Now I stood before the witch with news that threatened to tip the precarious balance of our friendship, and once again I needed her help. I swallowed hard, and tried to think of something positive to say.
“So, the good news is, I took care of the wisp problem out at Eben Braxton’s junkyard,” I said.
“And the bad news, lass?” Hob asked.
I should have been offended by the brownie’s knowing look, but he had a point. Wherever I went, trouble was sure to follow.
“I may have unleashed the Wild Hunt on Harborsmouth,” I said.
“No one can accuse you of doing anything by halves, Princess,” Torn said, a grin tugging at his lips.
“I’m not the only one who went through that portal,” I said.
I scowled at Torn, but my rebuttal was cut short by a flash of lightning that filled the kitchen with blue tinged light and made my teeth hum. I spun on my heel in time to see Kaye pocket one of her wands, and fold her arms across her chest. The fact that those arms no longer bore the tattoo marks of used power was a reminder of just how much magic the witch had at her disposal these days.
“So it was you,” she said. “I should have suspected as much.”
I fisted my hands at my side, ignored Torn’s teasing remarks at my back, and winced as I met Kaye’s steely gaze. Then her words sunk in.
“You already knew that the Wild Hunt was here?” I asked, eyes widening.
“Of course, dear,” she said. “Give me some credit. I knew something powerful and fae had set off my alarms. I just wasn’t sure what or why, although I suspected the Huntsman when I heard the sounding of the horn. I was waiting for confirmation from Janus, but I don’t suppose we need to wait for the Guild to tell us what we already know.”
“That Ivy in trouble?” Marvin asked.
Thanks a lot, big guy.
“The lass always be in trouble,” Hob muttered.
“She is trouble,” Torn said.
I shot Ceff a look, daring him to add his two cents, but he lifted his hands, palms facing outward.
“I am not saying a word,” he said.
Smart man.
“What we know is that the Wild Hunt is here and that this Huntsman has blown his horn in some kind of call to battle,” I said. Jinx snickered, but I pushed on. This wasn’t the time for dirty jokes and double entendre. “But what does that mean exactly, and how do we stop him?”
Kaye stepped inside the magic circle that was marked by a ring of silver set into the kitchen’s floor. She kept her eyes on me as she gathered spell components, set them on fire with a flick of her wrist, and then began moving her fingers in a sinuous dance through the noxious smoke.
“First,” she said, voice filling the room and making my skin itch like spiders were dancing up and down my neck and crawling along my scalp. “We stop the Huntsman from sounding the horn again.”
Judging by the way that Torn licked his lips and the muscles in Ceff’s jaw twitched, stopping the Huntsman wasn’t going to be easy. Stopping the evil supernatural forces that plagued our city never was.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s go kick some Huntsman ass.”
“You forget one thing, Princess,” Torn said.
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“His hounds,” he said. “The Huntsman leads a pack of barghests, faerie beasts as fierce as hellhounds.”
“Aye, and just as smelly,” Hob said, wrinkling his nose.
“So we fight them,” I said, fingering one of my blades.
I’d fought faerie beasts before. Heck, by some definitions, I was one now myself.
“I do not think a direct battle is what your friend has in mind, is it witch?” Ceff asked.
Kaye nodded, and I tried to ignore the bile rising in my throat as black tattoos snaked across her chest and ringed her shoulders. Her hair danced around her head, and the circle set into the floor began to glow.
“The time to fight will come,” she said, her voice a booming dirge that echoed off the walls. “But first you must bring me a piece of the Huntsman, so that I may bind his magic and keep the horn from sounding a second time.”
“And what happens if this Huntsman dude blows his horn first?” Jinx asked.
Kaye whirled to face Jinx, arcs of blue energy trailing from her fingertips. My human friend blanched, but kept her head held high and I prayed that Kaye wouldn’t turn her into a toad.
There were reasons why the power of magic users waned with use. It was one of the supernatural world’s many checks and balances. Not least of all because of a disturbing trend for witches and sorcerers to descend into madness in the twilight of their lives.
