Page 88 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

Everything in the Aos Sí didn’t feel quite real.

“I met your grandmother once.” Kaleb didn’t look at me as he spoke. “She was of the forest. A wildling, to be sure. They told stories of her cloak, soaking in blood and woven with spider silk. Éabha, of the forest.”

I turned to face Kaleb to show I was listening, though I didn’t speak.

“The Beast-King paid tribute to the Huntsman. Every Samhain.” Kaleb sighed. “Back then, Lugh’s job was to ferry souls across the veil. Back to the Tuatha Dé Danann, where the gods would welcome them.”

“The Huntsman doesn’t do that now?” I guessed.

Kaleb shook his head. “He sends us on dangerous errands, whittling down our numbers. But in all, we search for Éabha. His Weaver.” He took a deep breath. “Éabha was said to be descended from the Black Widows—Sídhe that could weave webs that showed the future. It was said that the Black Widows gave Éabha to the Huntsman for his protection.”

“I’ve heard of Black Widow Sídhe,” I remarked lightly.

“I don’t think they exist anymore.” Kaleb closed his eyes, his face tilted to the sky.

“How did they meet? The Beast-King and Éabha?” I asked.

“Samhain's final night is marked by a ball. Or it used to be.” Kaleb shrugged. “We came to the castle, dressed in our finery, to pay tribute to the Huntsman. The faelord at the edge of the forest. I didn’t realize they had even seen each other, until she arrived under the cover of night many months later. Her belly round with child. Liam, the Beast-King, he created the diversion. But he askedmeto help Éabha escape.”

“He trusted you with her life,” I said weakly.

Kaleb smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “There was no portal. No Gate. Not yet. The only way to travel between the Human Realities and the Aos Sí is by the Hawthorn tree, and youmust possess a special amulet made of the bark of two trees from each world. We didn’t have either.”

“She made the Gate.” I nodded, confirming what I had already guessed.

“Yes.” Kaleb nodded. “She peeled apart the world like an orange and jumped through. When I returned to the pack, the Huntsman laid waste to our home. My Alpha was dead.”

I reached out and placed my hand on his. Kaleb clasped my fingers, needing the scant comfort I offered.

“What happened next?”

Kaleb took a deep, shaky breath. “I made a deal.” He told me. “I was the highest-ranking wolf in my pack, save for the Alpha. But Liam was dead. I marched up to the castle, and I stood in front of the Huntsman, and I begged for my life. I begged for the lives of every wolf in the Forest.”

I said nothing.

“I’m the reason that the wolves are beholden to that damned Huntsman.” Kaleb’s jaw hardened. “And now, I find out that he’s a god? Not just any god, but Lugh?”

“It’s not your fault,” I told him.

“Pah!” He barked a bitter laugh.

“You were with Éabha when she escaped,” I frowned. “Do you know what she took?”

Kaleb thought for a moment before shaking his head. He let go of my hand. “She had nothing. She left her cloak, her shoes.”

“Do you think the Huntsman would tell us what she took?” I glanced at the castle.

Kaleb didn’t answer me.

“Do you think he’s going to let me leave?” I whispered.

“Samhain ends tomorrow. Whatever happens, will happen.” Kaleb said simply, shrugging.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” I pressed, shifting to face him and curling my legs underneath me. “You won’t remember what happened. Almost a week, gone. Whatever you hunted, forgotten. Whatever has happened between us is gone. Whatever you’ve done for the Huntsman. Nothing.”

“It is the way of things.” Kaleb’s orange eyes regarded me with pity, and I was reminded of how old he was.

“You’ll forget me.” My voice was clogged. “I don’t know what’s happening between us. Between me, Dean, Mitchell, and even Wyatt. I don’t know if there is something here or if I’m just scared and clinging to the only people who have shown me a lick of affection. But when you go home, you’ll forget me. I’ll be the person who blackmailed you into protecting me and then disappeared after Samhain. What if you all go back home, and I’m trapped here? With him?”

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