by Karen Lynch
The rabbit shifted his weight and took a few hesitant hops before he decided his leg was working right again. “See you around,” I called to him as he went happily on his way. I lay back in the grass again to recover from the healing, and I was surprised to realize I wasn’t feeling drained at all. Strange, even a small healing usually required a little recovery time. If anything, I felt energized, restless.
I got to my feet and started walking again. There was a small lake less than a mile from the estate. I’d seen it on a map in the library, but the first time I tried to go to the lake I was detained. Maybe this time I’d get lucky.
“What the – ? Not again.” I came to a halt when my scalp began to tingle and my hair crackled like it was charged with static. My palms and the bottoms of my feet started to grow warm and itchy, and currents raced along the skin of my arms beneath the sleeves of my coat. A rustling sound made me look down to see the dead leaves around my feet quiver, even though there was no wind.
As quickly as it had started, it was gone. What is going on? It was the second time I’d experienced something like this in last four days. I suspected it was an undine thing because Aine had told me my powers were still developing, but there was no one I could ask about it. I wished I knew how to contact her. She promised to visit me soon, but I had a feeling that the Fae had a different concept of time than everyone else. For her, soon might mean a few weeks or a few years. I had no idea.
“Ugh!” I yelped as a spot in the center of my chest began to itch and a cold knot formed beneath my breastbone. This was new. The coldness was not painful but it did feel uncomfortable, and it alarmed me that it was exactly where I’d been stabbed a month ago. Aine said the faeries had healed me completely, but what if she was wrong? Even the faeries had admitted they were not sure how my body would react to the vampire blood that had been on the knife.
Rubbing my chest, I resumed walking and hoped the cold knot would go away. I turned and started back toward the stronghold, and to my immense relief, the knot began to ease. Whatever it was, it seemed to be going away on its own.
“Someone’s been a bad girl again.”
I jumped a foot in the air and spun around to face the man who had so easily snuck up on me. The red-haired warrior standing less than five feet away shook his head and gave me his “you know you’re not supposed to be out here” look.
“I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” I grumbled.
“Do what?” asked another voice, and I let out a small squeal as I whirled around again to find a grinning mirror image of the red head. “Damn it, guys! Stop it!”
Laughter filled the woods as the twin warriors moved to stand side-by-side in front of me. Seamus and Niall were so identical that I doubted even their mother could tell them apart. They were the same size with bright green eyes, spiky red hair, and boyishly handsome faces. Right now they sported identical smirks.
“Now where would you be off to on this fine day?” asked the one I thought was Niall.
“Just taking a walk and I was already heading back. You can go back to patrolling or whatever it is you do out here.”
“Well, unless you are planning to spend the night in the mountains, you’re headed in the wrong direction,” said the other who might or might not be Seamus.
Mountains? I must have been thrown off by all the weirdness I’d been experiencing a little while ago. It wasn’t like me to get turned around in the woods.
“Come on, back you go.” The twins moved to flank me, and I held up a hand to stop them.
“I can make it back on my own. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Sorry, lass, we have our orders.”
“Oh come on, you guys, not again.” My plea fell on deaf ears, and I found myself being escorted along a trail I hadn’t even known was there. The twins were watchful as if danger was hiding behind every tree, walking with me between them like a wayward child . . . or a prisoner.
“I was only getting some fresh air. You can stop treating me like I’m some fugitive.”
The twin on my right spoke – I’d given up trying to tell them apart. “Isn’t that what she said the first time, brother?”
“Aye, and we were near fool enough to be taken in by that sweet smile.”
“That was over a week ago. How long are you going to hold that against me?”
“And what about three days ago?” asked the twin on my left.
“I told you I just wanted to hang out by the lake for a while. Where is the harm in that?”
The right twin snickered. “Like the last time you went to hang out by a lake, huh?”
“How do you know about that?”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “We’ve heard lots of stories about you.”
“Which is why you won’t be pulling the same trick with us,” added his brother. “Though I am starting to feel a wee bit sympathetic to those guys.”
The trees thinned and I saw the stone walls of the sprawling building I now called home. We passed the edge of the woods and stepped onto the wide green lawn. “I think I can make it from here,” I told them.
Neither of them took the hint, and they stayed on either side of me as we walked toward the building. I folded my arms and went with them. No one had told me when I came here that being under Mohiri protection meant being treated like someone in a juvenile detention center. The twins were always good-natured about it, but they were still my guards no matter how you looked at it.
We neared the courtyard outside the training wing where two men stood talking, and as we approached they turned to watch us with knowing looks. Two more men walked around a corner, and I recognized them as Callum and the blond man who had shown up in training earlier. Callum gave me an amused nod, but the blond man’s expression was unreadable.
I pulled away from the twins without a word and marched toward the door, trying to hide my anger and embarrassment. I’d promised to give this place a try, but I couldn’t take much more of this. If this was going to be my life from now on, I wanted out.
