Either she was the best actressI’d ever seen or it really didn’t bother her to know one of her pawns had been taken off the board. It never seemed to occur to her that she might face any consequences for her actions.
Her lips twisted up in an indulgent smile.“My handsome knight, how you’ve grown soft in the intervening centuries. Time was you wouldn’t have let such a trespass as he intended go unpunished.”
There was no doubt who she meant as she glanced at Nathan.
I couldn’t hide my shock. She’d as good as admitted she was the one responsible for Nathan’s current state. If that didn’t give Thomas reason to bring this farce to an end, I didn’t know what did.
He seemed to realize it too, his expression turning stormy as power curled around him.“You admit to acting against one us?”
Niamh shrugged creamy shoulders, the gesture negligent.“I broke no treaty.”
Her head turned toward the stag and she smiled.“I see you recognize our prey. We can never quite catch him, but it is such fun trying.”
Thomas choked, the sound inhuman. Rage was too small a word to describe it. There was a depth of feeling there that shook me, and it should have shaken Niamh.
Liam didn’t make a sound, didn’t move, his gaze fastened on the stag as he seemed to withdraw even more, becoming cold and unyielding.
Niamh lifted her head, her gaze turning inward. The sigh she gave was almost orgasmic.“The time is nigh.”
The Fae hemming us in lost interest, moving off, their gazes fixed and anticipatory.
The magic all around us gave a thrum, changing, twisting.
Everyone shivered. It was hard not to, with the magic whispering to us, coaxing us to join the hunt as either predator or prey. It didn’t care which.
Out here, with the night surrounding us and the moon turning Niamh’s hair a silvery white, her strange alienness was highlighted. She seemed straight out of a fairy tale, but instead of being the good fairy she was all dark cruelty.
“I’d hoped to give you my gift in private but here will do just as well. Won’t it, pet?” Niamh said.
Right then, several things happened at once.
Thomas roared and charged Sarah. There was no fear on her face as she watched him advance, her sister witches spreading out as they raised their hands and started to chant. Their eyes rolled into the backs of their heads as power ripped through the air.
Golems boiled out of the ground, their bodies made of dirt and rock and years of decayed leaves.
Nathan screamed, his back bowing as he writhed so hard Anton and Daniel had no choice but to let him go.
Power shot from Nathan to Liam, wrapping around him like a boa constrictor.
Then the enforcers had their hands full, beating back the golems as the clearing descended into chaos.
Liam sank to his knees, his face pale.
I started for him when strong arms closed around me from behind.
“Easy lass,” Jerry rumbled in my ear as I erupted into violence, biting and growling as I thrashed.“There’s nothing you can do for him now. She’s already got him in her grasp. The enforcer’s bite ensured that.”
Sure enough, I watched as Liam stilled, slumping to the ground. I didn’t know what her poison had done to him; I didn’t care. All I wanted at that moment was vengeance.
“You need to run,” Jerry rumbled.
I jerked, trying to get free again. I wasn’t running. I was going to kill that bitch.
She tilted her head back and laughed.
Jerry spun me around, his large hands settling on my shoulders as he thrust his face into mine.“You need to run. Can’t you feel it. The Wild Hunt has begun and you’re its prey.”
The urgency in his voice broke through and I stopped fighting long enough to pay attention.
