Page 42 of Twisting Twilight (Homesteader Hearth Witch #9)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Quills!” Daphne screamed.

The high fae flung up a hand when dark green briars burst from my palms. “Stay where you are, witch, or the Tainted One gets more than a broken arm.”

The one holding Shari released one of her arms. A knife appeared in his hand. He wasn’t gentle when he pressed it against her throat.

“What are you doing, Ler?” I shouted. “Your own sister sanctioned this. Let them go!”

“My sister was wrong,” Ler snarled. “But I’m here to rectify that for all of Elfame.”

Marten, forgive me. “Fine. Then take me and let the rest go! All of them.” I wasn’t the same witch he’d met in the Court of Beasts. This scumbag didn’t know what he was bargaining for.

“‘All?’ Oh yes.” He swept his gaze from the trefoil to the cattails. “Where are your elderly friends? The fat one and the bag of bones? And that wretched striped monster?”

He doesn’t have them!

“They couldn’t keep up. And I meant the changeling,” I hedged.

Ler’s blue eyes narrowed. “That human has no business here. She will be sacrificed to Elfame.”

So it had been Ler and the Erusians who’d attacked The Happy Hound.

But how had he gotten there so quickly from the Court of Beasts?

Red stags were fast, but they weren’t that fast. In fact, I didn’t see a red stag anywhere.

And was he such an adept that he could sense my magic from miles away?

What about the amulets Shannon had given us?

We didn’t even look like ourselves anymore!

Too many questions. Quickly, I returned to the problem at hand. “Harm them in any way, and I’ll finish what my faelene started.”

The other Erusians looked around fearfully.

The two ransacking our supplies immediately returned to the safety of their group. One hissed, “Ler, you never told us she tamed a faelene! This changes everything.”

“No it doesn’t,” Ler snapped. “And it’s not a real faelene.”

“Not a real— Do you hear how insane you sound?”

I inched forward as the Erusians argued, hoping for a closer target.

There was a chance I could rescue Shari and the others while they were distracted.

I’d stolen Shannon’s water magic, so why not that sphere trapping Flora?

The earth could protect Kian and Fiachna and there was a whole host of painful things I could do to that fae with the knife pressed against Shari’s neck.

Like pulling the heat from the air and burning the eyebrows right off his face. And just where were Thistle and Sawyer?

“Sawyer,” I shouted down our bond, inching forward another step. “I need you!”

But of course Ler’s fae hearing heard the compression of flowers under my boot and he snapped towards me. The one with the knife at Shari’s throat dug it deeper into her skin and shouted, “Back off, witch!”

“Do we have a deal?” I wasn’t about to make a fae bargain, but I needed to wrap this up. Flora had ceased her struggling in the water sphere to conserve her oxygen, but how much could those tiny lungs really hold?

“I’ll release the changeling and the rest of your friends,” Ler answered, “but not before you do something for me first.”

I was supposed to be his lackey and then his hostage? The brambles writhed around me in outrage. As if. “What do you want, Ler?”

“I am the third son of my court and will never know the wealth and respect my dear sister and elder brothers enjoy. Nor can I expect to marry into anything more than a lesser court. The same goes for my compatriots here. And everyone knows the Court of Shoals was sitting on a treasure trove before calamity claimed it. You do whatever in the Twilight Court that you came here to do, but when you’re done, you’re bringing me that treasure. ”

“ Us ,” the air wielder amended firmly. “You’re bringing us that treasure.”

“You have a knife to my friend’s throat for money ?” I erupted. It was insufferably cliché.

“And respect,” Ler snarled. “ And your magic. I’ll have it all, witch. For the good of Elfame.”

He sounded exactly like Ossian.

More brambles erupted from my back and shoulders, my fingernails darkening into long black points. Death’s Sword rose in my outrage and I didn’t stop it.

No longer as confident as he once was, Ler hastily backed up a step.

Alarmed by my magic, the white horses abandoned their celebrations and trotted up the hill to join us.

A startled squeal raced through the herd at the violent sight before them.

Neighing and snorting, Enbarra demanded an answer from Daphne.

Liath lipped at my braid, then glared down at Ler with stormy sea-green eyes.

“Manann mares,” one of the earth wielder twins choked. “Ler?—”

“So what?” Ler snapped. He threw a red velvet sack at the ground between us.

“You will go to the Twilight Court and extract enough riches to fill that. It’ll turn blue when it’s full.

And it’s spelled to know the difference between rock and precious metal or gem, so don’t even think about trying to fool it.

I’ll meet you at the edge of the Field of Black Stars at sundown. ”

He flicked his fingers, and the water sphere popped. A purple-faced Flora collapsed into a puddle on the ground, gasping for air.

“You’ll need all the help you can get, witch, so keep your pathetic little gnome and your guide,” Ler sneered. “See you at sundown.”

In a flash of green light, the Erusians vanished, taking Shari with them.

Only half a second later, roots burst from the ground where the high fae had stood, grasping nothing but air. With an aggravated snarl, I released my control on my battle magic and the roots withered away. “Stripes!” I shouted into the sky. “Thistle!”

“Honey,” Daphne cried, already halfway down the hill. She dropped to her knees and helped the garden gnome sit upright.

“Help Kian,” Flora wheezed. “They got him good.”

I hurried to his side, stomach twisting as red seeped down the auburn waves of his hair and changed their strands to copper.

Fiachna hissed and stomped, still so enraged that he couldn’t distinguish friend from foe.

An air current pushed him back and kept him there as I set gentle fingertips onto Kian’s head.

Little violets sprang up under his cheek as his skin mended.

The junior scholar groaned and coughed, pushing upright. He yelped when he found himself on the ground, then screamed at the sight of his filthy hands. He was going to be just fine.

