“Blood and death are her two preferred pastimes. Hunting others down for sport is her favorite activity. She has participated in more hunts than any other Fae I know of.”
“She’s a lady of the hunt then?” I asked.
Liam’s small laugh held little humor.“She is far too weak for that. At least she was when I knew her. Now? It’s hard to say.”
I sensed a story there, but I didn’t push, knowing how the past could tangle and tear a person up inside. If he wanted to share, he would do so in his own time.
“This doesn’t seem like a good thing,” I said.“Can’t Thomas just forbid the hunt?”
Liam shook his head.“It’s not that easy. The Wild Hunt goes where it will. That’s the nature of old magic. Even if that wasn’t the case, he still couldn’t forbid it in his borders. We have a treaty with the Fae, and to forbid it would make him seem weak in front of potential allies.”
That was just great. A Wild Hunt where anyone could be victim or perpetrator. Even worse, I seemed to have friends caught up in the middle of things.
“All we can do is try to control who participates and attempt to keep it out of the city,” Liam said.
His words didn’t fill me with confidence.
“I’ve heard stories about the Fae,” I said.
And had experienced more than one encounter with the minor Fae, who could be considered capricious and mischievous on a good day. EverythingI’d learned about the High Fae pointed to them being worse.
“Everything you’ve heard is true,” Liam warned.“They have turned lying through truth into an art form. Be very careful with them, Aileen. They will seek to trick you just because they can.”
I nodded.
“Is that where you were when you were gone?” I asked, in a soft voice.
By the way Liam went still, I could tell it wasn’t a topic he welcomed.
“Briefly,” he said, his voice husky.
Not too brief, considering he was gone for nearly three months. Of course, given rumors the Fae lands experienced time differently from us, perhaps his brief visit had translated into months here.
Seeing Niamh approaching, he stepped away as he said,“Keep an eye on yourself and try to stay out of trouble for the night. Find me if you see anything amiss.”
I let him go, not wanting to attract the attention of the Fae woman or any of her companions. I moved through the crowd, giving the rest of the Fae delegation a wide berth.
Niall and Cadell remained on the outskirts of the gathering, not socializing with their own kind or any vampires. They watched the scene with bored eyes as they sipped their wine.
Cadell caught my gaze and gave a slight shake of his head, warning me off. I hesitated, my desire to know why they were here, participating in this Wild Hunt, warring with the knowledge it might be better to wait for a more opportune time when we weren’t so closely watched.
I sighed and turned away, the act enough to let them know I understood. I wasn’t going to wait forever, but I could give them this. If they didn’t find me and explain before too long,I’d get the information I wanted another way, their machinations be damned.
I drifted in Jerry’s direction, taking a circuitous route to where he stood against the wall. He was one of the few not watched by the red caps, either trusted or considered so unimportant a guard wasn’t necessary.
“Not exactly your scene,” I told him. I lifted the wine glassI’d plucked from a server’s tray to my lips and feigned taking a sip as I looked over the crowd, making a concerted effort not to pay any attention to the giant next to me.
“Aileen, you’re wading in dangerous waters,” he said, not looking at me.
Jerry was a tall man and beforeI’d met the red caps I would have said he had some troll in him. Compared to them, however, he looked like a foothill standing next to a mountain.
Still, that didn’t mean he was the type of person you’d like to meet in an alley at night. The permanently grumpy lines of his face alone were enough to send you screaming. Add in the mammoth build and the fact even his muscles had muscles, and the impression you took away was that of a bruiser capable of crushing your skull.
“I think mine are a little less dangerous than yours at the moment,” I told him.
He made a gruff sound that could have been taken as agreement—or he had something stuck in his throat. With Jerry, it was always hard to tell.
“What are you doing here?”
