CHAPTER NINETEEN
And here I’d thought freeing the stag would help me. Turned out it’d had the opposite effect.
I rolled into a depression in the ground, hoping the small spot would shield me from view while I caught my breath, or at least until I summoned enough willpower to stand.
The night was a hazy gray against the darker shapes of the trees, the stars stretched out, so numerous they were infinite.
I didn’t know how long I lay there, too tired to move, before a set of purple wings fluttered into view.
Inara landed on my nose, glaring down at me with hands on her hips. “Get up, you lazy fanger. I haven’t invested this much time into your survival to watch you give up when you’re so close to freedom.”
My tongue felt thick in my mouth. “What are you talking about?”
“Get up and survive this and I just might tell you,” she snarled.
With Inara pulling at the sensitive parts of me and bitching the entire time, I somehow managed to make it to my feet. For a creature no taller than the length of my hand, she could be surprisingly persistent. Her vicious pinches on my ear and nose kept me moving when I would have faltered.
A blue streak flew by, Lowen’s expression frantic. “They’re coming.”
Sure enough, the sounds of the hunt grew frighteningly close.
Inara cursed.
“You two should go,” I said.
They weren’t part of the hunt. I could feel it. If they left now they would be fine. Stay and they risked getting caught up in this.
“No, you just need to reach the road,” Inara said.
My laugh was grim. “I don’t think that’s how it works. It’s not some magic boundary to keep them off my back.”
“No, it’s where Caroline waits in a car. You’ll be much faster in that than you will be on foot,” Inara said flatly.
I couldn’t help the disbelief that filled me.
“Why would Caroline be there?”
Inara fluttered in front of me, seeming unconcerned despite the rumble of a threat in my voice. “I called her and told her where to meet us.”
“You did what?” I couldn’t help the upset in my voice.
“Don’t start with me,” she snapped. “You were supposed to stop the hunt. Not start it.”
“You didn’t want Niall or Cadell hunted. I’d say I accomplished that,” I shot back.
And boy had I. Maybe I’d done my job a little too well. I’d seen them out here with me, brief glimpses, but it was clear they’d been caught in the same web I had, only they were hunters, not the hunted.
I think one of them had even shot an arrow at me.
“Argue with me when you’re safe,” she snarled, weaving in and out of the trees as she led me through the forest.
She had a point. After that, I didn’t have time to argue as magic clamped me in its jaws once again, sending me mindlessly fleeing, the forest a blur around me as I ran.
Jerry rose from between the trees, his face blank as he raised an ax. I veered away, my heart thundering in my throat as I embraced my instincts, letting them guide me, even as others stepped out of the shadows.
They were herding me, the net growing close.
Dawn and hope lingered on the horizon. The stars above were gradually shuttering their faces and taking the moon with them.
I found myself on my hands and knees panting as the magic eased. It was like the ocean, pulling back only to swamp me with another wave. For the moment though, I was myself again.
Inara alighted on the ground in front of me, concern on her face. “You need to stop letting it take over.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I told her. “You’re not the one caught in its grip.”
And I was so tired of fighting it. At least when it took me, I forgot the terror that crouched inside, forgot that many of my former friends were part of the hunt and would be only too glad to end me.
“How much further?” I asked.
Inara looked grim. “More than a mile.”
“Still?”
We were no closer than the last time I asked. I couldn’t help wondering if she’d lied to me.
When I was human, my best time was a mile in just under seven minutes. Now, exhausted, having been running off and on for half the night, I’d be lucky if I could run a mile at all.
“Yes, still. You keep going the wrong way,” she hissed, seeming like her old self. I was glad to see it. This morose woman wasn’t Inara. At least I knew what I was getting with the grumpy version.
“I can’t help it. The magic grabs me and I just run,” I said.
She didn’t look appeased. “You’re a magic breaker. You control its pull, not the other way around.”
I lifted my head at that. “Magic breaker?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, what do you think you’ve been doing all this time? You can see the magic, and break it if you wish.”
I opened my mouth in question, but the magic grabbed me in its jaws. This time I did as she suggested and resisted. It was like trying to hold back an avalanche, my attempts puny and ineffectual.
Somehow, I managed to retain enough of a sense of self to allow Inara to point me toward the highway and the promise of safety.
Creatures bayed. They were frighteningly close.
