Connor nods. “Blaine, the clan may be in danger back there. A rogue demon could mess everything up.”
“You think that’s why the piper’s acting up?” Blaine asks.
“The piper doesn’t need an excuse to act up,” Connor says. “I’m just worried about your house.”
“Morgaine is there,” Blaine says. “The wards will hold.”
“But Carolina told me she was going for a walk,” I say. “With Meredith.”
“She what?” growls Blaine.
“Easy, there,” Carver says, raising his crossbow along with Andres. Behind them three other brothers back them up.
“Everybody calm down,” I say. “Blaine, Carolina called me on the phone. I tried to convince her not to go, but she hung up.”
Connor looks at Blaine. “That really changes everything. Why would Morgaine let them out?”
“Maybe they snuck out?” Blaine says. “Kids today do all kinds of sneaky things. We need to get back there.”
“You don’t think they’re in danger, do you?” I ask.
“Yes, I do,” he says. “There’s way too much out and about tonight with the gate open.”
Suddenly there is a red blur off to the side. It stops in the shadows and hisses. “Stanley,” she says.
Three of Andres and Carver’s friends turn their weapons toward her, and I hear cries of frustration. “That’s no werewolf,” Andres says.
“It’s my friend,” I say.
“You’re friends with a vampire?” Blaine says, incredulous. “Two werecreatures aren’t enough for you?”
But I ignore him, looking at Karen.
“You need to watch out,” she says to me. “They have the house surrounded.”
“Whose house?” I ask.
“Blaine’s. And your friends — I can’t find them.”
“They’re not in the house?” Blaine asks.
She shakes her head. “No one’s in there, except one of my kind.”
“Morgaine,” Blaine says.
“I don’t understand,” Connor says. “Who’s got the house surrounded?”
“Riders,” Karen says. “At least a dozen.”
“You’re kidding,” Blaine says. “I don’t believe you.”
Another horn sounds, off in the distance.
“I don’t kid,” Karen says, and she’s off, a red blur.
“Wow,” Carver says. “She’s fast.”
“The younger ones are the fastest,” Blaine says. “The old are the most deadly.”
“We need to go,” I say. “But we can’t leave Frumberg here alone, as much as I hate him.”
Carver nods. “We’ll leave Thomas, Mark, and Jason. They can carry him to safety,” he says, nodding toward three of the tall seniors behind him. “Me and Andres will follow you guys.”
“What about us?” Blaine asks.
“You can run ahead,” Carver says. “I really wouldn’t want you at our backs.”
“You bet your life you wouldn’t,” says Connor.
Blaine chortles.
Jonathan growls, fox musk filling the air.
But my mind is on Meredith. Where is she? And what’s she up to? We need to find her, and Carolina, but then what? Hope Max has run home?
“Okay,” Blaine says. “Enough talk. Can you all run fast without changing?”
Me and Enrique nod, and Jonathan shrugs. “I haven’t really tried yet,” he says. “But I think I can keep up. If not, I can follow your scent trail.”
Blaine sniffs an armpit. “We are kind of rank,” he says. “Ready, set, go!”
Blaine and Connor set off running through the night, with me and Jonathan right behind. Blaine is faster than I imagined, and glancing at Jonathan, I have to admit he is one fast fox. Just behind me is Enrique; there’s no need to look back, I can feel him there, running in great, loping strides as we dodge our way through the trees.
But we’ve left Andres and Carver in the dust, and that scares me a little. What are Blaine and Connor’s intentions? How do we know they aren’t leading us into a trap?
I need to think, but I’m running full speed. Ahead of us, there is... a house. Surrounded by horsemen. Or are they really men? Their skin is weirdly luminescent.
Blaine stops short in front of us, and Jonathan and I do everything we can to not plow into him as Enrique runs into our backs.
“Unseelie Court,” Blaine says, gesturing to the house.
“They’re the nasty faeries, right?” I say.