I narrowed my eyes at Kaye and searched her face for warning signs, but she’d changed so much in the past few weeks. It was like looking into the face of a stranger, and I couldn’t be sure if that was due to looming insanity or some other change.
I’d inadvertently helped Kaye recharge her magical power levels to that of a young witch, but she retained the knowledge and bitterness of someone who had lived for centuries. Someday there would be a reckoning for that imbalance of the natural order. I just hoped that day wasn’t today.
She looked away from Jinx, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. Sadly, my relief was short-lived.
Kaye waved a hand through the smoke, and red liquid began to weep from the pile of charred herbs, spreading across the floor of the spell circle.
“Retrieve a piece of the Huntsman so that I may bind him and take hold of the power he has over his hounds, or with the next sounding of his horn the streets of Harborsmouth will run red with human blood.”
Chapter 7
Blood pounded in my ears, so it took me a second to realize that someone had set off one of the Emporium’s wards. The room trembled, and a hammering sound joined the rapid beating of my heart.
Kaye’s head was tilted as if listening to a conversation the rest of us couldn’t hear, and her eyes had glazed over.
“Kaye?” I asked, inching toward the door.
“What’s going on?” Jinx asked.
Her hand went to her bag, but I shook my head. Jinx wasn’t one of Kaye’s favorite people. I couldn’t guarantee the witch wouldn’t attack my friend if weapons were drawn inside her domain, especially if that domain was already under siege.
“I don’t know,” I said, keeping my voice low. I moved slowly toward the door, careful not to make any quick movements. “But I’m going to find out.”
“I will accompany you,” Ceff said.
The set of his jaw brooked no argument, so I nodded.
“The rest of you stay here,” I said. “And keep out of Kaye’s way.”
“Can’t I come with you?” Jinx asked.
She bit her lip, but I shook my head. There was no way of telling what threat lay outside the Emporium. Kaye might be cranky and unstable, but she’d set powerful protection wards on her shop. The Emporium was one of the safest places in the city, so long as Kaye didn’t snap and kill everyone.
“I won’t be long,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” Marvin said. “I protect you.”
He grinned at Jinx, and a smile tugged at my lips.
“Thanks, kid,” I said. “Keep her safe.”
With that, I left the spell kitchen with Ceff at my side. Torn was trailing us, using his cat sidhe affinity for stealth to stick to the shadows. I tried to keep track of him, but once we were in the maze of the outer shop, I gave up. The Emporium’s defenses were up, so it took all of my attention to make it through the magically shifting layout of the place.
The shop lights were flickering when Ceff and I reached the front of the shop. Arachne stood in front of the door, holding a broom like a weapon in shaking hands.
“You okay, Arachne?” I asked.
I’d tried to stomp my feet a bit, so as not to startle the kid, but she’d been too focused on the shop’s entrance, and spending a year of Faerie time in the wisp court had made me unnaturally fleet of
foot. Under other circumstances Arachne might have thought my newfound ninja skills were cool. Not today.
She squeaked, and whirled toward my voice, lashing out with her broom. The kid nearly passed out when the wooden handle stopped dead in Torn’s hand as he melted from the shadows. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one showing off ninja skills.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said, backing away from Arachne with my hands in the air. “We came to see what’s going on.”
“Something set off the alarm, and your witch boss is off her rocker,” Torn said. “Figured it wouldn’t be fair to leave you out here to have all the fun.”
He winked at Arachne, and she blushed. I wanted to stab him for leading the kid on, but she’d stopped shaking. The cat sidhe lord was an insufferable flirt, but at least he’d managed to distract Arachne from her fear. She tucked a strand of purple and blond streaked hair behind her ear, and bit her lip.
“Um, thanks,” she said.
“Miss Arachne, what has raised the Emporium’s defenses?” Ceff asked. “And are all of your human customers safe?”
