Peter put a hand on his shoulder.“We’ll talk about it later.Let’s reunite you with Michael first.”
Another yip had them following Carl-Conrad into a root cellar.The smells here changed again, more earthy aromas, and it was dry.Michael lay on his side next to a crate of what might have once been seed potatoes, arms bound behind his back, legs tied at the knees and ankles, mouth tightly wrapped with cloth and rope both.He was pale and barely flinched when the light hit him, though Peter definitely saw him blink.
“Mike!”Corvin was on his knees and trying to work the ropes open even with his own wrists still bound.
Peter didn’t think there was any point in dragging Corvin away, so he carefully put the phone on an empty crate and knelt next to Corvin, focusing on the muzzle.He had a feeling that Michael would have an easier time breathing without it on.
“Oh, Mike, Mike.”Corvin was near tears.Carl-Conrad rounded Michael to bite through the rope at his ankles.
“We’ll have you both back home soon,” Peter said, fingers still working.
Chapter 23
“Fuck,”Theohissed.“Where—”
“Follow me.”
Cloudtree’s warm hand wrapped around his and pulled him from a room full of armchairs with old clothes and curtains tossed over them to a door that was almost hidden in the peeling cream-colored wallpaper.He pulled it open and went inside ahead of Theo, then stopped, pulling the door shut behind them and Theo to his chest in almost complete darkness.
“What the—”
“Hush.We wait until they pass before we…do something else.”
“That’s your plan?”
Theo kept his voice down, but not his irritation and certainly not the way his heart was beating hard, his pulse ringing in his ears.He clutched the hammer tightly.
“All will be well.”
Cloudtree sounded like he was trying to convince himself, which was not at all convincing Theo.As they waited, his eyes got more used to the darkness.The room had cabinets, maybe a chair, but otherwise it was pretty bare.Light filtered in from above Theo’s head, and when he turned, he could see a fine crack in the wall, and by the way it illuminated Cloudtree’s face, he was peeking out through it, right into the room they’d come through.
“You don’t need to cuddle me like this.”
“I—oh.Apologies.”Cloudtree let Theo go.
Now that he was no longer pressed close to a too-firm Fae, Theo turned and got on his toes.He could see part of the room through the crack, hear footsteps he also felt on the aged floorboards under his feet.They were coming for them.
“I can hit one of them with this.”Theo lifted his hammer.“Can you handle the other?”
Cloudtree’s throat clicked.“I…am not a fighter.”
Neither was Theo, but he would fight if he had to.If they tried to hurt Peter or the others.
“Right.Then we wait.But if they find us, I’m using the hammer.”
Cloudtree relaxed.“Yes.”
“…and mistreated me, Father!”Miel said, sounding petulant.
A deeper voice said, “You shame me.To be taken advantage of in your own home, and by that dimming spark of a barnyard fire, no less.What are you doing?Why are you walking like that?”
“They hit my knee with a hammer, Father!”
“I am beginning to think they should’ve hit your mouth.Where are they?They went in here.I saw a flash of green.”
“Th-that was a human.He used magic to hide himself.I didn’t even see him at first.”
The father stopped just where Theo could see, and he felt Cloudtree inhale sharply.
