I could as I dropped into the snow below. I started to return to the shed when I realized that I could see the line of footprints that I had made wading through the snow. I should have taken the sidewalk, which was compacted down into a thick layer of ice.
Crap, why hadn’t I planned this out better? But it looked like a good share of the guards was watching the match, so as long as it continued, there was a chance that they wouldn’t notice me or the guard that we had tied up. I hurried back to the shed, swinging around it to find the guard was still there. At that moment I saw Herne returning from the dormitory. I motioned for him to hurry.
“What’s going on?” He glanced toward the front of the encampment. “Do you know what’s happening up there?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I went to see. Rafé’s up there with another man in a chain-link pen. They’re fighting, and a lot of the guards are egging them on. I think it’s a match to the death. We have to do something.”
“I wonder where Kipa is? Of course he couldn’t come through the pit, so he’s probably out running around the woods looking for the encampment.” He pulled out his phone, glancing at it. “No bars out here. At least none that I can pick up. All right, we can create a diversion. Maybe you can slip in and free Rafé while I keep the guards occupied.”
“Can you possibly distract all the guards?”
“I have more tricks up my sleeve than you might realize.”
I snickered. He was right on that one. Herne had the ability to make vegetation work for him. He could also light fires and a number of other things, including some I didn’t know about yet, I was sure.
“I think it’s time to warm up one of their cars. That should cause a stir.” He froze, glancing at the fence behind us. Very slowly, he brought his crossbow up to bear.
At that moment, Kipa leapt over the top of the fence, landing in a crouch. Herne relaxed, letting out a long sigh.
“I almost shot you,” Herne said.
“I couldn’t come through the pit because of the water. What on earth did you do to it?”
“That doesn’t matter now. Rafé’s in a pen with another man, being forced to fight for his life. I’m headed to start a distraction, so Ember can get to him.”
“What should I do?” Kipa asked.
“First, drop this guard over the fence. Make sure he’s hidden from sight, then help Ember with Rafé. Hurry up. Every second we wait puts him in further danger.”
Kipa silently gathered up the guard, swiftly cutting through the rope that I had used to bind him to the shed. Then, he slung him over his shoulder and silently ascended the fence, dropping over the other side to the ground. A moment later he returned, not even winded.
“He’s hidden. All right, get moving. Ember and I will rescue Rafé.”
Herne nodded, then silently vanished around the edge of the shed. I turned to Kipa, who motioned for me to follow him the other way. We passed in back of the dormitory, then turned right to skirt the edge of the fence toward the front of the encampment. We stopped behind the left front-most building and I peeked around the edge, just long enough to verify that the fight was still on. From here it was easier to see the size and scope of what was happening.
The guards had erected a pen out of chain-link fence that was about four feet high, eight feet wide, and ten feet long. Inside, Rafé and the other man were still going at each other, but Rafé was definitely getting the worst of it. The other man landed blow after blow on him.
I winced, wanting to run forward screaming for them to stop, but I restrained myself. That wouldn’t do any good. As Kipa and I waited for Herne to make his move, I strapped my crossbow to my back, along with the quiver of bolts. Less than thirty seconds later, from the other side of the encampment, a huge fireball illuminated the night as an explosion rocked the camp. When Herne said distraction, he meant distraction.
All I could think was that he had opened a gas tank and shot pure flame into it. A shrill alarm pierced the night, shrieking throughout the encampment. The guards around the pen turned as one, racing over to the right, toward the vehicles and the billowing clouds of smoke.
Kipa motioned to me, and we dashed across the clearing to the side of the pen. Nobody seemed to notice us, too focused on what was going on with the cars.
Inside the pen, Rafé was on the ground. Bleeding, his shirt was torn open and bruises were forming all over his body. His nose looked broken and one eye was swollen. One arm stretched out to his side in an unnatural position, and his hair was matted with blood. The other man stood over him, then looked up at us, frowning as he clenched his fists. I held my crossbow trained on him, warning him back.
He was Dark Fae, that much I could tell, and tattooed on his shoulder was the insignia of the Tuathan Brotherhood. I recognized it from the flyer. There was a gleam in his eye, and not a good one. He raced over toward the gate leading into the pen, but I let go with an arrow, hitting him directly in the chest. The man dropped in his tracks. Kipa opened the gate, standing back as I rushed in to kneel by Rafé’s side. He was still alive, thank the gods.
“Kipa, we have to get him out of here.”
Kipa quickly examined Rafé, then looked up at me. “He’s got several broken bones, but we don’t have time to splint them. Can you hide? I’ll take him through the gate, back to the cabin. I can run faster than you, so if you came with me, you’d end up lost in the woods.”
I nodded. “Get him to safety. Get him back to the cabin.” I stood as Kipa scooped up Rafé in his arms, then charged out of the pen. He headed for the front gate and I realized that he couldn’t both hold Rafé and open the gate, so I floundered along behind him, wishing I still had my snowshoes.
“Hide, damn it!”
“You need somebody to open the gate,” I said, my crossbow up and ready to fire at anybody who tried to stop us.
