Page 99 of The Filigree Key

Well that answered the question as to where the second Brother had disappeared. Patrick, from his red hair and the throwing knives limp in his hands.

A burst of healing magic numbed the bear to Faebane, then I parted the fur around his collar to check on Auggie. The industrious snail was still gumming away, its acidic saliva compromising one rune after the other.

“Ame let us in,” Lewellyn informed quickly. “Me, Berengar, a whole squad of Coalition enforcers.”

Sawyer’s ears perked at the name of his mentor, tail lifting. Neither of us had seen her since she’d flung herself out my bedroom window after the faelight owl, but of course the crafty caliby cat had been up to something.

“She told us of the elm tree, the portal, your family in the farmhouse, everything.” He paused to check over his shoulder, but the double doors were still shut and there was no sound of approaching footsteps. “A strike team was sent to each and me and Berengar here since I could find you through our bond. Berengar’s out there distracting them, but despite what he says, he’s not the bear he used to be. Now come on.”

“I told you, I can’t leave.”

“But Ame said you charged the key. We can get to the portal—”

“He has the key!” Clearly Ame had been keeping tabs on me—I was suddenly remembering that wounded mallaithe in Dunstan Forest very differently now—but she didn’t know everything. “And you don’t understand,” I told Lewellyn. “He has hostages here, Daphne among them.”

The wolf shifter’s mouth flattened into a grim line at the name of his lover. Something flickered in his eyes—resolve—and I stepped closer to the bear in case he tried to grab me again.

“If I do anything to displease him, that sword kills him. And he doesn’t have to be here to do it.” I thrust my finger at the copper-colored smoke ring lazing around Faebane’s hilt. “Think of that as a magic hand connected to his brain. He thinks it, it does it.”

“Well you’re a witch, aren’t you?” he snapped. “And a pretty powerful one as of late, so go counterspell this deathtrap or something. If I can’t leave with you, at least I can take him!”

That actually was a fantastic idea. I could even free the pixies! I wanted to kick myself for not realizing either idea earlier, but then again, my brain had been mush from the stolen bond.

Heart thrumming, I focused on the rapier and sent my perception into the spells and bindings on the sword. It wasn’t the same as using an Illuminate match, but maybe I’d stumble on to something. I’d never been alone with Ossian’s masterpiece before, and there were no Brothers around to interfere, the Stag Man was otherwise occupied, and so long as I didn’t touch the sword directly, I could maybe figure out—

Lewellyn swore, shifting into a wolf just as Alec burst through the double doors with three Brothers close behind him.

“Kyle, Patrick, what the—” Alec stopped short at the sight of his dead comrades, the strange golden-white wolf, and my glowing hands hovering around Faebane. Faerish scripts sprang from his skin with a flash of blue-green light.

Alec’s face twisted from outrage to sinister joy, and he threw his head back and howled, “Here, Cernunnos!”

Oh my Green Mother, Ossian would kill Lewellyn. The fae king had only gotten stronger the more his curse reversed, and impenetrable as Lewellyn’s hide was, his bones could still be crushed. There was only one thing to do in the seconds before the Stag Man arrived. A gamble, but I hoped it would work.

As the Brotherhood surged forward, the air thick with bluish-green magic, I flicked my fingers. An air current lifted Patrick’s throwing knives into my hand so fast the metal didn’t even glint in the moonlight. They were thin blades, both easily gripped in my hand to mimic a thicker knife.

“Get away from him!” I screamed, lunging forward.

The Nemean wolf’s golden eyes widened as he realized it wasn’t the attacking Brotherhood he should be worried about, but me.

My knives rammed into that spot behind his left elbow, the only flaw in his impenetrable Nemean hide.

The wolf yelped and staggered away, and for a terrifying moment, I thought I’d overcommitted and the knives had actually pierced his heart. The one knife remaining in my grasp came away red and dripping. A second later, it clattered to the ground and I threw up my hands to defend myself. The outraged wolf swung his giant jaws around for a punishing bite, but green vines cinched it shut. A blast of air knocked the massive beast off his feet, and as he crashed to the stone floor, I discovered Ossian and his longbow standing in the doorway of the great hall. Shane, the faelight brother, stood right behind him, blood smeared across his face like war paint.

Feigning a rage, I followed the wolf to the ground and whipped him mercilessly with the wicked, thorny vines of my battle magic. They didn’t hurt him, but he writhed and snarled with confusion and panic.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my voice barely audible as I collapsed to my knees as if from exhaustion. “Play dead and open your mouth.”

The Nemean wolf gave me an incredulous look but stopped his thrashing.

“Kill that alarm!” Ossian bellowed, lowering his bow and charging across the great hall. “Get away from that wolf, Meadow.”

Momentarily hidden from view by the gigantic wolf’s shoulder, I fumbled within my bra and extracted the vial of Rose’s metal-dissolving glitter. Shoving it into the wolf’s mouth, I explained quickly, “They’ll take you to the dungeon. Use it on the bars.”

Summoning my water element, I drew just enough blood from the wound to cascade down his fur and seep into the stones. The wolf whimpered once, closed his eyes, and went still.

Ossian arrived at my side then, stooping down to hoist me to my feet. I smacked his hand away and scuttled back like a crab. I only went a foot or two before I shored up against the grizzly’s paws. The bear gave hardly more than a grunt in response. Sawyer darted forward, hissing, but I snatched him into my lap.

“He wouldn’t listen. He tried to take Arthur,” I shouted up at the Stag Man. “He almost killed him!”