I glanced behind me to where we’d left my stalker’s body lying in the grass. He had gone, too, although the rustling of the grass behind suggested he might have picked himself up and run.
My head spun. All three of the black-coated attackers had disappeared. They hadn’t just been knocked out – they were completelygone.
“Sound as a pound, Aragorn!” Flynn cheered, thrusting a fist into the air, an enormous grin on his face.
Arthur took a deep bow, pushing a knife back into his belt. “It’s too bad I left my sword at home. I could have done some serious damage.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded. “Why are guys jumping out of the grass to attack us? One of them knew myname. And how in God’s name did they do that trick with the claws? Where the hell are they now?”
That was more blasphemy than I’d get away with in an entireyearin the Crawford house. But right now, it seemed appropriate.
Corbin stood over the place where the last guy had lain and scuffed the earth with his boot. He clutched his shoulder, and I noticed his black t-shirt was torn where the blue-tinged white sword had touched him. Blood – definitely red – ran down his arm. “We need to get going. We don’t know if any more might be coming.”
As if on cue, the grass rustled behind us. Corbin whipped his head around, then pointed to the house. “Go, now!”
I started to run.
I barely got ten feet when something slammed into me, sweeping me off my feet.
I screamed, but a rough voice whispered in my ear. “Hold on.” It was Arthur, my Aragorn. He tossed me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes and raced across the field, the beads in his beard clacking together as he ran. We passed Corbin and Flynn in a blur as they stumbled through the long grass.
The rustling behind us grew louder. My heart pounded in my ears. Something snarled, like an angry dog about to attack.
“Shite!” Arthur poured on speed, tearing through the gate.
Corbin, Flynn and Rowan leapt through after him, and Rowan slammed the gate shut. The snarling grew louder, and the gate rattled as a dark shape pawed at it. It sounded like a dog, but it was way too large. Arthur raced up the path and into the trees before I could get a good look. Flynn puffed in front of me. As Rowan passed us on the flagstone steps, I noticed his hands were shaking.
The snarls and growls of the dog – ithadto be a dog – grew faint as we plunged deeper into the estate. It wasn’t following us up the hill. But it was big enough it could have just jumped the gate.
So why didn’t it?
We crashed through the inner gatehouse. Corbin and Flynn pulled the heavy wooden doors shut and drew the bolts.
Arthur didn’t set me down until we were back inside the Great Hall with the door firmly locked behind us. He dropped me on the couch and slumped down beside me, rubbing his throat, which was raw and red from where that guy had touched him.
“There were three of them,” he snarled at Corbin, who was digging around behind the bar, one hand still pressed against his shoulder. “How thefuckwere there three of them?”
“They must be getting more powerful.” Corbin drew out a large first aid kit from a bottom drawer and dumped it on the coffee table. He riffled through the contents with his free hand. “They know we’re weak right now, and they’ve had years to plan how to take advantage of that. Maybe we…fuck.” He winced as he tried to open a bottle of antiseptic with both hands.
“I’ll do that,” Rowan said quietly, uncapping the bottle and pouring out a little onto a cotton pad. As he rolled up Corbin’s torn sleeve, I gasped. A red welt crossed his shoulder, laid on top of three long gashes that tore through his skin, leaving jaggedrips that oozed blood. Bits of grass and dirt clung to the skin and his t-shirt.
Corbin winced again as Rowan dabbed at the wounds.
“Those rawny bastards.” Flynn slumped down in the sofa opposite, his foot kicking Arthur’s knife across the table. I noticed droplets of green liquid on the blade. Weird, some kind of stain from the grass? “Still, that was exciting. Good thing I’d had that drink or I would’ve been completely useless.”
“You’re always completely useless,” Arthur shot back. He grabbed a bottle of mead from the bar and filled four cups. “Admit it, you nearly pissed yourself when that pouka showed up?—”
“Excuse me?” I held up a hand. “I’m still waiting for an explanation?—”
“It’s weird they sent Kalen again after he messed up so badly in Arizona,” Corbin shook his head. “I don’t understand any of this. Fuck, if we hadn’t all been there tonight, this could’ve gone arse over tit.”
Arthur flexed his bicep, the bulging muscles transfixing me for a moment. He took a long drink from his mead cup, wiping the edge of his beard with the back of his hand. “As long as you’ve got me, you’ll be fine. It’s been an age since we had a tussle with an Unseelie. And three of them in the same night, what a treat.”
“Um, guys, what’s an Unseelie?—”
“You should have stuck that blade right in Kalen’s heart,” Flynn declared. “That guy is not going to leave us alone.”
“We need to figure out how they’re getting stronger,” Corbin said. “We need to strike now, because if they get too powerful we won’t be able to defeat them in our current state?—”
