by T. A. White
“The hunt’s still going,” he said softly.
I tensed, waiting for him to call Niamh’s attention to that fact. If he did, Niamh would figure out what was going on.
“Very well done, little breaker,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.
Niamh didn’t react as she glided forward.
He spared her a glance before turning and walking away, gesturing toward where Breandan and Baran waited in the trees. They looked from him to me, fascination on their faces before following.
Niamh didn’t notice. The only ones left were the minor Fae and Niamh’s followers.
Liam had stilled above me. He didn’t throw out threats, though I felt them. Unsaid, just below the surface.
Niamh didn’t seem to realize the danger she was in, even as she moved closer.
“There will be other lovers,” she said, flicking her fingers in dismissal. “Leave that one there and come along.”
I sensed the coiled violence in Liam’s body and touched his hand. He flinched, glancing down at me in disbelief. I gave him the smallest of smiles and a wink.
His body shook as he gazed down at me with something approaching wonder.
“The hunt isn’t finished,” Niamh said, her voice turning threatening when Liam didn’t respond. “The stag still lives.”
Liam stroked my cheek, a million words there. If I’d doubted what he felt for me, that doubt was gone. The grief when he thought he’d lost me had been real. The rage, even now, wasn’t entirely absent, just banked.
Liam set me down, moving cautiously. His gaze lingered on mine, a warning not to move.
He stepped over me, his body hovering protectively over mine. He bared his fangs at Niamh.
“Connor, protect Aileen,” Liam ordered, sparing only the briefest of glances at the stag.
Niamh stopped, looking for all the world like he’d just slapped her. Her gaze went from him to me, where I’d raised myself up on one elbow.
I wasn’t the damsel in distress type. If he planned to fight, so would I, even if my body protested each and every movement, my muscles trembling from overuse.
Denial was there on her face. “No, she should be dead.”
“So sorry to disappoint,” I said.
Rage turned her ugly. She didn’t stay that way long, her expression smoothing out. “The hunt still goes. Kill her.”
The words were a signal. Chaos descended.
Inara and Lowen dropped from above, a net of magic woven between them. Liam launched himself forward, meeting the first Fae with a snarl, breaking its neck and tossing it at those behind him.
I leveraged myself to my feet, determined to fight. As long as we lived, there was hope.
The stag reared, using his hooves to strike another Fae in the head.
From behind us, the howl of wolves rose. Furry bodies poured into the clearing, setting on the Fae and driving them back.
Liam’s enforcers were steps behind them. I flinched from Daniel as he wielded his broad sword with wild abandon. Instead of being cleaved in two as I’d assumed, he knocked a Fae out of the air, dispatching it easily.
I sank into my vampire, relying on its instincts to defend us, wrenching apart anything that came close, using fangs and the claws on my fingers to stay alive.
I got lucky. None of those who approached were those I knew.
Not until Jerry ended up across from me, an ax in his hands and murder on his face. He advanced, even as I had enough presence of mind to back away.
“Jerry,” I warned. He didn’t respond, the hunt and Niamh’s thrall binding him too tightly.
I thought I detected a hint of awareness in his expression, regret, even as he kept coming.
I dodged out of the way, aiming a blow at his elbow, then his shoulder. I moved around him, using speed and desperation to stay out of reach while hitting him in the few places he was vulnerable.
Liam roared, coming out of nowhere. The two meeting with a mighty crash.
I turned, surveying the forest. It had more in common with a war zone than it did a forest.
Niamh and her followers watched with gloating glances as the rest of us tore each other apart.
She was the reason for all this. Small threads of magic trailing from her to half those here.
I snapped.
I was before her between one moment and the next, grabbing her throat and wrenching her up before slamming her into a tree.
The shock on her face would have been comical if I hadn’t been so damn mad.
Her expression hardened and power snapped up, trying to burn me out. I let it glance off me, unheeding as it poured past me.
The shock in her face was gratifying, and I grinned down at her, my fangs fully lowered. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, burying my fangs in her throat. It was like biting into an electrical outlet. Pure, raw power poured down my throat.
The feeling was indescribable, better than anything I’d ever tasted—with the exception of Liam’s blood, but for different reasons.
It was life, bubbly and effervescent. Fire dancing along every nerve at the same time. Like fire, it gave even as it took, scorching those same nerve endings.
But I still couldn’t stop. I needed more, even as it became too much. Her power filled me up, threatening to make me burst from my skin. It felt like strapping onto the outside of a rocket, then being shot through the atmosphere.
I fought to stay present, to not get lost. If I did, if I surrendered myself to this never-ending well, I wasn’t coming back.
Abruptly, I was in a deep dark space, streams of power all around me. Some small, some no more than a trickle, others vast streams that might have once carved canyons.
I understood, even as I didn’t know how, that each of these were Niamh’s victims. People and creatures she’d forced under her will.
I could break those bonds. I knew how. Liam and the stag had shown me the way.
A whisper came up from the deep. They could be yours.
