by Jenna Black
“Phaedra hates me,” I told Ethan in what I hoped was a haughty voice. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to kiss ass a little in hopes that she won’t dump me on my head.”
Ethan laughed again. I noticed he seemed to have no trouble with his own horse. He rode with a kind of easy confidence I would have envied, if I’d had any desire to become a better horsewoman. He looked fantastic astride that white horse, with his blond hair loose around his shoulders, his comfortably worn jeans clinging to the muscles of his thighs. For the thousandth time, I wondered how I’d managed to catch the eye of someone like him, who could have any girl he wanted.
Ethan caught my admiring stare and winked at me, totally aware of how sexy he was. I’d once found that arrogance annoying, but now it just made me smile and shake my head. Yes, I had it bad for him. And at that moment, I didn’t mind a bit.
* * *
The nerves and anticipation that had kept me so hopped up I could barely sleep last night quickly gave way to boredom and discomfort. Because of the baggage wagons, our caravan moved at a plodding walk, and all I could see on both sides of the road was trees, trees, trees.
At first, I kept staring at the trees, strangely weirded out by their unfamiliarity. The occasional familiar oak only made the rest of the trees seem more foreign. The air was filled with what sounded like bird song—though again, nothing I could recognize—and sometimes, I caught flashes of color out of the corner of my eye. Whenever I turned to look, there was nothing there. Eventually, I learned to stop looking, but that didn’t make me any less aware of the phantom flashes that constantly reminded me of the thinly veiled strangeness of the forest.
Luckily, the torture that was horseback riding provided plenty of distraction from my unsettling surroundings. My butt began protesting the hardness of the saddle within about fifteen minutes, and Phaedra’s impressive girth gave my inner thighs a serious stretch.
I was sure that when I dismounted I’d be walking like a cowboy—assuming I could walk at all. It was only force of will that kept me from asking how much longer we were going to go without a rest, but I didn’t want to be like the little kid in the backseat going, “Are we there yet?” Even if that was what I was thinking.
We’d been on the go for about four hours when the road took a sharp curve, and a huge, breathtaking lake came into view. I could catch only occasional glimpses of it through the trees, but the water was a sparkling shade of blue I associated with Caribbean beaches. I’d never seen a lake that wasn’t muddy brown in color before, but maybe Faerie didn’t do muddy water.
The caravan came to a halt, a runner traveling down the line and telling us we were stopping for a rest. It seemed a bit of an odd stopping place to me, the road being narrow, with no room for anyone to spread out and no easy access to the lake. Still, as long as I got to get off my horse, I wasn’t about to complain.
When I slid off of Phaedra’s back, I practically fell on my butt, my legs so rubbery they could barely hold me. Phaedra gave me a disdainful look as Ethan hurried to my side to give me a little support in case I took a nosedive.
Oh. My. God. I don’t think I’d ever been so sore before in my life! And this was just a rest stop, a chance to water our horses and stretch our legs. In less than an hour—according to the runner—we’d be mounting up and heading out again. I honestly wasn’t sure I was capable of getting back up on the horse, much less riding several more hours.
“You guys seriously need to invent some kind of alternative to the car,” I muttered at Ethan, who gave me a crooked smile.
“Believe me, people have tried. There are some aspects of technology that magic can mimic, but I’m afraid cars aren’t one of them.”
At that moment, all the trees on the lake side of the road started to move. At first, I thought I was hallucinating or dreaming, but then I felt the faint tingle of magic in the air. No one else seemed particularly alarmed when the trees pulled up their roots and trundled aside, those roots working like giant crab legs. I shivered in a phantom chill as the underbrush, too, pulled up roots and cleared a large swath of land between the road and the lake. People began leading their horses to the water’s edge to drink as if nothing unusual had happened. I just stood there and gaped like an idiot.
“Fairly normal,” Ethan reminded me. “Except when it isn’t.”
