Ancient Warrior, page 20
Harlow blinked in surprise, but Axel didn’t seem surprised at all so maybe he’d known they hooked up last night. And Harlow was glad to see that Vita had a backbone. She might be delicate physically, but she was going to hold her own with Brielle or anyone, that much was clear.
“I’ll head out the back,” Aodh said, already stripping his pants off. “I’ll go into camo mode and follow her.”
Harlow nodded, beyond anxious to get outside and see what was going on. Especially since the hoofbeats were getting louder.
She looked at her twin and Axel and nodded when they gave her a questioning look. They’d lived with each other long enough to basically read each other’s minds. “We take to the trees,” she said, just to make sure they were all clear.
Aodh crushed his mouth to hers. “I’ve got your six.”
“Always.”
As he hurried out the back door the rest of them did the same, but they remained dressed.
Harlow hurried to the edge of the cottage, peered around the wall and watched as fae on horseback kicked up the fresh snow, heading toward the downtown area. Near the library and the other main buildings. Looked like they wouldn’t even need to shift; they could just head in the direction everyone was going. “Let’s grab hooded tunics for now,” Harlow murmured.
Once they had their heads covered, they started out on foot, circumventing the main road but heading in the direction Vita had gone. Brielle was tense as they hurried, clearly in protective mode, which was new for her twin.
Though Harlow couldn’t see Aodh, she knew he’d taken to the air, would be circling above looking for any danger.
The mating link between them was strong, a warm pulse in the air she felt all the way to her soul. He was hers and she was his. No matter what happened, no matter what the universe threw their way, she was mated to the male she loved.
And she was glad they hadn’t waited.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Aodh slowly circled the downtown square where much of the town had gathered around the fae who’d ridden in on horses. There were only a dozen of them, and none of them looked to be guards or soldiers of any kind. They were dressed in simple tunics and leggings, and they all had one thing in common—they stank of raw fear.
A dark-skinned female in purple robes was standing in the middle of a gazebo, trying to get everyone to quiet down.
Harlow, Brielle and Axel were on the outside of the crowd, not standing near each other but strategically spaced out. Vita was standing with a family of four—parents and two young daughters. Her neighbors, no doubt. He was close enough that he’d overheard them talking, knew the girls’ names were Mave and Keeva. And Vita’s aunt was next to her as well, also in purple robes.
When the dark-skinned female called out again, everyone quieted and a male from the incoming group stood next to her, said something loudly in his language.
After being imprisoned for so long in the Domincary realm, hearing so many conversations, Aodh understood most of what the male was saying.
“I come from your neighboring town, Nairn. Our entire town has been slaughtered, save for a few of us. She came in the middle of the night, killing us household by household. We don’t know what she is, but she’s powerful and angry.” His voice broke and he covered his face for a long moment.
One of the females who’d ridden in with him stood next to him now, her voice softer, but everyone was deathly quiet so her words were clearly heard.
“We barely managed to escape. We hid away some of our children as we raced here for help. Someone needs to ride on to the royal guard, but we fear there won’t be enough time. She’s a monster. A beautiful monster, stealing everything until nothing but bones are left. She’s some kind of mage or witch.” The fae female’s voice shook slightly. “We don’t know what direction she will go next, but you all need to be prepared. To run, if necessary. We tried to fight her with our magic, but it wasn’t enough. It was like she simply consumed what we threw at her and it only made her stronger.”
Aodh quietly landed, kept his camouflage in place as he shifted to his human form. He drew closer to the outside edge of the crowd, moving in Harlow’s direction, but was careful not to get too close to anyone. Just because they couldn’t see him didn’t mean they wouldn’t feel him if he bumped into them.
A murmur went up as people started talking among themselves.
Aodh needed to talk to the fae who’d just ridden in, get the location of their town and any details possible. If the witch had taken to massacring an entire town, she would be drowning in power. Though something had to have triggered her to cause her to kill an entire town overnight.
Or maybe she’d simply gotten tired of small kills spaced out. Didn’t matter.
The only thing that did was stopping her. And they had to do it now, when they knew where she was, or at least the vague direction.
While he didn’t relish the idea of revealing himself to an entire town of scared fae in this moment, he knew it would take too long to get the fae who’d just arrived alone.
So he maneuvered his way to the raised gazebo structure and dropped his camouflage. He held his palms up, ignoring the awkwardness of being naked—until someone from the crowd screamed. Either because of his nakedness or the clear fact that he wasn’t a fae. He was simply too large to be one of them, not to mention the shape of his ears gave him away.
“Oh Jesus,” he muttered. Then in their language, he said, “I’m hunting this witch, and—”
The purple-robed female next to him blasted white energy out of her hands at him, her eyes widening when the light bounced off him, slamming into the platform they stood on. The wood beneath him sizzled under the impact, a dark scorch mark left behind.
