Night Fae by Meg Xuemei X.

Chapter 18

 

 

 

 

 

I scanned my surroundings under the thick canopy of trees. My instincts told me that the new hunters would be way more dangerous than the untrained human mob. Real huntsmen were coming for me.

A ray of sunlight filtered through the thick leaves. It could be high noon now.

My team arrived after me, all panting except for Megan, though she was breathing slightly hard. Charlie lagged behind, pausing and putting his palms on his knees to catch his breath before he struggled toward us.

“I’m so out of shape,” Jill and Richie said nearly at the same time through their labored breaths.

“Are all Fae like you, with so much stamina?” Megan eyed me enviously. “Is it in your DNA? No wonder even my former jailors, the low Fae, had such a superior attitude toward us.”

“Fae are mostly arrogant asses,” I said. “But they’re born stronger than humans. I’m still learning to get along with them, as I was raised by my mage parents. So, whenever I can, I put the Fae in their place.”

“You should have told me your legacy,” Richie said, regret brewing in his eyes. “I’d have understood.”

“Hey, douche, you cheated on her, even though she’s obviously way better than you,” Megan said harshly. “Now you dare to blame her? You’re lucky she has a big heart and is letting you tag along.”

“I blame myself for being fucking blind,” Richie said. “If I’d known—”

“It’s all in the past, Richie,” I cut in. “Let’s not get sidetracked. We have more important things to worry about—like survival.”

Charlie looked up and studied the canopy. “Are we hiding here?”

“No,” I said, laying my backpack on the forest floor. “This may look like an ideal place to camp, but nothing in faerie or this realm is what it seems. In the Wild Hunt, no one can hide. But we do need to find the best shelter we can and come up with a defensive strategy before we can go on the offensive. We don’t know what type of hunters we’ll face next.”

At the mention of the huntsmen, a war drum beat in my blood.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Jill asked. “You said that you were raised in the human world. You even dated a human guy.”

“I dated a lot of human guys,” I said, catching a glimpse of a sour look in Richie’s blue eyes. Seriously, this guy cheated on me and he was jealous of my dating history? I shook my head but let it go. He wasn’t important to me. He never had been. He was just a distraction for me in college. I wasn’t pleased by his cheating, but it didn’t hurt me.

Unlike the Winter King’s betrayal, which had gutted me.

That pain still throbbed in me, and I doubted any amount of time would ever heal it. Time might erase some painful memories, but for an ache so deep in my soul, I doubted the hurt would ever truly go away. I hated to acknowledge it, but I hadn’t been able to sever the mystic bond between Rowan and me, although it was now buried under layers of ember and ash.

At the thought of the mating bond, I reached deeply through my link to my mates and called for them, but it was like shouting into the void.

I could no longer feel them.

Panic and dismay rushed through me, but I shoved them down, ignoring the agony and grief pressing on my heart. If I wanted to guarantee my team’s and my survival, I had to think with a cool head. I had to remain emotionally detached, and I had to acknowledge that I could only rely on myself in the Wild Hunt. I needed to move on and keep my wits together.

I’d allow only cold clarity to flow through me and sharpen my senses.

“To answer your question, Jill,” I said, “I’ve been well trained since I was a child. My dad once left me in the jungle when I was seven. It took eight days for me to find a way out.”

“That was cruel,” Richie said. “That was child abuse. Your father—”

“My father is a great dad who had incredible foresight,” I said. “If he hadn’t prepared me, I would never have made it so far. I’d have died long ago.”

The only skill my parents hadn’t prepared me for was magic. Instead of training me in that dangerous department, they’d put extremely potent spells on me to repress my magic and disguise me as a human, so my enemies wouldn’t get to me before my Turning. But when I was close to twenty-two, a few months before my Turning, they’d had to let me walk on this perilous path and take the responsibility and the role I’d been born into.

My ears pricked as I listened to subtle noises from the environment. Even without magic, my senses were much more fine-tuned than a human’s.

“Let’s head west,” I said. “I hear the sound of water in that direction. Hopefully we can find a shelter nearby. Now, guys, let’s get you geared up.”

I emptied the contents of my backpack onto the ground. “Anyone know how to handle a firearm?” I asked.

“I’ll take the .308 Winchester,” said Richie.

Good. He wasn’t completely useless. If he recognized that rifle, he’d know how to use it. I handed him the Winchester. Drake had helped saw the handle short enough to make it fit into my backpack.

“I’ll take the Black Smith,” Megan said and picked the handgun out from amid the other weapons.

“May I have the Glock 19?” Jill eyed the lighter pistol.

I was a bit surprised that the bespectacled girl could handle a handgun, but she gave me a shy smile. “I’m not as useless as I look.”

“I’m exactly as useless as I look.” Charlie gazed at me, puppy-eyed, and my heart softened as he made me think of my oldest teen brother. “I’m not good with weapons, but I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.”

I offered him a smile. “You aren’t useless, Charlie. Don’t let anyone tell you so. You’ll learn.”

He beamed.

I opened my jacket and revealed an array of daggers, handguns, a variety of throwing stars, and a few grenades.

“Be my guest and take an extra weapon,” I told my team.

Megan whistled in devilish delight and Jill laughed. Megan dove for the throwing stars and Jill went for the grenades.

I regarded Jill. “You know how to pull a grenade?”

“Of course,” she said. “I’m a military kid.”

“Have two of them, then,” I said. “Only use them when necessary.”

“Of course,” she said and snatched two grenades, adding them to her collection. “I no longer think this is the worst day ever.”

Megan also begged for a grenade, so I had one left for myself. She then greedily eyed the Legend Heavy that jutted over my shoulder.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said. “That elephant gun is my dad’s favorite. No one else touches it.”

