One less werewolf to worry about.
“Come on,” I whispered, looking up through my curtain of tangled blond hair. Somehow, I’d lost my ponytail holder, and I felt just as wild as I straightened up. Both Orin and Avery watched me warily, and I was sure they were afraid of me.
I was a descendant of the Irons, after all. I was born to hunt fae, and I was on the prowl.
We moved through the woods, going from tree to tree, slipping among the shadows. Orin and Avery were quieter in their prowling, as their supernatural abilities lent to their almost impossibly silent movements.
But I was out to find and save one of my mates. And heaven help any being that got in my way.
Chapter Twenty-One
Blaize
When we got back to the van, I pulled my cell phone out of the glove compartment where I’d left it and took the time to pinpoint the wolves’ location on the map. Then I dropped a pin in it. That function was going to come in really handy.
“You feeling okay?” I asked Wolf. He ducked his head in a nod and grinned his wolfish grin at me. A wave of something like relief, maybe gratitude, flowed through me, and I closed my eyes for just a second, thankful to have him beside me again.
I didn’t examine the feeling too closely—though I was going to have to consider what it meant sometime soon. I was beginning to think that something more than mere chance was tying the two of us together. Eventually I would need to figure out what that was.
Right now, however, we were going to go save Cass and her fairy boyfriends.
I retraced our route back toward 92—where I had seen the construction site earlier, about two miles from the reserve.
Once I found it, I circled the site a couple of times, looking for the best place to park the van.
“You know,” I said conversationally as I dropped down onto the road and shut the doors behind us, and we made our way over to a temporary chain-link fence surrounding the site, “it would be a lot easier to do this kind of stuff if you would shift into your human form.”
Wolf whined, and I said, “I know you have one. I’ve seen it before. Is there something keeping you from shifting?”
Wolf dropped his head and whined again, but he didn’t indicate yes or no. With the bolt-cutters I had brought from the van, I cut the links in the fence until I could peel them back far enough to allow us to make our way through.
“Is there a reason you won’t give me any hints?” I asked.
Wolf stopped dead in his tracks, made eye contact with me, and stood up on his hind legs to put his front paws on my chest. Deliberately, he gave one long lick up the side of my face.
“Okay, okay. Stop that. Gross.” I pushed him off me, but gently. He dropped down and started walking toward the construction site again. “Fine,” I muttered. “But we’re not done talking about this. Not yet.”
The truck was right where I had seen it, behind the fence but still visible from the highway. The site didn’t have any security that I could see—I guess they thought there wasn’t really anything there worth stealing yet.
Maybe not to the average crook. But I was hunting fairies. Those bars might as well be pure gold.
It looked like maybe the truck itself belonged to the construction company—it wasn’t a specialized delivery truck, but something more like a dump truck, the kind of vehicle they would use when they picked up their own supplies.
Wolf kept watch while I cut the lock on the gate. Then I moved around to the truck to check out its load of rebar. The back end was piled high with long, steel bars, rough-cut on the ends so that some of them looked more like spikes than anything else.
“Oh, yeah,” I whispered. I knew exactly how I was going to use them. “Time to get going,” I said. It took me only a few seconds to open the door, a few minutes longer to hotwire the truck. Daddy taught us all the best skills—Cass could’ve done this, too, if she remembered how.
The truck roared to life with a giant rumble, and I laughed aloud in sheer delight. As long as I got back there in time, this was going to be fun.
“Let’s go kill some fucking fairies,” I said, and Wolf barked twice in agreement.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cassidy
Blood was not a fashion accessory I liked wearing all that much, but I had blood in my hair, blood dripping in my eyes, and I could taste it in my mouth. I spat, wiping my lips as I stood over the fallen werewolf.
Luckily, I hadn’t killed any of them yet. Guilt pulled at me that I had killed some in the Mission when they took Drake—after all, it wasn’t their fault that they were under Kellan’s control. I couldn’t let the guilt get to me and bog me down.
I’d have to deal with it later.
The fairies, however, got no such quarter from us. They were here of their own volition and Orin and Avery reminded everyone why they were powerful princes from their respective courts.
Luckily, we didn’t have anyone sound the alarm just yet. And hopefully not anytime soon.
Drake and I may have been ambushed earlier, but this time, I was ready with the other two princes at my side. Orin and Avery were silent, deadly killers. It was kind of sexy. I didn’t know what that meant—that I was turned on by my boyfriends killing some fairies—but it was necessary to keep me going through this long night.
“Found your weapons, Cass,” Avery said, tossing my duffle bag to me. I caught it and slung it over my shoulder, feeling more like myself.
“Where was it?” I asked, pulling out my knives and my guns.
“This asshole had it hidden,” Orin said, kicking the still form of a fairy. “Like he was going to use it against the werewolves himself.”
“Glad you found it, then,” I said. “We’re doing the werewolves a favor, aren’t we?”
I pulled out my silver katana from the duffle bag with a satisfied sigh, unsheathing it partially. The edge glinted with deadly promise. The werewolves were as good as out of the picture now, at least.