I was almost at the stone archway of the courtyard when I heard shouts and saw the two men in the courtyard staring behind me with horrified expressions. What now? My heart raced as I whirled, expecting to find an army of vampires descending upon us.
At first, all I saw was Seamus and Niall drawing their swords along with Callum and his companion. “Run, lass!” yelled one of the twins. He jerked his head to the left to look at something. I followed his gaze and gasped at the sight of two monstrous creatures bearing down on us.
Bearing down on me.
Chapter 2
THE WARRIORS FORMED a defensive line in front of me a second before I realized what I was seeing. The creatures were coal black and so big they made a Great Dane look like a lap dog. Their huge jaws opened wide to reveal massive fangs.
The last time I had seen these two beasts had been over a month ago in the wine cellar of a mansion in Portland, and they looked just as ferocious in the sunlight as they had in the dimly lit cellar. Back then, I’d used my power to soothe them, but from the looks of them they were not so friendly anymore. All I could do was stand and watch huge claws gouge the ground and saliva flying from snarling jaws as the hellhounds thundered toward us.
The four men in front of me raised their weapons, and my mouth went dry with fear. My knowledge of hellhounds was very limited, and I had no idea if the Mohiri were even a match for the powerful beasts. I didn’t think my power was going help much this time.
Or was it? What was it Nikolas had said about the hellhounds? They are yours now. Once a fell beast imprints on a new master they are incredibly loyal. They will only answer to you. Was that true? Had they really imprinted on me?
I backed away from the men who were too focused on the approaching beasts to watch me. When I had put a dozen or so feet between us, I turned and ran to the left, gathering my power as I went. If Nikolas was right, the hellhounds would not harm me because I was their master now. If he was wrong .
. . I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to think about that.
I stopped running and whirled around just as the hounds changed direction and headed straight for me. The warriors looked my way, and I saw horror on their faces as they realized what I’d done. They spun to intercept the hounds. I’d seen how fast Mohiri warriors moved, and I knew they would engage the hounds first. I had to do something before it was too late.
“STOP!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs, and the power building inside me made my voice resonate across the lawn in a way it had never done before. Men and beasts skidded to a stop and stood just feet from each other, watching me with startled expressions. My hand went to my throat. Had that sound really come from me?
I lowered my voice. “Don’t move.” When one of the twins opened his mouth to speak I cut him off. “I know these boys, and I think I can handle this.” I had no idea if that was true, but it sounded pretty good, and I was encouraged by the fact that the hounds had actually stopped.
Before anyone could object, I pointed at my feet and said in my most commanding voice, “Come.” The hounds tilted their heads to one side and looked at me like they weren’t sure what to do. I spoke louder. “Come.”
I didn’t really expect it to work. I could barely get our beagle, Daisy, to come on command, even though I had saved her life and allowed her to sleep on my bed whenever she wanted to. I wasn’t prepared when the two hellhounds sauntered over and halted right in front of me. Holy crap! I sucked in a sharp breath when I found myself face-to-face with two pairs of red eyes and two of the scariest looking mouths I had ever seen. Their hot breath fanned my face as they panted, and I resisted the urge to wave my hand in front of my nose at the awful smell that was like a combination of raw meat and bad foot odor. God, I really hope these guys didn’t just eat someone.
“Sit,” I commanded, and they sat back on their haunches. Their faces were still at eye level with me, but they didn’t look nearly as threatening with their tongues hanging out. “Good boys,” I praised while trying not to cough from their noxious breath. If you overlooked their size and their red eyes and their bone-crushing jaws, they were just big dogs really.
“Now, how did you two end up here?”
Their tails began to thump against the ground, and I smiled in relief. I reached out and rubbed the top of one hound’s head, giving him a good scratch behind the ears. He shifted until he was pressed up against my side, and his weight almost tipped me over. A whimper made me look at the neglected hound on my other side, and I patted my hip. I found myself crushed between two heavy hellhounds clamoring for my attention. It occurred to me that I might be the only person to ever show them kindness. Hellhounds were bred for one purpose and that was to maim and kill. They were weapons, and weapons did not need affection.
I scratched their heads and grimaced when my face was bathed by two very long, wet tongues. “Ugh! This is not very hellish behavior.” I tried to shove their mouths away, but they pushed back harder until I almost toppled backward. “Stop, stop,” I wheezed, and when that didn’t work, I choked out, “Down.” The two of them immediately lay down and ceased their play. They were well trained at least.
I wiped my wet cheeks with my coat sleeve, grimacing at the wet tendrils of hair that hung around my face. My hand stilled in the act of pushing my hair out of my eyes when I realized how quiet it was. I looked up to find the four men watching me with expressions of shock and disbelief. I let out a sigh that only the hounds could hear. Just what I needed – another reason for people to stare at me.
The men recovered from their surprise, and the twins took a step toward me. The hellhounds leapt to their feet in front of me and bared their teeth, letting out low threatening growls. Niall and Seamus stopped in their tracks.
“Stop that,” I ordered, putting my hands on the back of the hounds’ necks. The growling ceased, but I felt the tension in their bodies as they maintained their protective stance, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation. What do I do now?
