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I heaved a sigh. “The angel has landed. Better?”
“Much.”
With a team, there was a chance we could drive the stag through the crossroads without Vortigern’s knowledge, although I knew Matilda objected to that particular plan. Despite the risk, it still seemed preferable to killing the majestic creature.
The gentle crunch of leaves gave him away. The white stag stared at me from his hiding spot between two mighty oaks.
“I won’t hurt you,” I promised. “Not for power. Not for glory. Not for anything in the world.”
The animal seemed to understand me because he emerged from the safety of the trees and approached me. His dark eyes were in sharp contrast to his pale coat. A gorgeous creature, almost ethereal in his beauty.
“You need to leave Wild Acres,” I told the stag. “There’s a hunting party determined to kill you and steal your power.”
The stag observed me with curious eyes, seemingly unconcerned by my urgent plea.
“Please, it isn’t safe here. I can take you to the crossroads, but you need to walk through on your own. Find another realm to inhabit. Somewhere you won’t be hunted.”
An arrow whizzed a hair’s breadth above my shoulder and struck the stag’s neck. The creature reared up in agony as streaks of red traveled from the wound.
I pivoted to face Vortigern. Riding by his side was one of the hunters we’d released from his prison. So much for integrity.
Casting aside his bow, Vortigern released a throaty laugh as he leaped off his stallion and charged the injured animal to finish the job.
Members of our team seemed to converge all at once. Gun and Cam appeared behind the hunters, along with Kane, West, and a handful of others.
Guilt gnawed at my bones. The white hart had been under my protection. I’d failed in my duties as the liminal deity. Why had I ever believed the crossroads should be under my care? I couldn’t even defend an innocent stag. Of all the virtues, that had to be the one worthiest of preservation.
A memory blazed in my mind like the Vegas strip.
Virtues and vices can’t coexist, at least not in such a small space.
Gods, I’d completely bungled the message from the tarot card. It wasn’t axe throwers the card wanted me to take away from One Oak; it was information.
Hope sprang eternal, and I seized it with both hands.
“Whatever you do, don’t let him eat the heart!” I shouted.
A wicked smile unfurled. In true toddler form, Vortigern said, “As if you could stop me.” He pulled a dagger from his boot and cut open the creature’s chest. Blood gushed down his forearm and to the ground as he ripped out the creature’s heart with lustful glee.
Matilda made a move toward him, but I grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back. The other onlookers seemed to follow my lead and remained rooted in place. We watched in silence as he devoured the heart.
Matilda shot me a quizzical look. “Cariad, what are you doing?”
I shook my head.
Vortigern began to shimmer with golden light as the stag’s power flooded his body.
“This is bad, right?” Camryn asked.
“Golden light does seem bad in this context,” Gun agreed.
The intensity of the brightness sealed my eyes closed. I said a silent prayer to the heavens that I was right—because if I was wrong, things were about to get a lot worse. A more powerful Vortigern could do far worse than level Wild Acres. All of Fairhaven was at risk.
An inhuman sound pierced my ears, and I forced my eyes open.
Vortigern’s eyes bulged, and a purplish-black tongue protruded from his mouth. Black lines crisscrossed his skin.
Gun blinked rapidly. “Um, did anybody have this option on their bingo card? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”