“Yeah,” I said, unable to think of anything clever to say.
Phaedra hadn’t bothered waiting for me to lead her to the water; she headed toward the lake, swishing her tail in my face as she passed. I could have done without the tail-in-the-face bit, but I was just as happy to take a break from her—and no one seemed to think the horses needed constant supervision. Phaedra wasn’t the only one going to the water without a rider. Ethan put his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the water.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keane, his eyes narrowed and flashing. He looked like he was about to hit something, which meant he was watching Ethan, not me.
I stifled a sigh. I had no doubt Ethan had put his arm around me specifically to provoke Keane, but I didn’t feel inclined to shrug him off. We’d had very little alone-time, and though we were hardly alone here, the anonymity of the crowd gave us some semblance of privacy.
I slipped my arm around Ethan’s waist and laid my head against his shoulder, enjoying the feel of him against me as we walked to the shore of the lake and then stood there together, taking in the view. Up close, the lake looked just as blue as it had from a distance. Near the shore, the water was crystal clear, showing a bottom of pebbles, but even that water had a blue tinge to it. The color shaded to aquamarine as the water got deeper, and then was an almost sapphire blue in the center. I wondered if maybe there was some kind of algae in the water that made it blue like that, but I didn’t ask, because “Why is water blue?” seemed like a dumb question.
“You doing okay?” Ethan asked, squeezing my shoulders.
“Nothing’s attacked us yet, so I’m doing great,” I said, crossing my fingers in case I just jinxed us.
Ethan laughed. “Nothing’s going to attack this party. There are a dozen Knights with us, along with some serious magic users. We’re not exactly an appealing target.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the prince’s entourage. Everyone was scurrying around busily, and I wondered if anyone other than me, my friends, and the prince was actually getting a chance to rest at this rest stop.
Ethan pulled me a little closer, his chin nuzzling the top of my head. I tore my gaze away from the lake and looked up at him, meeting his eyes. I had come so close to losing him forever, and I’d promised myself that I was going to savor every moment we had together from now on. His head bent toward mine and his lips parted. I closed my eyes and held my breath in anticipation of his kiss.
Someone cleared his throat behind us. I jumped like a startled cat, although Ethan didn’t seem surprised at all. I tried to pull away, feeling guilty and embarrassed about our near public display of affection. Until I turned my head and saw who had just interrupted us.
“You should get something to eat,” Keane said, holding up a shiny red apple and then taking a bite. “This is as close to a lunch break as we’re going to get.”
I saw that he had a second apple in his other hand. He tossed it to me, and I impressed myself by catching it one-handed. (I had to catch it one-handed because Ethan was squeezing me so tightly against him my other arm was trapped.)
“Thanks,” I said warily. I was pretty sure Keane hadn’t come over here just to give me an apple. I didn’t think it would take much for this to turn ugly.
“You didn’t bring one for me?” Ethan asked with exaggerated outrage.
Keane took another bite of his apple, the fruit making a crisp crunching sound that would have made my mouth water if I weren’t so aware of the rising testosterone level. I’d known from the start that having both of them traveling with me was a recipe for disaster, but which one of them would I have told to stay home? Not that it would
have mattered, because neither one would have listened to me.
“Sorry,” Keane said around his mouthful of apple. “Only have two hands.”
Yeah, he sounded really sorry. Looked it, too.
I think Ethan was about to say something scathing, but I gave him a poke in the ribs with my elbow. “Can we skip the posturing and chest-pounding, guys?” I asked, trying to put some distance between myself and Ethan. I liked having his arm around me, but not when he was doing it just to piss Keane off. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d tried to kiss me only because he knew Keane was watching. I wouldn’t put it past him. I knew Ethan was really into me—I was over suspecting his motives every two seconds. Well, mostly over it. But I’d seen his darker side, and I knew he was capable of some world-class scheming.