“Not necessarily nasty,” Blaine says. “Definitely dangerous, though.”
I sniff the wind once, twice, and Enrique does the same. “Morgaine is here,” he says. “I think she’s in the house.”
Blaine sniffs too, and nods. “You have a good nose,” he says. “For a cat.”
The air is full of all kinds of strange, spicy odors and the cold clean smell of Morgaine. But where are Meredith and Carolina? Their scent trail is cold. They were here, I can smell that, but they’re long gone. Where are they now? My mind and senses go back to when Meredith kissed me just yesterday morning. Her scent fills my mind.
I sniff the wind again.
“She’s not here,” I say.
“Who?” asks Blaine, his eyes on the riders.
“Meredith. Or Carolina,” I say.
He nods. “Their trail grows cold.”
There is a low growl behind us. Enrique turns with a snarl and I growl out a challenge, but Blaine puts a hand on my shoulder.
“He’s of my clan,” Blaine says. “What’s the word, Rowan?”
Rowan is big and tall and very hairy. He shakes his head. “Carolina is gone. Taken, and the human girl with her.”
“The human girl?” I ask, my throat dry. Meredith.
“A girl around your age,” says Rowan.
“Who has taken them?”
“They were attacked by a group of zombies. And ‘rescued’ by a group of Seelie knights,” Rowan says. “There was no struggle, but I fear the worst. We were about to give chase when a demon came upon us, bounding up like some oversized dog.”
“Any losses?”
Rowan shakes his head. “It will take all night for Gavin and Arne to heal, but the demon really didn’t want to fight — it was headed for the gateway.”
“And the Seelie knights?” I ask.
“Their trail was cold by the time we were free of the demon.”
“Are your noses that weak?” asks Blaine.
Rowan shakes his head, sadly. “The demon and ghouls fouled everything. We have been searching, but cannot find the lost trail. It is befouled, or has gone cold.”
“And the Unseelie who surround my house?”
“They wish to talk to you, my lord. I do not fully understand their intentions.”
“Is the enemy of our enemy our friend?” Blaine asks.
“What are you guys talking about?” I ask, unable to shut up and listen any more. Meredith is out there, somewhere, even if I can’t smell her anymore. People don’t just vanish into thin air. I should have gone and found her hours ago. If anything happens to her, it will be all my fault.
“Dude,” Jonathan says. “Meredith is Stanley’s girlfriend. We can’t just sit around and talk. What can we do?”
“And Carolina is my daughter,” Blaine says. “But the Unseelie knights may know something about what has happened to them both.”
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” I ask.
But Blaine and Connor are already headed into the clearing. Just as Carver and Andres stumble up behind us.
“What’s happening?” Andres asks, breathing hard.
“I just asked the same question. My girlfriend was kidnapped by the Seelie, and there are these other faerie knights out in front of her friend’s house, the Unseelie, and Blaine is going to talk to them. If that makes any sense.”
Carver nods at his little brother. “Yeah, Jonathan is always talking about the faerie courts. He’s read whole books about them.”
“They’re just talking, I think. But dude, the Unseelie are fricking dangerous,” Jonathan says.
We hear whistles, high and piercing. I look over and Blaine is gesturing. At us.
“We can’t let you go,” says Carver.
“No way,” Andres says. “It could be a trap.”
“If I don’t go,” I say, “I’m never going to find out what’s happened to Meredith. Or Carolina.”
Jonathan turns to his brother. “Just give us like five minutes.”
Enrique nods. “We need to go with Stanley. We can’t let him walk in there alone.”
“We can’t let him walk in there at all,” Andres says. “Those guys could hurt him just by touching him.”
“Try to stop me,” I growl.
Before they can react, I’ve leapt off into the clearing, toward the house.
Chapter 34: THE UNSEELIE AND THE HOUSE OF WHELAN
A hop, a skip, and a jump, and hey, I’m surrounded.