“Really?” he growled, his dragon in his gaze now. He’d put his hands up in the universal sign of I come in peace.
One of the fae withdrew a sword, but Vita was shoving her way through the crowd. “Stop attacking him!” the small female shouted.
Aodh didn’t need her help, but appreciated it even as a sense of protectiveness swelled inside him. It was clear Brielle had claimed the fae female and he’d do anything to keep her safe now too. The female had given them shelter and was helping when she didn’t need to.
She was one of theirs now.
There was a low murmur as someone from below helped her up onto the raised platform, just lifting the petite fae up. “He’s not here to hurt you.”
Her voice wasn’t overly loud, but everyone had quieted to listen to her, which told him that people respected her enough to hear what she had to say. At least enough to shut up. She was looking off to a point in the crowd, somewhere in Brielle’s direction.
“He’s here to help us, so please, no one else attack him. He and his friends are hunting this witch and all they wish to do is stop her. I’ve helped enough of you in town, warning you of impending disaster, that you know I’m telling the truth. We need to give them whatever they ask for.” She paused for a moment, then said, “If you’ve read my book, then you already know the truth. They’re here to help us and we need to help them do that.”
There were more murmurs and nods before the purple-robed female shouted out a short order, telling everyone to let Vita continue—even as she gave Aodh a wary look. Still, she unhooked part of the bottom of her robing, taking off a large swath of fabric, and handed it to him with a pointed look.
He wrapped it around his waist as Vita continued to speak. He was also aware of Harlow moving closer to the stage, winding her way through the crowd so subtly it was impressive. Her hair might be covered with the hooded tunic, but he could pick his female out of any crowd, anywhere.
Vita turned to the small group of fae who’d arrived from their neighboring town. “He needs to know everything about what happened. Any detail you can give, now. There will be no time to waste.”
The fae looked nervous, but nodded.
Minerva climbed onto the platform as well, spoke quietly with the female who’d blasted Aodh with energy. Then Minerva looked at him. “Can you stop her?”
“We’re going to try.”
She nodded once, then motioned to the newcomers. “Come this way. We will speak in private now.”
There was a lot of murmuring from the crowd then, but Aodh ignored them, waiting for Harlow, Brielle and Axel to join them before stalking off with the fae.
They convened in the library they’d broken into the night before, with the two fae who’d spoken to the crowd looking even tenser.
No wonder; they’d lost friends, family, perhaps children.
“I’ll speak plainly,” he said brokenly in their language.
“We speak many human languages, including English,” Minerva said. “They do as well.”
He nodded, continued quickly. “We’re not familiar with this realm so we’re going to need a map as well as any details you can give us of your village.”
“I’ll grab the maps you’ll need,” Minerva murmured, hurrying off.
“What details are you looking for?” the male asked, his accent heavy but his words clear.
“When did the killings start? How was she discovered? Did she leave the town or did you escape before that happened? Anything that might be relevant. Also, are you certain the children you hid away are safe?”
“I don’t know exactly when the killings started, sometime in the night. I’m the, ah, I think the human word is law enforcement, for our village. Someone came to me hours ago, told me they’d seen a stranger in the local pub and people were dying as she stole their souls. I admit I thought he was drunk and seeing things, but after I confirmed it I sent out scouts to the rest of the town…” He cleared his throat. “From what I can tell it started at a cottage on the outskirts of town and seemed to spread inward.”
Oh goddess, Aodh knew exactly where this was going.
“We tried to fight her, but she just laughed and blasted us with magic. I woke up while she was killing one of my men and slipped away. We don’t have any mages in our village and no way to fight that kind of evil, so I spread word and everyone who could escape did. Most of them ran into the nearby forest. I told them to keep running and not to stop until they reached a neighboring town. We went in different directions, hoping to spread the word and gain help. We need firepower and magic users. That is the only thing that will stop her.”
“No.” Harlow stepped forward then, having already pushed her hood back. “The more magic you use on her, the more she’ll suck up and become even more powerful. We’re going to take her down the old-fashioned way,” she said as Minerva returned, two scrolls in her hands.
Meaning with claws and steel. And fire. Lots of dragon fire.
“Why should we trust you?” the male snapped, his voice reverberating with rage. But underneath it was fear.
“Because they have no reason to lie to us.” Vita spoke for the first time since arriving in the library, and it was clear she at least knew this male from the faint familiarity of her tone. “And the witch imprisoned him,” she said, pointing at Aodh. “He was the dragon underneath the castle we all heard about. The one who escaped. He wants her dead as much as we all do.”
Someone sucked in a surprised breath, but that was the only response.
Minerva ignored everyone as she stretched out the maps on a nearby table, speaking quickly. “This is where we are. This is the quickest road to their town but…ah, you will fly, I take it?”
Aodh nodded, glad when Harlow moved up next to him, leaned gently into him. Having her shoulder against his grounded him.
Brielle and Axel had moved up as well, were looking at the map intently.
