Solanum’s knowing black eyes gave her the once over, stripping her naked from the top down and back up again. A strange unwanted sexual knowledge burned along her skin. She flushed.
Trina stepped forward, placing her petite figure between the two of them. “Back off, Solanum.”
He gave Bryanna a long, lewd wink, and turned away. “You’re no fun, Katerina MacElvy.”
“Now, where are they?” Trina’s face grew hard, her voice harder.
“The same place I would imagine Logan and Kian are now prisoners. In the Caer Bol, the sodding Keep of the Brethren.”
Bryanna’s chest seized, and she struggled for breath. Everyone she loved, besides Trina, was now held by Agrona and her troll-kin soldiers. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. “I think I need to sit,” she gasped, and stumbled to a chair.
“The what?” Trina asked.
“They’re held prisoner by the troll-kin, the soldiers who attacked here.” He gestured at the wide-open door and the glowing black force-field outside. “The same troll-kin who even now have surrounded the lodge and would be coming in the door if it weren’t for the shield.”
Trina’s face went dead white. “Oh,” she said and made her way to the chair next to Bryanna’s.
Bryanna reached out to her cousin and gripped her shoulder. “We’ll go get them,” she reassured her. “But first we need to take care of you and that baby.”
Right now, she only had Trina, and the baby inside her. If she could focus on them, then she could put forward one foot at a time. She pulled Trina up and guided her toward the dining room. “Food. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
Solanum laughed and capered behind them. “Of course! Fire and brimstone…blood and slaughter await, but first, let’s eat.” He danced around them and into the dining room, halting just inside the door. He balanced one elegant hand on his hip and waved them inside. “And plan,” he said, his lascivious grin changing his face from a near innocent youth to one of ancient evil.
Bryanna shuddered.
Trina picked up a plate and began selecting from the fresh food on the sideboard.
Bryanna looked at her own bloody hands and soaked clothes. “I need to change,” she said. “I can’t eat like this.”
She went up to her room and washed off quickly, putting her dress back on and leaving her soaked outfit in the tub. When she went back down Trina and Solanum were discussing their situation.
“How many are out there? Can’t you tell? Can we fight them off?”
“Nay.” Solanum shook his head. “They bear iron-tipped weapons, and there are many of them. You might escape while I fought, but they would catch you in the end and be grinding your bones for their suppers.”
“So we’re trapped here.”
Despite her twisting stomach, Bryanna forced herself to load up a plate and eat. She’d learned if she didn’t eat now, there might not be another chance.
A soft voice startled her. “I’ll show ye the back door.”
She nearly dropped her plate. She’d been sure the room was empty, but from the corner stepped a tiny, wizened creature, dressed in a faded dress and no bigger than a child. Her brown skin was soft and crinkled, like a worn out paper bag, and her eyes glowed the color of glazed maple sugar. Where a nose should be, she only had two slitted nostrils in her flat face, and the opening for her mouth was only a gash.
Trina gasped.
“Ah, the brownie finally appears.” Solanum snickered. “And how can ye help us, madam?”
“I’ll not be helping ye, ye good for nothing puca. I’ll be helping the lodge by getting ye out of here. Once all the guests are gone I can shut the lodge down. No one will get in again until the master opens it himself.” She sniffed. “Not even you.”
“Brownies. You act all high and mighty, but you’re just parasites.”
The brownie turned away from him and faced the women, her nearly non-existent chin lifted high.
“Trina needs to stay,” Bryanna said. “Can we fix the front door? Can we leave the shield to protect her?”
“I’m going with you.”
“You have to protect the baby.”
“And you think I’ll be safer here? With the troll-kin outside the door.”
“The force-field is keeping them out and you’re pregnant.”
“I know I’m pregnant, but I’m barely showing. Once Solanum leaves, the force-field goes with him, leaving me and fifty soldiers with a battering ram and a shattered door between us.”
Byranna clutched Trina’s hand. “I can’t lose you again.”
“You won’t.” Trina pulled her into her arms and Bryanna shuddered as she sensed the glow of the baby tucked safely inside her cousin. “But this baby needs her da. You, and I, and Cassie have given both of ours over to the queen. I’ll be damned if I’m going to raise another MacElvy without a father.”