“If I wasn’t seeing it with me own two eyes, I wouldn’t believe it,” said one of the twins without taking his eyes off the hellhounds.
His brother shook his head. “I’m seeing it and I still don’t believe it.”
I felt a low rumble in the hellhounds’ chests when the men spoke, and I wondered how in hell I was going to stop the beasts from hurting someone. The hounds seemed docile enough with me, but apparently that did not extend to anyone else, especially armed men.
“Um, can you guys lower your weapons?”
None of the men moved to do as I asked, and they all stared at me like I had lost my mind. I understood their hesitation, considering what they were looking at, but I could not see any other way to end this peacefully.
“They are protecting me, and you all look pretty dangerous right now,” I explained, still petting the hounds’ heads. “They don’t know you are friendly, so could you please just put the swords away?”
The blond warrior was the first one to comply, sliding his sword into the sheath on his back. The others followed, and as soon as the last weapon was out of sight, I felt the hellhounds’ hackles go down.
“Much better. Now, I don’t suppose any of you know how my hellhounds ended up here.”
One of the twins gaped at me. “Your hellhounds?”
I patted one of the huge heads. “Do they look like they belong to someone else?”
Callum chuckled, and the blond warrior gave me an appraising look. Seamus and Niall stared at the other two men as if expecting one of them to say something. When neither spoke, one of the twins said, “They got here yesterday. That’s all I know. I don’t normally handle any of the beasts.”
“You have other animals here?”
He made a noise. “I wouldn’t call them animals, but yes, I think there’s usually a few in the menagerie.”
The image of young trolls trapped in a cage flashed through my mind, and outrage filled me. “You have a menagerie here? You put creatures on display?”
“That’s just what we call it. It’s where we keep some of the creatures we capture that are causing problems for the humans, until we can figure out what to do with them.”
“I want to see it.” He looked like he was going to object, so I said, “If my hounds are living there, I want to see it. Besides, how else do you plan to get them there?”
His eyes flicked warily to the hellhounds, and he sighed. “Follow me.”
I trailed him, keeping a safe distance as he led me to a cluster of stone buildings at the back of the property. The hellhounds walked beside me, but I saw how they constantly surveyed our surroundings, looking for anything they perceived to be a threat.
Claire hadn’t taken me near these buildings during my tour, and I’d figured they held weapons or more training rooms. The largest one was a long rectangle two stories high with windows on the second story only, and a domed roof that looked like thick glass but was most likely a much stronger material. There was one entrance, and my guide pulled open the heavy reinforced steel door, allowing me and the hounds to go ahead of him.
Whatever I was expecting, it was not the bright, airy, two-story room separated into eight caged enclosures of varying sizes. Between the cages were solid walls, presumably to keep the inhabitants from bothering each other, and metal bars lined the front of each cage. I could not see inside the cages when we first entered the building, but shuffling noises at the far end of the room told me that at least one of them was occupied.
“Can I look around . . . which one are you again?”
He grinned. “Seamus. Go ahead, but you’d best be putting up your beasts first because they make the other critter nervous. And me, too.”
“Where do they go?” I hated the thought of caging any animal, but common sense told me the hellhounds could not be allowed to run free. At least not yet.
“There.” Seamus pointed to the first enclosure that was at least twenty feet wide and fifteen feet deep. There was a slot at the f
ront near the floor where food and water could be pushed inside, and at the back I saw an opening that led to a dark cave-like structure.
I waved at the open door to the cage. “All right, in you go, boys.” The hounds hesitated for a moment, and I thought they were going to refuse to enter the cage. I couldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be caged either. But they went in without any further urging, and I closed the gate behind them. “I’ll come visit you every day. Maybe they’ll let me take you for walks if you behave yourselves.”
Seamus made a face that suggested no one would ever trust the hellhounds enough to let them walk around freely no matter how well they behaved. We’d have to see about that. These hounds were my responsibility, and I would not keep them locked away like zoo animals.
Seamus examined the locking mechanism on the gate after I closed it. “Hmmm, this doesn’t appear to be broken. How did these two get out?”
“Maybe someone forgot to lock it.”
He shook his head thoughtfully. “The locks engage automatically on the cages, and they can only be unlocked from the main control panel or with a coded key. I’ll have to get security to pull up the surveillance for today.”
I looked around until I spotted a number of security cameras fixed at regular intervals high up on the walls. There was one camera for each enclosure and two near the entrance. It made sense that if you were housing dangerous creatures, you kept them under close surveillance.
I left Seamus muttering over the lock and walked toward the other cages, intensely curious about what kinds of creatures they kept there. The first three cages I passed were empty, but my pace picked up when I saw what looked like wisps of smoke drifting out of the fourth one.
“Watch it, lass. Don’t get too close to that one,” Seamus called just before the interior of the cage came into view. Heeding his warning, I moved to the other side of the floor before I turned to see the occupant of the cage. My jaw dropped and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head.