But he’d barely seen a trace of Druids in two thousand years.
Feeling drifted back into his body when he felt Logan’s eyes burning a smirk into the side of his face.
‘I’ll take the Druid,’ the little shit said smoothly. ‘Do you want them with a head or without?’
Kyan’s strained patience grew perilously close to breaking. He hadn’t even noticed the way the fabric of his shirt creaked, or the fact the bracelet on his wrist, which reminded him so much of Druid plaits, felt like it was tearing at his skin.
His gaze arrowed on the Messenger.
‘I need more information,’ Kyan managed. ‘Who has the Druid killed? Who is this ancient enemy?’
‘The Druid is unstable and we have reason to believe they’re attempting to summon the Wild Hunt.’
The painting of it back in Estwood stormed through Kyan’s mind. The bloody lines of ogam from his last hunt. His brow furrowed before he could stop it. If Freya’s clues had been accurate, it was theWaketrying to summon the Wild Hunt. So, were they lying? Trying to keep people on their side by blaming a Druid?
A Druid might be the only one whocouldsummon something that dealt so much with souls, and the ogam symbols had been written in blood, a known realm of Druid expertise …
But if it wasn’t the Wake that were trying to summon the Hunt, why was the Druid?
‘The Wild Hunt—’ Logan butted in.
At the same time Kyan asked, ‘How is that possible?’
‘That’s what we want whoever takes the mission to find out.’
‘And the other mission?’ Kyan asked. ‘If you want the daughter of your enemy, I assume you want her alive?’
The Messenger’s disconcerting gaze drifted back to him.
For the first time since he’d dealt with one of them, Kyan felt like someone waswatchinghim through this one’s eyes.
Careful. He was going to have to be so fucking careful.
‘The enemy has had many names. Her latest moniker: Freya.’
He knew the floor was still beneath him, but it felt like it had tilted into an abyss.
‘What happened to her?’ Kyan asked, relieved by his even tone.
‘She was successfully eliminated by one of our Empyreals.’
He made a show of thinking, nodding as his world reordered. ‘I’d like to speak with the Empyreal that killed her; it will give me a better chance at finding her daughter, since I assume she hasn’t killed anyone and there’s no kill scent?’ He had to keep the damning bite from his voice. He was only supposed to hunt creatures that werekillers.
Not innocents.Neverinnocents.
But he was the Wake’s best dog, so he kept his mouth shut.
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible.’
‘Why?’
‘They’re dead.’
His instincts snarled one word.
Liar.
‘How did they die?’ he asked. ‘She took them out?’
