But reality took over and I shook off the irritation. Land wights were a danger to everybody—the wight would go after Raj, or me, or anybody near enough. We couldn’t just leave it now that we knew about it.
Neil stepped in front of me, holding up his hammer. It was still glowing a pale blue, though not as bright as before.
“What’s the range?”
“Ten yards, maybe,” he said, keeping his voice low.
He pressed through the nearest stand of ferns. I followed him, with Llew bringing up the rear. We kept quiet, listening for any sign that we were close to the wight. Llew’s hammer acted as an extra flashlight, and as we broke through the line of bushes to the other side, the hammer began to glow brighter.
I glanced to the right. There, about ten yards away, I noticed a pile of snow that seemed to be mounded up higher than the rest, and there was a dark patch in the center.
“There—that might be its nest. It would have to brush the snow away to go in and out,” I said, pointing.
Neil swung to the right without a word, cautiously treading through the thick layer of detritus that covered the floor of the ravine. Covered in snow, it was dangerous, all sorts of sprained ankles waiting to happen. I followed him, watching his hammer, which was glowing brighter and brighter the closer we got to the mound of snow. I flashed my light on it, and sure enough, there to the left, in the patch of brown, we saw a hole leading back into the side of the ravine.
“That has to be the nest. Is the wight in there? Did it run home to its nest after it saw me?”
“I don’t know,” Neil said. “Given its soul is in the nest, in that stone, whether the body is there or not, my hammer’s going to glow.”
“What happens to the wight’s body if we kill its soul?” Llew asked.
“It dissolves like a number of the sub-Fae,” I said, lowering my voice, though I wasn’t sure what good that would do, given the wight knew we were down here and probably had picked up on the fact that we were hunting it by now.
We approached the entrance, which was about four feet high. I grimaced. It would be hard for Neil to get through, and even Llew would have difficulty.
“I can go in. If the wight’s not in there, I can grab the soul stone and bring it out,” I said, reluctantly offering myself up on a platter.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Llew said, but Neil nodded.
“I’m not going to be much use if I try to make it through that entrance and get stuck.” He looked back at me. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah, I’ll do it.” I drew Venom, holding her in my right hand as I held the flashlight in my left. “I’d take your hammer and smash the thing but I don’t know how much effort it would take and I’d rather not find out that I don’t have the swing for it. If you hear me scream, try to come in and get me, please. I don’t fancy being on the dinner menu.”
Llew looked irritated, but he gave in.
I ducked down, creeping into the entrance. Neil never would have made it. The passage grew narrower the farther I went and I began to feel claustrophobic, but then, about ten feet into the side of the hill, it opened up.
I broke through into a small chamber that was about ten feet wide by four feet deep. It was tall enough for me to stand in—barely—and filled with decaying debris. The stench was almost unbearable, and I grimaced as I tried to hold my breath. There was a faint green light in the center of the waste and I began to dig through the debris, grateful I’d left my good gloves at home.
I came across something hard and oval, and as I withdrew it, I saw that I was holding a gemlike stone that emanated a sickly green glow from within. As I watched, the glow pulsed with a beat that mimicked a heartbeat.
The soul stone! I had found it.
Eager to get back outside and be done with the matter, I turned and started back through the channel, but then I heard shouts and the sounds of a scuffle. I hurried, trying to push through faster. When I broke out into the night, I saw Llew entangled with the land wight. The creature had several of its barbed tentacles lashed around his waist. Neil was trying to beat the thing off, hitting it with his hammer. Blue sparks flew every time he struck a blow, but it didn’t seem to be having much effect.
I stripped off my gloves, tossing them to the ground, and shoved the soul stone down the front of my jacket to hold it. Holding out my hands, I focused on conjuring a ball of flame. I whispered a chant that would coax it faster and the flames began to rise in my palm.
Fire to flame, flame to fire,
build and burn, higher and higher.
Flare to life, take form and strike,
attack now, fiery spike.
