Page 148 of Until the Stars Fall

Raven gripped my elbow, pulling me around to face her. “What are you doing, Lieke?”

Instead of responding, I twisted my head around to face Anna. “Why don’t you tell your daughter what you did to all those fae on the road? How you butchered them for no reason.”

Raven slowly released me and turned her attention to her parents. “What is she talking about?”

Anna looked at Raven plainly. “We’ve killed many fae, some more brutally than others. But it’s only fair, given how many of our kind they slaughtered as they drove us from our homes after the war.”

“I thought…” Raven started, shaking her head. “All the training—all the pain I had to inflict on Lieke and the others—it wasn’t merely for defense.”

Anna shared a bored look with her husband. “Maybe she’s not as dumb as we thought.”

Raven didn’t seem at all bothered by the insult, but my blood heated at Anna’s callousness. “That’s your daughter!”

“Unfortunately, yes, she is,” Owen said wearily.

“Still, she’s proven useful enough, has she not?” Anna said, angling her head to study my friend.

Lunging, I swung the knife toward Anna’s side, hoping to lodge it below her ribs, but the older woman had faster reflexes than I’d anticipated. She caught my wrist and squeezed hard as she pulled it up and back in an awkward angle that dragged a groan of pain from my lungs. I dropped the knife into her free hand.

Raven screamed in protest as her mother buried the blade in my belly. I released a ragged gasp. My friend’s horror-filled eyes were the last things I saw before everything went black.

CHAPTER 79

Connor

Even without horses, Matthias and I reached the outskirts of Engle sooner than we would have if we’d ridden out of the main gate. As we approached town, a familiar scent pulled my attention down an old road that was overgrown with weeds, and I stopped mid-stride.

“What is it?” Matthias asked, nearly running into me.

“Lieke,” I muttered, and without a second thought, I veered off the main road.

“So she went”—he paused, scanning our surroundings—“to an abandoned farm? Not the tavern like Mrs. B thought?” Matthias dutifully followed after me. “Why—”

“She’s been here.” My voice was strained under a growing sense of foreboding. “She wouldn’t have come here first, not if she was seeking directions in town.”

“Fair,” Matthias mumbled, dropping his hand to the hilt of his sword. “So do you have a plan at least? Or are we winging this mission?”

“Claws out? Teeth ready?”

“That will surely win her over if she’s just sitting down to tea with her cousin,” Matthias said, smirking.

“Let’s hope that’s what she’s doing.”

Tall cedar trees lined the driveway all the way from the main road to the farm, where they circled the property. An old house stood to our left in a field of tall grass, while a dilapidated barn sat in the center. Matthias and I stopped at the edge of the property, remaining in the protective shade of the trees as we observed the clearing.

“I don’t hear anything, do you?” Matthias asked quietly.

I shook my head. Lieke’s scent lingered, but knowing she was meeting her family twisted my gut. These were the same people who had repeatedly stabbed her in the name oftraining,and I couldn’t determine whether I was more concerned for her safety or worried that she’d come here to betray me.

“You go get a look around,” Matthias suggested. “It will be quicker with your super hound senses than having both of us tromping around in our boots.”

Seeing no issue with his reasoning, I backed up a few paces and shifted forms before bounding off along the tree line. On my padded paws, I crept my way around the property, searching for any sign of who was here. I’d nearly made it to the other side, where the barn lay closer to the trees, when I heard them.

Voices.

I couldn’t discern the words, but I clearly heard at least three individuals: two female, one male. And none of them sounded like Lieke.

My heart pounded against my sternum as panic threatened to take root.

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