My breath caught as I watched Flynn stroll across the field toward the fae.
Something told me this was very,verydangerous. I remembered last night that it had taken all the guys working together to take down our attackers. At least these guys were Seelie – I remembered that the Summer Court wore green, and weren’t generally antagonistic.
I can’t believe I’m sitting here, acting like this fae nonsense is real. Seelie, Summer Court – what is wrong with me?
Even so, I shuffled closer and pressed my entire face into the wall, desperate to bear witness to whatever happened.
Flynn slowed his pace, stepping in front of the two figures. He held out his hand.
The fae looked up. The one holding the bundle stepped back while the first darted forward, hissing through his long, sharp teeth.
Not human teeth.
“Stay away, human,” The fae hissed, loud enough so I could hear. “You are forbidden to prevent us from accessing the gate.”
Flynn shrugged. “Maybe I’m a rebel. Maybe I don’t care about the rules. What have you got in the bundle?”
“A little gift for the fae king,” the first fae replied.
Flynn grabbed for the bundle. The first fae leapt in front of him, snapping and snarling. Flynn waved his hand in front of the fae’s mouth.
“Mate, you need some breath mints! You smell fouler than a protestant’s shitter.” Flynn raised his hands behind his head. “I’m not going to break any rules, Seelie. I just want to see what you’ve got.”
The fae snarled, but the second fae tapped his friend on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The first fae stepped aside, his lips turning up into a cruel smile.
“Be our guest, mage.”
Don’t look, Flynn. It’s a trap or something. Why else would they change their mind and decide you can see what they’ve got?
The fae held out the blanket. Flynn slowly reached forward with one hand, the rest of his body tense. He flipped a corner of the blanket over, revealing a tiny baby’s face, all screwed up with sleep.
I gasped when I remembered what Corbin had said last night.They steal children and take them away to become slaves in their court.
“This is a human baby,” Flynn said, his voice burning with anger. “You’ve stolen it.”
“Don’t worry. His mother won’t even miss the little tyke. We enchanted a pumpkin to appear as him. They never notice the difference.”
“You’re Seelie. Why would your ruler command you to do this? How will you get the baby back to your realm?”
“So many questions,” the first fae said, flipping the blanket back over the child, who squirmed in his arms. “You’re an inquisitive one.”
Even from here, I could sense the anger rolling off Flynn. “You can’t take this child. I won’t let you.”
“Are you going to fight us, water witch? Are you going to try and bar us from our right of way?”
“Maybe,” Flynn smirked. “You’re not the only one who can break the bloody rules.” He raised a hand to the sky and uttered a single, strange word.
Nothing happened. The fae watched the sky, smirking. A single white cloud bobbed over the edge of the wood that stretched along the far side of the sloping field, like a fluffy sheep trotting along on the breeze. A few moments later, the cloud doubled in size, and the edges grayed as they grew heavy with water. The cloud spread over the sun, and the temperature dropped.
Rapidly.
I rubbed my arms as a frigid wind blew down the valley. The raincloud billowed overhead and the heavens opened up.
A torrential downpour pounded down, the full force of the water focused over the mound. Thick droplets pummeled the earth around the mound, forming deep puddles across the field. Even from my position back behind the wall, water drizzled over me, sticking my clothes to my body. Down the slope of the hill, I could see water cascading down the stone steps leading into the sidhe, pooling there, lapping against the stones as the sidhe filled up. A few moments later, the water flooded over the top step and a puddle spread over the ground.
“It’s a pity about that unpredictable British weather,” Flynn says with a sardonic smile.
“That is against our laws, water witch,” the first fae growled, wiping its matted hair from its eyes.