“Okay, then you can clearly see the quickest route.” She looked at the fae male. “What forest did your people escape to?”
From there, the male pointed out where the others had run and gave a quick recap of the surrounding areas, highlighting all the information they might need.
The witch wouldn’t have gotten too far, not unless she had the ability to transport. And since that ability was so very rare, and she’d long since stopped being able to take his powers, she would still be in the realm.
Aodh thought about sending one of his crew to the portal that bridged this realm with the human one, to guard in case she managed to escape them, but immediately dismissed the idea. They couldn’t split up. And she would not escape them.
“We leave in two minutes,” he finally said, turning to his crew. “Say your goodbye now,” he added to Brielle.
Brielle simply nodded before pulling Vita into a private corner to speak. It was clear that once they returned she’d be claiming this female for good if Vita would have her.
“What happens if you fail?” the female with the purple robes asked.
“We’re not planning on it. But I suggest sending a message to your royal guard, regardless. Some of your mages might be able to come up with a way to trap her at least.”
The female snorted softly. “They will not be able to help. They were not even able to hold the castle when dragons invaded.”
“Then you pray to your goddess and fight. That is all I can suggest.” He rolled up the map, turning from her, because he didn’t plan to fail. But then he paused, eyed who he assumed was a high priestess of sorts, given the differences in the way she and Minerva were dressed. And the fact that she’d packed a punch with her magic blast before. “The female, Vita, she’d better remain unharmed. Or I’ll finish what those other dragons started in this realm and not stop.”
The female’s eyes narrowed at him. “We would never harm Vita. She is one of our own. We did not take her as seriously as we should have before, but…she has helped many people in town with small matters. She is loved. No one will harm her.”
Aodh nodded, turned to his female and Axel as Brielle stepped forward. “The fastest approach will be from the sky. How do you prefer to attack?”
“I’ll stay in this form for now,” Harlow said. “Might be easier to infiltrate smaller places.”
“We need to take her down outdoors,” Axel murmured, his arms crossed over his chest. Small spaces were how they’d gotten in trouble before.
They all nodded in agreement, ready to go.
“The wolf following you is in the woods by my house,” Vita said quietly as she approached. “He wishes to go with you.”
Aodh snorted and looked at Harlow. Seemed her friend had definitely followed, not that Aodh was surprised. He thought he’d caught Ace’s scent more than once. And it seemed clear that Vita had seen the male in her vision, or however that worked. There’d been a wolf in the pages of her book, so yeah. “Let’s go grab him,” he murmured, taking Harlow’s hand in his as they stalked out of the library.
This was it. They weren’t letting that evil witch slip through their fingers this time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Congratulations, by the way,” Ace said as he crouched low with Harlow and the others on Aodh’s scales, the wind rolling over them as her mate flew higher. “I’m happy for you and I can’t wait to get to know your mate.” Her friend’s expression was so sincere it warmed her from the inside out.
When she’d first settled in New Orleans, she hadn’t been sure if she’d stay—had thought she might move to Scotland eventually and live with Star’s clan—but she’d developed deep roots, made friends who were more family than anything. And she wasn’t giving up any of it.
“Thank you. Still can’t believe you followed us,” she murmured.
“Like you didn’t scent me?”
She just lifted a shoulder and glanced down below at the countryside flying by beneath them. Aodh was flying lower than normal as they headed in the direction of the massacred town. “Unless she’s killed everyone, we’re going to need to set up a triage.”
“Only after we kill her.” Axel’s voice was hard as he looked over at her, his hair slightly ruffling in the wind. “We can’t let ourselves get sidetracked even if it means leaving someone in pain. Because if we don’t stop her, how many more will die?”
They were all crouched down low, Aodh’s back wide and long enough to transport all of them. And with the angle he was flying at, they were blocked from most of the wind. But it was still damn cold up here, even for her tiger blood. “I know.” She looked away from Axel, continuing to scan below them. She hated that he was right.
As soon as they landed, picked up the witch’s scent, they had to go on the hunt. They knew what she smelled like too from the last time they’d almost caught her, and Harlow and her twin were incredible trackers. Hell, all of this crew were born trackers. If anyone was going to find and neutralize the threat, it was them.
And it had to be now.
They’d been flying for twenty minutes, and though they’d told the fae from Vita’s town to stay behind, she wasn’t sure they would listen. This was their home. They would want to protect it, something she respected.
When Aodh suddenly dipped lower, she knew why—she scented the witch. A scent she would never forget. A faint floral scent that might be pleasant, almost happy, but underneath it was rot. Garbage. Death.
Scanning the landscape, she spotted the quiet, calm village. Far too quiet for this time of morning. There were no fae to be seen anywhere, no animals either.
Just an eerie quiet across the territory as Aodh descended on the picturesque village. He set down right at the entrance to the village, before a sloping bridge that was more for decoration than anything, then let his camouflage drop.
