I narrowed my gaze. “First, tell me what you want with it. And then I’ll hand itover.”
He let out a chuckle. “Do you truly believe me to be that gormless? You only want to know my reasonings so that you can find some way to stop me from what I haveplanned.”
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re right. Which is why you’re an idiot to think I’d just hand the damn thing over toyou.”
Quentin stalked toward me, shadows rippling across his body. Frowning, I took him in. “What are you anyway? I know you’re not a normal fae. Not with that kind ofpower.”
The wanker grinned. “A nightmare wraith bedded my mother a long, long time ago. I got the best of both worlds. Fae powers along with the shadow shifting of nightmare wraiths. It means I’m practicallyindestructible.”
“We’ll see about that,” Isnapped.
I lurched to the side, grabbing one of Lugh’s swords off the rack he kept in the hallway. Quentin lifted his brow, grinning. “What happened to calmly handing over the cauldron,Moira?”
“You pissed me off,” I snapped. “You want the damn thing? You’re going to have to fight me to getit.”
Lugh’s words echoed in my ears. Quentin was not a fighter. He was a schemer. He might have nightmare wraith powers, but he had probably relied on them too much over the years. Based on his previous actions, the male had rarely handled asword.
I had the advantage. And he knewit.
The shadows rippled again, and suddenly, he appeared behind me. I whirled to face him, swordraised.
“You seem strangely intent on keeping me away from thecauldron.”
“Of course I am.” I stalked toward him. “I know what the cauldron does. And I doubt you plan to bring back someone like FlorenceNightingale.”
He disappeared into the shadows again, this time reappearing further down the hallway. Closer to the false wall that hid Lugh’s den. Narrowing my eyes, I continued after him. Obviously, I didn’t care if he went in there. It wasn’t like I had the cauldron—but he didn’t knowthat.
“I know all about the false wall,” he said with a smile. “I already stole the spear from there once. Are you dumb enough to stash the cauldron there,too?”
He vanished before I had a chance to reply. An instant later, he stood before me again, frowning. “It appearsnot.”
“Obviouslynot,” I snapped. “And you’ll never guess where we’ve hidden it this time. You want me to tell you? Fight. Defeat me. I’ll whisper the answer with my dying breath. Or...is a nightmare wraith scared to take on a measlyfae?”
That got him. Anger flared in his eyes. He turned toward the rack and grabbed a knightly arming sword, holding the short hilt with both hands. I bit back a smile. Everyone with even the slightest knowledge of blade weaponry would know that was a one-handedsword.
With a roar, I launched toward him. His eyes wide, he swung his blade at my head, blocking my blow. Our steel clashed together, singing in the dead of the night. The force of his blow threw me back, landing me flat on myarse.
Ouch.
Okay, so he didn’t know much about swords, but his strength was clearly next-level.
I jumped to my feet. Quentin pranced sideways, swinging his sword this way and that, like some kind of bizarre interpretive dance routine. Narrowing my eyes, I lunged. The fae laughed, the wicked sound curling around me as smoke filled theroom.
Blinking, I stepped back. The damn wanker had vanishedagain.
* * *
It tookme awhile to calm down after that. I’d had my chance to take down our enemy, and I’d blown it. I’d waited for awhile, camping out in the hallway, hoping he’d return for another round of fighting. But he either must have given up or realised that I didn’t have a clue where the cauldron hadgone.
Either way, our fight was over. Fornow.
Sighing, I trailed into Lugh’s quarters and propped the sword against the wall beside the bed, just in case. If I needed to awake suddenly, I wanted the weapon as close aspossible.
Then, I hauled myself into Lugh’s bed and buried my face in his pillows. I wasn’t sure I’d fall asleep. My mind whirred; fear clouded every corner of my thoughts. But the scent of him soothed me in a way that nothing elsecould.
Soon, I drifted to sleep, Lugh’s scent curling around me like a cosy blanket. At first, my sleep was dreamless, my body weighed down by the exhaustion lurking in my bones. But soon, images sparked in mymind.
I was in the forest. Somehow, I had lost sight of the route on the way home, even if I had made this trek a hundred times before this night. Winter had covered the lands like an icy blanket, dousing the light from the skies. The thick, grey clouds were endless, it seemed, and night came far quicker than it had in weekspast.
