“When have I ever frightened someone off?” Griff asked mildly.
“Are you asking for the full list?” I asked him.
“In alphabetical or chronological order?” Finn added.
Griff’s mouth twitched. “Fine, fine. I’ll be mellow. Friendly even.”
“And don’t be hovery,” I added.
Griff opened his mouth, but I was saved from his reply by our arrival.
Nestled in between the massive pines, a small cabin made of logs stood outlined against the gray sky. As we approached the house, I paused. The scent of pine and snow had changed with the air drifting toward us, bringing the reek of stench and decay. It permeated my senses, causing me to gag as it seared my nose. I turned to ask if they smelled it, but didn’t have to. It was clear from their expressions they did. Their demeanors changed, stiffening, putting weight on the balls of their feet as if they were readying to be attacked at any moment.
“Don’t touch anything,” Griff cautioned me, as he drew his swords. Gone was the man attempting to joke around. His face went expressionless, more so than his usual mask. This was the Champion incarnate.
“Yeah, no shit.”
Finn sent a look in my direction before addressing his brother. “I feel like I need to at least raise the possibility of taking her back before investigating.”
“I’m staying.” I was adamant. I knew either one of them could probably overpower me—Griff certainly could—but Ifigured it was worth a shot. Surprisingly, they listened, although Griff gave me a long, hard look, clearly conflicted.
“Let’s see if we can help your friend,” I added.
As we neared the house, Finn slowly opened the door with his mind. As it inched open, shadows spilled out, tainting the pure-white snow and instantly spreading like tar. Griff reached for me, but the shadows leapt higher, forming a wall, keeping us apart. He hurriedly withdrew his hands, coming within millimeters of touching it. His wrath at being parted from me radiated from him. I didn’t like it much either, especially as the shadows circled around us, herding us forward. If we didn’t want to touch them, and we certainly didn’t, there was only one way to go—into the house. Shoving the fear down, I pulled quietly at my channels, setting what I could in place, as we were driven onward.
“If it isn’t my lords Narvene.” That must have been Fiadh, her voice crawling over my skin. I couldn’t see much of her, dark as the house was, but a slight figure, draped in many shawls, raised her head from the corner where she sat. She stood up, hunched under the weight of the shawls, and drifted closer. She glided, rather than walked, her feet making no sound against the rotting floorboards. The shadows followed her as if they were another shawl, trailing on the ground. As she passed a window and light hit her face, I swallowed heavily.
She might have been pretty once. Now, her face was gaunt, as if her flesh had started disappearing beneath her skin, which was stretched over pure bones. Her eyes were huge in her face, sunken hollows beneath them, her cheekbones pointed. Her lips, once probably full and warm, were now bloodless and cracked, stretched in a smile that revealed blackened teeth.
The stench that wafted through the air with every step she took was suffocating—not just decay but corruption. The smell of dreams burnt to ash and hope curdled into despair.
Hufen.
“Lord Griffin.” She approached him first, and I held mybreath as her fingertips stretched toward him, stopping just short of his chest. “So strong. So silent. You were kind to me. But you were never who I wanted.” Turning as if she floated, she circled around Finn. Finn tensed, knowing he was trapped. “Lord Finnegan. So charming, so suave. But you never noticed little, quiet Fiadh. Never knew how she longed for you. I always had such a fascination of you.” Her hand now extended to Finn’s chest but also stopped just out of reach. “But now I see you were destined for another. Such a shame that the heart is given away.”
“Fiadh, what happened to you?” Finn’s voice was soft.
“He came to me. Ah, the dreams he showed me. Images that proved there was more to this life than my pitiful existence.” She drew her fingertips downward, as though she was stroking Finn’s chest, but still didn’t make contact. “Instead of weak, I could be strong. Instead of alone, I could be by his side, one of his greatest.”
“I bet he says that to all the girls,” Finn commented.
She glared at him. Maybe something partially human still existed inside her, enough that she wanted to make the boy she once loved jealous. “He will make me one of his generals if I serve him faithfully. He knew you’d come to me, Orlaith.” It was her first acknowledgment that I was present. The full weight of those warped eyes bored into me, the swirling shadows seeing more than possible. “I will deliver you to him. And he will reward me beyond my wildest dreams.”
“Oh, Fiadh,” Finn said sadly, “didn’t you know better?”
She cackled. “Know better? This is the most free I’ve been in my entire life. No longer living in fear, afraid of the shadows. Iamshadows.” She drew herself up, and darkness poured out of her, slithering across the walls and floors. Outside, the light snow thickened, turning into blizzard conditions. We could feel the wind buffeting the house, shifting the walls back and forth. A high-pitched keening began outside the house.
Finn’s eyes went unfocused.“More approach.”
“How many?”Griff growled.
“I think seven, maybe eight. Their minds are swirling with darkness. It’s hard to count them.”
Shit. And here I thought we were just having a pleasant day in the mountains today.
Griff approached her, hefting Taladhar in his hands.
She cackled again. “Cut me down, Lord Griffin, and more will rise in my place. Already, they come for her. For your princess. To take her to him.”
