Hunters descent, p.43
Hunter's Descent, page 43
Somehow, they made it into a chamber as massive as it was radiant. Mal was nowhere to be seen, but they could feel her. It wasn’t much further now. If it hadn’t been so cursed bright in there, they might have seen her. It felt like they should have been able to reach forward and snag the hem of her tunic with their teeth, but when they moved forward, there was still no sign of their mate.
They pushed on, the air flowing away from their face as they made their way to where they belonged.
* * *
Malice struggled forward, her hands reaching out. Was she trying to block out the light that threatened to sear her retinas or was she grasping at it? Beams of brilliance lanced toward her between fingers and tears streamed down her face in pain and frustration. As much as she tried to get to Reese’s almost indistinct cries, she couldn’t. Something was holding her back, working against her. She groped forward another few inches, but her fingers caught at nothing.
Even nothing had weight here.
“…Lady…Malice…” Reese’s words floated to her between beats of her heart. It thundered in her ears, yet she didn’t dare stop striving. The harder she worked to get to Reese, the louder her heart beat and the harder it was to hear her, but when she let up for a moment, Reese’s voice still receded. How it hadn’t gone silent by now, Malice didn’t know, but she wouldn’t stop as long as she still heard it.
Something collided with the back of her legs. The force working against her vanished and she tumbled forward. Her hands and knees took the brunt of her fall, but it was awkward. Pain sprang up one arm as her wrist buckled. She rolled to one side to stop from mashing her face into the cold, hard floor.
Whatever had hit her moved up her, sniffing along the length of her body until it got to her head.
She knew who it was before she opened her eyes.
“Ruri.”
The bright light couldn’t obscure the eyes of molten gold that gazed down at her. She reached up and wound her fingers through the thick fur of Ruri’s ruff. Renewed energy coursed through her veins. Reese’s voice sounded out as if she was standing right next to them.
“Malice!”
She pulled herself up, using Ruri to help. The terrible force that had threatened to crush all resistance out of her parted.
“That way.” Malice pointed into the brightness.
Ruri bounded forward, pulling Malice along beside her. She kept her fingers tight around Ruri’s fur. Whatever had tried to keep her at bay seemed to be no match for her mate.
A figure appeared to one side of them. It wandered aimlessly, arms out, feeling for objects it would never touch.
Of course it was Reese. Who else could it be? Malice pointed at her and Ruri reoriented herself without any words of direction. She simply curled around in a loose arc, and then they were loping toward the sheriff.
“Reese!”
She turned their way, squinting against the light. Her eyes widened when she saw them and she ran forward.
“You found me.” Reese looked down at Ruri.
“I wouldn’t have been able to without her,” Malice said. “There was a force. Something. It kept me from coming to you.”
“I guess the Heart has made up its mind about you. I doubt it approves of you killing Tedrick.” She shook looked down at the golden wolf who stood with them and shook her head. “I’d never thought about what might happen if one of her kind made it to the Heart of a realm. It can’t seem to affect her. I’m grateful, but also…” Reese’s voice trailed off.
Malice shrugged. “It had to be done. Speaking of that, are we good now?”
Reese smiled. “Almost. The Heart had accepted me. It took a bit of explaining, but I got it sorted. Now I need to get to the Heart’s peak.” She looked around. “Which way is out?”
The sea of unrelenting white around them offered no answers. Malice strained her eyes, but saw nothing but white. As far as she could tell, there were no walls and certainly no exit.
Ruri huffed. She panted up at them, tongue lolling from her mouth in a lupine grin.
“If you know the way, let’s just go.” Malice tightened her grip to let Ruri know she wasn’t nearly as crabby as her words might sound.
Ruri gave another deep whuff of amusement. She pivoted, then trotted toward a point that Malice couldn’t see. Reese jogged beside them. Malice sneaked a look at her. She didn’t look any different, but then neither had the Jaeger. Whatever power she’d gained wasn’t visible.
For as long as it had taken Malice to get to the sheriff, they were back at the chamber’s perimeter in next to no time. The comparable dimness of the corridor out was one of the most beautiful things Malice thought she’d ever seen. Ruri let out a questioning whine.
“After you, of course,” Malice said.
“What was that?” Reese asked.
“Nothing. Just glad we’re about to get out of this place.”
“And get out we will.” Reese smiled.
Ruri kept them moving forward. The hall went dim almost instantly. Malice’s eyes were so blown out by the brightness of the central chamber that she could barely see. Ruri kept going without slowing. Her confidence was palpable through her skin. Malice closed her eyes and kept on, Reese closing in on their tail. When she opened her eyes again, she could see, if barely. The walls were closing in. She shifted her shoulders to keep from scraping them against the crystals outgrowths. Ruri slowed down so Malice didn’t have to let go.
The outer ring of the Heart was darker still, but her eyes were finally getting used to a reasonable amount of light. She allowed Ruri to continue pulling her forward, though. She didn’t want to let go, to break that connection.
