by T. A. White
“Yet you survived.” Niall contemplated me as if he knew a secret I didn’t.
I shrugged, affecting nonchalance. “I got lucky. A friend gave me a charm to ward off attacks.”
“Your friend is very powerful then.” Cadell said. His tone made it clear he wasn’t entirely convinced with my explanation.
I didn’t respond to that. Too many people already knew my secrets. There was no need to add four more to the mix.
“Why here? Why now?” I asked.
Niall seemed slightly uncomfortable. “That’s hard to explain.”
“I’ll try to keep up,” I said with a hard smile. My patience with these games was wearing thin. I was tired and my bones ached, to say nothing of the mental and emotional fallout from this evening I still hadn’t worked through. I was done with all the tap dancing.
“The Wild Hunt is important, but it’s just one piece of a larger puzzle,” Niall explained.
I got that, but I still didn’t know why.
Irritation crossed Cadell’s face. “Stop dancing around it. The Wild Hunt is pure, untamed magic, wild and primal. When the prey is killed, it acts as a sacrifice to the old gods. For a very brief moment in time, its potential is nearly limitless.”
“The barrow,” I said.
He nodded. “Every inch of the Summer Lands is spoken for. The only way to move up is to kill those above you. A new barrow—especially one with such strong ties to the human world and its magic—would open up new possibilities.”
“Our politics tend to be drenched in blood and death. A change of power is rare but when it happens it usually results in a high body count. There are many who would welcome the creation of a new barrow,” Niall said in a soft voice.
And Thomas had been asked by the vampire council to let it happen. It made me wonder what benefits such a barrow would have for them. Because there would be a benefit. Vampire politics were no less deadly and bloody than the Fae’s. They never did anything without a reason. It was finding the reason before you were dead, that was the tricky part.
“How do the witches fit into all this?” I asked.
“Niamh is using them. When they fulfill their purpose, they’ll be discarded like all the rest,” Lowen said in a low voice.
Inara looked startled at his interjection, then realization dawned on her face. Outrage filled her as she rose several inches above the shelf she’d grabbed as a perch.
“You went spying for Niall?” she asked.
He ducked his head. “We needed to know what Niamh and Arlan were up to.”
“She could have killed you,” Inara screeched. “You know how dangerous she is. Was her destroying our court not clue enough?”
Grief and devastation were obvious in Inara’s face as she stared at her consort. Watching the two of them felt awkward, as if we were spying on a private fight between lovers.
“That’s why I had to do it,” he said, lifting his head and meeting her gaze. Inara was the more dominant of the two, a tempest waiting to blow. Lowen had always been calmer and less inclined towards anger. He had a steadiness that made one listen. “You know her. She’s already spun her web on half the Fae in the city.”
He turned to me. “Your old boss is caught by one of her glamours. He has no choice but to help her.”
I figured as much. There weren’t a lot of reasons Jerry would abandon all he’d built over the years.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“That’s how she caught our old court. She uses geases and glamour to entrap people. Once trapped by such vows, they have no choice but to obey.”
That would explain why Jerry had been acting so weird, why he’d looked like he’d wanted to be anywhere but there, and why he had brushed me off.
“Shit,” I said. A thought occurred to me. It was insidious and I didn’t want to give it credence.
“Can she use the hold she has on him on the rest of his couriers?” I asked. I know Jerry had his Fae employees swear different vows. I wasn’t sure, but I’d heard one of them was a vow of loyalty and fealty.
The resigned looks on the others faces told me all I needed to know.
“He’s established a court here through his couriers. The first of its kind. It’s likely she’ll have control over any Fae who swore fealty to him. We’re not sure about the rest,” Niall said reluctantly.
Damn it, that was not good.
“Good thing you were fired,” Inara said.
Yeah, except it didn’t feel like that right now. I wasn’t super-close with any of the other couriers, our schedules kept us too busy, but I’d had a few friends among them—work friends I said hey to every now and then. I couldn’t just leave them in that woman’s control.
“Who else did she bring with her?” Inara asked.
“The twins, Breandan and Baran,” Cadell responded.
Inara let out a filthy curse, the word surprising originating from such a small creature. “Those two are hunters. They’ll be dangerous.”
“You seem to know a lot about these people,” I observed. Understandable, if Niamh had really killed the rest of their court.
Inara lifted her chin. “One of the reasons they chose this place is probably because of me.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”
It seemed like a lot of trouble to go to murder one small pixie, queen or not. My roommate was annoying, tediously so, and she could be more prickly than a mama porcupine, but I couldn’t see holding an entire city hostage just to kill her.
“We have a history. I stole something of hers,” Inara said, her chin lifted, and her voice proud.
I waited.
“What did you steal?” I asked, when it became clear she’d said all she was going to say.
“You don’t need to know that yet,” she said, her chin lifted in challenge.
I stared at her for a long moment. I didn’t need to know? This crazy Fae was going around the city and enslaving people to her will, including my friends. She’d already tried to kill me once—which did not make sense—and I’d upset her plans earlier that night. But I didn’t need to know Inara’s secret.