“Oh, yeah, they left as soon as the lights started flickering,” she said. “Thought it was angry spirits…a Ouija board or tarot reading gone bad. They were gone before he even showed up.”
“He?” Torn asked, releasing his hold on the broom handle. “Was it a cloaked rider on a black steed?”
“What?” she asked, brow furrowing. “No, it’s that demon guy, Forneus. At least, I think it’s him. It looked like Forneus at first, before Humphrey attacked him.”
Mab’s bloody bones. The Wild Hunt was in town, and my friends were busy being territorial pricks and seeing who had the biggest magical chops. Why was I not surprised?
“Humphrey would not attack without provocation, and Forneus has no reason to start a fight here,” Ceff said. “This must be Kaye’s doing.”
“I know,” I said, striding toward the door. “Let’s go see if we can get Forneus and Humphrey to back down, and keep those two from killing each other.”
We burst through the door and out onto the sidewalk just in time to catch a cloud of brick dust in the face. I coughed and blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the scene before me.
Humphrey held a lamppost in his front claws like an oversized baseball bat as he jumped from a rain spout to the sidewalk to our left. Forneus faced us from across the street in all his unholy glory. I’d seen him in his fully demonic form once before when Jinx’s life had been threatened, but the flaming hooves, glowing eyes, leathery wings, and horns spiraling from his head never ceased to make my stomach churn.
I frowned, taking in the scene. Forneus didn’t like to reveal his true form, especially not while he was trying to woo my best friend. So why come here and do so now? He had to have been goaded into it. And as much as Humphrey didn’t care for demons, he knew Forneus wasn’t a threat.
If not civil, these two should have at least been able to tolerate each other, but from the missing bricks in the wall behind Forneus’ head and the scorched crater at Humphrey’s feet, they were out for blood. Ceff had been right. This had to be Kaye’s doing.
She had the ability to see through the eyes of her sentinels and her familiars, and she was the one who gave Humphrey his orders. As the gargoyle guardian of this building, Humphrey would have to obey, even if his orders were to attack a powerful demon ally. Someone had to put a stop to this madness.
Fire danced along Forneus’ fingers, and Humphrey growled and waved the lamppost menacingly as he leapt from perch to perch above our heads. A shower of stone dust and pebbles rained down to the sidewalk with each leap, and I stepped out into the empty street.
The humans who usually filled this part of town were gone, the busy intersection creepily silent except for Humphrey’s gravelly snarling. Humans wouldn’t be able to see through the glamour that hid Forneus’ demonic form and the gargoyle from sight, but I suspected Kaye’s magic had something to do with the empty streets. Most people were probably experiencing a desire to avoid the streets near the Emporium. Let’s just hope it stayed that way.
“Forneus!” I yelled, turning my back on Humphrey.
The gargoyle may be under Kaye’s orders to attack the demon, but I was pretty sure she didn’t have any beefs with me. Well, mostly sure. Maybe. Let’s just say, I wasn’t about to go sprouting wings and reminding her just how much our relationship had changed recently.
“I suggest you return inside, Miss Granger,” Forneus said. “The witch and I have unfinished business.”
I winced as the smell of brimstone burned my nostrils, but I took another step closer to Forneus, and sighed.
“What the hell is going on, Forneus?” I asked, waving a hand from his horns to the cloven hooves that sparked as he turned to face me directly.
“I should ask you the same,” he said, fire flickering ominously along his fingertips. “I was drugged, and when I awakened Jinx was gone. I have tracked her here to the Emporium, but the witch will not allow me to enter. Instead, she ordered her guard dog to attack me before I made it halfway up the street.”
I looked over my shoulder, eyes tracking Humphrey.
“Is that true?” I asked. “Did you attack Forneus?”
“Yesss,” Humphrey growled. “Kaye’s orders. No demons.”
“Fine, whatever,” I said. “No demons in the Emporium. I get that we’re on high alert.” And that an all-powerful Kaye up to her old tricks was a royal pain in my butt. “Forneus will stay out here on the street, but no more fighting.”
