Page 10

CHAPTER NINE

Whatever had spooked the robin did not molest me on the way back to the castle. I was tempted, yet again, to use the Scouting Spell to determine if I was being followed or if there were any obstacles ahead.

Thistle thorns, so what? What was Ossian or the Brotherhood going to do to me if they found me wandering around the estate? It’s not like I’d left or anything, I just wasn’t in the castle proper anymore. And they couldn’t use Wystan as a threat anymore—not convincingly, anyway—though there were mallaithe and sluagh lurking about. His minions.

There hadn’t been any news of recent attacks from those vile creatures, the fae hunting trees and the soul-snatchers. The scuttlebutt from the castle staff said Ossian had banished them all into Dunstan Forest—the only protection campaign where the fae king had actually succeeded.

But I wondered . . . banished or stabled ?

Well, that was another headache for another time. The “so what” was answered by what I planned to do next. I couldn’t alert Ossian or the Brotherhood of my presence when I was going to see Arthur .

And that arrogant Stag Man himself had given me the perfect excuse if I was ever discovered with the bear—morning exercise. If my fiancé could use the Bear Prince as a punching bag, so could I. And under the guise of training myself for what was to come in Elfame, too.

The castle was eerily silent. Ossian didn’t suddenly appear with that incredible fae speed of his, and I wondered if I was being watched. Truly watched, as if to be caught in my lie at any moment. It was maddening to think I was under constant surveillance, that every thought and glance was being scrutinized. And there was that faelight Brother Shane to consider now.

With that in mind, Misty Fields put on a show that included trembling, pacing back and forth in front of the double doors as she waffled with her decision, and wringing her hands. Then with a deep breath, she finally plucked up the courage—without the aid of apple brandy—and charged into the great hall.

“I challenge you, beast!” she declared, rolling up her sleeves.

The grizzly bear lifted his head from his paws with a questioning rumble. He’d healed some from this morning, no doubt thanks to the extra food Mrs. Bilberry had given him. Blood still crusted the underside of his jaw and stained his claws, but he didn’t seem achy as he heaved himself upright.

“Th-that’s right,” Misty Fields said, louder. “It’s time for a rematch!”

I swept my braid back over my shoulder and resituated my bag to the small of my back. Green magic erupted from my hands, glowing vines wreathing up my arms to my shoulders.

The grizzly bear snorted, his upper lip curling. His massive paw scraped against the stone floor, warning me off.

“Aww, too sore from this morning? You’re not getting off that easy. Fight me, you coward!”

Vines slashed him across the eyes. To an observer, it looked like a stinging strike, but my magic broke and dissipated before contact. All the bear felt was a gust of air, but he still reared back in alarm. He shook his head, snarling but not striking. Unsure if I’d been recaptured by Ossian’s sway. Fearful that I’d forgotten him.

“You don’t deserve my mercy!”

My magic whipped him again and again—as viciously as a declawed and toothless cat, that is, with plenty of attack and none of the damage. The grizzly bear was growing more confused and agitated by the second, and finally, he struck back.

It was only a shove, but I spun, blocking the blow and finally coming within range to bring my glowing fist crashing down towards his face.

And finally within to range to whisper, “Play along, bear claw.”

His hazel eyes widened in recognition, and my heart soared as the grizzly pretended to take the punch hard on his cheek. He’d been a bear for so long, and Lewellyn had said that eventually the beast could take over the man. But my Arthur was still in there.

And just like that, our fight was a dance. One we didn’t know all the steps to, of course, so we stepped on each other’s “feet” more than once. We both drew a little more blood than we intended, but that made it all the more believable for the spies.

“We’re planning a coup,” I murmured into his ear after collaring him in a choke hold.

The bear flung his head, but I’d anchored myself to the ground with my magic. It strengthened my grip, but I only used my arms to lock him against my body. My hands were buried in his fur, stroking.

“The ladies and I. They’re going to incite a rebellion when I go to Elfame. If I can’t think of another way to protect the town.”

The grizzly freed himself for real this time, knocking me to the ground. He gouged the stone floor with an angry snarl, not liking that latter half of the plan one bit. He knew as well as I did that the bargain I’d struck with Arcadis had never specified that it had to be me who found the Samildánach, the Wandering Mirror, only that I be the one who gave it to him. It’d been heavily assumed that the robed elders of my family would’ve gone into Elfame to retrieve it, leaving me in the safety of my farmhouse or Hawthorne Manor.

“I don’t really have much of a choice,” I hissed. My family had wasted away every day in that farmhouse; they were in no condition to go questing in the fae realm. “You know that.”

Springing upright, I ripped off my leather wrist guards and struck the iron cuffs together, summoning my battle magic. Where it had once felt like a surge of adrenaline, it was now like tapping into the power of a thunderstorm. Intense didn’t even begin to describe it.

The golden-green hue of the oak tree’s leaves became as dark as the heart of an ancient forest. Emerald green light crackled up its capillaries from root to canopy like bottled lightning. There was a finality about this Death aspect now, like it would no longer rob only the strength out of anything it touched, but its very life.

The stone floor in front of the bear’s claws cracked as I thrashed it with a thorny whip. Dust and chips of stone erupted into the air; another lash of the battle magic cleared the cloud and forced the bear back into his corner.

The chain around his neck went slack, and with more speed than I thought him capable, the bear darted towards the left. At first glance, it appeared he was attempting an escape via the windows to take his chance with the waterfall’s ravine. Then he lunged right, snapping his chain tight and clotheslining me across the gut.

“Thistle thorns,” I shrieked, landing hard on my back .

The bear pounced, caging me beneath him with his skull-crushing paws on either side of my shoulders. I snuffed out the battle magic as if the fall had broken my concentration and squirmed like a mouse pinned beneath a cat’s claws. The anger dissipated from the grizzly’s hazel eyes. Pleading replaced it.

“Don’t argue with me,” I told him, my voice quieter than the moon arcing through the night sky. “And I won’t go without freeing you. Whatever it takes. Besides, I’m conscripting you to help protect this place when—”

The grizzly lunged.

His jaws stopped inches from my throat, and I shivered as his hot breath blasted against my skin. Then, with a tenderness that spoke of the man instead of the beast, his tongue lapped once against the hollow of my collarbone in a chaste kiss.

“I love you too, bear claw,” I whispered. Then I shoved my hands against his neck to continue our ruse.

They connected with his collar, which wasn’t wholly iron as I’d been led to believe. As I struggled against him, I parted the brown fur to reveal what looked like a forked piece of bone soldered in place against the metal band.

Those are runes! They were glowing, too, bluish-green against the yellowish bone. What the—?

The reflection of an amber-colored sphere grew larger in the bear’s eyes, the crackling hiss of its passage through the air our only warning.

Green magic exploded from every pore in a blast of blinding light. It swelled under the grizzly’s belly like a wave and launched him to the side. The amber blast rocketed harmlessly past his right shoulder and detonated against the wall. I surged upright with the help of my vines and whipped the bear while he was down, only partially holding back this time. The bear roared in pain and surprise, swinging his gaze at me in alarm .

I’m sorry, I mouthed, then lashed him once more. Then I whirled away from him and marched out of range.

Right towards the irate fae male storming down the other end of the great hall. Behind him, Shane took up a position beside the double doors.

Ossian towered over me and sucked in a breath to give me the browbeating of my life, but I cut my hand through the air. “Are you kidding me?” I shouted up at him. “You had no right to interfere. I had him!”

The Stag Man sputtered, his mouth flapping like a loose shutter in a storm. He quickly mastered himself and shouted back, “ What? ”