Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

My breath became a prison trapped behind my teeth as I attempted to melt into the wall. The truths I'd been na?vely clinging to concerning Ossian—his benevolence, generosity, fair-mindedness—were evaporating. He was never… whatever this was. Vicious? Especially towards Alec. But then again, it was clear I didn't know the high fae as well as I thought I did. While I held no love for the Brother, I began to pity him.

"That stunt with the bear," Ossian hissed, his sharp canine teeth glinting in the setting sun. "What were you thinking?"

"My lord, please," Alec gurgled, his one hand gripping Ossian's wrist and begging for breath.

The tendons in the fae's forearm bulged as he shouted, "That's not an answer!"

Alec was turning purple, and I had half a mind to interfere. I'd told Ossian to question him about the grizzly, not Spanish-Inquisition him. And what if Alec was just like me, beguiled into believing lies?

With a snarl, Ossian released his second. Not lowered him to the ground and freed his neck; Ossian simply flexed his fingers wide and let the man drop. There was thunk , a crunch, and a thud all in quick succession, and then Alec didn't know whether to massage his bruised throat or paw at his ankle. He certainly couldn't do both at the same time, not with only one hand, and the fae king was still expecting an explanation.

His icy blue eyes now glassy with restrained tears, Alec looked up at his king with a mixture of fear and horror. Mostly fear. "Y-you said she might benefit from a trial b-by fire, my lord. I was only trying to help."

"Help?" Ossian stooped, getting right into Alec's face, his next words accompanied by enraged spittle. " Help? Did it ever occur to that I might lose to the bear? That he might break this?" He thrust his necklace into his second's face, particularly the large blue gem. It glowed at it always did, but this time, something swirled inside the crystal.

By the Green Mother, was that a cloch instead of a sapphire?

"You'd never lose to that beast," Alec protested forcefully, though there was still a tremor to his voice. "You are Cernunnos, the true—"

"Do not flatter me." The fae king straightened with a look of disgust. "I have to feed at least once a day to amass the magic needed to keep him contained and in his bear form. The longer he stays shifted, the more the bear consumes the man. And that man is very dangerous, something you've quite forgotten. You've let your inflated self-importance and confidence in my power blind you. I'm disappointed in you, Alec."

The man, who I had always found so intimidating and loathsome, sniveled at Ossian's feet, grasping for his trouser leg, his bare foot, anything he could get his hand on. "My lord, no. No. "

Ossian kicked his hand away. "If she ever discovers who that bear truly is, it will the undoing of us all. And I am going home, Alec. I will not fail in this. The Court of Beasts—Elfame—is mine , and she is the key to delivering it. She is everything , do you understand that? You get nothing if she fails, so you will behave . Am I quite clear?"

Alec nodded furiously. "I do, my lord. I do. Thank you, my lord. Thank—"

"Shut up." Ossian hoisted Alec to his feet, the man crying out in pain as his leg buckled under him. A moment later, copper sparks leapt from the fae king's fingers and Alec's whimpering ceased. His leg straightened under him, again able to withstand his weight, and he blinked away the tears he hadn't shed. Swallowing, the man nodded his gratitude.

Ossian wiped his hands free of the dust he'd touched on Alec's clothes and began to pace. "I need more feeders, Alec. That rabble you and Wystan brought in isn't going to cut it, and I can't feed off the matriarch daily, not anymore. The hedge witch, too, I can't weaken her."

My fingers where they clamped over my mouth to muffle my breathing dug into my cheeks in alarm. Oh my Green Mother, Wystan was Ossian's supplier . His literal magic hunter.

"And the witches at the farmhouse are weak from being away from their home hearth too long," Alec thought aloud. "That incident today was just their last-ditch effort to get the hearth to obey them—it didn't work."

Farmhouse? Home hearth?

He can't be talking about the Hawthornes… can he? My family had come here, away from their home hearth… to a farmhouse I had apparently stayed at for quite some time… to collect the grimoire. But they'd all gone back to Hawthorne Manor, hadn't they? It was December now, so they were baking cookies and hanging the greenery and preparing for our annual Yuletide Gala. W-weren't they?

