He shoved her back into her rooms. "Stay in there. Bolt the door from the inside. Don't come out until I tell you to," he commanded.
"What's wrong?" she asked as he turned away.
"Fae. Bolt this fucking door, Delphi." Tenebrys slammed it behind him. Delphi quickly slid the bolt shut, a tremble of fear running through her.
"The fae are gone," she whispered. She went to the fireplace and found the iron poker. Fae hated iron. That much she remembered.
Delphi checked that the windows were locked. It had been a long time since she had wanted to hide under a bed, but she fumbled her way through to the adjoining bedroom she had cleaned that day.
She crawled under the bed, gripped her poker, and hoped that this was just some dumb joke Tenebrys was playing on her. Something in his face told her he wasn't.
"The fae are gone. The fae are gone," she whispered into the darkness, hoping that if she said it enough, it might actually become true.
11
Tenebrys tore out of the château, running on all four feet to give him the boost of speed he needed. Felix appeared through the trees, falling into pace beside him.
"Where and how many?" Tenebrys asked.
"Head west to Gateway Three. Syn got a message through to Luna just as the gateway lit up. I don't know how many," Felix replied. At the borders of the château, Tenebrys took the path left.
There were five gateways in the Mistwood, stretching along the border from west to east. Tenebrys couldn't help noticing that the third one was the one they had passed with Delphi. He ran faster, his claws chewing up the earth.
Tenebrys could smell the oversweet tang of fae blood before he charged into the clearing. Around Syn were the remains of two dead creatures. They were more insect than humanoid. Tenebrys had seen them before. The Unseelie liked to use them as mounts.
Tenbrys dodged the first three arrows fired at him before clashing with the hooded archer and attacking its arms. Thecreature screamed out curses before Tenebrys's claws tore out its throat.
Felix had cornered another. Syn was pressed back against the tree by three more.So many.
Tenebrys's vision went red, and he roared in bone-chilling fury. Two of the Unseelie startled, giving Felix and Syn the advantage to disable them.
Something dropped onto Tenebrys's back, a flint knife slicing and stabbing. He rolled, throwing his weight back. Bone crunched, and the fae on his back screamed.
Tenebrys got to his feet again and charged, driving his horns into another and throwing it into the air. Syn leaped, catching it and tearing its head off.
Then there was silence except for the shifter's panting breaths and the groan of an injured fae. It was the one that Tenebrys had landed on. It was clutching its shattered arm to its chest. Tenebrys lifted it up by its throat.
"Tell me why you dared come through the gateway tonight," he growled. "You would have needed the help of a lord to pass through on a night that isn't the full moon. Who are you serving, creature?"
The fae hissed at him with pointed teeth. It was a lesser fae, one of the grunts that the lords used for their foot soldiers because they were expendable.
Tenebrys carried it to one of the iron spikes that surrounded the stones of the gateway. He pressed the fae against it, and it screamed in agony.
"Sent because the lord sensed new magic in the wood. Sent to seeeeee," it hissed out.
"Which lord?" Tenebrys demanded.
"High lord. Wanted to know what he was sensing. Sent to retrieve the treasure. Kill shifters," the fae gasped.
It wouldn't give him his lord's name, but Tenebrys hoped for a title at least. The fae knew names had power, and if it was a high lord, it had a curse on the name to kill anyone who dared to utter it. They were absolutely ruthless pricks that way.
"You tell your high lord to stay on his side of the gateways and out of my fucking forest," Tenebrys snarled and tossed the fae toward the gateway.
It rolled nimbly back to its feet and spat on the ground. "You are weak, King of Monsters. You will not survive against us for much longer. We only need to wait until you are dead, and then we will retrieve our lord's treasure. I bet she smells so sweet."
"She?" Tenebrys snarled and lunged for it, but the magic of the gateway had already pulled it through to the other side. He roared in frustration, grabbed one of the carcasses of the insect mounts, and tore it apart.
Black rage took him over, and when he could finally think again, all the fae bodies were on the iron spikes, and Felix was shouting at him.