The ball coalesced in my hand, a brilliant orb of flickering orange and red flames with hints of purple tingeing the ends. I held it up, aimed carefully for the wight, and sent it flying. The fire hit the amorphous creature—it looked like a mass of steel wool and twigs with tentacles coming out of it—and the land wight screeched, letting go of Llew as it stumbled back.
Neil turned to me as I pulled the soul stone out of my jacket. I tossed it on the ground near his feet and he brought the hammer up. The wight must have realized what was going on because it rushed at Neil, flailing a hail of tentacles toward him, but the massive priest brought his hammer down, slamming it against the stone.
The air seemed to pulse, and for a moment I thought we were having an earthquake, as every nerve in my body jangled. But then, with another strike, Neil splintered the stone and it smashed into the snow, into a thousand shards of glass.
The land wight shrieked, then slowly deflated, melting into the primordial ooze that so many of the sub-Fae came from. A hiss of steam rose from the puddling mass as the heat of its body met the icy snow, and then, seeped through the blanket of white, leaching into the ground.
I ran over to Llew. “Are you okay?”
He grunted, and I could tell he was having trouble standing. I made him let me look him over, and as I pulled his jacket open, I could see the slick of blood pooling around his waist.
“No! Llew, listen to me. We have to get you back to my house.” I motioned to Neil. “Can you carry him? He’s losing blood.”
“I can. What about the nest?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Get him up the hill. I’ll dart in and take a quick look around and then follow you.”
I hurried back into the hole, cringing at the smell. I didn’t relish staying any longer than I had to, but I needed to make certain we had found everything. A moment later, as I shone the flashlight around and moved debris out of the way, I suddenly froze. There, under a pile of steaming compost, were three large eggs. Land wight eggs. I stared at them for a moment, then slowly backed up. Land wights didn’t eject their soul stones from their bodies until they were born, and then their mother hid it until they left the nest to build their own. If I destroyed the eggs, I’d destroy the young as well.
Finally, I gathered my wits and backed out to the edge of the tunnel leading in. Where there were three eggs, there might be more, and I didn’t have the time to go through the entire nest. I could just douse it with fire, but I wasn’t certain it could be contained—it might spread through roots beneath the ground and light the park on fire. No, somebody had to come down here and thoroughly destroy the entire nest.
I turned, ducking outside. The forest was silent around me, save for the falling snow. I glanced around. More snow would cover up the entrance and make it harder to find again, so I finally pulled the scarf off my head and tied it to a nearby bush to make it easier to find.
Then I turned back to the slope and hurried to the top of the ravine, slipping my way through the snow, praying that Llew hadn’t been too badly hurt.
Chapter Fifteen
First thing when we got back to the house, I stripped off Llew’s jacket as Neil helped him to the sofa. Llew tried to pull away.
“Your sofa will get all bloody,” he said.
I sighed. I’d just bought the sofa
a couple months ago to replace one that my friends and I, along with Jim Morrison’s spirit, had ruined. I didn’t want to have to buy another just yet.
“All right, hold on.” I raced out to the shed in my backyard and found one of the plastic camping tarps that I kept around. Slogging back through the snow, I stomped off the excess snow clinging to my boots before returning to the living room.
I spread the tarp over the sofa while Neil held Llew up so he didn’t collapse. The moment the tarp was down, I threw a sheet over it—sheets were expendable—and gave Neil a hand in easing Llew down onto the seat. Neil began to unbutton Llew’s shirt while I ran to my bathroom and grabbed the bandages, antibiotic ointment, and some gauze tape. I hoped that we’d be able to stop the bleeding, but if we couldn’t, we’d take him into Urgent Care.
“Let’s see those wounds. We already know how nasty they can be.” While my wrist was healing up, Llew would be a lot more likely to succumb to the venom and we had to make certain he wasn’t in danger of dying. If the blood loss didn’t get to him first.
Neil examined the line of punctures that dappled Llew’s torso and back. “Damn, Raven, I don’t think we should be the ones treating these. They already look angry.”
