“Oh how I wish for your ignorance in this one thing,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Did something happen?”
“What he means, Princess, is that all it takes is one bite from a hound of the Hunt for Herne to gain control and become their master,” Torn said. “Man or fae, no one can resist the call.”
“The hounds…they’re not real barghests?” Jinx asked, brow wrinkling. “That’s good, right? If they’re just men, we can kill them.”
I looked at the hounds, focusing all of my power and will to cut through their glamour to see the men within. Instead, all I got was a pounding in my skull. My eye twitched, and a slick oily sensation filled my gut.
“That’s not glamour,” I said. “The barghests are real. But how?”
“Magic,” Torn said.
I thought about Ceff and how broken he’d been after suffering such a short time at the hands of the each uisge.
“Is there anything left of the men they once were?” I asked, watching the hounds pace at the feet of their master.
“No,” Ceff said. “Once they kill for the Huntsman, their transformation is complete.”
“Ceff is right,” Forneus said. “Their souls have been in torment for so long that they have come to lust for blood and for the praise of their master. Their souls are black with it.”
“Is there nothing we can do to save them?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ceff said. “We can end their suffering, and break them free of this foul, unnatural bondage.”
“Sometimes death is a mercy,” Torn said.
“Then let’s go be merciful.”
Chapter 17
I wanted to swoop in like an angel of mercy, providing quick deaths to all of the enslaved members of the Wild Hunt. I only managed to take two pig-headed steps before Ceff grabbed the back of my leather jacket, stopping me in my tracks. I bared my teeth, and my blades, but he shook his head.
“Our allies are not yet assembled,” he said. “To fight Herne and his hounds now would mean our deaths.”
My hands tightened on my blades, and I shook him off, but I didn’t continue marching blindly into combat. As much as I despised what was being done to the members of the Hunt, Ceff was right. He’d gone to the harbor and asked for the help of the water fae, but our plan was not yet fully in place. Ceff was still waiting to finish negotiations with his allies, and might need to return to the harbor at any moment. We also had left most of our trigger-happy Hunters’ Guild backup more than two blocks away. It would be foolish to make any move yet, beyond peaceful negotiations.
I can be stubborn, and impulsive, but I’m no fool.
“Fine,” I said. “No killing, yet.”
“Then perhaps you should put your weapons away, Princess,” Torn said.
“And let me do all of the talking,” Forneus said, stepping forward. I gaped at him, but he raised an eyebrow. “What? I am obviously the most qualified to act as negotiator.”
I grit my teeth, but he was right. The demon attorney was the most skilled at negotiating contracts. He had even more experience than my kelpie king boyfriend. Whether I liked it or not, Forneus could talk the Pope out of his soul and still come out smelling like roses. I, on the other hand, tended to become ensnared in unfavorable bargains.
The demon was our best chance of talking our way out of this mess. Oberon save us all.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s go tell Herne that hunting season is over. If we’re lucky, he’ll pack up and go home.”
*****
“HAVE YOU COME TO SURRENDER?” Herne asked, his booming voice reverberating against nearby buildings. “YOU WOULD MAKE A FINE ADDITION TO MY HUNTING PARTY.”
I winced, gritting my teeth. Herne sat astride a massive black horse, his horn strapped to the saddle. The day had grown overcast, and his owls circled overhead, like seagulls before a hurricane.
Father Michael had texted me that in some stories, the Wild Hunt presaged war or plague. With the growling of barghests, the thunder of his mount’s hooves as he rode to meet us, and the whip crack power of his voice, I could well believe that Herne and his Hunt was a mighty storm with the power to destroy and bring death in its wake.
And though we’d let Forneus take the lead, Herne settled the full force of his glowing red gaze on me. I bit the inside of my cheek, and tried not to fidget.
“What are the rules of engagement?” Forneus asked, waving a hand to gain Herne’s attention.
“YOU HAVE UNTIL THE SUN SETS IN THE WESTERN SKY,” Herne said.
“And then?” Forneus asked.
