I hummed again. Of course I would listen. This was his home and his hunt. To break his wishes would be at the very least to start a fight and Lord Montag could not risk such a thing. At the very worst, it would undo all I had done thus far in settling myself within this community and, therefore, planting the seeds of change. To ignore a decree like this would be to say without words I did not respect the rules already set in place.
I did not, but I gained nothing by flaunting it.
“Feels noncommittal to me,” Mateo muttered.
Henry looked around me to his brother, but said nothing as we followed our host toward the line of the forest where four witches waited. Jules waited in the center, her magic pulsing outwards and forcing the other humans to give her a wider berth. The other three humans were ones I’d seen before in my time in the Souzterain, though I eyed Monsieur Hauet warily. I was almost positive he owned one den that had been opened by the Covenant and he lived firmly in my brother’spocket.
Fear spiked off him and the image of Mael flashed through his mind as he looked at me. I bit back a low growl.
“Madame Searah, are you and your fellows ready?” Lord Montag asked loudly.
Jules dipped her chin, the shadows casting her cheekbones into greater relief. Or were her cheeks a little hollower than before?
“Yes, my lord.” She took a step closer to all of us. “A perimeter ward has been cast around the forest Lord Montag owns. If you attempt to venture any farther, the ward will transport you back to the house.”
“Impressive,” Mateo mused and Jules flashed him a small smile.
“Each human has been warded as well. You may drink from the giver, but if you try to hurt or kill them, the magic in place will also transport you back to the house. We will know your identity immediately and consequences have been set.”
Lord Delon scoffed. Mateo turned with a raised brow. “Something you’d like to say, Remy?”
The short vampire rocked back onto his heels. If our kind could blush, he would have.
A grin split Henry’s face. “Is it arrogance or overconfidence?”
“Excuse me?” Lord Delon spluttered.
“Is it arrogance or overconfidence?” Mateo repeated for his brother, enunciating each syllable.
“Arrogance,” Henry answered brightly as if he had not been the one to ask the initial question, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to look over his shoulder at the male.
Jules did not so much as blink, but Lord Delon cried out, knees buckling before they hit the soft earth. His hands shot to his head as he pitched forward. It was rare I saw this display of power—a skill taught and passed down through generations of Searah witches. I understood it to be something like aprolonged lightning strike. Solange had been able to wield it like a whip, but Jules slipped it into their mind. Lilith, I believed, wore it like armor across her skin.
After another long moment filled only with the male’s pitiful whimpers, Jules turned to the rest of us with a bored look on her face. “Any questions?”
“Am I deeply aroused right now?” Mateo murmured.
Her attention dipped to his trousers with a raised brow before she turned toward Lord Montag. “I believe we are ready to proceed.”
Lord Montag stepped forward, excitement alight across his features as he rubbed his hands together.
“Well, in that case, my friends: welcome to the hunt!”
Chapter Fourteen
Run.
Jules’ voice shot through my head. Liam and I stared at each other for a long moment before he nodded, squeezing my shoulder once, and we spun out in opposite directions.
All day I’d been tied up in knots over tonight and the terror of what might happen. We’d been brought to the estate before nightfall so we could familiarize ourselves with the woods while Jules and the other den owners cast their wards. There were about twenty of us in total and I’d been surprised to meet a witch named Josephine who looked almost identical to me, save for the color of our eyes and a few tiny differences in our features. We’d been introduced to the immortals in attendance and they had been allowed to catalog our scents. Foolishly I’d searched the small group for signs of Lord Azad, but he had not been present. I’d been glad he was not, however, when Lord Montag had announced to the group that I was off limits—as if I was a toy no one else could touch.
Then again, I supposed I was.
I’d been all but trembling in the woods, Liam beside me as we’d waited for the signal the hunt had begun. But as I tore through the forest, skirts clasped tightly in one hand,launching myself over fallen branches and through the lush plants, I lost my terror somewhere along the way.
Footsteps crashed to my left. A burning seared through my lungs as I sped faster, only for the steps to shift and disappear. I was not sure how long I’d been running for when I slowed, pressing my hand to the stitch at my side, and leaned against the trunk of a wide tree. My hair had fallen from my twist and I brushed back the tendrils sticking to my sweating cheeks.
Far off there was the sound of a delighted laugh, the rustle of someone falling to the ground and a low moan. I took another deep breath when a twig snapped nearby. Whoever was close wanted me to know they were and I gave them what they wanted.