But all the guards were over by the fire at the side of the encampment now, which had spread to another vehicle and was burning out of control. There was another explosion down the line, and more shouts. I ignored the commotion, keeping my focus on the front gate. Just before I reached it, Herne appeared, and he opened the gate, shoulder butting it wide, then dragged me through by my wrist. Kipa followed with Rafé in hand.
“I was about to take him back to the cabin,” Kipa said.
“I’ve got a little surprise they don’t expect.” Herne turned back to the encampment, lobbing something that he had pulled out of his pocket. Another explosion rocked the night as the front gate went up in flames.
“What about all the men in the dormitory?”
“I’m pretty sure they can cut a hole in the chain-link fence if they need to evacuate. Meanwhile, we’d better get Rafé out of here. With those injuries, the cold could kill him.” Kipa paused as we neared the tree line. He lifted his head, and let out a howl that echoed through the night. It was eerie, sending shivers down my back, and it felt like a call to action.
“I’m going to change into my stag form. Fasten Rafé over my back. I can run faste
r than either of you.” Herne stepped to the side, shimmering into his silver stag form. Kipa and I obeyed without question, doing our best to fasten Rafé onto Herne’s back without hurting him any more than he was already hurt. Rafé groaned, letting out a pitiful moan. I leaned close, brushing his hair back from his face.
“Don’t worry. We’re getting you to safety.” I kissed his forehead, then stood back as Herne leapt into the forest, darting around tree after tree. He was gone in the blink of an eye, a blurry silver form racing toward the cabin.
I turned back to Kipa, then stopped as four large wolves came out of the forest to surround him. They were larger than normal wolves, and they looked mean and vicious. They turned and raced toward the gate where three of the guards had started toward us.
Kipa turned to me. “That will keep them occupied. Meanwhile, when I shift into my wolf form, get on my back. I can change into a larger wolf than I usually do. Even with you on my back, I’ll be faster than you can run, especially without snowshoes, which you seem to have lost along the way.”
Without waiting for me to answer, he turned into a large wolf—twice as large as normal. I silently straddled his back, leaning down to put my arms around his neck. With a soft huff, he leapt up and away, and we raced after Herne, into the forest, leaving the burning compound behind us.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Riding on Kipa’s back was quite different than riding on Herne’s. For one thing, I was a lot closer to the ground. Kipa was a little bigger than a large St. Bernard. Even though he seemed perfectly capable of carrying me, I was all too aware that I was riding on him. The thought seemed odd. But getting caught by the guards back at the encampment would prove deadly, and odd beat deadly every day of the week.
We wove in and out of the trees, skimming the snow in a way that bespoke Kipa’s nature. No regular wolf could run atop the snow like this. I closed my eyes, bracing myself as we careened through the undergrowth, piles of snow shaking off as we passed by the bushes and trees. Kipa was racing at a blur, but the ride seemed to stretch out far longer than it should, and my thoughts wandered back to the guard we had left tied up. He could easily die of hypothermia if nobody found him.
A few moments later, we burst through the tree line into the driveway surrounding the cabin. Kipa slowed, and I jumped off of his back. As he transformed back into himself, he grabbed me around the waist, brushing my hair back from my face.
I shivered at his touch—he was Lord of the Wolves, and regardless of how much I loved Herne, there was no denying the sensuous energy that followed Kipa like a magnet.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “I tried not to knock you around too much.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I said, breathless. Then, to take my mind off where it was starting to wander, I added, “What about the guard that we left back there, the one who was tied up?”
“The danger is too great to go back for him. I’m afraid he has to take his chances in the wild.” Kipa shook his head, his eyes dark and glowing.
I thought about my promise to the man, that we would let him live. “Is there any way we can help him? He was just doing his job.”
“That’s what all the soldiers said who belonged to the Nazi Party. That’s what soldiers have been saying all throughout history,” Kipa added. “If you ask Herne the same question, he’ll give you the same answer. Herne and I have been through wars before, we’ve seen what mankind does to its own when given too much power. Hell, the gods are just as bad.”
“I know, but…I promised. Herne promised.” My words were almost a whisper, though I knew it was useless.
Kipa gazed at me for a long moment. “All right. I’ll double back to see if I can find him. But we’re not turning him loose. He’ll answer for what he’s done. I’ll bring him back if I can. He might make a good informant for us. But there’s no way in hell that I’ll set him free. Do you understand?” His eyes glittered with an icy sheen that reminded me of how great a divide there was between mortals and the gods.
I ducked my head. “Don’t go if you think you’ll put yourself in danger.” I was so conflicted. I knew Kipa was right, and yet—and yet, we had promised the man. We had given our word. To me that meant something.
“I won’t be in danger. But nobody else is coming with me.” He paused, then pushed me toward the door. “You go in there and see if Herne is back with Rafé. If he is, give me a wave and I’ll attend to the guard. If he’s not, then I’m going out in search of them.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” was all I said as I opened the door to the cabin, hoping that everyone would be all right and intact.
I should have knocked first, because I realized I was facing the point of Herne’s crossbow, aimed right at me. Viktor was sitting by the fire while Rafé was laid out on the table. Raven had her foot propped up on a stool, but she was helping Coyote look him over.
