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“You will walk away from this.” Kaleb’s jaw hardened, and he looked like he was trying to persuade himself as much as he was trying to comfort me. “The Huntsman needs you. He will want to keep you happy, to an extent.”
“Not after today.” I pushed my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s the wolf.” Kaleb looked back up to the sky, the moon reflected in his orange eyes. “Wild Fae have a connection with our animal form. We hunt, we sleep, we fuck. Often, the lines are blurred, but it isn’t uncommon to take aspects of the wolf into account. A she-wolf would be justified in defending herself.”
I laughed bitterly. “I took it for years. From Joel. I took the pushes, the slaps, the insults, and for what?”
Kaleb gave me a wry smile. “We often justify the behavior of those we love.”
“I just wanted everything to be okay,” I murmured. “I put my head in the sand and hoped all the shit would go away if I refused to look at it.”
“A solid strategy.”
“Was that sarcasm?” I slanted a look his way.
“Yes.” Kaleb agreed. “You’re a terrible influence.”
I extended my wrist, brushing my thumb over the bite there. I’d thought it had meant something. But maybe it was just physical? Perhaps it was better that way.
“One more day.” I joked.
Kaleb smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Dean wants to go to the market tomorrow. He thinks the fabric seller might have some information about the Black Widows. If they sold Éabha to the Huntsman, they might know more.”
“That’s a solid plan.” I agreed. “Maybe I can pick up some more fabric and embroidery floss before we return to the Human Realities. I’d love to bring some home.”
Kaleb hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it again. “Yeah.” He exhaled a sigh before repeating the word.
I’d forgotten that Wolfkin could lie.
Chapter Nineteen
The front lawn was filled with pyres when I woke up for the first jog I’d ever done.
Mitchell’s words struck a chord with me. Though meant as a light-hearted rebuke, I’d heard him loud and clear. I needed to adapt, or I wouldn’t survive.
There were different standards when it came to Sídhe and Wild Fae. Wild Fae fought to survive; they embodied their animal sides and lived by the hierarchy. Sídhe relied on their magic, and while I was at an advantage in the Human Realities, I was vastly outgunned in the Aos Sí.
If I continued as I was, I would die.
Either some hungry Durrach would kill me during one of the Huntsman’s errands, or another wolf would take me out. Mitchell had been right. I had no stamina. No endurance. I could sit for hours with knitting needles in my hands or hunched over an embroidery loop, but those skills wouldn’t help me survive.
The Huntsman was an ancient Fae. A blast from some untrained Weaver would not have put him down for long. As I stood on the lawn, stretching warily, the clockwork castle loomed over me—reminding me that it was only a matter of time before the Huntsman came for his pound of flesh.
The sun peeked over the treeline, signaling the arrival of the final day of Samhain.
A few more hours and I could go home. Back to my store on Palmer Street. Back to iced coffee and crochet projects and decorating for the holidays.
Though I didn’t have anyone to buy Christmas presents for, now that Joel was gone and Melly was dead.
An eternity had passed in the Aos Sí, but the humans back in Locket had experienced a single night. They would wake up on the first of November to pack all their Halloween decorations away, and the world would keep turning.
I’d never got to finish my pumpkin-themed cardigan.
I had an ulterior motive for jogging along the treeline.
If Kaleb was right, and the Locket pack was using their final day in the Aos Sí to learn about the Black Widows, I wanted to go with them. I’d only been to Kaleb’s room and had no idea where Dean and the others slept. I didn’t want them to sneak past me to the market.
If they were going to find out about the Black Widows, I deserved to come with them. After all, it was my heritage. My magic. I was sick and tired of being left out because I wasn’t a strong, worldly powerhouse.
