Chapter 20

Twenty

WESLEY

“ F inn?” I asked, my heart still pounding, body confused with lingering lust and terror. Never a fun combination. He tugged me away from the creek’s edge, until we stood in the last narrow band of sunlight.

The light blasted away the lingering desire, and the fear faded as the forest settled into familiar, though eerie stillness. I blinked back tears at the brightness as my head gave a warning throb.

Had the bit about the wolf and the child been a Vision? I rarely saw the past, but my mind churned with questions, desperate for answers, yet fearing them at the same time. Finn had shared the nightmare of the realm devoured by shadows, had he seen this Vision as well?

“Did you dream of the child and the shadow wolf, too?”

“Yes,” Finn whispered hesitantly.

“Finn…”

“My moms…” Finn whispered. “Amber and Camille. I don’t remember any of that, but I was adopted by them. They said I’d been wandering in the woods.” He dropped into silence for a few seconds, arms strong around me, clinging as if he needed to hold me to keep himself upright.

I sucked in a narrow breath, heart squeezing. “The shadow wolf protected you from the Hunt.” The familiar and terrifying wail of the icy monsters left a lifetime of bitter memories for any who survived crossing their path. I’d led them away from the Summer king. Ran until I thought I’d die with them chasing me through the unraveling chaos of Underhill, and I’d never forget their howl. “The fae fucking Hunt was after you as a kid?”

“I didn’t know,” he said. “Sometimes I dreamed of the wail, or of something lunging at me in the dark. As a kid, I had an unexplainable fear of the woods. It’s one of the reasons I went into ghost hunting, to face my fears. I thought if I proved to myself none of it was real, I could overcome the trauma.”

And still wound up yanked into a fae realm at the mercy of greater power. He was lucky he hadn’t been caught by the Hunt . Why had the shadow wolf protected him? Why had the Hunt been after him? Thousands of stories of changelings, and I’d never met one. The idea that a fae would leave its child in the mortal realm and take a powerless mortal one in return, sounded crazy to me. Mortals stumbled themselves into slavery to the fae all the time without having to be taken as children. But maybe I was wrong.

And the Hunt didn’t trade kids, they hunted to devour magic.

“They never found your parents? Or why you were in the woods?”

“No one claimed me,” Finn said. “I had a couple of foster homes that lasted a few days, weeks at most. Had night terrors and a lot of other issues as a kid, but it was my moms who took me in the end and raised me. They had to fight for custody, but they loved me and accepted my weirdness.”

“Do you recall what sort of weirdness? Other than the nightmares. Did you see ghosts as a kid?”

He hesitated.

“Finn.” I tugged out of his grasp and turned to look at him. “That shadow thing thinks you belong to it.”

“Why do you say that? You’re its mate, not me.”

“It said mine , and it wasn’t referring to me. It thinks you belong to it. And if it’s the same shadow wolf as in your dream…” He had been singled out by the Autumn king. Everyone recognized the power of Autumn as dark, moody, with unpredictable lows and highs, but it was Winter that stole lives with their cold grasp. Why did Autumn need this human?

“I don’t know what that means,” he said.

Neither did I. Why would the Hunt want a mortal child? All of my senses, magic and otherwise told me he was human. Ordinary.

Mostly.

In fact, most mortals weren’t as ordinary as Finn. Many had a touch of magic, even if they ignored it. The weave of the mystical in the mortal world touched everything. But not Finn. I stared at him, searching for that familiar spark, but found nothing.

Ordinary. Unnoticeable or hidden?

“What?” Finn asked.

What had the wolf meant by ‘torn’?

“Weirdness,” I prompted again.

“I spoke in an unknown language as a kid, and talked to shadows,” Finn said. “They thought I was autistic for a long time.” He hugged himself and wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I try really hard to fit in, but a lot of it is a performance. I’ve always been weird , and most people don’t like weird. Many sense it before I can get close and avoid me.”

“Do you still talk to shadows and speak in unknown languages?”

“No. Other than talking to that dragon thing. But you saw it too. I’m not imagining things.”

“Anything else that would make you stand out? Powers? Like seeing dead people.” My temple gave another warning throb. I was going to need to sleep someplace dark soon or risk the migraine making me immobile. Losing the cabin really hurt.

“I’ve always been drawn to the woods, and I think I can sense ghosts as we often catch something on camera wherever we go. It’s how my vlog has gotten popular. We find unexplainable crap. Even got an offer to do a cable show, but I like having control too much to let some producer fake crap for views.” He glanced my way, as though looking for disgust or disbelief on my face. “But you said ghosts are everywhere. That means it’s not special to sense them, right?”

“For a human it would be.” I covered my eyes as my head throbbed. “I’m not certain you’re human anymore. Fuck,” I cursed. “I’ve got to get someplace dark. My head is killing me.”

“Did the dragon do something to you?”

“No. Any time I have a Vision, I’m rewarded with a terrible migraine. If I don’t find a place to rest from the light soon, I’ll start vomiting until I pass out.”

“That sounds awful.” Finn asked. “Close your eyes. I’ll find us some place dark and safe.” He wrapped his arms around me and guided me away from the creek and to somewhere safe and sheltered. “What about the shadows?”

“Are they moving?” I asked without opening my eyes. My stomach gave a warning lurch. If I didn’t rest soon, I’d be upchucking air.

“Um… only normally, I think. Like when the sun vanishes behind the trees. Not dripping dragon like. And what do you mean you don’t think I’m human?”

“Can we discuss it after I rest?”

“Yes. Though it’s going to eat at me.”

“Sorry. Pain is making my brain mush.” All light and sound added to the growing pain. The air rustling bushes and leaves, and the sun shining through my eyelids rattled my resolve with every step. Finn led me in a solid path through thick grass, holding tight and keeping me upright even when I stumbled with each violent throb of my temple.

“Being fae doesn’t sound all that great. Cursed with Visions that make you sick, mated to some dude who doesn’t seem to understand boundaries, stuck in a world away from amazing things like coffee and chocolate chip bagels.”

“Half fae,” I corrected. “Other half is elemental.”

“What is an elemental?”

“An earth spirit.” I sighed. “Brain, hurt.” A sharp spike jutted through my brow from left to right, smashing my eyesight to an array of colored squiggles. My gut flipped over, and I yanked myself away from him to vomit up bile and shadow-stained water. At least I passed out after less than a half dozen attempts to throw up my own stomach.