Keane grinned at me. “I promise not to pound my chest, though I’d get a kick out of it if Ethan tried a Tarzan yodel.” He took another bite of his apple, his eyes alight with hard-edged amusement.
My skin prickled with a hint of magic, and I figured things were going from bad to worse. Ethan had lost his easygoing manner and was staring daggers at Keane. I didn’t think Keane had said anything all that bad—at least, not for him—but apparently Ethan was touchier.
“Maybe you should demonstrate the yodel,” he said, the magic around us growing thicker.
Keane had to feel the gathering magic, too, and had to know what it meant. Keane was a great fighter, but I seriously doubted he had the chops to go up against Ethan in a battle of magic.
“Ethan,” I said in a warning tone, “you’d better not be thinking about casting any nasty magic.” Of course, I already knew he was more than thinking about it.
Keane raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think he’s about to cast something?”
Dammit! Keane didn’t know I could sense magic, and I couldn’t afford for that to change. I’d been so annoyed at the boys and their machofest that I’d forgotten to be cautious.
I shrugged, hoping my chagrin didn’t show on my face. “I know Ethan,” I said, giving Ethan my sternest look. “Don’t do it.”
He blinked and tried to look innocent. Considering the air still prickled with magic, it wasn’t a very convincing act.
“I’m not a bully,” he said. “I’d never pick on someone who couldn’t defend himself.”
Keane made a growling sound and stepped closer to us. The sensation of magic built even more, and I suspected Keane was responsible for at least some of it.
“Who the fuck says I can’t defend myself?” Keane asked, green eyes flashing.
Geez, could he take the bait any easier? I wondered if I’d get myself hurt if I stepped between the two of them. Neither one of them would hurt me on purpose, but I had a feeling if they started fighting, there’d be collateral damage.
Ethan’s grin widened. He was really getting a kick out of pushing Keane’s buttons. Not that Keane was making it hard for him.
“Far be it from me to insult your manhood,” Ethan said. “I’m sure you’d have no trouble whatsoever defending against my magic.”
Keane sneered. “Just like you’d have no trouble whatsoever defending yourself in a fair fight. Right?”
They both seemed to have practically forgotten I was there. They met each other’s eyes in furious alpha-male stares, and the magic was so thick in the air it was hard to breathe. I wanted to say something to them, to get them to back off, but so far nothing I’d said had made a dent in their animosity. In fact, my very presence was probably making things worse.
“Whoever throws the first punch, magical or otherwise, gets to deal with me,” Finn said, and we all jumped.
We’d all been so focused on the looming fight we hadn’t heard him coming. I checked over my shoulder and saw that my father and Kimber were only a few steps behind him.
Ethan and Keane both turned to Finn, the belligerence far from gone. And now there was a third person’s magic stealing the oxygen from the air. I hoped they’d all cut it out soon, or they’d start to wonder what was wrong with me as I did my gasping fish impression.
Keane opened his mouth as if to say something smart—or stupid, as the case may be—but he wasn’t a complete idiot. I’d seen him fight his father once before, when Finn was teaching him a lesson about the difference between a skilled teenaged self-defense instructor and a trained Knight of Faerie. It hadn’t been pretty.
Ethan didn’t back down quite as fast, though I’d seen signs before that he respected Finn’s power. Maybe he was too hopped up on testosterone to remember that at the moment. Finn grabbed hold of Keane’s arm and gave it a yank.
“Go tend to your horse,” he snapped, giving Keane a shove. Keane was practically trembling with rage now, but he knew when he was beat. He turned and stomped back into the crowd of Fae who bustled around our makeshift camp. Probably just as well that the rest of the caravan was ignoring us.
With Keane out of the picture, Ethan finally relaxed, shaking out his hands and letting the magic slip away. I didn’t think Finn had done Keane any favors by intervening. I could only imagine what kind of crap Ethan would give Keane for it whenever he had a chance.
