Page 6 of Back in the Hunt

Merlin reared back, spluttering. “You most certainly have not, you sniveling whelp. The thing that you call the Nothing has been quiet inyour time, but there are some who remember the days of the Wild Hunt and the vengeance your ancestors brought to that realm.” He shushed and wagged a finger at Bryn when he tried to object. “I do not doubt that you have donegreat,heroic things on both sides of the veil. Not one bit, I promise you, lad. But you are that: a lad. And a puppy, compared to the awesome, dreaded specters that ran with his ancestor,” Merlin explained in an angry, shaking whisper as he pointed at Nox.

Storming out wasn’t an option, thanks to Everly, so Bryn pushed out a belligerent huff. “I still don’t think it’s necessary foryouto see him naked,” he muttered under his breath. “We’ve been warned about you and those grabby, little hands.”

“Oh? Well, fair enough!” Merlin flailed dismissively. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, shall we get to it?”

Bryn was begrudgingly impressed as Merlin and Nox worked to cleanse and revive Everly’s waning spirit. The pale blue sliver had grown to a steady glow by the time Bryn carried Everly downstairs and onto the back terrace to recharge in the moonlight, a few hours later.

They had made a fan out of Arawn, he couldn’t stop gushing about all the things he had learned from Merlin and Nox in just a handful of hours. A self-taught healer, scientist, and a surgeon,Arawn made the emergency room his field of battle and the gate from which he ferried souls.

Witnessing two powerful witches at work would have more appeal for Arawn, he was a scholar and a scientist where Bryn was a brawler, ready to charge into battle and fight his way out. He was grateful for their help as Everly’s soul glowed stronger and stronger by the moment. But Bryn couldn’t stop thinking about how much of a waste it was and how selfish Merlin and Nox were for shirking their duties to hold onto their cozy human lives.

“Want me to stay up with you?” Arawn asked when he came out with a cup of tea for Bryn.

“Nah. I’m good.”

“That’s what Merlin said.” Arawn winked and snickered. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were flirting.”

Bryn choked on his tea. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were delirious and needed to get some sleep.”

Arawn shook his head. “We both know I’m not and that we don’t need it. Please get over this grudge you have against them. They’regood, decent people.”

“No, they arenot,” Bryn stated in a hard, clipped whisper. “They are a walking demigod who’s chosen to hide amongst the academic elite as a celebrity investigator and his two semi-immortal sidekicks. Nox thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes and this place is 221B fucking Baker Street, complete with a Watson he can jerk off with and a miniature Mrs. Hudson. I hate it.” Bryn stuck his tongue out and shivered, disgusted at the banality.

Arawn squinted at him, exasperated and spiritually exhausted. Being twins and sharing strands of the same soul meant that they could literally feel each other. “I’m going to bed. The bed that the kind people who savedyourfriend’s life and soul offered, without hesitation or expectation of anything in return,” he added pointedly.

“Good. Go. Thank themagainfor me while you’re at it,” Bryn said and raised his cup in salute.

“Whatever,” Arawn groaned as he rose, giving Bryn’s shoulder an affectionate knead. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Bryn chuckled as he sipped, because that was really all that mattered and all he had ever counted on. They weren’t just twins in the typical, human sense. Their brother souls had been braided together since the time of the Wild Hunt, tethered to the same line of Cadwalladers that started their breed. And not a single generation of sacred spectral hounds had betrayed their brother or their destiny.

“Unlikesomepeople I can think of,” Bryn murmured to himself and Everly, frowning into his tea. “They did come through for us, I’ll give them that.”

Two

Looks aren’t everything.

Everly Wells had learned that lesson before he had learned to walk. He had been stolen twice, once from his birth mother and then from the monster who had taken him. Neither kidnapper was willing to cooperate and died in prison, quickly wasting away from inexplicable illnesses, so there were no answers to who Everly really was and where he had come from. DNA tests had been done, but those had been busts as well. One technician had jokingly told Everly that he might not even be human because analysis of his alleles was completely inconclusive.

An astonishingly beautiful and charming child, Everly went from one foster home to the next with each mother growing more possessive and obsessive. Their love for him would consume them until it destroyed their lives and finances. Everly had prayed the curse would end once he reached adulthood, but the pattern continued with his friends and destroyed every romantic relationship he attempted.

It was laughably easy for Everly to find work. He was often hired on sight, butkeepinga job was an entirely different matter. Businesses collapsed around him because Everly wasn’tgood at many things. A terrible pattern had formed until he found work answering customer service calls from home. But before that, Everly would be hired and promoted too quickly, often put in charge of things he had no business doing. Or, someone close to the top would say or do something wildly inappropriate for Everly and find themselves unemployed.

Thanks to Amazon and online grocery ordering, Everly could avoid human contact for weeks. And masking and tinted glasses made it easier to hide most of his features when he had to be in public during the day.

Nights were generally safest, but Everly couldn’t remember why he had set out or where he was headed the night he was attacked. All he could recall was that he had longed foranyother outcome than the paranoid isolation and gnawing guilt of his existence. The furious shrieks and the frantic flapping of all those wings had come as a relief as Everly was swarmed and battered into unconsciousness. He let go of his last breath, grateful for an end to the endless loneliness of his days.

Then, just as quickly as they had descended, the giant shadow birds scattered and Everlyfelthis guardian’s arrival. And in the cold, dark mist, Everly saw a great, glowing hound. Instead of fur and bone and claws, it was made of smoke and its eyes blazed like flames. As large as a truck, it had towered over Everly’s hopeless soul and lifeless body, snarling and furious as it protected him from the phantom birds.

Everly had succumbed to the cold, quiet darkness and had thought it was the end, until the great hound found him and carried what was left of him back into the light. That warm, protective presence remained, but Everly was too weak and too lost to wake up. He heard voices, far off in the distance, and could make out bits of conversations, but Everly couldn’t find his own voice to call for help.

Then, Everly was awash in light and heat and could feel himself healing. He was still tired, but Everly had limbs and a heartbeat again, and he washungrywhen he finally opened his eyes. The fancy, grown-up bedroom with its mahogany four poster bed and soft gray bedding was completely foreign to Everly and he didn’t recognize the view outside the window.

But he was immediately comforted as he considered the man sleeping in the armchair at the foot of the bed. He had a strong, jagged jaw that was partially obscured by dark, messy waves that shivered with each soft, snoring huff. His tall, muscular frame was curled into a tight ball, his knees hugged against his chest. His feet seemed almost too large and Everly couldn’t help but stare. Dressed in just a pair of cutoff joggers, the other man’s bare chest and legs were very hairy.

Not in a displeasing way, though, and Everly regretted when his bladder and stomach screamed that it was time to get up. He shifted just slightly, barely disturbing the covers, but the other man sprang to his feet, his fists up and ready.

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