He let out a low whine, looking like he’d rather be doing anything other than being on a lead.
The thrill of the hunt hit me then, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I rubbed my thighs, working warmth into the cold joints.
I was... excited to be doing this. Not just to bring back Drake, but to get back in touch with the hunter side of me. The side of me that made supernatural creatures tremble. It made me feel closer to all those ancestors of mine who hunted their entire lives.
“Ready?” I asked.
“You’re never ready for shit like this,” Blaize said gruffly, getting to her feet. Then she grinned. “But also, I’m always ready.”
And as Wolf padded after her, sniffing the ground, I couldn’t agree more.
Chapter Fourteen
Cassidy
Oh yeah, the cowboy boots were definitely a good idea.
It was a good mile up to the point where Wolf led us off the worn path and deeper into the woods. There were signs all over the place that warned against leaving the trail—and some not to eat the mushrooms, amusingly enough—but we ignored all of it as we made our way over the winding creek and deeper into the unknown.
“He’s able to smell where his buddies are, right?” I asked, following the two of them.
Wolf let out an irritated snarl.
“Sorry,” I amended, “not your buddies. Your kind.”
He swished his tail unhappily but didn’t say anything else.
“He knows where something is,” Blaize said as he took the lead, practically pulling her along.
And, once again, I sent a silent thanks her way for the boots as I jogged to keep up with them. Those Pilates and cross-fit classes were coming in handy—I wasn’t that out of shape, although I could tell that Blaize was much more used to tramping around weird places than me.
It had been about an hour since we left the van. Now that we were off the hiking trail, there were many more downed trees and limbs blocking our way and my feet sank deeper into the mud. Some bird warbled in the distance, and another joined it. Mud and who knew what else squished underneath my boots, and I could only imagine what creepy crawlies were out here in the dark. My skin crawled.
I was definitely a city girl.
Still though, I found there to be a serene beauty to the place. The redwood trees, while not as old as the ones up at John Muir, were still enormous and tall, with thick hairy bark. Moss colored the trunks, and I found myself gaping at the size of some of nature’s design. The thick woods spread around us, and by this point, we were so far off the path, I doubted any humans had been by this way in a while.
The perfect place for a pack of wolves to hide and do...wolfly things.
“Do you think they howl out here?” Blaize asked, echoing. “The pack?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Unless they’re being confused for coyotes.”
“Why do you think that?”
I stopped and put my hands on my hips, trying to catch my breath. “Because up until recently, wolves haven’t been spotted in California since 1920.”
She looked back at me and quirked an eyebrow. “Recently? When did the werewolves move into this area?”
I thought about it, the reports of two packs of grey wolves being spotted in Northern California. The latest had been a mom and her pups, but lycanthropy was hereditary. Maybe it was a werewolf mother running with her two kids. And they were a part of this pack, or they were a sign that the wolves were expanding out here.
Maybe Kellan had commanded them to come out this way.
“Well shit,” I muttered under my breath as it hit me.
“What?”
“They must be making themselves at home here, if that’s true.”
Blaize didn’t say anything else, as we both looked at Wolf, who suddenly had his hair standing on end, his ears flattened to his skull. He bared his teeth at something ahead of us.
We’d just found ourselves in hostile territory.
Blaize put a finger to her lips, telling me to stay quiet, like I needed to be reminded. I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I crouched to make my way closer to them. She undid his leash, letting him go forward.
The two of us held our breath as we watched Wolf react. We were down in a small arroyo with a high crest before us that led off further into the woods. I could tell that the trees were denser ahead of us, meaning that we were even further off the beaten path than I had anticipated.
I felt my heart thud in my chest as Wolf prowled his way up the hillside, disappearing over the edge. Blaize and I exchanged glances as we followed him.
Before we saw what was on the other side, we froze as we heard a howl. Something that definitely wasn’t a coyote. But a wolf.
We were found out.
Chapter Fifteen
Blaize
The wolves definitely knew where we were. We were going to have to brazen this out. Carefully, I drew out the short sword I’d brought—the one made of steel with a high iron content. I’d kept it sheathed up to this point to protect Cass, just like she’d been carrying some kind of silver weapon all night. She had it tucked away somewhere, but I could taste it in the air around us.
Her silver might be a better immediate defense against werewolves, but decapitation was an all-around solid method for taking out any kind of creature.
I hefted the sword and stood up from where we were crouched in the gulch. It gave us cover, but I hated being trapped down there while the wolves got the higher ground. Cass and Wolf followed me as I moved carefully up the bank, coming to a stop at the top and calling out, “Hello? We’re here to talk to your pack leader.”
For a full minute, nothing but silence answered me. Was that even how you talked to werewolves? Mostly I said things like, “Die, fucker” when I spoke to them. Except for Wolf, of course. I talked to him like a regular person.
Like we had talked to the pack alpha at The Moon Moon.
Ah, shit. If werewolves turned out to all be regular people, the sort of people who might live in the suburbs, have cookouts and shit, I was going to have to rethink my whole life.
