“I thought the hunt wasn’t supposed to start until tomorrow,” I said.
Liam’s face turned grim.“It seems we were misled. This area won’t be safe once it starts. We’ll break the compulsion back at the mansion.” To the other two, he said,“Get him up. We’re going back to the car.”
Anton and Daniel lifted Nathan to his feet. He didn’t resist, going with them easily.
Liam, Thomas and I waited until they passed.
“Are you sure about this?” Thomas asked.
Liam looked infinitely weary in that moment.“No, but I don’t have it in me to not let Aileen try.”
Thomas nodded, his face grave.
I couldn’t help but be surprised when he didn’t argue with Liam. I thought he’d insist on Nathan’s death.I’d been prepared for a fight.
“This will leave you with only Makoto and Eric,” Liam warned.
Thomas flapped his hand.“You forget who I am.I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself.”
His gaze caught on me and he studied me with a slight smile.“Besides, if she’s successful, it’ll make for a powerful weapon in my arsenal.”
I glared at him. That wasn’t the point and he knew it.
Thomas chuckled as he followed after the others.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The trek back to the clearing went quickly. None of us were in the mood to linger. No one wanted to be out here with the magic rising like a tidal wave intent on sweeping up everything in its path. I could practically feel the call of the hunt as the forest loomed over us, silent and mysterious. Sinister as it watched our retreat.
We had to pass through the gathering to get to the cars. Things were quiet. The music had died down during our confrontation.
The magic felt suffocating in the night, heady and electrifying, building the anticipation in the air and fanning its flames.
“There are our guests of honor,” a tinkling voice said as we stepped through the trees. Niamh approached, her eyes glittering as she took in our small group.
Bit by bit, the people in the clearing fell silent, obeying some unspoken signal as they turned to face us.
I caught sight of Jerry and several of his couriers. Shame and fear were on some of my former coworkers faces. Harry had his arm around Ruth, both doing their best not to see me, while Catriona lifted her chin in defiance and anger.
The faces of the High Fae were guarded as we came to a stop. Tension rose in the air, curling around the magic. The clearing felt like a powder keg.
I shifted uneasily. I recognized this. Oh, not the hunt or the Fae in particular. Both of those were new. But that feeling you get when something is about to happen, something big and momentous and potentially life-ending.
I’d felt this before. Another time, another country where mountains stabbed the sky’s belly and it sometimes felt like the people had never made it all the way to this century.
That same feeling was here, like the universe was holding its breath while you teetered on a precipice. Just waiting to meet the bullet with your name on it.
Niall and Cadell stood in the crowd along with several other Fae I knew. I saw the flicker of purple wings in the trees above. Inara and Lowen were probably somewhere out there, waiting, watching.
Liam’s enforcers stirred uneasily. The hostility in the air was impossible to ignore. It warned of danger long before the first blow was ever struck. How I wished we could listen for it.
Thomas stepped forward, his expression calm, congenial. He gave no indication of uneasiness or fear, which was impressive, given my stomach was trying to crawl its way out of my throat.
I felt hyper-aware, cognizant of every stray brush of the wind, the slightest shift of movement in those facing us.
I wasn’t the only one. Liam was tense behind me, prepared to act should violence erupt. The same for Anton and Daniel, both had a hand on the weapons at their waist as they observed those around us with a soldier’s heightened awareness.
“My lady, how kind of you to wait, but it wasn’t necessary,” Thomas said, stepping forward.