Still, I ran, my feet thudding against the ground, tree branches whipping past me. I paid the toll for my passage with blood as their sharp edges left small cuts along my arms and face.
I knew I was leaving a trail a mile wide, but I didn’t have time to go softly or quietly. They were too close now.
Whatever advantage the change in my diet had given me was long gone. Exhaustion dragged at me, whispering of a respite from all this.
I pressed on, neither the magic nor my own will permitting me to falter.
I became aware of something shadowing me, catching glimpses of someone running parallel to me. They moved impossibly fast, following when I tried to veer away.
Liam. I’d know him anywhere.
I was acutely aware of the hunter even when the trees shielded him from view, his presence growing until it felt like a thousand shadows weighing me down.
He was playing with me, toying with me as I tried to escape his trap.
The road was in sight and I felt hope leap inside my chest.
Liam flew out of the trees, tackling me to the ground. I hit hard, the breath knocked out of me.
He crouched over me, the hunter in truth, no trace of the lover from last night. His face was just blank. If he hadn’t had Liam’s face and Liam’s scent, I would have said he was a stranger.
My eyes widened, fear catching me in its grip as Liam raised his hand, an old blade in his hand.
Death had come, wearing Liam’s form. He was the reaper and angel of death rolled into one. Old magic was in the air, the kind that tasted of the past, of old gods and things best forgotten.
The blade began to descend and I braced for pain, even as I reached for the magic wrapping him in Niamh’s will.
Inara had called me a magic breaker. In that split second when death loomed, I embraced it, pulling with everything in me.
The magic came away easily, its weaving looser and more uneven than the stag’s. It hadn’t had the time to burrow as deep. Darkness crowded into the edges of my vision as small tendrils from the deepest parts of me, the ones that were my essence spiraled up, sucking down the spell around Liam.
The dagger hesitated for just an instant, Liam’s face horrified.
He started to mouth my name but never finished it, his eyes wild. The stag barreled into him, his coat glowing like a mini-sun as he trumpeted a challenge.
Then I saw nothing as I lost the battle against myself, sinking gratefully into unconsciousness.
*
Tight arms around me and tears soaking my shirt accompanied me into wakefulness. A chest shook under me.
I opened my eyes, staring up at a ravaged face. Liam looked like he’d just lost his whole world, a wild grief making him slightly crazed.
“It looks like you were only slightly successful in putting the vampire in your thrall,” Arlan remarked as he glided out of the trees.
The magic of the hunt still snapped and crackled in the air, though considerably lessened. It clung to him, speaking of wild, untamed things. He didn’t just look at home here, with the trees around him and the first of the sun’s rays kissing the horizon. He looked like he was born of this place, as integral to it as the trees or land might be.
This wasn’t something peaceful or calming. He was wild and fierce, the darker side of nature, the one that relied on death for the circle of life.
Niamh stepped out behind him, a dissatisfied expression on her face at the sight of Liam clinging to me as if he’d lost the only important thing in his life.
Her gaze lifted to the stag, standing close by, and her lips curled in a snarl. Her expression was incandescent with rage.
Arlan began to laugh when he caught sight of the stag, his shoulders shaking as the sound boomed out of him.
“That’s impossible,” Niamh snarled.
“Evidently not,” Arlan said, sounding amused. For being her husband, he seemed awfully elated to see Niamh so upset.
Not a happy marriage between those two, I was guessing.
Liam hadn’t reacted to their presence, still rocking me back and forth, looking lost.
“Her death should have cemented my hold,” Niamh said.
I realized the two didn’t realize I was still alive. Granted, I felt about two steps away from death, my body bruised and beaten, but the pain told me I was still very much among the living.
I remained very still, afraid to call attention to myself.
“That it hasn’t, means you are unable to deliver on your promise to put the vampires in this territory under your hold,” Arlan said. “What will your master say?”
“Shut it, wildling.” Her voice was nasty as she glared at him. “I have not lost yet.”
Niamh moved closer to us, her gaze locked on Liam’s bowed head. I debated what to do, whether it was better to show my hand or remain still, faking a death she was sure to see through.
I decided to stay pliant in Liam’s tight grip. Dawn wasn’t far. The sun was minutes away from cresting the horizon. The hunt was all but at an end.
Liam’s head lifted, his gaze locking on Niamh’s. “You did this.”
