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“How could you allow Vortigern to make a mockery of the hunt?” she demanded.
The hunters remained silent.
Matilda looked from left to right. “Alan. Colm. You both rode by my side once upon a time.”
“When Vortigern was not our master,” Alan said.
“A monster such as Vortigern does not deserve your loyalty,” she seethed. “I entreat you to turn the host around and return from whence you came. This forest is under my protection.”
“And mine,” I said.
“And mine,” a third voice shouted.
A flock of birds burst from the treetops as a hooded figure broke through the shadows. I recognized the staff in the new arrival’s outstretched hand—because the weapon belonged to me. The hood fell back to reveal a pert nose and twinkling eyes.
“Addison?” I silently cursed Ray and Nana Pratt for letting her leave. “We’re kind of in the middle of something.” I waved a hand at our opponents.
Addison took a step closer to them and thrust the end of the staff into the ground. “Right. We’re here to kick your ass. I’ve got my deadly weapon right here.”
Alan’s brow furrowed. “That’s a wooden staff.”
Addison regarded the staff with mock surprise. “Is it? Why don’t you step down off your horse to verify?”
“No ass kicking,” I told her through clenched teeth.
She shot me a helpless look. “But they’re the enemy.”
I offered the hunters a placating smile. “What she means is we’d like to negotiate a truce.”
“Riiight. Negotiate.” Addison turned to me and winked.
“I’m serious.”
“Uh-huh.” She pivoted back to the hunters. “Here are the terms. Leave Wild Acorns now and never come back.”
“Acres,” I mumbled.
Addison looked at me with a creased brow. “Is it?”
I nodded, along with a few hunters.
“It’s Wild Acres,” Colm piped up, “although there are plenty of acorns underfoot, so I can understand why you’d say that.”
Alan lifted a boot. “I had a huge one lodged in my heel. Had to use my knife to get it out. Don’t even know how I got there.”
I bit down on a frustrated scream.
Matilda looked ready to crush the interloper under her mare's hooves. “Your kind is not welcome here, goddess of mischief and ruin. Return to the Castle.”
I pointed to myself. “Hey, goddess of nightmares. Let’s not judge a book by its title.”
Addison strolled closer to the hunters. “How about this? I tell you guys where the boar is, you kill it, and scurry on home straight after. Sound good?”
Alan glanced at his cohorts. “We heard there’s a white stag.”
Addison blew a dismissive breath. “Forget the stag. The boar is more valuable.”
Colm’s eyes glinted with suspicion. “Since when is a wild boar more valuable than a white hart?”
