It was an awful sort of magic that subsumed the will of the person, basically enslaving them.
Sondra and these two must have been the ones closest to Caroline in the pack bonds when I’d broken the enchantment that had tried to ensnare her.
“We don’t know how they did it, but somehow, they used his authority over the pack to do something to the rest. The four of us are all that are left,” Caroline explained.
I was right then. Whatever I had done with Caroline had spilled over into her pack links. Sondra, because she was Caroline’s maker. The other two must have some link to Sondra too.
“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing in my house.”
Caroline nodded. “We tracked a scent here.”
“You mean those three tracked a scent here.”
Come to think of it. Why had she come separately? And how had she managed to call me since I had her phone?
Caroline gave me a repressive look. “Come on, Aileen. You know what I’m after.”
“Do I?”
“I told you she wouldn’t help us,” Sondra interjected.
“You haven’t given me much of a reason to, have you?” I shot back.
Caroline may have been my best friend, but these other three were practically strangers to me. Strangers who’d shoved their way into my house. Call me petty, but I tended to take umbrage at that.
“Enough. You’ve already made things more difficult than they needed to be. I told you to wait until I arrived,” Caroline growled.
“We didn’t have time for you to catch up,” Sondra answered. “Time is of the essence.”
Caroline stopped just short of rolling her eyes as she focused on me. “Aileen, we know one of the barrow lord’s twins came here. Hand him over.”
“Or what?”
What would my best friend do if I refused?
I’d really like to know.
“Don’t be like that. There’s no ‘or what’. As a friend, I’m asking you to help me.”
My anger thawed a little. Enough so I no longer felt like picking a fight.
“I don’t know why you want Baran, but I doubt he had anything to do with the barrow’s fall. When we found him last night, he was being chased by Fae. We barely drove them off.”
“These Fae—what did they look like?” Sondra interjected.
I was tempted not to answer since I was still a little peeved about her earlier presumption, but for Caroline’s sake I played nice. “Smug. Arrogant. They really thought we’d roll over and let them do whatever they wanted.”
Just thinking about it was enough to make me angry all over again.
“What was it you called them?” I asked Connor.
“The Luigseach.”
“Ah, right. The Lucies.”
Sondra’s indrawn breath and the way her gaze immediately found Caroline’s told me she recognized the name. “The High King’s agents.”
Caroline’s nod was grim. “This is worse than we thought.”
