Page 13 of Back in the Hunt

A drenched Bryn leaned into the room, his nose and chin dripping as his chest heaved. “Everything alright?” he asked Everly, giving Nox a curt nod.

Everly couldn’t remember ever feeling better. “Everything’s really good. Go dry off,” he said, but Bryn hesitated, lingering in the doorway as his gaze darted between Nox and Everly.

“You’re not overwhelming him, are you?” he asked Nox gruffly.

“Hush! No!” Everly said and gestured for Bryn to stop. “Please be nice and get out of those wet clothes,” he repeated.

“Okay. Sorry,” Bryn told Everly before hurrying off, leaving a puddle of water in the doorway.

“Well done,” Nox whispered to Everly, looking impressed.

Everly didn’t hide how surprised and tickled he was. “Thanks!”

“Looks like you can teach an old dog new tricks. I’ll make myself scarce before he gets back. Need anything from the kitchen?”

“No. I really am feeling better and I’ll try to remember what you said,” Everly promised and thanked Nox again before he left. “I wonder if I could be a witch like Nox and Merlin,” he murmured to himself as he tucked into a bowl of cozy, comforting blueberry oatmeal. It was exactly what he needed on such a gloomy morning, making Everly even more certain that his new friends were truly blessings.

Four

Afew days later, Arawn and Fletcher returned to Georgetown for the long weekend with a packed bag for Bryn. Nelson had loaned Bryn some clothes, but it was a relief to finally have his own things. Fletcher also had a thick stack of records from various law enforcement agencies along the East Coast.

“These are cold cases,” Fletcher told them, dropping the folders onto the desk in the study. He had hinted that he had found something concerning so Arawn suggested basketball on the back terrace to keep Everly distracted while Fletcher filled them in. “Mostly Jane Does with unexplained causes of death and no next of kin. I thought some of them might be like Everly,” Fletcher explained quietly, earning a heavy sigh from Merlin.

“I’ve asked around as well and there have been other disappearances. More like Everly.”

“Are there many more?” Nelson asked and Merlin nodded.

“There are. It’s hard to know how many because they tend to keep to themselves, like our poor Everly, unless they’re lucky enough to find friends like us. And those friends have been looking and warning the others. They’re vanishing!”

“Damn it!” Nelson whispered as he watched Everly. “That means he’s still in danger.”

Nox nodded and looked somber. “Poor little guy. He’s coming out of his shell and he’s so happy now,” he said and Merlin hummed sadly.

“I imagine he’s waited his whole life just to have a normal relationship.”

Bryn thought about the dirty, defeated waif he’d picked up off the pavement and carried back to his place. “He has us now and he’s going to be alright.Right?” he asked when Nox and Merlin hesitated.

“If we can get to this one who calls himself Abhartach first,” Merlin said. “In the meantime, Everly needs to remain here with us, especially at night, or the sluagh will see him and send for their master.”

“What are they, the sluagh?” Nelson asked and Fletcher perked up.

“Oh! I know this one!” he said, looking at Bryn and Merlin for permission. “They’re damned souls,” he told Nelson excitedly. “I thought it was just an expression, but you can actually sell your soul to a demon and that’s what happens, you turn into a sluagh and spend the rest of eternity in the Nothing.”

“But Everly was attacked on this side,” Nelson pointed out, earning a serious hum from Merlin.

“It’s not unheard of to find a stray or two over here. Never so many, though. Sluagh aren’t like corvids, despite their appearance and behavior. They’re empty, mindless, aimless… For so many to flock together and to attack a fae? That’s very dark work and suggests something much more sentient and powerful.”

Nox’s head cocked and he frowned. “Do you know of anyone strong enough to command that many sluagh?” he asked, but Merlin turned toward the terrace, his eyes narrowing. “Merlin?” Nox gave him a nudge.

“I have a few ideas, but I can’t see why anyone, even the darkest witch, would target changelings. They’re often too weak to do anyone like us any harm. Look at poor Everly. He had no idea what he was, just that he was a danger to others.”

Poor Everly?

Bryn seethed as he watched Everly shoot the ball at the hoop Nelson had put up the evening prior. They had learned a lot about Everly’s life before the attack and it was far worse than “poor.” Forced into hiding to protect others, Everly’s life had shrunk to a cheap efficiency unit overlooking an overpass and various chat rooms on the internet.

After the attack, Everly couldn’t risk going out at night, but it was agreed that he needed more sun and that the back terrace was safe as long as he had one of the twins with him. The ball sailed past the hoop, missing it by several feet, but Arawn went after it, cheering encouragingly.

The five of them cringed and hissed as Arawn bounced the ball at Everly and it hit him in the chest. He fumbled to get a hold of it, then hit himself in the chin when he tried to dribble. His rhythm was off and his limbs flailed as he hopped and attempted another shot.

---