I saw that Niamh herself wasn’t powerful. No, she’d stolen what she had from others, every bond she placed strengthening her.
And every single one of them could be mine. All I had to do was reach out and grab them. No more running from other spooks. No more balancing on a knife-edge between what the vampires wanted and what I needed to survive.
There wouldn’t be a soul alive who could challenge me if I took these as my own.
I reached out, fire sparking along my fingertips, burning those threads until there was nothing left, not even ash.
Power wasn’t what I was after. It never had been.
Someone jerked me back from Niamh’s throat, Liam’s frantic face above mine. He said something and I blinked dumbly at him.
He dragged me back several paces, unconcerned as Niamh fell to her knees. She was too drained to give more than a token protest when Daniel grabbed her arm and lifted her up.
All around us the fighting had stopped.
A large blond-white wolf trotted up to me, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. She nudged my hand and gave a happy yip.
“You make such a pretty puppy, Caroline,” I said, happily. My lips still felt numb and my head swam with magic.
I wanted to loll on the ground, run naked through the forest and frolic in its meadows.
Liam’s firm grip told me none of that was happening. He walked up to Eric and thrust me into his hands.
“Keep her safe,” he ordered.
Eric took me with a slightly disconcerted expression, eyeing me like I might turn around and bite him at any moment. I gave him a sappy smile and waved.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Liam caressed my cheek before stepping back. “She bit Niamh.”
Eric looked startled at that news.
“Drank her down like she was a fucking juice box,” Anton said, striding up as he wiped at his face. There was blood all over it. Apparently, sinking your fangs int
o the throat of your prey, while efficient, was also terribly messy.
“She tasted good,” I slurred.
Daniel snorted. “You’re drunk.”
I nodded. Sure felt that way.
“I’m surprised her brain isn’t scrambled,” Anton said, looking down at me.
I made a gun with my fingers and pretended to shoot him as I leaned on Eric.
Niamh screamed and staggered to her feet. I didn’t even pretend concern as she wobbled toward me. She looked like a newborn colt.
“You drank from me,” she accused, her eyes wide, her face pale.
If she’d been human, she’d have been in shock. I’d taken a lot of blood. Not enough to kill her, or any average- sized person, but enough that she would be feeling its loss.
I smiled at her, not caring that my lips were probably rimmed with blood. “Nom nom nom.”
She looked at a loss for words.
I sniffed. I thought I was very clear.
A soft laugh came from the trees, Arlan and the twins watching from their shelter.
“I want her dead,” Niamh shrieked.
“The hunt is over. Everything that happened during is forgiven,” Thomas said, moving into view. His clothes were slightly mussed and his hair just a little disheveled. Other than that, he looked untouched, his expression outwardly calm even as the power in him gave a hint of his emotions.
It waited, crouching deep inside, poised to strike.
I leaned forward and made a small sound of interest. I didn’t know it could even do that.
He flicked a look at the men at my back and made a small motion.
“Alright, time to go,” Anton said as Eric drew me back.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Niamh hissed. Her gaze shifted to those Fae who had survived.
The forest was littered with the bodies of those who’d participated in the hunt. There was panic on some faces as the vampires ghosted out of the trees.
I tried to count them but gave up after the third time I had to start again because I’d forgotten what I was doing. It was enough that I knew there were many more of Thomas’s people out here than had been present at the beginning of the hunt.
Those who could, fled, leaving behind the injured and dead without a backward glance.
Only a few lingered, Jerry and his couriers among them.
All watched Niamh.
“Kill her,” Niamh ordered, pointing at me.
I snickered. She still didn’t realize what I’d done.
Niamh blanched, looking around.
My snicker turned into a chortle. Her stricken eyes zero’d in on me.
“What did you do?” she asked, finally realizing something was wrong.
I cocked my head and leaned forward as far as Eric would let me. I gave her a nasty smile. “I took them from you.”
She shook her head and just kept shaking it. Gone was the lady of the forest who had gloated in my plight, who had sought to put Liam and the others under her thumb.
“Do something,” she cried at her husband.
He shook his head. “The hunt is over. Any action now would break the treaty.”
He didn’t even bother to pretend at regret.
Baran and Breandan behind him moved through the trees, circling Niamh.
“Such a pity to see the great lady helpless,” Breandan said. There was a seductive edge to his voice. “I hope you run fast, my lady.”
His twin slid me a look and winked before the two of them turned and disappeared into the early dawn, the forest swallowing them as if they’d never been present.
It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard a soft voice say, “See you soon, little breaker.”
I waited, expecting Thomas or even Liam to do something. They didn’t. They stood quietly, watching the Fae with hard expressions.
I straightened, a little of my drunkenness fading. “What are they doing? Why aren’t they doing anything to her?”
“They can’t,” Eric said, not sounding any happier as he and the rest glared at the High Fae.
My gaze swung toward him, the depths of my disbelief almost comical. “What do you mean they can’t? She tried to put Liam under her thrall. She nearly killed me.”