“What she means to say is that we can’t tell you quite yet,” Niall said, stepping into the breach, his tone placating.
“Why did you pull me down here?” I asked abruptly.
Niall’s forehead wrinkled, his expression a perfect impression of confusion. I wasn’t buying it.
“We thought you deserved a warning,” he said.
“No.” I shook my head. That’s not what this was about. “You wanted me to keep your presence here a secret. I’m willing to bet your ‘friend’ doesn’t know you’ve been here longer than a couple of nights.”
There was a slight flinch from Niall. Cadell went stiff, his body tensed and poised as if he was expecting an attack.
I was right. This wasn’t about helping me. It was about covering their own asses.
Fine, I could play that game too.
“We need you to make sure Cadell and Niall aren’t chosen to be prey,” Inara said, not letting my anger affect her. She met my gaze with a steely resolve.
“How do you expect me to do that when I can’t even figure out how to keep myself from being chosen?” I hissed.
None of them answered me.
We sat in angry silence for several long moments.
“I’ll return you to your apartment,” Inara said, lifting off the shelf.
“Would killing her work?” I asked, holding my ground.
Niall and Cadell traded looks. I narrowed my eyes, not able to decipher what message they sent each other.
“It should,” Niall admitted. “But she has powerful allies. Drawing their ire would be inadvisable.”
“Nor would it be as easy as you seem to think,” Cadell said. “Niamh has many enemies and they’ve all tried to wipe her from this world. You are barely into your eternity. What makes you think you will fare any better?”
I didn’t answer, following Inara out of t
he room. Most of what they’d told me had been things I’d known or guessed, but I’d learned enough to have a hundred new questions.
Inara fluttered into the bathroom, waiting for me to join her. This time Lowen stayed behind, the quiet murmur of men’s voices following me.
I was ready as the magic rose, using my othersight to watch as hundreds of glittering lights surrounded us. They reminded me of fireflies buzzing around us as the magic built.
Even watching, I couldn’t tell how she did it, or pinpoint the exact moment when she broke the laws of physics as humans knew them.
With a pop, the world jerked sideways in a sickening lurch and I once again ended up on my ass. This time in my own bathroom.
I picked myself up off the ground with a groan.
“I will never get used to that,” I informed Inara as she settled on my upraised knee.
I started to push my way to my feet and froze at the sight of the open door. Liam leaned against the doorframe, his body perfectly relaxed as he watched me.
“Oh shit,” I gulped.
Inara froze, her small eyes growing comically wide as she noticed Liam.
The three of us stared at each other, Liam contemplative, Inara and I in horrified shock.
“I guess you’re wondering what’s going on,” I tried.
Liam didn’t respond, just turned and disappeared into the apartment. We heard the front door open and shut moments later.
That wasn’t good.
“Stop him, you fool,” Inara screeched, pinching my ear.
I flinched at the pain before batting her away as I scrambled to my feet and darted after Liam.
He had a decent head start. He was already out of the apartment and had reached Niall and Cadell’s door by the time I landed somewhat ungracefully on the ground.
“Liam,” I warned.
He raised his hand and knocked.
Before I could say anything—not that I could think of anything to say—the door swung open, Cadell’s eyes narrowing as he tensed.
Liam pounced. A light shimmered around the door. Liam bounced off it and flew past me.
He rolled to his feet, his fangs down and his eyes a sea of blue. He shook himself. Then he crouched, took a deep breath and sprinted for the door.
Cadell had relaxed when Liam was repelled but now he tensed again.
Liam hit the door with a crash, the light sparking. There was a boom as Liam sailed past me again.
“Liam, that’s enough,” I said when he climbed to his feet.
He gave no sign he heard me, sprinting for the doorway. Another boom, this one louder than the last.
“Are you done?” I asked when he got to his feet again. A snarl was my only answer.
I rolled my eyes and walked away. Stupid man. If he wanted to throw himself against the equivalent of an unmovable wall, he could be my guest. I wasn’t sticking around to watch.
I stalked back to my apartment, repeating the laborious climb up.
“Did you distract him?” Inara asked as soon as I reached the door.
“Does it sound like I distracted him?” I asked just as there was another loud crack.
We both looked down at where Liam was picking himself off the ground, giving no sign that he was tiring. I was actually surprised his antics hadn’t attracted any onlookers. It was the early morning hours, but the noise should have drawn some attention.
Inara sighed. “What does he think he’s going to accomplish?”
I shook my head. Her guess was as good as mine. Vampires couldn’t enter a home unless they were invited. It was one of the very weird myths that turned out to be true. Not to mention, I strongly suspected that Niall and Cadell had their place warded to hell and back to prevent any uninvited guests.
“Where are you going?” Inara called after me as I left the door and headed further into the apartment.
“As amusing as this is to watch, I have better things to do,” I said.
