Page 41 of Filthy Fae

“When I pulled up to the party, before I went in and found the massacre, an old red car screeched away from the curb,” Oxonos said.

“That’s it?” I asked.

He shrugged as he slumped further into his chair. I had never seen the refined and careful fae look so wilted and defeated. Scarlet was right that Oxonos had punished at least one human by forcing them to put on the horrid shoes. My mother’s punishment was arguably Oxonos’ just desserts, but I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the man as he sat there in agony. “Written across the side were the words: Necro-Nancy,” he volunteered, as if just remembering the extra tidbit. “There was a phone number too, but I don’t remember it.”

“Come on,” Aaron yelled, grabbing both Scarlet and me and pulling us toward the back of the house.

“Portal, in the cellar, through the kitchen, second door on your right,” Oxonos called through gasping breaths just as pounding sounded at the front door.

“Do we trust it?” Scarlet asked.

My mind ran rapidly through all I knew of Oxonos. He was trustworthy and loyal—to my mother.

I was in exile. A stone formed in my gut as I thought through the implications.

I was alone.

I would be alone for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years.

“No,” I called over as Scarlet and Aaron veered toward the kitchen. “If we head to the far end of Cutten Steps, there’s a forested area we can take into Heartland.”

We ran out onto the grassy lawn behind Oxonos’ house. The moment we were outside, three armed fae came tearing around the side of the Victorian mansion. I recognized all of them distantly as my mother’s soldiers.

“Mack,” Scarlet screamed, leaping back toward me as an arrow whooshed past my head.

Damn. There was a fae sniper on top of the house.

Claws burst out of Scarlet’s and Aaron’s fingers, and their faces stretched into long muzzles with wicked fangs.

A silver sword flashed in the air, and I sprang. Pushing off the dirt, I kicked the side of the fae’s arm.

“We have to injure them without killing,” Scarlet snarled, her claws raking across the fae’s arm. Blood sprayed onto the ground from the wound, but the other two kept coming.

Just as I leapt again, kicking the next fae attacker in the head, something sharp seared past my arm. For just a second, everyone stopped fighting, looking at me.

A sharp gasp sounded from above, and I realized that when I’d leapt, I’d moved straight into the path of a silver arrow aimed for Scarlet.

“The prince is uninjured!” one of the fae near us called, and the fighting erupted again.

“You two run,” I called over to Scarlet and Aaron. “They’re not going to seriously injure me, and I can keep them back while you shift.”

Scarlet looked like she was going to ignore my request. Thank god for Aaron, who grabbed her and ran. They lost their clothes in a hurry as I turned back to the fae around me.

One attempted to lunge past, but I blocked him, crouching in his path and holding my blade to his throat.

“Prince Macklin, go home to your mother,” the nearest fae said as he eyed the two wolves’ retreating forms.

“I’m never going back,” I told them. To prove it, I did the one thing my mother had always forbidden. I unleashed my power.

Chapter Seventeen

Scarlet

My wolf had been snarling since before the feast. At last, I kicked off my underwear and let her take over. The relief was immediate and intense.

Aaron let out a low yip, and I spun to see the strangest sight of my entire life. Everywhere I looked on the Cutten Steps, plants burst through the road and sidewalks. Small stalks grew, widening quickly into thick trunks. Foliage spread out above. The new growth blocked out Mack, but from every house in the street, pixies flew and fae stepped out the doors and looked up, marveling at the new growth as if seeing the sun for the first time after a long winter. Tinkling laughter and cries of joy filled the air.

Aaron’s muzzle pressed against my side, pulling me from my own wide-eyed awe. When I turned, he nodded toward the back of Cutten. Our path was clear, leading into the forest.