Page 48 of Deadly Little Games

My brows lifted. “You heard him say that?”

He nodded. “At first I thought little of it, and believed he must be right. As far as I was aware previously, the blade was indeed a myth.”

We both turned as the bartender set several open bottles on the bar. Crispin gave her his card—or was it Elena’s card?—and told her to keep the tab open.

I met the bartenders eyes, but it didn’t seem like she’d heard anything we were saying. The noise had picked up considerably in the tavern, but we still needed to be careful.

I sidled closer, lowering my voice. “And what do you believe now?”

A hint of worry flashed in his eyes, then was gone. “I believe Elena needs to speak with her father.”

17

It wastwo in the morning by the time we managed to escape the tavern. Harry had been in fine form, jumping in with one of his own stories as soon as someone else finished. It had gone on for ages, leaving Elena drunk, Gabriel cranky, Crispin with tired bags under his eyes and Sebastian… well he was still as oddly cheerful as ever. Ringo had fallen asleep in my bag around 10 PM, and hadn’t stirred since, not even when we moved to the car and started our way back down the mountain.

I had left Braxton with a promise to call him once I made it somewhere safe, which hopefully wouldn’t be an issue as long as we didn’t run into any more Fae. Gabriel and I would go to the Bogs first to make sure everything was alright with Mistral, then as soon as Elena procured another charm for Sebastian, he and I would return to Emerald Heights.

I didn’t like bringing a devil bodyguard, but I’d had far too many close calls. If I didn’t learn to exercise a little caution, I was going to end up dead. Or trapped in the Crystal Vale. Humans stayed away from the fae realm within the city, and I was with them. Most who managed to cross the boundary never returned.

But my father. Had he really gone there? And what could he have offered the fae to fake my death?

“What an unbearably long drive,” Elena sighed dramatically from the front seat.

I wasn’t sure how many beers she’d had, I knew at least six. “We haven’t even made it to the border yet.”

“Uuughhh.”

I chuckled, looking over at Gabriel, noting the strong bridge of his nose over the grim line of his mouth. A wave of guilt made my throat tight. Mistral had seemed fine with lending him to me. After we put the vines back in their place, he had made it seem like it wasn’t likely to happen again soon. But then why was Gabriel so worried?

“There’s something happening up ahead.” Crispin’s words cut through my thoughts. He’d had only had two beers, along with a large meal, so he was fine to drive, and sounded more alert than ever.

Wrapping my arms around my bag containing Ringo, I leaned forward in my seat, peering out the dark windshield.

But it was too cloudy, leaving us in almost pitch blackness beyond the range of the headlights. “I don’t see anything.”

“Elves see better than most anyone,” Elena said proudly, then giggled.

“She is correct,” Crispin agreed, “so you’re just going to have to trust me. There’s movement up ahead, near the border.” He slowed the car. “Perhaps we should take a moment to scout the road. This could be a trap.”

It was odd hearing Crispin sound so serious and capable, so far from his normally affable demeanor.

Gabriel pressed against my side, peering out the windshield. “If the fae managed to track us, they would have had trouble at the border.”

His words were like an injection of ice into my veins. If we had led the fae here… The werewolves were capable of protectingtheir lands, but there would be casualties. And those casualties would be completely my fault.

“No slowing down. If something happens they may need our help.” I looked at Sebastian, relaxed in his seat. “Allof our help.”

He lifted a brow. “You expect me to protect werewolves now?”

“Yes. I do.”

I didn’t have time to see if he agreed. Our headlights bounced across the bare metal of the twisted gate at the border, and I suddenly was able to see themovementCrispin had spotted. It was difficult to tell in the blaring headlights if they were fae, but considering that they were fighting with werewolves to enter their lands, it seemed likely. A few figures waited on motorcycles beyond the ruined gates, revving their engines in preparation to charge through while others fought werewolves in both human and wolf form all around.

“Fae,” Crispin confirmed, hitting the brakes.

“Shit. What do we do?” Gods, this was my fault. I was glad Theresa and Braxton were still back at the tavern, but Monica could be out there in danger, along with countless other wolves who had nothing to do with my mom or any of this horrible mess.

A giant wolf tumbled into the street in front of us with a small fae woman gripping its fur. With her inhuman strength, she smacked the wolf’s head against the road.

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