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Tallak glowered at her.
I wish I had popcorn, Rhun said.
You don’t even eat regular food. Merle graced him with her death glare.
I would for this.
“Do you know anything about Rose?” Hazel asked. “About where she is in Faerie and how she is doing?”
“No. The fae who told me about my son didn’t mention a witch changeling.”
The magic pulsing around Hazel darkened.
“How do your powers work?” Hazel demanded. “You said you can absorb someone’s powers…after killing them?”
“Yes.” Spoken through gritted teeth. Tallak’s eyes glowed amber while he stared at Hazel. “Taking the life of an otherworld creature means I can steal their magic and their memories.”
“Forever?”
He struggled some more, grunted, then said, “No. It will last anywhere from a couple of days to two weeks.”
Hazel was silent, her forehead furrowed, her aura vibrating. “You said you slaughtered the royal court of Faerie. Did you take all of their magic?”
A grunt, then, “Yes.”
Holy powers. Merle was glad Tallak remained under Hazel’s spell and on the other side of the wards. If he were to roam around unchecked…
“This happened last night?” Hazel asked.
“Yes.”
“So you’ll have fae powers for at least another day?”
“Probably even longer.” The annoyed look on Tallak’s face left no doubt that he’d rather have kept that info to himself.
“You said you can steal someone’s memories, too. Did you steal those of the fae you killed?”
“Yes,” he hissed. “It happens automatically when I absorb their powers.”
“Then you know how to take non-fae into Faerie?”
“I do.”
Hazel studied him for a few seconds, her resolve settling over her like the finest armor. “You will take me into Faerie, and together we’ll search for Basil, and when we find him, we’ll look for Rose. I will bind you to me, Tallak, so don’t think you can skip and run. Try to harm me, and it will backfire on you. Understood?”
“Yes.” The amber of his eyes glowed in the night as if lit with an inner fire, the harshness of his features promising Hazel retribution.
“Will you take Lily?” Merle asked Hazel.
She shook her head. “We don’t know how long the trip will take, and Lily can’t be away from Alek for more than one night, since she needs his dukh. And Alek can’t come along with us.”
Right. His job as Arawn’s enforcer would keep him here. If he wanted to take some time off to go into Faerie, he’d have to ask Arawn…and none of them wanted Alek to be forced to ask Arawn for anything else after he bargained his freedom away to the Demon Lord in order to help Lily.
“I’m sorry I can’t go with you,” Merle said.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Hazel gave her a reassuring smile. “Even if you can’t use your magic right now, your presence here should keep Juneau and her witches on their toes. If she finds out I left, at least she’ll think you’re still here to hold down the fort, and she won’t be as tempted to try an attack. Although it’s best if she doesn’t even find out. You need to make sure word doesn’t get out that I’m gone—or that you’re holding back on using your powers. Let her think our ranks are still strong.”
Merle nodded.