“AND THEN WE HUNT,” he said.
I couldn’t be sure, there was a chance it was a coincidental flickering of his glowing red eyes, but I could have sworn that the bastard winked at me. I’d had enough. Herne wasn’t interested in negotiating with Forneus, but he did have an interest in me. It was time I used that to get some answers.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
Torn muttered something unflattering, but I ignored him and Forneus’ sulfurous sigh. Herne and Kaye had both said we had until sunset before the Wild Hunt would make its move. I didn’t plan on provoking the Hunt into battle, but I wanted answers. Perhaps we could learn something with the right person asking the questions.
“THE SPIRIT OF THE WOOD REQUIRES SACRIFICE,” he said. “AND SO DOES MY QUEEN.”
I knew something of hungry wood spirits. I’d fed my blood to The Forest of Torment, the sentient woods that protected my mother’s winter palace. Those skeletal trees had supped on my blood and found me worthy of safe passage, but I didn’t fool myself. My ties to Mab were as much a curse as a blessing.
My mother had enslaved the Spirit of the Wood inside the mighty general Gwyn ap Nudd, creating Herne and his monstrous Wild Hunt. I didn’t think he’d thank me for my mother’s devious handiwork, so I made sure not to mention my relationship to Mab when I raised my next question.
“Did Mab send you here?” I asked. “Is she part of the coming war amongst supernaturals and humans?”
“BEWARE WHEN MY HORN SOUNDS THRICE,” he said.
I shivered. It was hard to see inside the shadows of his hood, but I got the impression Herne was grinning. This conversation was taking a decidedly sinister turn, but I tried to keep him talking. Maybe he’d accidentally give us some detail we could use against him. That’s what the evil villains do in movies, right?
I should have known an ancient spirit twisted to my mother’s will wouldn’t have anything to say worth hearing.
“Why?” I asked. “What happens then?”
“I WILL BREAK YOU, AND BEND YOU TO MY WILL,” he said, his booming laughter echoing through my skull.
“Yeah, like I haven’t heard that before,” I said. “You’ll find I’m not so easily broken, old man.”
“I WILL BREAK YOU,” he said. “YOU WILL BECOME ONE OF MY FAITHFUL HOUNDS, AND, ONE DAY, I WILL GIFT MY QUEEN YOUR SOUL.”
Before I could think of a witty comeback, Forneus stepped forward.
“I happen to be something of an expert on souls, Herne,” he said. “So, I am curious. Why do you think Mab would want this one’s soul?”
I held my breath. Had Herne or the twisted spirit living inside of him been able to sniff out the truth of my blood? Was he already aware of my parentage when he followed us through the portal from Faerie? Or was his interest in me, and my soul, mere coincidence?
“THE ONE THING STRONGER THAN A MOTHER’S LOVE IS MAB’S THIRST FOR VENGEANCE,” he said.
“Then Mab, or her minions, sent you here?” Forneus asked. “To what purpose? To capture Ivy, or to presage war?
“HAVE YOU NOT FIGURED IT OUT, DEMON?” he said. “WE ARE ALL PAWNS IN MAB’S GAME. THE WAR. THE GIRL. ULTIMATE POWER AND CHAOS. MY QUEEN WILL GAIN EVERYTHING SHE DESIRES.”
Chapter 18
“Well, that was fun,” Jinx said, wiping a shaking hand across her forehead.
When it became obvious that Herne wasn’t willing to nego
tiate, we walked from the empty lot, with his booming laughter taunting our every step. Once out of sight of Herne and his hounds, we made a hasty retreat to the warehouse where our Guild allies had assembled.
“Yes, let’s do it again,” Torn said, a grin tugging at the scar that crossed his face.
“That was sarcasm, cat,” Forneus said. “Though I fear you’ll get your chance to fight Herne and his hounds soon enough.”
“What I still don’t get is what this Queen Mab wants with Ivy,” Jinx said. “Does this have something to do with what you were doing on your supposed vacation?”
I sighed, and rubbed a gloved hand over my face.