The rage in his voice was enough to make me flinch. Any sensible person would have fled.
The skin on his face had thinned, releasing the monster I’d only caught the briefest glimpses of. My heart gave a painful thump. Even knowing that look wasn’t intended for me, it was hard not to react.
It wasn’t just anger there. No, he was every god of wrath and revenge given form. Almost primal, as he looked fiercely at Niamh with the kind of emotion I hadn’t thought he’d ever feel for me.
He didn’t just want her dead. He wanted to bathe in her blood, to draw out her ending and make it as long and painful as possible.
To her credit, she didn’t flinch. Instead, her smile turned seductive as she brushed her hair back from her face.
A glint of purple and blue shimmered from above.
Lowen and Inara looked down at her, their small bodies making their way along the branches as they shadowed her.
I didn’t know what they had planned, but from their furtive movements and the snarl on Inara’s face, I didn’t think it would be good.
Still, I waited, even as the Wild Hunt’s magic called the rest of the hunters to the clearing.
Jerry stepped out of trees, his big body surprisingly graceful for such a large man. Ruth and Harry followed, along with several other Fae. Their gazes were all locked on the stag, and me in Liam’s arms.
Arlan had a thoughtful look on his face as he glanced around. He looked from me to Liam, cocking his head as he considered. He shut his eyes and breathed in. They popped open, gleaming with surprise and something that looked like awe.
“The hunt’s still going,” he said softly.
I tensed, waiting for him to call Niamh’s attention to that fact. If he did, Niamh would figure out what was going on.
“Very well done, little breaker,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.
Niamh didn’t react as she glided forward.
He spared her a glance before turning and walking away, gesturing toward where Breandan and Baran waited in the trees. They looked from him to me, fascination on their faces before following.
Niamh didn’t notice. The only ones left were the minor Fae and Niamh’s followers.
Liam had stilled above me. He didn’t throw out threats, though I felt them. Unsaid, just below the surface.
Niamh didn’t seem to realize the danger she was in, even as she moved closer.
“There will be other lovers,” she said, flicking her fingers in dismissal. “Leave that one there and come along.”
I sensed the coiled violence in Liam’s body and touched his hand. He flinched, glancing down at me in disbelief. I gave him the smallest of smiles and a wink.
His body shook as he gazed down at me with something approaching wonder.
“The hunt isn’t finished,” Niamh said, her voice turning threatening when Liam didn’t respond. “The stag still lives.”
Liam stroked my cheek, a million words there. If I’d doubted what he felt for me, that doubt was gone. The grief when he thought he’d lost me had been real. The rage, even now, wasn’t entirely absent, just banked.
Liam set me down, moving cautiously. His gaze lingered on mine, a warning not to move.
He stepped over me, his body hovering protectively over mine. He bared his fangs at Niamh.
“Connor, protect Aileen,” Liam ordered, sparing only the briefest of glances at the stag.
Niamh stopped, looking for all the world like he’d just slapped her. Her gaze went from him to me, where I’d raised myself up on one elbow.
I wasn’t the damsel in distress type. If he planned to fight, so would I, even if my body protested each and every movement, my muscles trembling from overuse.
Denial was there on her face. “No, she should be dead.”
“So sorry to disappoint,” I said.
Rage turned her ugly. She didn’t stay that way long, her expression smoothing out. “The hunt still goes. Kill her.”
The words were a signal. Chaos descended.
Inara and Lowen dropped from above, a net of magic woven between them. Liam launched himself forward, meeting the first Fae with a snarl, breaking its neck and tossing it at those behind him.
I leveraged myself to my feet, determined to fight. As long as we lived, there was hope.
The stag reared, using his hooves to strike another Fae in the head.
From behind us, the howl of wolves rose. Furry bodies poured into the clearing, setting on the Fae and driving them back.
Liam’s enforcers were steps behind them. I flinched from Daniel as he wielded his broad sword with wild abandon. Instead of being cleaved in two as I’d assumed, he knocked a Fae out of the air, dispatching it easily.
I sank into my vampire, relying on its instincts to defend us, wrenching apart anything that came close, using fangs and the claws on my fingers to stay alive.
I got lucky. None of those who approached were those I knew.
Not until Jerry ended up across from me, an ax in his hands and murder on his face. He advanced, even as I had enough presence of mind to back away.
