Page 104 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

I glanced up at myanam, saw the concern in his eyes, and wished again that I could speak directly into his mind to reassure him. I’d be able to if I were initiated; I could know him in a way that I’d never known anyone before. I’d know all the riders like that, even if I would prefer never to see Ciaran’s face again. But everything that I had ever craved—protection, safety, family—all of it could be mine among the aes sídhe and the Wild Hunt.

But I would not be initiated until Rian was satisfied that they could trust me completely.

I thought Sage might be angry or feel betrayed by the revelation about Riordan, but he was not. When I glanced at him, he moved toward me, set the wine bottle on the table and sat next to me. His proximity provided me with a sense of security and support at my back as I faced the Autumn Prince again.

“It is not Riordan’s personal interests that I hold dear, and it is not wholly… Idocare a great deal for the lives of millions of feyandgriffins,” I added sharply to Ciaran whose mouth twisted in disapproval. “I’ve been passing back and forth because I was sworn to protect a fire witch in Uile Breithà. She has become… a friend,” I admitted.

I expected the riders to react angrily to this disclosure, witches were not well liked by fey since they slaughtered our kind for their magic. But the only one who betrayed any response was Ciaran who looked surprised before he glanced at the curtained doorway to Rian’s chamber.

“What a coincidence,” muttered Darragh.

“She is the one who helped break the king’s curse?” guessed Rian, reclaiming all my attention, and I nodded. “Then she is his new chosen mate, and you have leverage to force him to meet with us and discuss terms.”

“Perhaps, but emptying the Vale of all fey will leave it vulnerable to the Rot as well,” I pointed out firmly.

“Griffins are not fey, they feed off our magic, and it is probable that all the power they syphon into the Vale has allowed the Rot to spread in the Four Courts,” Rian said. “They are of no concern to me.”

“But they are a concern ofmine,” I maintained sternly. “My friend won’t leave her mate, he will not abandon his people, and I cannot allow her to be hurt. We will find a way to get what we want onmutually agreeableterms, that is what you just said,” I reminded him.

Rian hesitated, drawing in a reluctant breath before he released it in a long sigh through his nostrils.

“I cannot force them to cooperate,” he dismissed.

“No, but you can make your termsagreeable.”

“One of us needs to give up their home, Ornella. I am not volunteering. Do you think the griffins will?”

No, absolutely not. Especially if there was nowhere for them to go. They would fight to protect their home the same as the fey were fighting to protect theirs.

“It’s late, and all of this new information requires a bit of thought on my part, so we’ll discuss the griffins later,” Rian advised me. “Before you find your beds, there are other developments of which you must be made aware.”

Rian rose, still graceful in spite of how intoxicated he must be. My body felt like it was buzzing, and he had been consuming the wine andcneasúbefore I arrived.

“Ciaran filled me in on the situation with the Fuath and their rather crafty alchemist. We fly to Aes Mirr in the morning to convince Eive to move her people before they can become the next target,” Rian informed us.

“We should bring my mother with us. Her words will be far better received by the other Sua,” Sage interjected. “The ShadowBanshee will not appreciate us suggesting that she cannot defend her people.”

“Ah, but I was looking forward to watching her try and turn Rian away,” Ciaran responded, smirking for the first time in my presence as he looked at the Autumn Prince.

“As amusing as that may be, Sage is right,” said Rian. “We must not threaten to override the authority of the Sua whilst offering them our aid. Sage will retrieve his mother in the morning to accompany us to Aes Mirr. Once they are made safe, we will turn our attention toward dealing with the Fuath before they can take any more territory.”

“How do you plan to do that?” I asked him.

“However I must,” Rian answered unflinchingly.

“The Sua do not want their forests and rivers burned,” Darragh said, sounding as annoyed by this as Rian appeared to be.

“Yes, so I have heard. I will just have to root the Fuath out one by one with blade and shadow. It is probably for the best. The revenge will taste better if I am face-to-face with them while they die,” Rian mused coldly.

His cruel smile was uncanny on such an angelic face, but it was the shadows that began to seep out of his hands that made me really nervous. They manifested like mist which congealed into wispy tendrils that curled sensually up his bare forearms. They were not like the intangible shadows Ciaran and Sage could draw to them and hide in. These had a solid and velvety quality to them as if they could touch and be touched, and I knew instinctively that they were his dark gift from the Destroyer. These inky appendages were a manifestation of the terrifying magic that could devour living things.

Rian seemed to remember himself, and he turned away from us abruptly. The shadows dispersed around him as seamlessly as they had appeared.

“Ancient wards around a temple in Kaldthjem were dismantled and the priests were slaughtered,” he said, evidently moving on to a new topic. He had approached a beautiful globe that was suspended from a wooden pole in the roof of his tent and tapped it so it began to spin.

Kaldthjem was an underground city of archives in the Winter Court that was legendary. I had never been there, getting access was almost impossible, but I’d heard about it from my father and Riona of the Foraoise.

“I was asked to attend the scene and offer any insight I was able to, but I did not need my gifts to recognize the culprit right away. Cian O’Duinn escaped imprisonment,” Rian advised us significantly.

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