No, I reminded myself. It might be true that most werewolves were in fact be just humans who went furry once in a while—but those weren’t the kind of werewolves I hunted. To get on my radar, they had to actually hurt someone. My hunter’s curse might lead me to the monsters sometimes, but I had yet to follow my instincts and not find a killer on the other end.
I had almost given up on getting any response at all when Wolf’s fur suddenly stood straight up, and he dropped into that stiff-legged, head-down crouch wolves do when threatened.
Something was coming.
Wolf began circling, and I turned so we were back to back, waving at Cass to join our circle. She slipped into formation easily, as if we hadn’t spent years hunting away from each other. We let Wolf lead, and his movements pulled our little circle to the edge of a small clearing in the trees.
The wolves were waiting, their fur glinting silver and white in the almost full moonlight —except for the ones coming up to form their own circle behind us. Wolf kept growling, a low, continuous sound as we moved into the open space they’d left for us.
“We don’t want trouble,” I said carefully. “We’re looking for someone, and we’re hoping your pack leader might have information.”
A wolf stepped out from behind the others into the middle of the circle. As Wolf snarled and stepped forward toward him, I gasped. They were like mirror images of each other.
There was a time not all that long ago when I wouldn’t have been able to differentiate one werewolf from another. But traveling with Wolf had made me more aware of the subtle differences in markings.
“Are they twins?” Cass asked.
“Apparently something like that,” I answered, my tone brusque. With a flick of my wrist, I motioned forward with one of my knives. Cass and I stepped up, so we stood on either side of Wolf. “We’re looking for a fairy prince,” I said.
&nbs
p; “Drake, the Prince of the Autumn court,” Cass clarified, like there were lots of fairy princes around.
The werewolf pack leader didn’t even flick his gaze toward us. Instead, he let out a low, rumbling noise and crouched down even more, preparing to pounce without ever taking his gaze off Wolf, whose moves mirrored the other wolf as much as his appearance did.
All hell is about to break loose.
Even if I hadn’t recognized the wolves’ body language, the area around the clearing was charged with violence—and some kind of crackling magic, too.
I didn’t know if my own magic, weak as it was, could counteract the power I was feeling—but I was prepared to use it if I needed to.
First things first, however—I needed to be ready to take on the entire werewolf pack that surrounded me. I shifted my weight lightly from foot to foot and slowly spun the knife in my hand, making sure none of my joints stiffened up while I waited.
The supercharged electricity in the air built up higher and higher until the tiny hairs on my arms stood up. When I could practically hear it, like a whine in the air, the wolves attacked.
The lead wolf jumped first, attempting to pounce on my companion werewolf. But Wolf was ready, and they leapt almost simultaneously, clashing against one another in the air with a crash, and then turning into a whirling, spinning ball of fur and growls.
I didn’t have any more time to watch them after that first second, as the rest of the wolf pack surrounding us took it as their cue to attack. I swung forward, whipping my sword around in my right hand while I used the knife in the left to block their teeth. I caught the wolf attacking me, but only managed to cut him across the chest—not a fatal wound in any situation, and with an iron blade, it would take more than a simple cut to even disable a werewolf.
I heard rising growls behind me, along with a few lupine screeches as Cass’s silver weapons struck home. I kept spinning and slicing, hoping to keep the wolves distracted and off-guard.
Not for the first time in my hunting career, I mourned my inability to use silver weapons—especially when I heard a couple of gunshots echoing around us. I glanced over my shoulder long enough to see Cass take aim a third time. Good. She had brought a weapon loaded with silver bullets. I’d been beginning to fear she’d gone completely Californian and gotten rid of all her firearms or something.
I continued slicing away at the wolves, and that’s when I noticed something odd. The werewolves that I cut with my iron weapons stopped attacking. Oh, not immediately. But after three or four wounds from an iron weapon, the wolves seem to shake something off—maybe the compulsion to attack?—and then they backed away to the edge of the clearing.
Assuming we were right about what was going on here, apparently the iron weapons disrupted the fairy’s hold over the wolves. That was excellent news. We didn’t have to try to kill them all—we just had to break the spell they were under. I moved toward Cass, realizing that our tight, protective circle had widened, leaving room for attackers to get between us.
I was almost close enough to shout out my revelation to her when the fairy king of the Winter Court stepped out from the woods on the far side of the clearing.
Chapter Sixteen
Blaize
There was no doubting who he was. He was tall and pale with long hair and pointy ears, and he glowed in the moonlight. He definitely looked the part. I might have thought he was beautiful, if not for the expression on his face. It was cold and distant and evil, and it sent a shiver through me like nothing I had felt before.
Cassie had her back to him, so she didn’t realize when he held up one pale, slender, long-fingered hand. I spun toward my cousin, opening my mouth to scream at her to get out of the way, but I misunderstood his target.
Only a few feet away from me, Wolf faced off against the animal who could be his twin, both of them panting and circling. Part of me knew that I should be confused, uncertain of which werewolf was which. But I knew without a doubt which one was Wolf. As I screamed Cass’s name, hoping to warn her, a lightning bolt of crackling blue magic shot out from the fairy.
