Chapter 11
Tenebrys tore out of the chateau, running on all four feet to give him the boost of speed he needed. Felix appeared through the trees, falling into pace beside him.
"Where and how many?" Tenebrys asked.
"Head west to Gateway Three. Syn got a message through to Luna just as the gateway lit up. I don't know how many," Felix replied. At the borders of the chateau, Tenebrys took the path left.
There were five gateways in the Mistwood, stretching along the border from west to east. Tenebrys couldn't help noticing that the third one was the one they had passed with Delphi. He ran faster, his claws chewing up the earth.
Tenebrys could smell the oversweet tang of fae blood before he charged into the clearing. Around Syn were the remains of two dead creatures. They were more insect than humanoid. Tenebrys had seen them before. The Unseelie liked to use them as mounts.
Tenbrys dodged the first three arrows fired at him before clashing with the hooded archer and attacking its arms. The creature screamed out curses before Tenebrys's claws tore out its throat.
Felix had cornered another. Syn was pressed back against the tree by three more. So many.
Tenebrys's vision went red, and he roared in bone-chilling fury. Two of the Unseelie startled, giving Felix and Syn the advantage to disable them.
Something dropped onto Tenebrys's back, a flint knife slicing and stabbing. He rolled, throwing his weight back. Bone crunched, and the fae on his back screamed.
Tenebrys got to his feet again and charged, driving his horns into another and throwing it into the air. Syn leaped, catching it and tearing its head off.
Then there was silence except for the shifter's panting breaths and the groan of an injured fae. It was the one that Tenebrys had landed on. It was clutching its shattered arm to its chest. Tenebrys lifted it up by its throat.
"Tell me why you dared come through the gateway tonight," he growled. "You would have needed the help of a lord to pass through on a night that isn't the full moon. Who are you serving, creature?"
The fae hissed at him with pointed teeth. It was a lesser fae, one of the grunts that the lords used for their foot soldiers because they were expendable.
Tenebrys carried it to one of the iron spikes that surrounded the stones of the gateway. He pressed the fae against it, and it screamed in agony.
"Sent because the lord sensed new magic in the wood. Sent to seeeeee," it hissed out.
"Which lord?" Tenebrys demanded.
"High lord. Wanted to know what he was sensing. Sent to retrieve the treasure. Kill shifters," the fae gasped.
It wouldn't give him his lord's name, but Tenebrys hoped for a title at least. The fae knew names had power, and if it was a high lord, it had a curse on the name to kill anyone who dared to utter it. They were absolutely ruthless pricks that way.
"You tell your high lord to stay on his side of the gateways and out of my fucking forest," Tenebrys snarled and tossed the fae toward the gateway.
It rolled nimbly back to its feet and spat on the ground. "You are weak, King of Monsters. You will not survive against us for much longer. We only need to wait until you are dead, and then we will retrieve our lord's treasure. I bet she smells so sweet."
"She?" Tenebrys snarled and lunged for it, but the magic of the gateway had already pulled it through to the other side. He roared in frustration, grabbed one of the carcasses of the insect mounts, and tore it apart.
Black rage took him over, and when he could finally think again, all the fae bodies were on the iron spikes, and Felix was shouting at him.
His voice cut through the remains of Tenebrys's rage. "Ten! Snap out of it!"
"Fucking fae," he snarled. "How can this be happening again? It's been decades, and they have never been so bold."
"It's the girl. It's the only 'She' it could be referring to," Syn said, and Tenebrys whirled on him. "Stop and think for five seconds, my king. She is the only thing that has changed in the Mistwood in the last few days."
"She's just a female! Other humans have wandered in before."
"But not her specifically, Ten. The Mistwood is still connected to Faerie, and when she crossed the borders, they could have felt it. Her power is strong enough that even the chateau is responding to her presence," Felix added softly.
"She doesn't know how to use it, and it could just be a trickle of magic for all we know," Tenebrys argued, prowling back and forth, his tail swishing. The wounds on his arms and shoulders from the knife stung him like wasps.
"It's not a trickle. She has enough to be a target for the fae, whether you want to believe it or not," Syn said. He was smart enough to keep his eyes averted, so Tenebrys's lion side wouldn't see him as a challenge. He was pissed off enough that he would attack his own friend if pushed.
"A fae lord could do a lot with an untrained witch like Delphi," Syn continued, his voice level.
"They made the witches to ensure that they were capable of bearing their hybrid children.
The High Lord could want to use her as a brood mare before he sucks that magic clean out of her and tosses the remains of her to their hounds. "
Tenebrys knew it was the ugly truth. They had seen the fae do worse things than that to the human women they got in their grasp. It was one of the reasons they had fought so hard to drive them out of their world in the first place.
"I'll spread the word to the others that we are going to have more activity than usual," Syn said and melted into the trees before Tenebrys could argue.
"Go back to the chateau and see to your wounds. If the fae are after your female, she shouldn't be left alone for long," Felix added once they were alone.
"She's not my female," Tenebrys muttered.
"No? You just went on a blackout rage spiral because a fae had mentioned someone else's female? My mistake," Felix replied and was smart enough to leap into the woods before Tenebrys could smack him one.
Tenebrys looked at the dead fae, dread creeping over him. If there were a high lord who wanted something badly enough, he would sacrifice as many of his underlings as it took to retrieve it. Had Syn gotten to the portal in time that night to ensure these were the only ones that came through?
Tenebrys ignored the throbbing in his wounds and started to run. If they had missed even one, it would find Delphi alone and undefended.
Tenebrys ran faster, his muscles screaming. He couldn't smell fae past the glade, but that meant nothing. They could have brought through some kind of flying mount.
Tenebrys couldn't think straight until he reached the stone path leading into the chateau. There were no mounts in the courtyard. No smell of strange magic in the air.
He crashed through the main hallways and didn't slow until he slid on the dusty stone tiles in front of Delphi's door.
He banged on it. "Delphi! Open up! It's Tenebrys!"
There was a scuffling sound on the other side of it.
"How do I know it's you?" Delphi asked through the thick wood.
"Who else would it be, female?" he demanded.
"I don't know. Maybe you're some fae that can mimic voices," she replied, and Tenebrys's fury vanished. She was right. His lips twitched into a grin. She was a clever little thing, that was for sure.
"Ask me something that only I would know?" he replied patiently. His wounds were throbbing, blood soaking his fur. It didn't matter. He needed to see that she was all right with his own eyes.
"What did you always use to call me when I dreamed of you?" she asked through the wood.
"Little flower," Tenebrys replied gruffly.
The bolt slid back, and Delphi's beautiful face appeared. Unharmed, but her eyes were big with concern and fear. She was holding an iron poker.
Tenebrys looked at it. "You're not planning to hit me with that, are you?"
"Not unless you give me reason to," she said and looked at the floor. "Oh, gods, is that blood? What happened?"
"I might have been stabbed a bit. It's nothing," he replied, breathing in her scent of warm woman and dark flowers. Exhaustion and blood loss hit him hard, making him sway. Delphi grabbed hold of his arm.
"It's not nothing," she slipped under his shoulder, like she was strong enough to take his weight. It made him want to laugh. "Come on, back to the kitchen, and I'll fix you up."
"Not...necessary," he grumbled.
"Come willingly, or I will hit you with the poker and drag your huge ass into the kitchen myself," Delphi snapped back.
It must have been the blood loss that had Tenebrys smiling at her. That was all. It definitely wasn't the way she thought she could boss him about, or how she had no fear of him.
Tenebrys didn't want a sore head on top of stab wounds, so he summoned what was left of his energy and let the pushy little female turn him toward the kitchens.