“That’s exactly why we can’t. No one can know she was able to put vampires as powerful as Liam and Nathan under her thrall. It would show a weakness others would seek to exploit. They’ll blame everything on the Wild Hunt instead,” Anton said, sounding pissed.
I looked back at her. “She’s going to get away with everything?”
I didn’t want that to be the case. She’d almost broken Liam and damn near killed me. Letting her get off without any punishment offended me.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” Niall said, appearing beside us.
The enforcers tensed.
Our gazes swung back to the scene as Jerry and the rest of the Fae advanced on Niamh.
Liam made his way over to me, taking me from Eric’s hold.
“What’s happening?” I asked, still not feeling totally present.
“There will be a hunt of another kind,” he said softly.
His insinuation was clear, especially when Niamh blanched and fled into the trees.
“Won’t her husband try to help her?” I asked, feeling all trace of inebriation flee with the sounds of the Fae’s screams as they gave chase. It was a haunting reminder of my own flight.
Liam drew me close, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “There’s no love lost between the two. If she can’t escape on her own, he has no need for her anymore.”
There was a brief scream and then silence.
I held myself still against Liam, trying not to feel, trying not to think.
Niamh had probably deserved the death she’d received, but the manner of her death, how closely it had resembled the last few hours as I fought to stay alive, pricked at wounds that hadn’t even begun to heal.
“I assume you and your people will head home now the hunt is completed,” Thomas said.
Niamh might have been taken care of, but the rest of the Fae had been complicit in her plans. Arlan especially, had known what she’d intended, known and done nothing.
Arlan’s smile was faint and amused. “I think we will linger.” His eyes came to rest on me. Caroline let out a faint growl even as Liam stiffened warily. “I’ve found something here that interests me.”
His gaze drifted to Niall and Cadell and he gave them a meaningful look. “Well done, Lord of the Green. You did not let me down.” His focus turned to Cadell. “Welcome to our ranks.”
Niall and Cadell remained motionless, not even the flicker of an eyelash giving away their thoughts as Arlan turned and disappeared into the forest, following in the twins’ wake.
Cadell’s gaze was enigmatic as it met mine. There was an apology there, but no remorse.
My lips parted as shock coursed through me. He’d been the one to mark me. He was the only one who could have. All that time spent wracking my brain trying to figure out who’d gotten close enough and the answer was right in front of me.
It was him. He’d used the excuse of passing me the note to lay the mark. As this night had just proven, both he and Niall were lords of the hunt, perfectly capable of marking prey.
Thomas rested his hands on his hips and bent his head before turning back to me, his gaze alive with irritation.
My mouth snapped shut, and I put aside my suspicions to be examined later when my head wasn’t quite so foggy.
I frowned at Thomas. What did I do this time?
I didn’t realize I’d said it aloud until Anton choked on a laugh beside me. I looked around to find the other enforcers fighting similar bouts of amusement. My frown grew more pronounced.
My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to me. “How did you guys slip her thrall?”
In the chaos of the hunt’s end, it hadn’t really sunk in that they’d been fighting for us rather than against us. Something that shouldn’
t have been possible because I hadn’t broken her hold yet.
“I freed them from her hold in the first thirty minutes of the hunt,” Thomas said, sounding vexed.
I blinked at him, my mouth dropping open in surprise. “You did?”
Anton lost his battle with his hilarity, bending over as he gasped with laughter. I bit off a growl as I noticed Daniel and Eric turn away as they fought similar reactions.
“It’s not that funny,” I muttered. I lost the battle to remain standing and would have fallen if Liam hadn’t caught me and pressed me against his side.
“Yes, Aileen, I did. Right after I dealt with the problem of the witches. Something you would have known if you hadn’t decided to join the hunt,” he said with forced patience.
“What happened to Sarah and the rest?” I asked feeling somber.
Thomas’s frown became more severe, but he relented, answering my question. “Most of her disciples are dead. The few who survived have been taken home to be questioned.”
“And Sarah?” I asked, already feeling like I knew the answer.
“She escaped.” His face was remote, giving no sign of how that must burn.
I left that subject, sensing prying further would only cause consequences I wanted to avoid. I looked around. “So, all this time?”
Daniel nodded, some of the humor dying in his face. “We’ve been trying to catch you so we could get you to safety.”
Ah.
I remembered them amid the trees, chasing me. I’d just assumed they were trying to kill me like all the rest.
“You’re pretty fast for someone not even out of your infancy,” Anton said.
I ignored the partial complement and craned my head to peer up at Liam. “I guess I didn’t free you after all.”
He’d certainly done a good job of pretending to still be in her hold. The commitment he’d shown when he brandished that dagger had been very convincing. If he’d been an actor,I’d have nominated him for an Oscar.
He brushed my hair from my face, his expression tender. “You did. Thomas couldn’t break her hold over me.”
Thomas’s frown turned grumpy. “Only because I couldn’t catch you.”
“And you wouldn’t have caught me,” Liam said with a meaningful glance. “Not until it was too late.”