Before I made it more than a few steps, I heard a sound beneath my door. I backtracked and watched the edge, poised to attack if a golem or anything Fae appeared.
A hand landed on the threshold and Caroline pulled herself up, panting. “You really need to do something about those stairs.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked her, rushing forward to help pull her into the apartment.
She stood and dusted her hands off. “Thought I’d update you on my progress.” She jerked a thumb at the door. “You know tall, dark and handsome is throwing himself against your neighbor’s door, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, he’s not exactly rational at the moment.”
“You do have a way of driving people out of their minds,” Caroline said, looking around.
“Thanks, friend. It’s always so good to hear what you think of me,” I said, heading back toward my room. Caroline followed me, throwing herself onto the bed as I rummaged through my dresser.
“Do you want to hear what I found?” she asked.
It took me a moment to remember what she was speaking of. It felt like months had passed since I asked her to look into the golems and the Wild Hunt.
“Regale me with your knowledge, oh smart one,” I said in a dead pan voice.
Her smile was quick and sly before it faded. “A whole bunch of nothing.”
I paused and looked over at her. She could have called and told me that.
She chuckled at my expression and sat up. “I’m not lying. Golems are mostly associated with early Judaism. You can even find a couple of references of them in the Bible. Most versions I found said they have a written Hebrew word inscribed on their heads, which when removed destroys the golem.”
“That doesn’t describe what came after us,” I said. None of those had writing on their foreheads. I would have noticed.
She nodded. “You could say they’ve been improved upon since the first golem’s creation. Nowadays, anyone with enough juice can make one. All they need is a focus to which they affix their magic and then you’ve got an army of inanimate mud at your beck and call.”
“The pebbles,” I said.
“Yup, I took a look at the one I had. There are small symbols inscribed on it. Runes similar to the language of the witches,” she said.
That wasn’t exactly nothing. Unfortunately, it didn’t tell me much that was new.
The periodic booms from outside told me Liam was still preoccupied with trying to get at Niall and Cadell.
To my not so surprise, I found what I was looking for in a drawer of my dresser. I picked up the book that now had the title Dangerous Waters Ahead - Turn Back, Stupid.
“I see you managed to make it back,” I told it. Not that I’d really been worried. This book had a tendency to roam. I still hadn’t figured out how or why it had chosen to follow me around like a lost puppy.
“What’s that?” Caroline asked, leaning forward with interest.
“A pain in the ass,” I told her.
I’d tried many ways to get rid of my not-so-welcome guide to all things supernatural—including losing it accidentally on purpose, tossing it from a bridge, putting it in the trash can on trash day and even giving it to a random stranger. Nothing worked. It always returned, usually with a sarcastic title designed to insult me. The only thing I hadn’t attempted was setting it on fire.
“It looks interesting,” she said.
That was one way of putting it.
“I’m less interested in the golems now than I am in the Wild Hunt,” I said.
“You and everyone else. Brax has forbidden the wolves from taking part in it. He said anyone caught in those woods during or after the hunt would be punished severely.”
I frowned. “I would have thought the hunt would appeal to your natures.”
It involved donning their fur and chasing creatures through the woods with the end resulting in a fresh kill. It seemed right up their alley.
“Probably, but I think he’s more worried one of us will end up as the prey,” she sa
id.
“I thought only the weak became prey.”
She shook her head. “Common misconception, according to my research. It depends on who calls the hunt. The more powerful the hunter, the more powerful the prey. From what I can tell, the more difficult and challenging the hunt, the more magic generated from it.”
“I was told the kill acts as a sacrifice,” I said.
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Perhaps, though from what I can find it’s the hunt itself that really gives the magic the boost. Either way, if you sacrifice something that’s weak, you get weak magic out of it. That’s what the book keeper said anyway.”
Ideally, they’d want someone strong enough to give the hunt a good chase but weak enough to be caught.
“What about the mark of the hunt?”
She lifted herself half off the bed. “Why the interest?”
I fiddled with the book, unable to look her in the eye. I thought about keeping the reason to myself. Just as fast as the thought occurred, I discarded it. Hiding and keeping secrets was what had nearly destroyed our friendship in the first place.
“I have one on my back.”
Caroline was off the bed and in front of me, moving with a preternatural speed. “Show me.”
Reluctantly, I did.
“Okay, we’re going to figure out a way around this,” she said, sounding calm. “I’ll talk to Brax, get him to let me attend the hunt.”
“No, Caroline, that’s a bad idea.”
“I’m doing it,” she snapped. “You’d do it for me.”
She was right. I would.
Still, throwing a demon wolf into the mix would probably make matters worse.
“For now, figure out all you can about this. I’m told it’s only half a mark right now. There’s a set of criteria I need to meet before the hunt chooses me as prey. Find out what they are and how I can avoid them,” I said, trying to use logic to keep her from an unwise course of action. “We can create a plan after that.”
She nodded. “Alright, I can do that.”
I held up the book. “I’m hoping this might help.”