“I went to Faerie, and to the wisp court in Nithsdale,” I said, suddenly bone weary. “I had an uncle there.”
“Oh my God, that’s awesome, right?” she asked. “Did he know where to find your father?”
“If he did, he never told me,” I said. “My uncle, Kade, had once loved Mab, and over time became obsessed with her, but she chose his brother, my father, over Kade. Kade was jealous and never forgave my father.”
“Kade was a bastard,” Torn said. “You should have let me kill him slowly.”
Jinx’s eyes widened, but I shook my head.
“Perhaps, but he is my uncle,” I said.
“When you say that Mab chose your father, does that mean what I think it means?” she asked, pulling a face. “Like, bow chicka bow bow? Your dad and Mab?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Holy shit,” she said. “But I still don’t get why she’d be pissed at you.”
“Because…” I said, taking a deep breath. “I am Mab’s daughter.”
“Oh hell no,” she said, blinking rapidly. “But…what about your mom?”
“My dad stole me away from Faerie, and from Mab, as a baby,” I said. “He brought me here to the human world, and used his magic to put me in a kind of stasis until he could be sure that we hadn’t been followed.”
“Mab has eyes and ears everywhere,” Torn said with grudging respect. “Her network of spies rivals even my own. It wouldn’t have been easy to hide from her agents. Willem would have had to go underground for a long time, and kept you hidden all the while, even from his friends.”
“Yes, but Mab left Faerie, and disappeared for over a hundred years,” I said. “My father met my human mother, brought me out of stasis, and began a new life.”
“Until Lucifer meddled,” Forneus muttered. “Interfering with the Unseelie queen’s former favorite, and knowing the knife’s edge your family was on would have been a temptation too great. He always did most enjoy gambling when the stakes were high.”
“The devil tricked my father into carrying the cursed lantern, and to keep us safe from the lantern’s curse, he left us,” I said.
“To keep you safe, he also put a geis on your human mother that forbade her from speaking of the fae, or him, and he used magic to block your childhood memories of him,” Ceff said. “But he was no longer around to maintain the magic that kept you human. With time, your powers grew, your gifts manifested, and your memories began to filter back.”
“Yes, but that geis is still strong,” I said, hands fisting.
“He did it to keep you both safe,” he said. “And a geis over a human is not likely to fade. I’m sorry.”
“It’s just…never mind,” I said, shaking my head. “I wish I could speak freely about all this with my mom, especially now, but what’s done is done.”
“Maybe when you find your dad, he can lift the spell on your mom,” Jinx said.
I loved that she still said “when” you find your dad, not “if” I found him, but I no longer shared her confidence in my success. I’d traveled to Faerie and back, and I was still no closer to finding my father.
“Maybe,” I said, forcing a smile.
“So, Mab’s daughter,” she said. “That’s heavy.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” I said with a sigh. “I’m not the person you thought I was. I’m not…I’m not even human. Not even a little.”
“Is that what all the secrecy is about?” she asked. She put a hand on her hip, and wagged a finger at me. “You better not be wigging that I’d care that you’re pure fae, or that you’re some evil faerie queen’s spawn.”
“Spawn?” I asked with a snort. “Thanks.”
She winked.
“Anytime,” she said. “You’ll always be my best friend, Ivy. But no more secrets. No more lies.”
“Deal,” I said.
A heavy weight settled on my shoulders, and I struggled to suck air into my lungs. I blinked past the dizziness, knowing it would pass. I’d made a bargain with Jinx. I just hoped it was one I could keep. If not, it would kill me.
But if I couldn’t agree to be honest with my best friend, I might as well be dead.
“Are you alright?” Ceff asked, leaning in.
“Never better,” I said.
“That will be a difficult bargain to keep,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“I’m willing to take that risk,” I said. “I refuse to become like my mother.”
I may be Mab’s daughter, but I vowed never to be anything like my evil, manipulative mother with her deadly web of secret plots.
“Then let us go put a stop to her schemes,” he said.