“Fine, you get your way, again.” Bryanna gave a broken laugh. “But only if you promise you won’t die.” She squeezed Trina close and blinked back her tears. “Promise me.”
Trina whispered. “I promise.”
Bryanna twitched the parlor curtain aside, checking again on the soldiers. “That shield is almost transparent. They’re going to figure out that it’s only made up of mist and illusion, and that Solanum is gone.” It had taken all night to prepare their arsenal of spells and come up with a plan. Solanum had left that morning to round up reinforcements, but something was wrong.
Her nerves were wound tight, and they got tighter with every minute past noon that the puca didn’t return. “He should be back by now. Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” Trina poured spelled sand into a small, cloth bag, tied it shut, and threw it into the pile with the other mini-spell bombs she’d whipped up.
Bryanna fiddled with the buttons on her borrowed jacket. Maeve had magically cleaned her clothes and she was back in pants and ready for war.
“I thought you said he was fast.” She wished the hard metal helmet the brownie had dug up hadn’t been too big. She might need head protection.
“He’s fast. Supernaturally fast.” Trina frowned. “Something must have happened.”
Bryanna peered back out into the clearing. “I can see holes forming in the fake shield. Those soldiers will figure it out soon, I don’t care how much they’ve been drinking.” She crossed over to Trina and picked up a spell-grenade. Balancing the weighted bag in her hand, she frowned at her cousin. “What if he doesn’t come back? What if he’s just left us here?”
The shelf next to the mantle shifted and swung open. Solanum emerged, brushing dust and spider webs off of his sleeves. “Doubting me already, lass?”
Bryanna flushed. “You were gone a long time. The day’s almost gone.”
“Strap on your weapon, I’m here now.” He winked at her flush, and handed her the short sword they’d pilfered from the weapons room. She ran the leather strap through the buckle and fastened it with fingers awkward with nerves.
It was time.
“We’re ready.” Trina stuffed the last grenades into her shoulder bag, wrinkling her forehead as the shelf door swung closed. “Where’s everyone else? Where are our reinforcements? Are they in the woods? Should we go meet them?” She pulled on her black leather jacket, swung the bag over her shoulder, and picked up her sword.
“There is no one else.” Solanum shook his head. “You’re lucky to have me.”
Bryanna’s mouth went dry.
“No one else?” she croaked out. “We can’t do this alone. I’m no fighter, and Trina’s pregnant. We need weapons, we need warriors, we need more magic. Why aren’t they coming?”
“The queen has blockades all over Underhill. She’s pulled out every favor anyone ever owed her. There are spies spying on each other, attacks in all the demesnes. Blood is flowing.”
Solanum’s dark eyes seemed earnest, but Bryanna couldn’t be sure he didn’t get off on their fear as he delivered the final blow. “No one else is c
oming. And the wedding is tonight.”
Her vision swam black.
“No.” She sank onto the couch, nearly crushing her borrowed sword and scabbard. “If Agrona marries Kian, she’ll take all his power and hand it to the queen. She’ll be worse than ever, no one will be safe.” And Kian would be a hollow puppet for the rest of what he’d told her would be a very short life.
Her lungs cramped.
She thought she’d just desired Kian, but now she knew. She cared about him, more than she wanted to. More than she’d admitted to earlier. The thought of his vibrant energy snuffed out had her barely able to breathe. She grabbed Trina’s arm. “We can’t let that happen.”
Her cousin loosened her gripped fingers, grabbed her arm in turn and pulled her up off the couch. She straightened Bryanna’s lapels together. “So, button-up and let’s go.”
Trina’s eyes were green, just like all the other MacElvy women. Maybe even the half-elven baby Trina carried would have them. They were what was left of an entire tribe of gypsy’s, one of the seven tribes, now six really. Descended from the fae many years ago and now nearly extinct.
“Can we do this?” she asked. She needed reassurance that this was the right thing to do. To risk the last of the MacElvys.
Trina handed Bryanna the other shoulder bag of grenades and gave her a sassy wink. “You know we don’t stand a chance,” she said casually, as if they were going to a friend’s house for dinner, but behind the wink her eyes were dead serious.
