“Obviously,” Maddy agreed, with an easy smile.
“Fae, vampires and…?” I raised one eyebrow.
“Witches and warlocks,” Maddy added.
Right, the girl who touched my mom with the glowing hand in the hospital. She must have been a witch.
“And under the fae you have a whole multitude of creatures we won’t get into or you won’t sleep tonight,” Brayden said, and I swallowed hard.
“How will I know if I’m in the presence of any of them?” I sat down on the edge of the bed because this was starting to get overwhelming.
“You’ll know. They all have a unique smell,” Maddy said.
I reached out and rubbed my fingers on the blanket in a calming gesture.
“So that wolf I killed… was a human?” It just now hit me. I’d killed a man. Oh my gosh, I’d killed a human!
Brayden shook his head. “You didn’t kill him, thank God. He healed and he’s quite pissed. Now he’s trying to take you from me.”
Chills broke out onto my arms. “Thank God? Why are we thankful that I didn’t kill the big bad scary man who was trying to kill you?”
Brayden and Maddy shared a look. “I’ll handle this,” she told her brother, and then crouched down in front of me.
“His name is Silas Ashwood and he’s the Fae Lords’ enforcer,” she said. “He and my brother have a long history. Silas cannot be killed without the person who killed him dying of a counter curse. It’s a failsafe the Fae Lords put on him to keep him alive.”
My mouth dropped open. “You mean to tell me that if I had shot him in the head or with silver, I would have killed him and then died myself?”
Maddy nodded.
“He stole my pack,” Brayden growled. Pelts of fur rolled down his neck and I shrank into the bed in fear.
Maddy stood and blocked my view of her brother for a moment before sitting next to me on the bed. “Silas tried to injure my brother last night. There’s a Wolf Tournament next month and he wanted to ensure that Brayden would lose. You helped him. So thank you.”
Tournament?
I just nodded, because what else could I do? The information was getting to be too much. But I had to know. “What kind of tournament?”
“Maybe you should get some sleep,” Brayden said with a warning in his voice. “We can bring you back into town tomorrow. You can see your mom and live your life with some ground rules and frequent check-ins.”
“Stop treating me like a fragile baby,” I growled.
Maddy shrugged. “You did just sob your way through your shower.”
“You have no filter!” I yelled at her.
Brayden cut his sister a look and she nodded. “I’m going for a stroll.”
She stepped out and shut the door and now I felt bad for snapping at her. She was just trying to help me understand things. Brayden sat on the bed next to me and the mattress dipped with his weight, throwing me into him.
“Sorry,” I muttered, holding onto his rock-hard arm and pushing off of it before scrambling to the other side of the bed.
Brayden gazed at the wall, a look of melancholy coming over his strong features. “Every year there is a tournament. The Fae Lords make Silas and I compete for sport.”
My stomach tightened; I didn’t like where this was going.
“Compete for what?” I asked.
He looked at me, his eyes flashing yellow. “In all my years I’veneverlost a tournament with Silas. I beat him every time, but last year… he cheated.” Brayden growled and shook himself as if shaking off bad memories. “Last year I lost my entire pack. My little sister. My best friend, Emmet. Maddy’s boyfriend, August. Everyone.”