“The last thing we need is the two of you acting like children,” Finn said to Ethan in his sternest voice. “You don’t like each other. Fine. I don’t give a damn. But you’re both supposedly here to help guard Dana, and getting into pissing matches with each other isn’t helpful.”
To my surprise, color rose to Ethan’s cheeks, Finn’s rebuke taking root. He wasn’t usually one to take criticism gracefully.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “You’re right. It won’t happen again. But you might want to give Keane the same reminder.”
Finn made a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “Don’t worry, I will. Now why don’t you get yourself something to eat before we hit the road again?”
Ethan gave me a quick sidelong glance that said he’d rather stay here with me and pick up where we’d left off. But I was pretty annoyed at him and Keane both, so instead of speaking to him, I polished the apple Keane had given me and took a bite. Ethan took the hint and went off in search of food.
Chapter Seven
Getting back on Phaedra was even worse than I’d anticipated. I felt like an arthritic little old lady as I hauled myself into the saddle, my legs and butt screaming in protest. No one else seemed to be having as much trouble, not even Kimber, who I doubted had much more experience riding horses than I did. But then, she was a full-blooded Fae, and they had lots of physical advantages. I suppose being half Fae myself, I was better off than if I’d been a mere mortal, but that didn’t make the misery of the saddle any more fun.
As soon as we were all mounted up and on our way, magic prickled the air again, and the trees and bushes started moving back to their original positions. I bet by the time we’d been gone ten minutes, there would be no sign of the “clearing” we’d just spent the last hour in. Creepy!
We rode for the rest of the day, a steady, boring procession along the road. There was still nothing but forest, though when I asked, my dad assured me that there was more to Faerie than this. Occasionally, we’d run across some other Fae traveling the same road, but we saw only Sidhe—the most humanlike of the Fae.
We traveled for what felt like about twenty days, though my watch insisted it was about six more hours, before the caravan suddenly veered off the main road, following an even narrower dirt road that was so artfully camouflaged I probably wouldn’t have spotted it if the caravan hadn’t turned off. We followed the narrower road for maybe a mile or two until we came to a wall of greenery that was obviously man-made. Squinting at the wall, I could discern the trunks of individual trees, planted so closely together that their branches intertwined from ground level all the way to their flattened tops.
The road continued on through an arched opening in the wall. When Phaedra and I passed through the opening, I felt the distinctive prickle of magic against my skin. I suspected it was some kind of barrier sp
ell that the prince had overridden. I hoped that meant we were nearing our stopping point for the night, and my hopes were confirmed when the forest widened into a massive clearing. In the middle of the clearing towered a building that at first glance looked like a humongous dirt hill, until I noticed the evenly spaced rectangular windows. I blinked, and then I made out a number of outbuildings dotting the edges of the clearing. Artfully placed greenery made the buildings practically disappear into the surrounding forest.
A handful of plainly dressed Fae hurried out of one of those outbuildings, one of them sprinting for the main house while the others converged on the pair of Knights at the front of our procession. I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but I could tell from the body language that (a) we weren’t expected, (b) Prince Henry didn’t care, and (c) saying no to royalty came under the heading of Things Not Done in Faerie.
People began dismounting, and Henry started barking orders as servants bustled around, hauling crates out of some of the baggage wagons and unharnessing horses.
The servant who’d run for the main house soon emerged, a harried-looking couple hard on his heels. They were both much better dressed than the servants, and they carried themselves with the self-important dignity of the wealthy and powerful despite their obvious dismay at finding the prince with several dozen of his closest friends parked in their front yard.
I hadn’t noticed my father dismounting, but he came up beside me and patted Phaedra’s neck.
“I know you’d rather spend the night on Phaedra’s back,” he said to me with a hint of a smile, “but you might as well get down. It appears Henry has other plans for us.”
I was more than happy to get down, though every movement of my body caused shooting pains in my legs and butt. I held on tightly to the saddle as I slid off and had to suppress a groan of mingled misery and relief.