I held my breath as Humphrey tilted his head and communed telepathically with Kaye. After a tense moment, Humphrey nodded.
Forneus narrowed his eyes as Humphrey leapt to the sidewalk, but the gargoyle shrugged, straightened the kinks out of the twisted lamppost with a shriek of metal, and jammed it back into its concrete base.
“This solves nothing,” Forneus said. “I will not leave until I have proof that Jinx is unharmed. By Lucifer, if anyone…”
I took a step forward and pressed a gloved hand against Forneus’ chest, cutting off his tirade. Getting in a demon’s face might not be smart, especially when he was already pissed off, but we were short on time, and Forneus had millennia to perfect his threats of what hellish torments he’d inflict upon his enemies.
The demon’s eyes widened, and a sharp intake of breath came from Ceff and Torn’s direction. I might also have gasped at my actions if I’d taken the time to think things through. Forneus was a Great Marquis of Hell, and I was standing with a few mere layers of leather between us. That leather was the only barrier between my sanity and an eternity of nightmare visions.
My time in Faerie had either made me extremely brave or terminally stupid.
“You have my undivided attention, Miss Granger,” Forneus said. “I suggest you use it wisely while it lasts. I am quite short on patience.”
“Yes, I can see that,” I said, taking a step back. I started to wipe my gloved hand down my pants and frowned. I was dipping that glove in holy water as soon as I had the chance. “But it’s not what you think. Jinx is fine. In fact…”
“Your girlfriend is the one who drugged you,” Torn said, a grin tugging at his lips. “I’ve always said she was feisty for a human.”
Forneus’ eyes glowed red, and I sighed.
“Not helping, Torn,” I muttered. “Ceff?”
“I will retrieve Jinx from the Emporium,” he said. “What of Kaye and your troll and brownie friends?”
“Tell Kaye I’ll bring her what she needs for that binding spell, so to be ready,” I said.
“Hob and Marvin?” he asked.
“Tell them I have a special mission for them,” I said. “But it means a trip to the suburbs.”
“The suburbs?” Forneus asked, raising an eyebrow.
He didn’t, I couldn’t help but notice, ask why Jinx had drugged him. Perhaps he’d worked that out on his own.
“It’s a long story, but first,” I said, waving a hand in the a
ir. “You might want to lose the horns and hooves.”
Instead of smiting me with hellfire, he looked down at himself and sighed.
“Yes, perhaps for once you are right,” he said.
With heavy, cloven steps, Forneus shuffled into a nearby alley. Ceff disappeared inside the Emporium, and Torn moved to my side.
“Demon’s got it bad,” Torn said.
“Yes,” I said, turning to survey the charred craters on the sidewalk and scorch marks on the brick exterior of the Emporium. “I’m afraid he does.”
After millennia of stealing souls, against all odds, a human had stolen his heart. Forneus was deeply, madly, unconditionally in love with Jinx, and he was prepared to use the entire fiery might of Hell to prove that love, and keep my accident-prone friend safe from harm.
Oberon save us all.
Chapter 8
Judging by Marvin’s fist pumps, and the little jig that Hob was dancing, the two were pleased with the mission that I’d given them. It was a good thing that someone was happy. I studiously ignored the sour looks and barbed comments hurtling back and forth between Forneus and Jinx. I already regretted the make-up sex that Jinx would have to tell me about later, in excruciating detail.
I wrinkled my nose, and shook my head. I needed to focus. According to Kaye, we had until sunset to bind Herne’s magic. In a rare stroke of luck, we’d returned to Harborsmouth just before sunrise, limiting the Wild Hunt’s ability to ride. Not that the reprieve was a permanent one. If we failed in our mission, Herne would sound his horn, ordering an attack on the innocents of this city. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
I focused on Hob who’d slowed his dancing.
“So you know what you each need to do?” I asked.