Page 68 of The Filigree Key

By the Green Mother, I hoped a mallaithe hadn’t caught her.

The magic hunter’s hoarse voice came out a whisper. “I haven’t heard anything from Drake or Elayne’s team.”

“You mean those you promised me would take care of the wolf and keep the rest of the Hawthornes away from here?” The honeyed tones of the Stag Man’s voice were gone, replaced with granite.

The mention of the magic hunters that had been sent after Lewellyn and my family at Hawthorne Manor sent a shiver through me. With my body pressed against Ossian, there was no way he didn’t feel it. Murmuring incoherently, I shifted in his grip to mask the reaction.

“Both cats are unaccounted for but have been quiet for a long time,” Ossian said. “Apparently too quiet. I wouldn’t put it past the hobgoblin to try to distract me by putting me on the trail of one of those beasts. They are not the key to the tree, however.”

The cadence of his stride shifted as he exchanged turf for stone. The glamour of his boots muffled the true clip-clop sounds of his hooves.

“Divide your Brothers, Alec. Find those cats. You all leave the hobgoblin to me, understood?”

From his tone, the Brother was still chafing from the loss of both his magic supplier and the ability to drain it out of another creature without the Stag Man’s help. “Yes, my lord. And what of her?”

Ossian paused and half crouched so my backside was supported by his bent thigh. With practiced movements, he pressed thumb and forefinger over my left eye socket and peeled back the lids. I made sure to wander my eye around accordingly.

“She’ll be waking soon. I’ll deposit her in the great hall and set Carissa to watch over her. Shane needs to recharge. My love”—he sneered the word—“will need her dinner, but first, a fright from the grizzly bear. She deserves more than that for creating that barrier around the tree, but it’s a start.”

In the great hall, the grizzly bear growled when Ossian kicked open the double doors. He roared when he discovered me limp in the Stag Man’s arms. There was a scraping of claws against stone and then a vicious metallic jangle as the chain pulled tighter.

The fae king only chuckled.

I remained boneless and murmured softly as Ossian deposited me in my usual chair. Thank the Green Mother the heavy clunker of a thing had armrests and a high back, otherwise I would’ve slid right out of it onto the floor. His touch was mild as he craned my head back so I wouldn’t drool into my chest. Then his fingers slipped over the rubies at my throat—probably giving them a little boost—before he slid his thumb over my parted lips.

The bear rumbled warningly but was ignored.

“It’s a pity, really,” Ossian murmured. “Had you been able to be tamed, I might’ve been persuaded to let you live.”

When his hand left, it robbed me of warmth and a chill set in. That cursed blue flame fireplace at my back did nothing to heat the great hall, and I shivered. Unable to rub warmth back into my arms just yet, I strained my ears to follow Ossian’s retreating footsteps. Outside the great hall, he turned to rouse and (maybe) heal Carissa. There was an exchange of muted conversation, a slap, then the magic hunter rose to her feet and stomped into the hall.

The grizzly bear snarled.

“Oh shut up.”

Her footfalls projected a course directed towards me, not the opposite side of the table from where I sat. She was probably coming over to spit in my face or something equally catty to cover up her embarrassment.

When she reached the far end of the table, I twitched and groaned, coming around. When she was within arm’s reach, my eyes flew open wide and a high-pitched scream ripped from my throat. With a burst of green magic (I’d lost control in my panic, obviously), I launched out of my chair.

I launched the chair, too, and right into the magic hunter.

The heavy piece of furniture, moving faster than it had any right to, barreled into Carissa before she could even cry out in surprise. It took out her legs, which wrecked her balance, and wouldn’t you know it if she smacked the back of her head straight into the marble mantlepiece before collapsing onto the floor?

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I exclaimed, whirling around and crouching down to check on the woozy magic hunter. And sprinkle more valeriana onto her lower gums.

Carissa’s body went slack, and I scurried around the table and sprinted over to the bear.

The grizzly jerked his head up at my approach, nostrils flaring. He gave a warning huff, his upper lip twitching to flash me his teeth. He was becoming more bear than man by the day.

Oh, Arthur.

“Easy, boy,” I soothed, offering my hand for a sniff. “Stay with me, bear claw. That must’ve been really scary to watch, but I’m alright. See?”

The grizzly grunted, lips worrying across my hand like they were searching for a treat. There was no treat, so the bear lowered his head for a scratch.

My heart wanted to break, but if this is what it took to reassure him, then I would gladly do it.

“Do those feel nice?”