Outside the Heart was a mass of neutral grey. The fae had turned to watch the nothing coming for them. They took no notice of the small group that had made its way out of the Heart.
Malice tried not to watch the holes of nothing. Some had opened in the crowd, melting gaps into the throng. The fae gave it as wide a berth as they could, but none seemed willing to abandon the dubious shelter of the Heart’s walls.
She turned to the sheriff. “What are you—”
Reese was gone. She was already halfway up the side of the Heart. The massive crystals looked like they should have been too slick to climb, but she managed. Pools of radiance rippled to life in her wake. Everywhere she touched the Heart, whether it was with hands or feet, there was light.
Some among the fae noticed her ascent. Murmurs began to trickle through. The noise awoke the crowd to something other than stoic acceptance of approaching doom. One by one, they turned, a new emotion seeping through the collective mask of disinterest. It was hope.
Hope as Reese leaped from one massive crystal to another.
Hope as the winged fae creatures shifted or flew out of her way to clear a path to the top.
Hope as she shimmied up the massive crystal that was the Heart’s peak.
Reese stood alone at the top. She raised one hand and almost touched the uncaring sky. She wavered for a moment and a collective gasp rippled through the watchers. Malice found herself holding her breath. She let it out slowly but never took her eyes from the sheriff.
Reese crouched, wrapping both hands against the needle tip of the crystal peak. Her lips moved, but whatever she was saying was whipped away as the wind came up.
This was what the crowd had been waiting for. Jubilant whoops rang out. The crystals on the roof burst into light that would have seemed bright had Malice not just spent far too much time in a room that was nothing short of blinding. The fae birds launched themselves from the roof in a wave. They trailed curtains of light behind them in an ever-expanding pattern into the sky. Bits of bright blue trailed after them, holes to something opening up in the nothing their wings silhouetted against.
The wind howled, pushing out from the Heart. Malice kept her grip on Ruri, who held tight to the ground. A glance behind her told her that the nothing was still there. Blue sky was showing above, but there was no sign of grass or the hill that led down into this depression.
“Enough!” Reese shouted. Her voice cut through the howling winds. The crystal peak was now too bright to look at. It waxed ever brighter, then something gave in a wave felt as much as seen. A swell crashed over them, then soothed them in its wake. It roared in Malice’s ears in a soft whisper. White light blasted out her vision while never obscuring it.
When she could see again, Malice looked out onto a landscape transformed.
Green grass covered the hillside. Closer to them were fields of wildflowers with curious gaps in them that were filled only with blades of tall greenery. They bent before a gentle breeze, swaying back and forth.
Above, the winged creatures still climbed, the web of light between them growing gossamer thin, but not fading completely. They flew out in all directions and the sky opened up before them. It was a beautiful summer day. The sun warmed them as fluffy white clouds scudded across an expanse of the purest blue she’d ever seen. It smelled of warmth and the promise of a cool evening. If there was a more perfect summer afternoon, Malice had never experienced it. She somehow knew she never would again.
There was a thud as someone landed on the ground next to her.
“I think that about does it,” Reese said. She put her hands on her hips and surveyed the area. “Yes, I think this will do.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
“Are you taking anything back?” Ruri asked Mal.
Her mate looked around the room where they’d stayed the past couple of weeks. “There isn’t much I want.”
“No special memories to cherish?”
Mal stuck her tongue out at her and sent a pulse of amusement through the bond they shared. She was getting much better at that. “I’m keeping the sword. Does that count?”
“It’s not the keepsake most people would go for, but I’m not surprised.”
“I have my phone. That’s all I really care about. It’s been…hard to remember a lot of what’s happened.” Her face twisted for a moment, then relaxed when Ruri used their bond to send her a wave of love. “Maybe that’s just as well. The Jaeger did a real number on me.”
“You’ll get to check your message, finally.”
“Oh god, yes!” Mal held the phone up and looked at the face. “Cass is going to be pissed that I haven’t called her back yet. She finally gets in contact with me, and I blow her off. I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
“Just explain you’ve been trapped in a fairy kingdom. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Oh yeah, because that sounds like a real thing.”
Ruri shrugged. “She’s seen some weird shit.”
“Not this weird.” Mal shook her head. “Do you have everything? Want me to carry something?”
Compared to Mal, Ruri had ended up with an embarrassment of riches. She thought Sovereign Reese might have oversold her contribution a bit when trying to convince the fae court that the wolven in their midst wasn’t dangerous. While nothing she’d said had been untrue, the glowing picture she’d painted had led many fae to shower her with gifts.
Her wolf thought the whole thing was hilarious. She didn’t understand that declining the offers could be a very bad idea. Ruri had no desire to accidentally offend any of the fae only to find herself under the thrall of an exotic curse. Some of the gifts, such as those from Ylana and Billy, she would always treasure. Others were actually useful, if a little odd. The pile of wolf-themed items was a little much. She liked wolves, that was obvious, but she’d never seen a need to surround herself with their likenesses. Why did she need a wolf statue with glowing moonstone eyes when she had the real thing inside her?