Oh, God. He wasn’t aiming at Cass.
“Wolf!” This scream came far too late. He was already caught in the fairy’s magic.
My companion froze, his entire body trembling for a few seconds and stiffening, and then he spun to face me, his normally blue-white eyes glowing the same color as the fairy’s magic. With a snarl, he leapt toward me. As if everything slowed down, I had what felt like whole minutes to react. If I positioned my swords and my knife just right, I could slice into him—not deeply, not enough to kill him, but maybe enough to break the fae magic’s hold on him. I crouched a little, bracing my feet in the churned-up mud, and prepared to wound him without killing him.
And then a shot rang out.
Wolf yelped once and crumpled to the ground.
I screamed and launched myself toward him as he collapsed, scrabbling across the ground on my hands and knees, wanting to throw myself over him, but terrified to touch him, to learn he was really dead.
I threw an accusing glance over my shoulder. Cass held her stance, barely glancing at Wolf’s fallen body before turning to fire off another round at another werewolf.
Whipping my head around, I searched for the fairy who had done this to us, but where he had been standing, more elves poured into the clearing now.
I staggered to my feet and flailed around me with my weapons at the elves moving in to surround us. I hit several of the fuckers, too, enjoying the sound of their screeches and indrawn hisses as my iron made contact.
It wasn’t enough. We were overwhelmed.
I realized that neither of us had actually believed we were going to find the fairies here. We were just coming for information. Instead, we had unearthed the connection between the fairies and the wolves.
Fairies swarmed around us and took away my weapons, even at the risk of getting terrible iron burns. I knew then that we were not going to make it out of here.
I didn’t look up, keeping my eyes on Wolf’s unmoving form as I was shackled and shoved. I refused to move.
Something heavy crashed down on the back of my head. I dropped to the ground and whispered, “No. No, Wolf.”
Chapter Seventeen
Cassidy
I watched as Blaize fell to her knees, her eyes locked onto Wolf’s still form. Tears poured from her eyes as her shaking hand reached out to touch Wolf’s fur. Like she was afraid that touching him would confirm her worst fears.
“Wolf,” she whispered, her voice heartbroken. “No. No, Wolf.”
How could she think I shot to kill her companion? I can be a pretty heartless hunter sometimes, but I wouldn’t do that to her. Or him. He was under Kellan’s control, like the rest of these wolves here.
Still though, I didn’t say anything, didn’t want to let on that the werewolf was still alive—wounded yes, and would forever be pissed off at me for shooting him like that, but alive nonetheless. I didn’t know if he would remain under Kellan’s control while he was knocked out or if it would bring him to his senses, but I hoped it was enough to at least save his life.
And possibly save ours if he did wake up.
Blaize’s face, though. I wished I could do something to change that. Even so, as the fairy behind me roughly hauled me to my feet, I staggered in front of this one who was a little too concerned with pushing me by my ass.
“I can walk by myself, you fucker,” I told him. My feet found their rhythm and I made a point of keeping two paces ahead of the creep.
Blaize let out a strangled sob as another fairy dragged her away from Wolf.
Keep it together, I begged her. Don’t show them your weakness, Blaize. Knowing fairies, they’d use her feelings for Wolf against her.
Then it hit me. She loved Wolf. More than a pet or a companion. But something else, and she hadn’t realized it yet. And what did I do? Drag them into this mess.
She was despondent as they forced her to follow behind
me. Moving through the woods was tricky at night, especially. I’d get a forceful push if I hesitated enough. Blaize didn’t fare any better, completely tripping over branches and roots. They’d yell at her, but she kept her mouth shut, her eyes downcast.
The Irons and the Silver lines were strong women. We’d get through this.
* * *
“Ah, Cassidy.” I stopped short at the Winter King stepped into my vision, grinning like some sort of jackal. “This is the last place I’d expect to see you traipsing around.”
I raked my teeth across my bottom lip, trying to calm myself before I responded. All I wanted to do was scream and shout at him, demand that he give me back Drake.
I steadied myself and replied hoarsely, “Glad to know I can still surprise you.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Here I thought you were getting stale, Cassidy. Especially since you’re spending all your time fraternizing with my fellow rulers.”
I cocked my head in an effort to look demure. “So busy, which is why I never had time for assholes like you.”
His lips twitched, but his eyes lost their humor as he turned them onto Blaize. “And this must be the infamous Blaize Silver. The werewolves have told me so much about you.”
She didn’t respond as she glared defiantly at him.
He frowned mockingly. “What, sad that your little pet is dead?” He flicked his gaze me. “Good thing Cassidy hasn’t forgotten her heritage. And killed the mongrel.”
A snarl escaped Blaize’s lips, and she lunged forward him, but a fairy backhanded her, knocking her to the ground with a loud crack. It took every ounce of my restraint to not run over and kill the fairy that assaulted her. I trembled from the effort.
“Ah, you’ve learned a little restraint, I see,” Kellan murmured, circling me like some hawk. God, why were all bad guys creepy? I suppressed a shiver. “Is that from your time with fairy royalty?”
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