I leaned closer, peeking over Neil’s shoulder. He was right. The wounds were bright red, looking inflamed and infected already. A couple were oozing pus, and they were all still bleeding. Llew was looking faint, and my intuition flared. He was in danger—his life was in danger. That much was clear.
“Let me make a phone call,” I said, moving away. I pulled out my phone and punched in Herne’s number. Herne had a direct line to one of the best healers around.
“Yo, Raven, what’s up?” The husky voice of the Hunter rumbled through the phone.
“I need your help. A friend of mine needs your help. We took out a land wight, but the creature got her tentacles around Llew—I think you met him at Ember’s party. He’s got some nasty puncture wounds that are already inflamed and I’m afraid they’re going to get infected. The land wight’s venom affects the magic-born and humans a lot more than it does the Ante-Fae. I was wondering if you could ask Ferosyn to help. Whatever it costs, I’ll cover it.”
Herne paused, then cleared his throat. “Ferosyn’s not in the habit of making house calls, but I’ll call him and get back to you as soon as I do. Did you manage to kill the wight?”
“Yeah, but there are eggs in the nest that we didn’t get to.”
“I’ll come over and help. If there are eggs, the wight’s mate might be close by.” Herne signed off, promising to call back as soon as he reached Ferosyn.
I began to wash Llew’s wounds the best I could, grimacing as he moaned and flinched when I touched them. I dreaded putting him through the pain. I had managed to wash out the first five punctures when my phone rang. I handed the cloth to Neil and answered it.
“Ember, Viktor, and I are on the way over, along with Ferosyn. The moment I told him about the land wight, he signed off. We’ll be there as soon as we pick him up at the portal. Tell Llew to hold on.” He signed off without giving me a chance to answer.
“Llew. Llew?” I knelt on the sofa beside him, the tarp crinkling under my knees. Llew’s eyes were half-closed, and he was moaning. I felt his forehead.
“He’s burning up,” I told Neil. “Get a washcloth from the bathroom and saturate it with cold water, then fill it with ice from the kitchen.”
Neil hustled to the bathroom, returning with a wet cloth. He darted by into the kitchen and I heard the sound of the ice maker. A moment later, he returned, the washcloth folded around several cubes of ice. I motioned for him to place it behind Llew’s neck and we gently eased him back so his head was resting on the back of the sofa. Returning to cleaning out his wounds, I asked Neil to answer the door when Herne and the others arrived.
“Llew? Llew? Listen to me. I need you to fight the fever. Ferosyn will be here soon and he’ll heal you up, but until then, don’t give in. The fever’s dangerous, and you need to fight against it.” I stroked his hair. He was sweating now, both clammy and hot, and his eyes had taken on a glazed look. He was succumbing to the venom of the land wight quicker than I had expected. He must be hyperreactive to it, or allergic to it.
As the ice melted, I asked Neil to fill a bowl with more cubes and bring them in so we could replenish them as needed.
“Will he be okay?” the priest of Thor asked after a while, a worried look on his face.
“If he can hold on till Ferosyn gets here, yes. Damn it, I shouldn’t have asked him to go with me. I can withstand the venom of that creature, but the magic-born and humans? Not so much.” I glanced up at Neil, feeling horribly guilty. “Are you all right? Did it attack you?”
He shook his head. “No, it was after Llew. I don’t know why, but it actually tried to avoid me, which is a good thing, I suppose. But that just meant it went after Llew with full force. I tried to stop it, but my hammer couldn’t do more than damage it without the soul stone.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, sensing he was feeling guilty as well.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” Neil said, staring at the bowl of melting ice. “I’ll get some more ice.” The doorbell rang as he was on his way to the kitchen and he hurried to answer, leading Herne, Viktor, Ember, and Ferosyn in.
Herne was gorgeous, though I preferred Kipa’s swarthy looks to Herne’s wheat-colored hair and fairer skin. Together, he and Ember made a striking couple. Behind them, Ferosyn glanced around my house, frowning. The Elf was ancient, though he didn’t look it, and his healing powers were the strongest I had heard of.