Bryanna tried for a grin. “Yeah, but who are we, if we don’t try.”
“That’s the attitude, cuz. We’ll make a fighter out of you yet.” Trina winked and crossed to the shelf. She moved the lever that opened the secret passageway and grabbed a candle. “Move it, babe, or we’ll be gone, and the troll-kin will be coming for you.” And she ducked into the dark, narrow passage without a backward glance.
“After you, milady.” Solanum bowed and gestured elegantly toward the shelf.
Bryanna fastened up the shiny, brass buttons on her jerkin and walked to the tunnel. Sure as sunrise they headed to their death, but she followed Trina in anyway. The puca moved in so close behind her she could feel his hot breath on her neck as they were shut into the dark. She squared her shoulders and followed the flickering candlelight. She wasn’t abandoning her family to rot, and she wasn’t leaving Kian to that soul-sucking tramp. And she sure as shit wasn’t going to let the queen take any more of her family.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Just beyond the edge of the trees near the keep, Bryanna slid off Solanum’s back, stepped out of the way, and gave Trina room to land.
“When I was little I used to wish for a horse. I never thought I’d be so happy to be on my own two feet.” She took a few wobbly steps and sank down to rest on the frozen, hard ground behind a scraggly pine tree. They were close, close enough to see the shapes of the soldiers silhouetted on the top of the wall.
“Can you open a portal and gate into the keep?” Bryanna asked. “You could let us in once you’re in?”
Solanum shook his head and stomped a hoof. “Nay, we don’t want that. They’ll all come running. I’ll get us in, never you fear.” He winked and sidled close to her. “Unless what you really want is an excuse to wrap those luscious, long legs around me and take another kind of ride.” He dipped his head and nudged her thigh with his nose. “I’m ready when you are, hot-cheeks.”
“Solanum!” Trina snapped.
“She’s the one who suggested it.” He laughed, barring his teeth in a wicked horse grin.
“Quit it.” Trina pointed to the keep. “Is that a door?”
“Where?” Bryanna squinted against the setting sun. “I don’t see one.”
“Get down, you idiots, and hush.” Solanum flicked them with his tail, and they ducked back behind the pine.
“There. That shadow in the wall.”
“How can you see that?” Bryanna asked. “Could it really be a door?”
“Aye, I think it is,” Solanum said. “It’s a postern door, the back entrance, so to speak. We’ll go in there.” He morphed into a cloud of black mist, and formed into a black dog the size of a pony she’d ridden as a child, but this one had gleaming red eyes.
Bryanna was amazed at the ease of his transition. Kian’s metamorphoses had been torturous. He’d screamed and it sounded like his bones had cracked and broken. She shook off the memory and wondered if, when Kian had his Gift back, he’d also shift shapes as easily as the puca.
“How can we get there? They’ll see us.” Trina asked.
“All you have to do is get to the wall, I’ll get you in. And don’t forget, once we’re inside, if you touch me, I can hide you. But you have to hold very still, little girl.” His long red tongue lolled out. “Sure you don’t want a ride?”
She flinched away. He grinned and loped off. Bryanna swore she watched him the whole way, but he disappeared until she couldn’t separate him from any of the other shadows on the wall.
Trina squeezed her hand. “Are you ready?” she asked.
Bryanna squeezed back. “Yes,” she lied.
Her heart pounded in her throat, nearly in her mouth, as she and Trina eyed the guards on top of the wall. Her anxiety over Kian, Cassie, and her mom escalating, twisting her up inside. When the closest soldier turned his back and paced to the opposite corner, they ran for the wall, squishing themselves as flat as possible against the icy stones near the door.
She swallowed down her fear. “Where is he?” she whispered.
She was so afraid this wasn’t going to work. So afraid she was the weak link. Afraid that she’d never get anyone back, and that she’d lose Trina, too.
“I don’t know.” Trina’s face was set with worry, tiny lines etched across her brow and around her lips.
From the other side of the wall, there was a meaty thump, then the door swung open and Trina darted inside. Bryanna touched the door to keep it open. This was it. Everyone she’d ever loved was now inside the keep, she had to go, too. She gathered her courage following her cousin. And the door swung shut.