“You almost got yourself killed,” Herne said as he lowered his bow.
I glanced over my shoulder and waved, then entered the cabin.
“Where’s Kipa?” Herne asked.
“He’ll be back. He needed to check on something.” I entered the cabin and shut the door behind me, deciding that I’d wait until Kipa returned. He could argue with Herne better than I could, and I suddenly realized that Herne would be pissed if he realized Kipa had gone back to check on the guard.
I hurried over to Rafé’s side. “How is he?” I looked over at Raven.
She was handing Coyote strips of cloth that looked like they’d been torn from a shirt. Coyote was wrapping a splint around Rafé’s arm, trussing it up so he couldn’t move it. It looked like he had already bandaged several of Rafé’s cuts and wounds, and a makeshift ice bag was strapped to Rafé’s nose. Yutani was sorting through his pack, looking for something.
Coyote glanced at me. His eyes were as dark as the night, and I recognized an odd familiarity in his features. Glancing at Yutani, I realized that I could see the resemblance. Both had the same wild, feral look, hidden beneath a beguiling exterior.
“He’ll live. He’s got some internal injuries, but they should hold until you can get him to medical treatment. He’s got a broken arm, a broken nose, and a busted ankle. I think he may have a broken rib or two, so I’ve wrapped his ribs to keep them stable until you can get him back to your people for treatment.”
I was about to say something about the your people comment when I realized that Coyote meant the mortal world, not the Fae. “How are we going to get him down to Port Angeles? I don’t think we can all fit in Herne’s Expedition.”
Coyote arched one eyebrow. “I can take care of that. I’ll get my pickup. It’s got a camper on the back.”
I stared at him, then glanced at Yutani, who looked bemused. “You drive a pickup?”
“Your boyfriend drives an SUV,” Coyote said.
He had me there. Somehow, I had pictured the Great Coyote as more ethereal than the other gods, as someone who seldom mixed with mortalkind. The fact that he drove a pickup with a camper on it kind of threw a wrench into that image.
“In fact, I’ve done as much as I can for Rafé, so I’ll head out and be back in half an hour with my truck.”
“With the road conditions, how are you going to make it here in that time?” I asked, still not functioning on all four cylinders.
Herne snorted. “Chances are he’s parked right up at the ridge. Am I right?” He looked at Coyote.
Coyote gave him a nod. “Score one point for you.” He turned to Yutani. “Do you want to come with me, son?”
The way he said it resonated through the room, making me catch my breath. The fact that Yutani was actually Coyote’s son hit home on a level that it hadn’t before. Yutani was half god—a demigod.
Yutani shook his head. “You can run faster without me. And Rafé needs to get into town as soon as possible. I’ll stay here with the others.”
Coyote slipped out the door, taking off without another word. Yutani watched him go.
/> “It’s going to be like that for the rest of my life, you know?” His words were faint, almost a murmur under his breath, but in the stillness of the cabin we all caught them. He looked startled, as though he hadn’t realized he had spoken aloud. After another moment, he added, “One thing I’ve come to realize over the past few hours is that no matter whether he’s blood or not, Coyote will always come and go on his own terms. He may be my father, but he’s not someone I can ever rely on.”
“How do you feel about that?” Raven asked.
Yutani shrugged. “It is what it is. He is who he is. At least he told me the truth, and he also told me why he’s waited so long to tell me. I don’t know how I feel about the answer—and don’t even ask what it is right now. I don’t feel like talking about it. But at least he did give me an answer.” He turned to Rafé. “Coyote’s an excellent healer. Come on, we should gather our things and be ready to go. Do you really think we can drive down the mountain tonight?” he asked Herne.
Herne shrugged. “We have to. Eventually, those guards will put out the fire I started and come looking for us. Where the hell is Kipa? Yutani is right. We need to get a move on.”
“He’ll be back soon.” I bit my lip, torn about whether to tell them where he was. I didn’t like that Herne might think Kipa had run off, when he had done so much for us.
“Spill it. I can tell you’re hiding something,” Herne said. He moved over to me, stroking my face as he stared into my eyes. “Where is Kipa?”
I cleared my throat. “You remember the guard we left? That you had Kipa hide?”
“He didn’t go back for him, did he? The fool.”
“He went because I asked him to. You and I made a promise to the man that we wouldn’t kill him. Leaving him outside, tied up in the snow? That’s an open invitation to hypothermia. I just can’t break my word, even if it was given to someone who’s on the wrong side.”
Herne’s gaze blazed. “That man would have been cheering for Rafé to die if we hadn’t caught him and tied him up. But perhaps you’re right. If Kipa can find him, we can get more information out of him. Given that Nuanda wasn’t there, we need to know everything we can about him. I was hoping we would be able to shut down the compound tonight, and we may have. With all the explosions and fires, there’s a good chance they’ll have to move out. But my real hope—that we’d find who’s behind this and that this would be the main hub of the organization—well, that’s a big fat failure.”
The Silver Mist: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 6 Page 18