“Where’s the patient?” he asked. Then his gaze fell on Llew and he swept over to the sofa, motioning for me to get out of the way. I started to stammer a thank you, but he shook his head, waving me off. “I need to concentrate.”
What he lacked in manners, he made up in attentiveness to his patient. I moved over to stand by Ember and Viktor, while Herne watched Ferosyn. Neil took a seat in the overstuffed armchair. I glanced around, looking for Raj. He was staying out of the way, curled up in his bed by the dining room window. He gave me a long look, and I could tell that he was worried. He liked Llew, though he didn’t let on much.
After a few moments, Ferosyn turned toward Herne. “I think I caught the venom before it reached his heart, but I should take him back to the palace. I don’t want to leave him unattended for the next forty-eight hours. Where’s the nearest portal?”
Herne motioned to Ember, tossing her his keys. “Take my SUV. You know where it is.”
“Quest’s place?” she asked, catching the keys in midair.
“Right. Get them there in one piece.” He turned to Ferosyn. “Ember will go with you. The land wight apparently laid eggs, and Viktor and I will take care of them.”
Viktor gathered up Llew to carry him to the car. Ferosyn followed him.
Ember turned to me. “I wish I could stay and help with the wight eggs, but I’ll call you later. I hope he pulls through. I like Llew, from what I’ve met of him.”
“Me too,” I said, pressing my lips together. I was going to have to call Jordan and explain what happened, and I wasn’t looking forward to that interaction. Llew had gotten involved in this because of me, and I wasn’t one to push off blame.
Ember gave me a quick hug, then turned and raced out of the house, following the others. A moment later, Viktor returned.
“They’re off. Raven, while Herne and I take care of the land wight’s eggs, you and your friend here should drive over to Quest’s place and retrieve Herne’s SUV.” He paused, glancing at Neil. “You can drive, can’t you?”
Neil gave him a solemn nod. “Can do.”
“You’re a priest of Thor, aren’t you?” Viktor asked.
“Yes, I am.” Neil stiffened. “But I’m no skinhead neo-Nazi punk. They’re about as much true followers of Thor as I am an Elf.”
“I know that,” Viktor asked. “You don’t have to go on the defense. We
’re well aware of the twisted crap people pull.” He glanced at me. “You drive Herne’s SUV back. Quest will have the keys for you. No speeding, either.” The half-ogre grinned.
Herne snickered. “What he said. But first, where’s the land wight? We should get a move on. We don’t want those eggs to hatch. The wights are a danger from the moment they break out of the shell.”
I explained where we had found the nest, drawing a crude map on a sheet of paper. Then, motioning for Neil to follow me, we headed out—Herne and Viktor toward UnderLake Park, and Neil and I in my sedan, toward the address that Viktor had texted to me.
Ten minutes later, I pulled into a large driveway that led into a double lot. The house at the back of the lot was modest, but neat, and I spied Herne’s black Expedition in the driveway. I hopped out of the Camry, and Neil took over the driver’s seat. A woman emerged from the house, glancing at us suspiciously, but then she smiled as she strode over.
“You must be Raven. Herne called and said you’d be along to pick up his car.” She held out the keys to me. “I’m Quest. Quest Realto.” She didn’t look fully human, but I couldn’t get a read on what exactly she was.
“Raven BoneTalker, and this is Neil. He’s a friend of Llew’s. Thank you for helping out.” I glanced around the lot. There, behind the house, stood two gigantic oak trees. I could tell from where I was standing that these were the guardians of the portal, but I didn’t say a word. This was one of Herne’s private portal-gates, and it wasn’t for me to inquire about them.
“They made it through all right.” She paused, then added, “Your friend was brave, going up against a land wight. They’re deadly, and even the magic-born are susceptible to them. Since you are a friend of Lord Herne’s, feel free to call me if you need. I’m a coyote shifter.”
I blinked. One of Herne’s team—Yutani—was a coyote shifter. In fact, he was the son of the Great Coyote. But up here in the Pacific Northwest, coyote shifters weren’t all that common. Most of the coyote shifter clans tended to live in the Southwest.
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