Page 39 of Back in the Hunt

“Good,” Nox said with a soft laugh. “I trust the bears more with this place.”

Merlin cleared his throat, tipping his chin toward the cabin as the front doors opened and a tall, wiry, old man with a long dark beard stepped out. He leaned against a post, crossing his boots as he waited to greet them and Bryn thought that he looked more like a wealthy redneck than a warlock.

“Gentlemen,” he said with a tip of his cowboy hat once they were close enough to hear him. His soul was as thick and black as coal smoke, dressed in a red plaid shirt and dark Wrangler jeans. The waist was cinched with a thick leather belt, the goldbuckle almost as big as a license plate with a pair of big enamel American flags and the word ‘FREE’ in red rhinestones.

“What’s free?” Bryn whispered out of the side of his mouth? “Don’t think I want whatever he’s offering.”

Nox smothered a snorting giggle. “Sometimes, patriotism gets in the way of nuance.”

“Especially when it’s merely a costume,” Merlin said as they came to a stop and he nodded at Hugh Dùbhghlas. “He has a keen understanding of his neighbors and their norms.”

Hugh pushed away from the post, a toothpick tucked into the corner of his lips. “What brings the mighty Merlin Oglethorpe all the way out here? To what do I owe the great honor and esteemed privilege?” he asked with a grand, sweeping bow. “And his ‘pupil’?” He eyed Nox with a hostile sneer before giving Bryn a once over, raising a thick black brow at Merlin.

“In the neighborhood?” Merlin attempted with an eye roll. “I was sent to inquire about the alarming number of sluagh in the Beltway. You wouldn’t be behind that, would you?”

That got a hard grunt from Hugh and he shook his head. “Not me. What would I want with them and why would I care about what’s going on out there?” he asked coyly. “Keep quiet and mind my business, that’s always been my motto.”

“And what business is that these days?” Merlin quizzed him, just as coyly.

Hugh took the toothpick out of his mouth and flicked it at Merlin, sending it flipping through the air before it landed at their feet and made a soft, sizzling sound. “That’smybusiness but it doesn’t have anything to do with the sluagh,” he said and Merlin hummed loudly.

“I’m sure it doesn’t. What about banshee or aos sí? Should we expect to see more trouble from those as well?” His tone was smarmy, making Bryn snicker as Hugh rolled his eyes.

“I’ve got better things to do than send an army of peons to harass the humans of the Beltway.”

“They’re lying!” a cold voice hissed before Bryn noticed a small bespectacled child peeking around the door, hiding in the shadows.

Merlin flinched but quickly recovered, smiling cheerfully as he stepped forward. “Well hello, little boy! Didn’t see you there!” He sounded more like a grandfatherly leprechaun with his soft Irish lilt and was utterly charming as he reached into his pocket. “I think I have a sweet in here!” he said excitedly and pulled out a classic swirled rainbow lollipop. “I’m sure your…grandfather won’t mind,” Merlin added with a daring look at Hugh.

He shook his head and the “boy” staggered onto the porch, leaning on a cane as it dragged its left leg. Whatever it was, it was not a child, but an abomination with mottled, pale gray skin and empty black sockets where its eyes used to be. But it was theemptinessthat had Bryn rearing back and gasping. It had no soul and Bryn couldn’t help but recoil at howwrongthe child was. There were small, swirling moats, buzzing like gnats around its head. Bryn thought they were bugs and attracted to its filthy gray pajamas, then suppressed a snarl when he realized they were trapped souls.

“Easy!” Nox whispered with a firm tug on the back of Bryn’s hoodie but Hugh had noticed.

He shooed the damned changeling back into the house, staring Bryn down from the top step. “You have your pets and I have mine, Merlin.”

“Pets?” Merlin countered as he turned to Bryn. “Would you take commands from me?”

Bryn didn’t bother to hold back and howled with laughter. Truly howling as he tipped back his head, then shook it as he wiped his eyes. “Don’t see that happening.”

“It is…unconscionable, what you have done!” Merlin hissed at Hugh, leaning forward on his cane. He was seething, his nostrils flaring as he stared Hugh down.”

“What is it that you think I have done?” Hugh returned. He laughed as he went back to leaning against the post. “I can’t be the only one who’s taken in a changeling. Couldyouturn away a creature no one wanted, that had been thrown away?” he asked sadly, shaking his head. “I think not!”

“There is a line!” Merlin replied. “One you have always ignored but this time, you have gone too far.”

“Not this time. You’re the one who’s come too far and crossed the line.” Hugh shook his head and pointed in the direction they had come. “Y’all go on now. You don’t want any trouble.”

Bryn’s neck craned. “That’s not why we’re here but if you’re offering, I might be interested,” he said and went to meet him, but Merlin held out a hand, blocking Bryn.

“I sense a trap.” He scanned the porch and the cabin’s facade. “He’s been expecting or hoping for something for a while. This place is cursed and guarded with dark, foul magick,” he warned.

“It’s gross,” Nox confirmed, raising a hand and scanning as he drifted to the right.

“Not too far!” Merlin ordered in a tight whisper and Nox obediently returned to his side.

Hugh’s dry, scratching laugh made Bryn’s teeth itch. “Let him go, Merlin. I ain’t scared.”

“Name a time and a place, if it’s a face-off you want,” Merlin countered with a hard snort at Hugh. “But I will not be walking into a trap and I would never risk losing these two, they’re far too precious. Not for that monstrosity or whatever else you’ve spawned to lure us here.”

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