“Jerry,” I warned. He didn’t respond, the hunt and Niamh’s thrall binding him too tightly.
I thought I detected a hint of awareness in his expression, regret, even as he kept coming.
I dodged out of the way, aiming a blow at his elbow, then his shoulder. I moved around him, using speed and desperation to stay out of reach while hitting him in the few places he was vulnerable.
Liam roared, coming out of nowhere. The two meeting with a mighty crash.
I turned, surveying the forest. It had more in common with a war zone than it did a forest.
Niamh and her followers watched with gloating glances as the rest of us tore each other apart.
She was the reason for all this. Small threads of magic trailing from her to half those here.
I snapped.
I was before her between one moment and the next, grabbing her throat and wrenching her up before slamming her into a tree.
The shock on her face would have been comical if I hadn’t been so damn mad.
Her expression hardened and power snapped up, trying to burn me out. I let it glance off me, unheeding as it poured past me.
The shock in her face was gratifying, and I grinned down at her, my fangs fully lowered. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, burying my fangs in her throat. It was like biting into an electrical outlet. Pure, raw power poured down my throat.
The feeling was indescribable, better than anything I’d ever tasted—with the exception of Liam’s blood, but for different reasons.
It was life, bubbly and effervescent. Fire dancing along every nerve at the same time. Like fire, it gave even as it took, scorching those same nerve endings.
But I still couldn’t stop. I needed more, even as it became too much. Her power filled me up, threatening to make me burst from my skin. It felt like strapping onto the outside of a rocket, then being shot through the atmosphere.
I fought to stay present, to not get lost. If I did, if I surrendered myself to this never-ending well, I wasn’t coming back.
Abruptly, I was in a deep dark space, streams of power all around me. Some small, some no more than a trickle, others vast streams that might have once carved canyons.
I understood, even as I didn’t know how, that each of these were Niamh’s victims. People and creatures she’d forced under her will.
I could break those bonds. I knew how. Liam and the stag had shown me the way.
A whisper came up from the deep. They could be yours.
I saw that Niamh herself wasn’t powerful. No, she’d stolen what she had from others, every bond she placed strengthening her.
And every single one of them could be mine. All I had to do was reach out and grab them. No more running from other spooks. No more balancing on a knife-edge between what the vampires wanted and what I needed to survive.
There wouldn’t be a soul alive who could challenge me if I took these as my own.
I reached out, fire sparking along my fingertips, burning those threads until there was nothing left, not even ash.
Power wasn’t what I was after. It never had been.
Someone jerked me back from Niamh’s throat, Liam’s frantic face above mine. He said something and I blinked dumbly at him.
He dragged me back several paces, unconcerned as Niamh fell to her knees. She was too drained to give more than a token protest when Daniel grabbed her arm and lifted her up.
All around us the fighting had stopped.
A large blond-white wolf trotted up to me, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. She nudged my hand and gave a happy yip.
“You make such a pretty puppy, Caroline,” I said, happily. My lips still felt numb and my head swam with magic.
I wanted to loll on the ground, run naked through the forest and frolic in its meadows.
Liam’s firm grip told me none of that was happening. He walked up to Eric and thrust me into his hands.
“Keep her safe,” he ordered.
Eric took me with a slightly disconcerted expression, eyeing me like I might turn around and bite him at any moment. I gave him a sappy smile and waved.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Liam caressed my cheek before stepping back. “She bit Niamh.”
Eric looked startled at that news.
“Drank her down like she was a fucking juice box,” Anton said, striding up as he wiped at his face. There was blood all over it. Apparently, sinking your fangs into the throat of your prey, while efficient, was also terribly messy.
“She tasted good,” I slurred.
Daniel snorted. “You’re drunk.”
I nodded. Sure felt that way.
“I’m surprised her brain isn’t scrambled,” Anton said, looking down at me.
I made a gun with my fingers and pretended to shoot him as I leaned on Eric.
Niamh screamed and staggered to her feet. I didn’t even pretend concern as she wobbled toward me. She looked like a newborn colt.
“You drank from me,” she accused, her eyes wide, her face pale.
If she’d been human, she’d have been in shock. I’d taken a lot of blood. Not enough to kill her, or any average- sized person, but enough that she would be feeling its loss.
I smiled at her, not caring that my lips were probably rimmed with blood. “Nom nom nom.”