Chapter 19
We were on our way to meet with Master Janus when my ringing phone made me jump. According to the caller ID, it was Father Michael.
“What’s up, Padre?” I asked. “Any new info on Herne or the Wild Hunt? We’re looking down the field at a Hail Mary pass and the end zone has sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. Any weaknesses we can exploit would come in handy to help tip the odds in our favor.”
“I…no…I mean…” he stuttered.
Father Michael seemed at a loss for words. Had I offended the priest? Was naming a pass a Hail Mary some form of blasphemy? Heck, I wasn’t even sure where the football metaphor had come from. I was no sports fan. Must be too much television, I thought, shaking my head. Ever since Sparky moved in, the TV was on twenty-four-seven. If it wasn’t cartoons, then the kid was watching something with lots of clapping and cheering, and that usually meant some kind of sports show.
“Sorry,” I said, wincing. “I didn’t mean to dump on you. Pre-battle nerves making me speak before I think, I guess. Everything alright at Casa Granger and Braxton?”
I was babbling, not giving the priest much chance to answer. I had to bite my lip and hold my breath to keep from rushing on. Something had set my nerves jangling, and I knew from experience that in times like this it was better to sit back and listen, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Something bad was coming. I could feel it.
“No...everything is not alright!” he said, voice becoming shrill.
“Okay, okay, tell me what happened,” I said.
I waved a hand at Ceff, then at Jinx, Forneus, and Torn, to get their attention. They raised a few eyebrows, but came to a stop when I gave the signal to halt. Ceff and Torn tilted their heads, and I knew they’d be listening in to the rest of the conversation. Fae hearing had its advantages.
With Herne’s spies around, I’d rather not put the priest on speakerphone.
“I do not know how it is possible,” Father Michael said, voice shaking. “He was right there, watching his cartoons. I went to make more of that noodle concoction…”
“Ramen,” I said reflexively.
“Yes, yes, ramen,” he said, taking a shuddering breath. “I turned away to set the water to boil, and when I looked back, he was gone.”
“Gone?” I asked.
“Sparky,” he said. “Someone has taken him.”
I put a gloved hand out to steady myself, gripping a rusting railing that ran alongside a warehouse loading dock.
“That’s impossible,” I said, voice barely a whisper. “The wards…”
“The wards are still active,” he said. “I have checked, and double-checked. I know of thes
e things, but I do not know how an enemy found a way inside. You were quite thorough in your security.”
Of course Father Michael knew of supernatural security measures. He’d had to circumvent more than a few in his move to steal ancient treasures from the Vatican archives. If he said the magical wards guarding our apartment were still active, then I believed him.
I took a deep breath, forcing air in through my nose, and held the breath to the count of three before exhaling. I needed to think. If the wards were still up, then how did Sparky disappear? A kidnapping, or demon-napping in this case, didn’t seem all that plausible.
Then again, I’d teamed up with fae, demon, and Hunter allies to take down Herne and the Wild Hunt. In Harborsmouth, anything was possible.
“Are you sure Sparky didn’t just run off?” I asked. “Maybe he was scared by something, or was lured outside?”
Jinx blanched, catching on to what the conversation was about. I looked away, focusing on the case. I’d handled child abduction cases. In recent months, I’d become something of an expert.
A few months ago, when someone was stealing dozens of fae children from their beds, I discovered that the kidnapper used a lure to tempt the children outside their homes. Could something similar have happened to Sparky? The kid was a sucker for food, cartoons, and shiny things.
But that’s what didn’t make sense. Why go with some stranger if he already had his cartoons and Father Michael in the kitchen whipping him up his favorite food?
“There was nothing to scare the little tyke,” he said. “God forgive me, I don’t know what else I could have done to keep him safe.”
If there was nothing to scare Sparky away, then he had to have been lured from the apartment. But that left the question of how. Not everyone had their apartment warded against every possible threat, no matter how mundane, but I did. I was paranoid that way. Growing up being the only one to see monsters roam the streets had that effect on a girl.