The maelstrom blocking the rest of my memories swirled as I fought to remember. Oh my Green Mother, say it's not them. It can't be them! But I'd never heard anyone else but Grandmother be referred to as matriarch, either.

Though surely I would have seen something strange there this aftern—

The writing! Primal W— That's all the invisible hand had written in the ashes. No "Danger, Meadow Hawthorne, danger," or any such thing. But how could I have been in the same farmhouse as them and never seen them?

Alec finished rubbing on his chin's two-day stubble as he came to a conclusion. "We'll have to take from the court."

Ossian tsked. "They'll be missed."

"I wouldn't miss that honey badger," his second snorted.

The fae king actually laughed, a harsh bark of a noise. "No, certainly not that one. But Meadow would, and that would only compromise the illusion. Gods, it's becoming more fragile by the day as she becomes stronger. The tonic and the Caer powder, not to mention the rubies, they're all losing their effectiveness. I think she's becoming resistant."

Ossian's shoulders squared, and he ceased his pacing. "What news of Drake? Reinforcements would be untimely and put an even larger strain on my magic."

Revulsion coursed through me. Drake was one of Alec's Brothers, a big burly blond-haired brute… who I hadn't seen around the castle in a while. Thistle thorns, where was he? I searched my memory for a snatch of conversation, an overheard snippet of gossip, and found nothing. I'd made it a point to avoid the Brotherhood as much as possible, and now I was kicking myself for not being nosy.

Alec shook his head, smirking. "He's bored with his babysitting assignment. Leaderless, they're all cowering like rabbits in their warren when a fox is near. Ripe for the draining, if he can get one of them alone."

"You know I cannot give my permission," Ossian said sharply. Then his tone softened. "Though, when has that stopped mortals from doing whatever they want? And technically your Brothers report to you, not me."

Alec's smirk transformed into a sickle-like grin.

"And the Brothers you sent after that wolf shifter?"

Wolf shifter? Could it be the one from Sawyer and my memories, the one with the golden-white fur? Our… friend?

The grin vanished from his second's face. "They haven't caught him yet. But it's only a matter of time."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Alec," the fae king snapped. After a breath, he waved his hand, returning to his primary concern. "Take who you must from the court, but not anyone she has regular interactions with. The raccoon and the beaver, perhaps, and that raccoon's elusive brownie, if you can snatch him. They are not Fair Folk, but their life essences should be sufficient enough. For the next few days, anyway. Perhaps one or two of the hobs as well, but not the one who brings in the apple butter. She's too fond of that one."

"The hobs, my lord?"

"The woodchucks, Alec."

Kind old Emmett and cantankerous but heart-of-gold Cody? Dale, Roland, Ricky, Joe, Walt, or any of the twelve? To become feeders in a dungeon that wasn't supposed to exist? I don't think so.

I'd heard enough. More than enough. Hardly daring to breathe, I inched away from the archway and pressed a hand over my aching heart. I didn't know what would happen if I rejected this bond, but I could no longer in good conscience love this fae male or stay here any longer.

He was allowing the hobgoblin villain Wystan to terrorize the very people he was supposed to protect, including my friends. The very people he was apparently feeding off of, siphoning away their magic. And the Brotherhood wasn't patrolling the court—they were the wardens of this town-wide prison! If that wasn't enough…

Toirchim tonic, Caer powder—I almost ripped the rubies from my ears except that would've left a possible blood trail to be discovered. He'd been manipulating me for, for— Thistle thorns, I didn't know for how long, and that was kind of the point. I still couldn't figure out why , though. I knew my desire to go to Elfame was my own, and he was clearly desperate to get back to his home realm, so why the deception? Unless it had something to do with the bear.

You can figure that out later, Meadow, but only if you don't get nailed by Caer powder again.

Forcing my pulse to calm down, I steeled myself for what was to come. I would run back to my room and collect my cat. My Sawyer. The one who had been my true friend all along. Then I would flee this castle, find Flora, Daphne, and Shari, alert the others, and get back to that farmhouse before—

Having been ignored long enough, my empty stomach snarled .

Between one shuddering blink and the next, the fae king stood in front of me, jewel-green eyes gleaming in the gloom. "Hello, love."