She looked at a loss for words.
I sniffed. I thought I was very clear.
A soft laugh came from the trees, Arlan and the twins watching from their shelter.
“I want her dead,” Niamh shrieked.
“The hunt is over. Everything that happened during is forgiven,” Thomas said, moving into view. His clothes were slightly mussed and his hair just a little disheveled. Other than that, he looked untouched, his expression outwardly calm even as the power in him gave a hint of his emotions.
It waited, crouching deep inside, poised to strike.
I leaned forward and made a small sound of interest. I didn’t know it could even do that.
He flicked a look at the men at my back and made a small motion.
“Alright, time to go,” Anton said as Eric drew me back.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Niamh hissed. Her gaze shifted to those Fae who had survived.
The forest was littered with the bodies of those who’d participated in the hunt. There was panic on some faces as the vampires ghosted out of the trees.
I tried to count them but gave up after the third time I had to start again because I’d forgotten what I was doing. It was enough that I knew there were many more of Thomas’s people out here than had been present at the beginning of the hunt.
Those who could, fled, leaving behind the injured and dead without a backward glance.
Only a few lingered, Jerry and his couriers among them.
All watched Niamh.
“Kill her,” Niamh ordered, pointing at me.
I snickered. She still didn’t realize what I’d done.
Niamh blanched, looking around.
My snicker turned into a chortle. Her stricken eyes zero’d in on me.
“What did you do?” she asked, finally realizing something was wrong.
I cocked my head and leaned forward as far as Eric would let me. I gave her a nasty smile. “I took them from you.”
She shook her head and just kept shaking it. Gone was the lady of the forest who had gloated in my plight, who had sought to put Liam and the others under her thumb.
“Do something,” she cried at her husband.
He shook his head. “The hunt is over. Any action now would break the treaty.”
He didn’t even bother to pretend at regret.
Baran and Breandan behind him moved through the trees, circling Niamh.
“Such a pity to see the great lady helpless,” Breandan said. There was a seductive edge to his voice. “I hope you run fast, my lady.”
His twin slid me a look and winked before the two of them turned and disappeared into the early dawn, the forest swallowing them as if they’d never been present.
It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard a soft voice say, “See you soon, little breaker.”
I waited, expecting Thomas or even Liam to do something. They didn’t. They stood quietly, watching the Fae with hard expressions.
I straightened, a little of my drunkenness fading. “What are they doing? Why aren’t they doing anything to her?”
“They can’t,” Eric said, not sounding any happier as he and the rest glared at the High Fae.
My gaze swung toward him, the depths of my disbelief almost comical. “What do you mean they can’t? She tried to put Liam under her thrall. She nearly killed me.”
“That’s exactly why we can’t. No one can know she was able to put vampires as powerful as Liam and Nathan under her thrall. It would show a weakness others would seek to exploit. They’ll blame everything on the Wild Hunt instead,” Anton said, sounding pissed.
I looked back at her. “She’s going to get away with everything?”
I didn’t want that to be the case. She’d almost broken Liam and damn near killed me. Letting her get off without any punishment offended me.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” Niall said, appearing beside us.
The enforcers tensed.
Our gazes swung back to the scene as Jerry and the rest of the Fae advanced on Niamh.
Liam made his way over to me, taking me from Eric’s hold.
“What’s happening?” I asked, still not feeling totally present.
“There will be a hunt of another kind,” he said softly.
His insinuation was clear, especially when Niamh blanched and fled into the trees.
“Won’t her husband try to help her?” I asked, feeling all trace of inebriation flee with the sounds of the Fae’s screams as they gave chase. It was a haunting reminder of my own flight.
Liam drew me close, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “There’s no love lost between the two. If she can’t escape on her own, he has no need for her anymore.”
There was a brief scream and then silence.
I held myself still against Liam, trying not to feel, trying not to think.
Niamh had probably deserved the death she’d received, but the manner of her death, how closely it had resembled the last few hours as I fought to stay alive, pricked at wounds that hadn’t even begun to heal.
“I assume you and your people will head home now the hunt is completed,” Thomas said.
Niamh might have been taken care of, but the rest of the Fae had been complicit in her plans. Arlan especially, had known what she’d intended, known and done nothing.
Arlan’s smile was faint and amused. “I think we will linger.” His eyes came to rest on me. Caroline let out a faint growl even as Liam stiffened warily. “I’ve found something here that interests me.”