“Where to next?” I asked, feeling the adrenaline fuel me. We’d canvassed to the west of where Orin and Avery found me, with no sign of Drake. “You’d know if Drake was in the fairy realm, right?” I asked.
Avery and Orin exchanged glances, a silent conversation passing between them.
“Yeah,” the Spring Prince said. “But we wouldn’t know if he were nearby.”
I didn’t want to face the possibility that maybe Drake wasn’t here. Kellan could have taken him anywhere in the world, and if he were gone…
I refused to believe it. Kellan was cocky, but he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his takeover.
I swallowed nervously and licked my lips. “Let’s keep looking.”
We’d do everything we could here to exhaust all possibilities. And if he was somewhere else, well, we’d cross the bridge if we came to it.
There’d better not be a fucking bridge, though.
I gritted my teeth and trudged on through the night. We worked as a single unit, leaving no stone unturned. My boyfriends were here with me, making the rising panic in my chest more bearable. We kept to our targets, me dealing with the werewolves while Orin and Avery handled the fairies.
I’d just pinned a werewolf through the shoulder to a tree when I heard a weak groan. Not that I’ve ever heard Drake make a groan like that before, but I did know exactly who it was. I whipped my head around at the sound, my heart thudding to a stop in my chest.
“Drake,” I whispered. Hearing his voice spurred me forward, and I tore through the underbrush. “Drake! Where are you? Tell me where you are!”
“Cass,” Avery hissed behind me, “Cass, don’t be too loud!”
I dimly heard him through the pounding in my ears. All I could focus on was getting Drake back. I never considered the fact that it could possibly be a trap.
“Drake! Drake!”
Then I heard an answering whisper. “Cass…”
The world stilled around me at the sound of my name, and my mates behind me stopped as well
. They heard him, too. A strangled cry escaped my throat, and I reached out blindly into the darkness and…
My hands found purchase on something slick and metal. I cried out as the metal burned my fingers, but I gritted my way through it and pulled. Avery and Orin came up and reached into the same space as me and tugged as well.
Finally, it seemed, whatever what holding him in that space gave way, and we all tumbled to the ground, pulling Drake with us. He was wrapped in iron chains, barely conscious. I cried as the iron burned me. Now that he was out of whatever pocket of space that was hiding him, the iron burned my eyes and throat, and I vomited into the grass.
I just had to be allergic to iron. The one thing that could harm the men I loved, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Orin and Avery acted quickly, unwrapping the chains from around Drake. I could smell burning flesh as their skin made contact with the metal and hear them cursing under their breath. Avery disappeared for a moment to throw them off into the woods somewhere.
I hoped it landed in a creek and got swept away, never to be seen again. Vile shit.
I did feel better now that the iron was further away, although I could still feel it somewhere out there. Like it could come back and get me.
“Thanks,” I whispered, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “How did we not sense it until we found Drake?”
“A glamour,” Orin explained, pain etched into his own features. “Kellan hid Drake in his own little bubble, and it also masked the iron. If we could feel the iron in the air, we would have been able to find him easier.”
“Why are you fairy royals so damn conniving?” I muttered, bringing myself to my hands and knees.
Avery snickered. “We live a long time. We always come up with ways of making life difficult.”
“You bastards,” I said, trying to be playful, although I didn’t feel that playful as I crawled my way over to Drake. He wasn’t doing very well. The chains had burned through his clothing all the way to his skin, and the smooth perfection of his body was charred and oozing blood.
Orin brought him to a sitting position, and his head lolled to the side. He groaned and whimpered, but he wasn’t awake.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cassidy
“What did he do to you, my love?” I whispered, stroking Drake’s cheek. He was hot and feverish to the touch. This would scar him for life, and that wasn’t talking about the mental scars. He’d been tied up like this for over twenty-four hours. What kind of lasting impression would that leave on him?
His eyes fluttered open—barely—and they focused fuzzily on me. His brow furrowed slightly. “Cassidy?”
A lump formed in my throat. “Hey there, handsome.” I rolled my eyes as Avery let out a mock-jealous sigh.
Oh, I was so glad to have my mates back with me. A tear sprang into one of my eyes as I kissed Drake’s forehead. He grimaced at the movement. “Sorry,” I whispered.
His gaze drifted to Orin and Avery behind me. “What are you assholes doing here?” he asked, the barest amount of humor in his voice.
“Saving your dumb ass,” Avery replied. Orin snickered in agreement.
Drake gave a pained laugh. “Glad to see you, too.”
“We have to get you home,” Orin said, leaning in. “Your daddy dearest is in a tizzy and Kellan’s making a move for your court.”
Not for the first time, I wondered what kind of shit Aelfdane was trying to pull in the fairy realms.
Drake blinked. “What happened while I was out?”
“Too much.” I swept a lock of hair from his eyes. “Orin and Avery will take care of you in the fairy realm, and then we’ll get you healed up. Nice long baths back home.”
Drake would totally eat up me babying him for a few days, and I wouldn’t mind it in the least. Usually, giving one of my mates that much attention would cause trouble with the other two, but I’m sure that Orin and Avery wouldn’t mind, either.
We’re a family after all.