“One more leap, and you’ll rest on my spear,” says a rider covered head to foot in dark armor.
“And we’ll finish you off with plenty of silver... after you have had time to suffer,” says another knight on the other side of me.
“I thought Blaine waved me over here,” I say.
“Blaine?” the knight asks. “Who is this Blaine?”
“Me,” Blaine says.
“Whelan,” says the first knight nodding. “Yes, the gatekeeper called you here. Morgaine wishes to speak to you.”
There’s a struggle behind me, and I turn my head too quickly. Now there’s a spear point at my throat, sharp silver burning my skin. Enrique and Jonathan struggle with their brothers.
“But she wishes to speak only to you, not your friends,” the knight says, answering my unasked question.
“It’s okay!” I shout out to them. “I have to do this alone!”
“No!” shouts Enrique. “It could be a trap.”
“I’ll be back soon,” I shout to him. “Just watch the house and look out for Meredith! And Max!”
But then hands are upon me, and I am escorted up to the backdoor of the house.
It seems different than what I remember from the party. Even before we arrive at the door, I feel the wards and sigils that cover every inch. The doors and windows are even more solidly protected. How could I have not noticed this before?
“They can’t get in, can they?” I ask Blaine.
He shakes his head. “No one can enter here without our permission. We paid a lot of gold for all this security.”
“A lot of good it got you, Whelan,” says the first knight, dismounting now.
“You will join us, then, Nye?” Blaine asks.
The knight nods. “If you will allow me to enter.”
“So you, too, fear my sigils?”
“I fear more to abuse the hospitality of the gatekeeper.”
I realize that’s the third time someone has called him that. “The what?” I ask, looking at Blaine as he puts his hand to the door. “What did he call you?”
But Blaine is walking inside, and he turns to Nye and me. “Please come in.”
We walk inside. The sigils tickle my skin; like static electricity in the air, they make my hairs stand on end.
We hear soft sobbing from the kitchen.
“Morgaine?” Blaine calls. “We’re here.”
We walk in together, to find Morgaine sitting at the kitchen table, weeping silently now, like my mom does when she’s cutting onions. But there are no onions here.
“They’re gone, Blaine,” she says. “They’ve taken them, and I don’t even know where.”
“Have they sent a message?” Blaine asks.
Just then, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I pull it out.
“THE GATEWAY WILL CLOSE IN ONE HOUR.”
“What time is it?” I ask.
Blaine looks at the wall. “Eleven. Why?”
“My phone says the gateway will close at midnight.”
“Your phone says what?” Blaine asks, looking at me incredulously.
“That the gateway will be closing in one hour.”
“Well, let’s just hope it’s true,” Blaine says. “That it’s closing in one hour.”
Morgaine looks at him sharply. “How can you say that? What if they’re caught on the other side?”
“We’ll get them back,” Blaine says.
“How can you be so sure? I thought they were protected; I thought we made pacts with everyone — with Piper, the Unseelie, even this boy here,” she says, nodding at me.
“You were afraid of me?” I ask, astonished.
“Not afraid of you, per se, but of what you might represent, of who you might become,” Morgaine says. “But I still don’t understand what we did wrong. We were so thorough.”
“It must be Zach. He keeps talking about a big cleansing. That the city needs a detox.”
“Cleansing?” Blaine asks, dubious. “Detox? What, are we going to the spa?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. But he seems to be controlling some of the zombies.”
“He had enough bottles of Eternal Cleanse to drug the whole city. The whole state, almost.”
“But you stopped it, right?” I ask.
“Your friend Karen stopped it,” Blaine says. “Connor and I just mopped up what was left.”
“But what does Zach want? And who’s controlling him?”
“Maybe the Seelie?” Morgaine asks, turning to her husband. “Unless you think it was Piper.”
Blaine shakes his head. “No, Piper’s had his hands full trying to deal with problems at that school of his. Not to mention the ghouls tonight. Maybe it is the Seelie. But I was so sure they would never move against us.”