Richie took an extra dagger from me, weighing it in his hands.

Charlie only wanted the spear he’d carried with him into the game. “At least this is a weapon that I won’t stab myself with by accident.”

He then started helping me put the rest of the gear back into the backpack.

“I can help you carry it, Miss Evie,” he said.

I turned down his offer. There was food and medical supplies in the backpack as well, and I’d trust no one with it. My companions might have promised to watch my back, but I didn’t really know them that well. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two turned on me at a convenient moment. They weren’t my kings or knights, after all.

Trust and respect had to be earned.

Now that I had handed out some of my weapons to my team, my load was lightened.

“Let’s get going,” I urged.

We ran again, my companions’ untrained feet thudding on the thick layer of pine needles as I led them toward the brink of the forest.

The trees thinned as we sped along, and I spotted a small figure sprinting in our direction. He wasn’t exactly looking where he was going as he ran blindly. It looked like the boy was frantically trying to escape an unseen nightmare right behind him. He ran into a tree, cried out in pain, struggled up, and scampered forward on weak legs.

The wind ruffled his dirty blond hair, blowing dirt from it. Pine needles drifted down, and the boy looked up.

His face was filthy and covered with bruises, and his eyes brimmed with terror.

My heart clenched, and a sob choked the back of my throat.

“Look,” Megan called. “There’s a kid ahead. Is he a real boy? You said nothing is as it seems in this realm. He could be a demon child. Should we take him down?”

I stopped in front of my companions and spread my hands wide to prevent any harm from reaching Nox.

“Anyone who touches my brother dies,” I said icily.

“Your brother?” Richie asked. “How did he even get here?”

“That’s so fucked up,” Charlie murmured.

Jill also said something sympathetic, but I ignored everyone and focused on my brother.

Brigantia had promised to release my brother if I answered the call of the Wild Hunt, and the contract was magically binding. But I hadn’t been in my sharpest state. There’d been no time to think things through and define where she must release Nox when she was about to sink her claws into Baron’s other eye.

So, Brigantia had released Nox right into the Wild Hunt for him to be hunted, too. My brother would be my vulnerability, and if I died, my brother would surely die as well.

Rage and hatred seared my every fiber, consuming me and muddling my mind. As I struggled to reach a single clear thought, a spark of light bloomed in my mind. I’d nearly fallen into the usurper’s mental trap. She was trying to rile me up and make me lose my shit by exploiting my vulnerability and hurting my family. If I didn’t keep my wits about me, I’d be doomed—and then she would get my power, murder my family, destroy the human world, and possibly enslave my mates.

I purged the rage and fear from my mind and heart until only cold clarity and merciless determination rose to meet me.

“Nox,” I called calmly. “I’m here.”

Even though I wanted to run toward my brother at full speed and pull him into my embrace to shield him, I slowed down and strode toward him, Netherbane and a handgun in my firm grip. My eyes scanned for threats around my brother, and my ears strained to listen for any unusual sound.

Nox halted for a second, then raced toward me.

“Evie? Evie!” he shrieked.

He rammed into my arms. I sheathed my dagger and hugged him in one arm. A second later, I pulled away, my hand holding his arm instead of gripping him.

I quickly inspected him for injuries. He had bruises, but he didn’t seem to be injured.

“Nox,” I said. “I’m here now. I’ll get you out of here and we’ll go home. While in the arena, follow me like my shadow. I move and you move. When I say stop, you stop. When I order you to run, even to run away from me, you run like hell. Understand?”

He nodded, wild-eyed, but calm started to seep into his eyes. My brother had obviously been traumatized. Right now, he needed my orders to keep going and have hope, or he’d break down before the hunt was over.

Children can be brave and resilient, and I’d treat him like a soldier, just how we’d played the roles in our house when my parents went missing.

“You came for me, Evie,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, suppressing my tears. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. We’ll go home, and you’ll never be taken again. Asuka and everyone will be overjoyed when they see you again. Right now, I need you to be very strong for me, for us. Can you do that?”

He nodded. “I’ll be strong. I’ll be like the hero in the Iron Fist.”

“Fine,” I said. “You can be the golden fist for all I care.”

“Commander?” he asked tentatively.

“Yeah?”

“It’s Safiya,” he said. “She sold us out.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s good that you confirmed it for me though. We’ve separated her from the rest of us, so she can’t endanger any of you anymore. Nox, I have good news for you: Dad and Mom have returned. They miss you terribly. They expect me to bring you home soon.”

Tears welled in Nox’s light hazel eyes and streamed down his grubby cheeks. He wiped them away with his dirty sleeve.

“I got you, my brother,” I said, noticing his hollowed cheeks. I took a bag of food from my backpack and handed it to him. “Eat a piece of bread and a few strips of beef jerky slowly, then drink a few mouthfuls of water while we walk. We have to go. There are more bad guys coming.”

“Yes, Commander,” Nox said, his shaking hands snatching a piece of bread and shoving half of it into his mouth. Crumbs fell all over his chin.

“Slowly, Nox,” I said softly.

“Hey, buddy,” Megan said, beaming down at my brother. “We’ll all help your big sister protect you. No one will get you again.”

I slanted a grateful glance at her.

“Don’t worry, Nox,” Richie chimed in. “We’re all in this together now. We’ll protect you.”

I gestured at my companions. “They’re my new team, and we’ll fight together.”

I caught hunger glinting in my companions’ eyes. I’d have to find a food source for all of us before night fell, when all the nasty things would come out to hunt us.

Just as we reached the fringe of the forest, a horn blared again.

Three massive hellhounds lunged toward us, faster than a freight train, through a brownish terrain dotted with wildflowers. In a heartbeat, they’d tear into us.