The large, black wolf-hound sniffed the air. His red eyes were bright in the late afternoon shadows. “Logan is this way,” he said, and slunk off, skirting the walls. Trina followed. Bryanna hesitated and looked back the other way, down the narrow, stone-walled alley. No one was there.
“Hist!” Solanum glared at her from the end of the alley, and she ran to catch up. She pressed into the doorway next to Trina. She wasn’t cut out for this, her heart hammered so hard she hadn’t heard a thing. She didn’t think she’d hear it if a bomb exploded.
Solanum arched back, blocking them with his body and enveloping them in the smell of stars and shadow.
A young troll-kin wearing a stained, white tunic approached the guard lounging outside of a wooden door. “Finally,” the guard said, straightening off of the wall. “I was beginning to think Cook had forgotten about the prisoners.”
“I think he did forget,” said the boy. “He’s all in a tizzy with feeding the queen. He wants ‘em now, though. The wedding feast is set for midnight, and he’s got to be thinking of serving dinner.”
“Hang on boy. I’ll go fetch ‘em for ye. Not surprised Cook’s in a tizzy. They shoulda been slaughtered yesterday and hanging all today to let the blood drain.” The guard licked his lips and grinned.
“I dunno. I like my meat fresh. Humans ‘specially. They kin be gamey and tough, a little blood helps. You never know what they been eating.”
Horns sounded. “Ah, that’s the queen arriving now,” the guard said. “They must have finished setting up camp outside the gate. Won’t be too long before the prince is married to our lady, and then we’ll be having feasts every day.” He nudged the boy.
“Oh, I’d better hurry.” The boy’s eyes darted around the guard. “The wedding’ll be starting any minute. Cook said ye’r to bathe the prisoners and bring ‘em to the kitchen in half an hour. The wedding supper is due to start a
t sunset, and he needs to get ‘em in the pot.”
“Before you go, have you seen our lady?”
The boy’s thick troll lips turned up in a grin. “She’s the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I saw her dress, and the prince, and…” There was a distant shout. “I’d better get back.” He ran off and the guard turned and reached for the door.
Bryanna’s heart constricted. She wrapped her fingers into Solanum’s surprisingly warm fur and tugged. He growled under his breath, but moved and the three of them backed away from the prison door.
“What’s with you?” Trina asked, once they were out of sight.
“There’s no time,” she said. “We have to go save Kian. If we wait, he’ll be married to Agrona, and it will be too late.” She wiped her damp palms on her pants.
What was wrong with her? She cared, she knew she did, but this reaction was extreme. It was as if she loved Kian, and she knew love between them was impossible.
“I’m not saving the sodding prince until we have Logan.” Solanum bared his teeth.
“We can come back for him,” Bryanna said. “Kian’s in danger now.”
The clank of iron keys hitting each other came from around the corner. “And Cassie, and Aunt Theresa?” Trina asked.
“We need to split up.” She touched Trina’s hand. “You save them, get them out.” She knew Solanum would take care of Trina, Logan had made sure of that. And Trina would take care of her mother and sister. But no one but her could save Kian.
Trina moved in fast, wrapped her arms around her, and squeezed hard. “I love you cuz.” She let go and wiped a small drop off of her cheek. “Damn pregnancy hormones.” She readied a grenade. “Solanum, go with Bryanna. I’ll take out the guards.”
“Nay.” Solanum’s head lowered and his hackles rose. “I’m here for Logan, and I’ll not leave you, nor the babe.”
“I’ll go by myself.” Bryanna pulled her short-sword out from its sheathe.
“But you don’t even know how to use a sword,” Trina said. “He should go with you.”
“It’ll be like on the job training,” Bryanna said, with a weak laugh. The sound of the prison door groaning open came around the corner. “Now go,” she hissed and gave Trina a push. “While the door is open.” Solanum tucked his tail low and slunk around the corner. Trina gave her a last, fast squeeze and went after him. They were gone.
Prince by Blood and Bone: A Fantasy Romance of the Black Court (Tales of the Black Court) Page 25