His gaze drifted to Niall and Cadell and he gave them a meaningful look. “Well done, Lord of the Green. You did not let me down.” His focus turned to Cadell. “Welcome to our ranks.”
Niall and Cadell remained motionless, not even the flicker of an eyelash giving away their thoughts as Arlan turned and disappeared into the forest, following in the twins’ wake.
Cadell’s gaze was enigmatic as it met mine. There was an apology there, but no remorse.
My lips parted as shock coursed through me. He’d been the one to mark me. He was the only one who could have. All that time spent wracking my brain trying to figure out who’d gotten close enough and the answer was right in front of me.
It was him. He’d used the excuse of passing me the note to lay the mark. As this night had just proven, both he and Niall were lords of the hunt, perfectly capable of marking prey.
Thomas rested his hands on his hips and bent his head before turning back to me, his gaze alive with irritation.
My mouth snapped shut, and I put aside my suspicions to be examined later when my head wasn’t quite so foggy.
I frowned at Thomas. What did I do this time?
I didn’t realize I’d said it aloud until Anton choked on a laugh beside me. I looked around to find the other enforcers fighting similar bouts of amusement. My frown grew more pronounced.
My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to me. “How did you guys slip her thrall?”
In the chaos of the hunt’s end, it hadn’t really sunk in that they’d been fighting for us rather than against us. Something that shouldn’t have been possible because I hadn’t broken her hold yet.
“I freed them from her hold in the first thirty minutes of the hunt,” Thomas said, sounding vexed.
I blinked at him, my mouth dropping open in surprise. “You did?”
Anton lost his battle with his hilarity, bending over as he gasped with laughter. I bit off a growl as I noticed Daniel and Eric turn away as they fought similar reactions.
“It’s not that funny,” I muttered. I lost the battle to remain standing and would have fallen if Liam hadn’t caught me and pressed me against his side.
“Yes, Aileen, I did. Right after I dealt with the problem of the witches. Something you would have known if you hadn’t decided to join the hunt,” he said with forced patience.
“What happened to Sarah and the rest?” I asked feeling somber.
Thomas’s frown became more severe, but he relented, answering my question. “Most of her disciples are dead. The few who survived have been taken home to be questioned.”
“And Sarah?” I asked, already feeling like I knew the answer.
“She escaped.” His face was remote, giving no sign of how that must burn.
I left that subject, sensing prying further would only cause consequences I wanted to avoid. I looked around. “So, all this time?”
Daniel nodded, some of the humor dying in his face. “We’ve been trying to catch you so we could get you to safety.”
Ah.
I remembered them amid the trees, chasing me. I’d just assumed they were trying to kill me like all the rest.
“You’re pretty fast for someone not even out of your infancy,” Anton said.
I ignored the partial complement and craned my head to peer up at Liam. “I guess I didn’t free you after all.”
He’d certainly done a good job of pretending to still be in her hold. The commitment he’d shown when he brandished that dagger had been very convincing. If he’d been an actor,I’d have nominated him for an Oscar.
He brushed my hair from my face, his expression tender. “You did. Thomas couldn’t break her hold over me.”
Thomas’s frown turned grumpy. “Only because I couldn’t catch you.”
“And you wouldn’t have caught me,” Liam said with a meaningful glance. “Not until it was too late.”
Thomas didn’t argue, conceding the point with a small noncommittal shrug. He looked around, his gaze searching.
What was he looking for?
“Did you see which direction the stag went?” he asked.
“Why do you want to know?” I couldn’t help but feel a little protective of the creature. His interference had probably saved my life several times over. There was no doubt in my mind he could have escaped well before the hunters had closed in, if not for my slower self.
“Aileen,” Thomas said, a warning in his tone.
I didn’t answer, my thoughts turning to another. “Where’s Nathan?”
He looked away. The enforcers had grown silent as well.
I pushed away from Liam. “Thomas, where’s Nathan?”
“He’s alive,” he admitted grudgingly. By the way he said it you could almost hear the ‘for now’ after that.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Unharmed?”
He looked away.
My eyes widened and a growl slipped from me.
His gaze swung back to me. “Careful. My tolerance only goes so far.”
“I see some things still haven’t changed,” a quiet voice said from the trees to our left.