“Yes,” Morgaine says. “The Seelie. Why would they move against us?”
“They’re the only ones we haven’t bargained with. Maybe we’ve taken their friendship for granted.”
“How could they do anything so evil?” she asks.
Nye raises an eyebrow. “We Unseelie have different notions of good and evil from the Seelie, different as well from werefolk and vampires. But perhaps the gatekeeper is right: perhaps Eleanor felt slighted and wishes to have a stronger bargaining point.”
“Who is Eleanor?” I ask.
“The Seelie queen,” Nye says. “Queen of the Summer Court. The court that creates, that makes all the plants bloom and grow.”
“But you’re not of the Seelie court, right?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “I am of the Unseelie. The winter court. We make the plants wither and die only to spring forth the next year.”
Blaine clears his throat. “They hold each other in balance. Or that’s how it’s supposed to work. Who knows what’s going on now? No one has contacted you, Morgaine?”
She shakes her head. “Unlike Stanley, I’ve had no text messages. No phone calls. No letters. Nothing. Just these emissaries from the Unseelie court parked in front of my door,” she says, looking at Nye.
He goes down to one knee. “Nye, at your service.”
Morgaine shakes her head. “An Unseelie knight serves no one besides her queen.”
Nye stares at her. “Still, by my queen’s orders, I remain in your service.”
“You told me nothing of this outside,” says Blaine.
“What I have to say is for Morgaine’s ears only,” Nye says. “Outside, who knows who might be listening?”
“Speak, then,” Morgaine says. “What do you know about Carolina?”
“And Meredith,” I ask, looking at the two of them.
“And Meredith, her human friend,” Morgaine says.
Our conversation is interrupted by knocking at the door. Morgaine looks at Blaine, who nods. The knocking grows louder, more insistent.
Blaine walks out of the room. We all stand there, silen
t, waiting, listening. From the other room comes a short conversation, low voices.
The door slams shut and Blaine returns.
“Zombies,” he says. “The riders are pulling back toward the house and taking Stanley’s friends with them.”
“How many are there?” asks Nye.
“Dozens. They encircle the house.”
“Is Zach among them?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Blaine says. “But they appear well organized.”
“The house is well-protected,” says Morgaine. “We should be fine in here.”
“And those that are left outside, Milady?” asks Nye.
“Are your riders afraid of a few shamblers?” asks Blaine.
“Afraid of hurting them, yes,” says Nye. “Remember, Gatekeeper, they were all human children once. And will be again, once this enchantment is over.”
“They will stop being zombies?” I ask.
“If we can break them of their addiction, they’ll be normal again,” says Nye. “The danger is that in such great numbers they could overwhelm us. And force us to kill them to get away. I, too, want to know who controls them.”
“It must be the Seelie queen,” Blaine says.
“But how?” says Morgaine, shaking her head. “She has always been our friend, not foe.”
“Then someone else in her court, perhaps,” says Nye.
Morgaine turns to him. “I’m sorry, Nye, I’d just asked you to tell me about my daughter.”
“And her friend,” I say again.
But there is knocking on the door, stronger now. Blaine growls and leaves, Nye following him.
The voices are louder this time, more strident.
Then Blaine is back, looking pale. “The zombies are leaving.”
“Well that is good news,” Morgaine says.
But Blaine shakes his head. “They are being pursued. By ghouls.”
Nye enters. “My knights are forming a wedge to protect the zombie children. The zombies continue to flee, but the ghouls are hungry.”
There are shouts, the sound of pitched battle, and a lot of screams. Inhuman screams. But not from wolves. Maybe from the riders?
Hair rises on the back of my neck. The beast within me wants out. “I need to go,” I say. “My friends are out there.”
“Control yourself,” says Blaine, grabbing my arm. “Remember, my men are out there, too.”
Wicked Hungry Page 18