As Kian and Fiachna reassured themselves each was alright, I shoved to my feet and searched the cloudless blue sky once more. “Sawyer,” I thundered down the bond. Thistle thorns, where was he?

Seizing our bond, I sent a bolus of magic down its pathway. If I could reassign my sparkle vision and he could take from me to amplify his spells, then surely he could accept this donation to break free from whatever prison now held him.

“ She won’t let me— Ah! ”

There was a horrific yowling from the nearby cattails and two cats tumbled out into the grass, spitting and slashing at each other.

With one final swipe, Sawyer turned tail and bolted over to me, leaping into my arms. He hissed down at Thistle, who raced over and seemed half a second from climbing up my leg to finish the fight that had started in the brush.

“I told you,” he shouted down at her, “she is my witch! My friend. You should’ve let me go to her!”

“She drained you,” Thistle snarled up at him, slashing at my ankles since he was out of range.

She only caught my boot leather, but her claws were incredibly sharp.

I hastily jumped back a step, but the angry faelene sprouted wings and chased after us.

“You were as limp as a worm when she gave me to you. Do you honestly think I’d give you back? ”

“I’m fine! I gave her my magic. On purpose. It was my choice.”

“And your choice was to come running right back to her so she could do it again? She would’ve weakened you, and those fae— I wasn’t going to let them take you!

” Her wings beat the air so hard in her anger, the gusts brought tears to my eyes.

“They hunt us down, drain us, and strip our skins before burying us in the ground so our spirits wallow in the earth instead of soaring free with the wind where they belong. That will not be your fate on my watch!”

“I’m stronger than I look!”

She snorted. “You have no shadows, no wings, no true fangs to defend yourself.”

“I have other magic and you know it. If you don’t believe in me, then go!

” Sawyer stood on the ledge of my arms, tail lashing.

Tears splattered against the oilskin cloak and rolled away.

“Go back to Onyx and the rest of them. I’m where I belong.

And apparently that new life you were searching for isn’t what you truly want. ”

Very deliberately, Sawyer turned his back on her and rested his chin on the top of my shoulder.

The faelene screeched, fangs elongating.

Sawyer shuddered, but he didn’t turn around.

“Kitty,” I warned through the bond.

Thistle snarled and tucked her wings into a dive.

Magic boiled under my skin, at the ready, but the faelene banked away at the last second.

Her feathers missed my cheek and Sawyer’s ear by millimeters, the slash of wind in her wake making my braid whip out behind my head.

With only a few cracks of her wings, the faelene was out of sight.

“Stripes,” I murmured, hugging him close.

Sawyer whined and hid his face in my neck. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. You won’t get any help with the Blight now.”

“Never mind that.” My demeanor was calm and confident, but that horse nettle of trepidation sprouted once more in my stomach. Cradling my cat, I turned to the others. “How’re we doing? Honey? Kian?”

“How did they find us?” Kian groaned, rubbing the back of his head. “You healed that mare in under a minute. They must’ve been following us through the Marsh Court somehow. However impossible.”

“And what about those amulets?” Flora said. “Those should’ve worked! Except mine, of course. But still.”

I hadn’t found the time or magic to spare to charge Flora’s after her return, but she was right. And so was Kian. “They’re tracking us somehow. And it’s not me. At least, not entirely.”

Shannon had called her brother brilliant, but this was diabolical.

My ability to see through illusions and glamours, coupled with my primal magic and sparkle vision, gave us every conceivable edge.

But he had figured out a way around them.

Was this Eru’s doing? Did she favor him enough to thwart my quest?

If so, why would the mares, her sacred beasts, assist us?

“We should strip,” Daphne said. “Get rid of everything the fae gave us.”

“Strip into what, our birthday suits?” Flora asked. “It’s winter . A mild winter, but still!”

I shook my head. “The deed is already done. They know where we’re going and where we’ll be. Where is the Field of Black Stars, anyway?”

“It is this very meadow,” Kian answered, “by the sea, where the Blight has touched.”

Well at least we didn’t have to divert. “We’ll keep the supplies and look for clues,” I said. “Maybe we can find the tracking implant and I can perform a Seeking Spell to trace the magic back to its source.”

“And rescue Quills before the exchange?” Daphne whispered hopefully.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“But Ler said he would release her and Lori,” Kian protested.

All the Redbudians gave him a pitying look.

“Kian,” I began with a world-weary sigh, “I know you fae cannot outright lie, but you’re very good at twisting the truth with nuance.

I wasn’t so much of a shut-in at Hawthorne Manor that we didn’t watch the movies Boar smuggled in from the outside world.

When a villain says he’ll ‘release’ or ‘free’ someone, they mean they’ll release them from their mortal coil. ”

Flora drew a finger across her throat and Kian paled.

“Ler has no intention of letting Lori go alive, and probably not Shari either,” Daphne summarized. “In fact, the moment he has Misty, he’ll probably try to kill the rest of us. We’re witnesses. And foreigners.”

“I won’t let that happen,” I said vehemently.

“So here’s what we’re gonna do.” Flora clapped her hands for our attention.

“You, Misty, are gonna transform that boat into our carriage while I grow the harnesses. Then you and Stripes are going to get some sleep. Recharge. Get your mojo back and a full power up. When you wake up, Book Boy here will fill you in on any last-minute details you might need about the Blight. In the meantime, Mare, see if you can rustle us up some fat trout, then you’re on keeping-the-horses-happy duty.

Book Boy, while our girl sleeps, you and I are going to go through every stitch to find that tracker.

And Fiachna’s nose is gonna help too. When we do, Misty’ll run her spell and I will go get Quills while Misty does her thing in the Twilight Court.

I’m small and sneaky and magical, so I have the best chance.

Everybody understand their assignments? Good. Now, chop-chop!”