If there had been a way to keep the fae from finding out about her after Reese reclaimed her realm from the nothing, she would have, but the arm band that had confined her wolf was long gone. The wolf shifted inside her, a sharp prickle of fur against the underside of her skin. She wouldn’t have permitted Ruri to put it back on anyway.
Ruri laughed to herself. Really, who was she kidding? She was so glad to be whole again. It was worth any amount of wolf tchotchkes to have the sister of her soul back.
“Hey.” Mal took Ruri’s hands in her own and pulled her in front of her. “Where did you go?” Her mate gazed into her eyes with gentle concern.
Ruri blinked, then leaned her forehead against Mal’s. “Just spacing out. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. Or so.”
“Interesting is right. I’m glad we’re heading home. Finally.” Mal squeezed Ruri’s hands, then let them go with regret she could feel. She picked up a wooden trunk. “This is going to take a few trips.”
A knock sounded at the door. Ruri hastened over to it. Shejuanna stood in the hall.
“Oh,” Ruri said. “It’s you.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” Shejuanna said. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.” She stood aside to let the teen through. “What’s going on?”
“We know you’re leaving.” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Thought we should say goodbye. I volunteered.”
“The others too cool to come say it themselves?” Mal asked.
“They’re a little freaked out about the whole end of the world and her being a werewolf thing. I tried to explain it wasn’t like that, but they had a really fucked up time when all that was going down. Most of the fae just took off through the portals, no one thought of them. They just hunkered down in the stables with the remaining mounts, without knowing what was going on. Not that I know what that was like. Mami Wata took good care of me, and I got to hang out with her people. It’s weird thinking I was away eating chips and drinking Coke while this world was almost wiped away.” She shook her head, looking inward. “But I’d rather remember that than…what happened before.”
“That must have been scary,” Ruri said. She couldn’t imagine how that must have felt.
“You can say that.” Shejuanna gave her a crooked grin. “They’ll get over it. I’ll get over it. We get to live in fairyland, what could be better?”
“If you say so.”
“We do say so. None of us changed our minds.”
“As long as you’re sure,” Mal said.
Shejuanna sighed. “Sure as we can be. Anyway, have a good trip and thanks for coming looking for us. That means more than you probably think.”
“I know.” Mal’s voice was quiet, but Ruri felt the intensity behind the words.
Another knock sounded on the door.
“Okay then.” Shejuanna sidled toward the door. “Guess that’s my cue.” She pushed it open.
Mracek stood on the other side. Waiting behind him was a bevy of pages. Shejuanna gave them a small wave and slipped out between the waiting fae.
“We’re here to move your possessions to the portal,” Mracek said. He avoided looking her in the eyes. Apparently there was a legend about catching the gaze of a wolven. As effusive as the fae had been in their thanks, it was clear it would take much more time than she and Mal planned to spend there for them to get truly comfortable with her.
“Mal,” Ruri said over her shoulder. “The transportation problem seems to have solved itself.”
Mal popped around the corner, still carrying the chest.
“Good.” She tried to pass it off to Mracek.
Two young pages scurried forward to intercept Mal. They snatched the box away from her, then trundled down the hall with it dangling between them. They also avoided looking directly at Ruri.
As if that had been a signal, the rest of the pages flooded into the room. They snagged the remaining luggage and fled down the hallway.
“This way, if you please,” Mracek said. He followed along in the wake of the servants.
“Is the castle back to its usual self yet?” Mal asked.
Mracek smiled. “It’s getting there. The pantry is adjacent to the training salle this morning, and the Grand Hall has developed a new set of windows looking out into deep woods.”
“That’s encouraging,” Ruri said. When they’d first returned, the castle had been distressingly mundane. As nice as it had been to be able to make her way around, it felt like some vital piece was missing from it.
They passed through an area of hall where the pattern of the stone on the walls was gone, leaving an artificially smooth face behind. A large chunk was missing from a tapestry that sat on the edge of the blank spot. It simply ended as if the missing part had never existed.
When Reese had convinced the Heart to accept her claim on the realm, the bits of nothing had all filled back in, but not perfectly. What came back was almost a generic version of what had been there and only for simple objects. Ruri looked down at her hand. She was still missing the nails on her index and middle fingers. They were gone as if they’d never been. No one knew yet how many fae had been swallowed by the nothing. They were still trickling back in from the mortal world.
“Here we are.” Mracek gestured toward a familiar doorway.
The last of the pages disappeared through the open door.
“The Heir’s rooms?” Mal asked.
Reese stuck her head out the door. Mracek immediately folded himself into a deep bow. She flipped a hand at him.
“Enough of that,” she said. “Do you see a crown on this head?”
“Ah, no, Your Majesty.” He stood straight, trying to appear relaxed, but darting eyes betrayed his discomfort.
“Come on in,” Reese said. “This is the closest portal to your rooms, so we decided to send you off here.”
“Can’t wait to get rid of us?” Ruri asked.