“Can you stand?” Avery asked. He hooked an arm underneath Drake’s as Orin followed suit with the other side. They hoisted the Autumn Prince to his feet and he cried out in pain. His feet dragged on the ground, and I knew that he couldn’t stand by himself.
Shit.
“Well isn’t this cute? A little reunion.”
I whirled at the voice, brandishing my katana in front of me. With Orin and Avery helping Drake, I was the only one who could defend our group.
Not that I’d be much use, and I inhaled sharply as I saw our assailant.
Kellan stood there, a vision of white among the darkness. His winter fairies flanked him from behind their leader, ready to pounce at his word. His eyes glittered as he watched me, and he looked around. “You took out most of my werewolves.”
“Took them out, but didn’t kill them,” Orin clarified. His face was fierce as he faced the Winter King. “Your fairies, however, had no such mercy.”
Kellan scowled. “I noticed. Consorting with a human has made you forget your kind.”
Avery snarled in answer.
I slashed the air in front of me. “Get out of the way, asshole.”
Kellan didn’t even flinch. “You’re such a lost soul, Cassidy. You four are all examples of what’s wrong with the fairy and human realms. Time for a change, don’t you think?”
I glared at him. “Fuck you.”
And I threw the katana like a spear, directly at his face. He easily stepped aside, but not fast enough. The blade nicked his cheek, causing the marble-white skin to separate.
It wasn’t iron, but I could hope that it would still scar.
In the same instant, Avery reached out to take my hand, and I felt the familiar nothingness as we winked out of existence, teleporting to safety. Away from Purisima Creek. Away from all this shit.
I had a split second of relief spreading throughout me, and then agony erupted throughout my entire body as something like lightning sizzled against my skin, blowing me backwards. I landed hard on my side, the wind knocked from my lungs. I struggled for air as I managed to lift myself up high enough to see what was happening. Avery, Orin, and Drake were sprawled around me, knocked back by whatever-the-fuck-it-was.
We were in the same goddamn woods. In fact, we were only about twenty feet away from where we had teleported from. I saw the crackle of some sort forcefield around us.
Kellan approached us with languid steps, kicking aside leaves and sticks as he came into view. He tut-tutted and shook his head. “Silly lovers. Do you really think I’d let you go that easily?”
“We were kinda hoping you would,” Avery answered with a self-deprecating laugh. He rolled onto his back with a pained grunt. “You’re stupid enough to.”
Kellan bared his teeth at Avery and kicked him in the ribs. My mate let out a yelp, which only spurred the Winter King to do it more. Again. And again.
“Stop,” I whispered, crawling to Avery. “Stop it.”
“Only when he’s dead,” Kellan growled down at me, and then moved to kick me.
He didn’t make it that far, because a horn sounded throughout the night, sounding like a cross between a hound of hell, the car horns I always hear outside my apartment, and almost the call of something wild. A thrill of fear ran through me as I saw the lights flashing through the woods, heard and felt the accompanying crunch of trees and plant life.
Blaize had come to our rescue. In the nick of time, in the most obnoxious way possible.
Just like she always did.
I felt elation for a brief moment that we were saved. But then the smell and feel of iron hit me.
And I fell into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Blaize
“Oh, you ice-cold bastard,” I muttered as the Winter Prince drew himself up to his full height and lifted his hand as if to throw some kind of magic spell at me. “I dare you.” I glanced at the werewolf in the seat beside me, his tongue lolling as he gave a wolfy laugh. “I double wolf d
are you.”
I aimed the truck directly at him, but then saw several other figures in the small clearing—Orin and Avery and another fairy, all three beginning to crumple to the ground.
And Cass, already out cold.
At least, she had better be passed out and not something worse.
I slammed on the brakes. When I glanced back at where the Winter King had been, he was gone—and some kind of weird blue-light barrier swam in and out of my vision. I stopped the truck right before it, jumping down to the ground to put my hand up against it. It was cold and slick, like solid ice.
Solid—but also magic. Fairy magic.
With an evil grin, I dragged my iron sword out of the front seat of the truck and used it to poke a hole in the force field.
Yep. Iron worked against it. I slipped through the opening I had made, Wolf following close behind me. “You guys need to wake up,” I said, shaking Avery’s shoulder. “Get up. I’m cutting a path out of here. Can you get the others and head back down toward the parking lot?”
“Yeah.” Avery’s voice was hoarse, but he pulled himself upright, and Orin followed suit.
On my way back to the truck, I cut an actual door into the magic shield, big enough to let all four of them out without any of them having to touch it.
“I’ll meet you back down there in a few minutes, okay?” I said. “I’ll bring that icy prick with me, too.”
“You should take help,” Avery rasped, one arm wrapped around Cass’s waist and the other holding her hand over his shoulder as he lifted her off the ground.
Adrenaline rushed through my body, sending the thrill of the hunt racing into my limbs. Smiling, I glanced at Wolf, who grinned back at me. “I’ve got Wolf. We’ll be fine.”
Avery nodded and began limping down the path I’d driven on—and widened—through the woods, Cassie’s feet dragging behind them. With any luck, once she got away from the iron I was carrying she’d wake up.
Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection Page 132