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“Hunt as in wild hunt…when fairies snatch up humans…humans that aren’t actually human…” her words dwindle to a whisper as she finishes putting the pieces together.
Fairies don’t kidnap humans. They take back what is theirs. They take the halflings. But some fairies will have sown their seed tonight to make more halflings. Some will stay in the mortal world until the next hunt. They will make merry and make trouble with their magic bleeding out all over the place. It’s very hard to stop them given that travel between the world is limited to two nights a year.
“I don’t want to go to Fairy. I have a life here.” She lifts her knee, slamming into my balls then twists away, sprinting along the corridor to become lost in the noise and people of the party.
I fold over, breathing in the pain that echoes through my body. “Sneaky witch.”
I am impressed with my mate. If she had agreed too readily it wouldn’t have been any fun.
The man and the woman walk past us. He looks pleased with himself; she looks extremely unsatisfied and gives me a long glance as though wandering if I could do better.
I smile at her even though I have no intention of giving her a demonstration.
The whole time I am waiting for my balls to cease their throbbing so I can find the witch before the vampire does. This time I will liberate his head from his body before he can lay a tooth on her.
The halfling is mine.
She just doesn’t realize it yet.
I loosen the ax on my back, then stride down the corridor. I scan the main room, searching for her. Bodies jump and writhe in time with the music. They laugh and shout and stumble, spilling their drinks.
“I love your costume,” a woman purrs as she slides her hand up my arm.
“I’m looking for a witch.” There are at least a dozen witches at the party, or at least a dozen women dressed as witches. But there is only one actual witch.
I can feel her magic, even though I can’t see her.
She hasn’t gone far.
The woman pouts. I shrug out of her grip and swipe a cup of beer off the table, so I blend in better. If I grin and shout hello, fewer people will be concerned with me searching. I gulp down half the beer and regret it, forgetting is not like elvish beer. It is terrible. Have the humans forgotten how to brew proper beer?
With the cup in hand, I weave my way around the outside of the room. I’m halfway around when I see her. She’s with a tall woman with whiskers painted on her face and a set of pointy ears on her head, as though she is pretending to be a shifter.
I have a heartbeat to decide, cut through or go around the outside of the room, because they are about to step through the glass door and go outside. If I was a hungry vampire, that is where I would be lurking, waiting for humans or halflings, to stumble out into the dark.
Andrea turns her head as if sensing me. I don’t know what she’s told her friend, but the truth is too much for most humans to swallow. Andrea probably only believed me because her magic is creating problems for her. Assuming she believed me at all and wasn’t asking questions and keeping me talking until she could get away.
Beer sloshes over my hand, causing me to glance down. I’ve squeezed the plastic cup so tight I’ve crushed it. When I look up, Andrea is gone, and the glass door is open.
I mutter a curse, toss the cup onto the floor, and push my way through the pulsing sea of bodies on the dance floor. People bump into me; they try to lure me into a dance. Their bright and garish makeup makes me recoil. This is nothing like a fairy party. There is nothing beautiful here, only grasping hands that seek to slow me down.
If I am too late…
No, I won’t even let the thought take shape. I will not be late.
I will not let the vampire take her and slowly drain her of life. That is not a fate I would wish on anyone.
I shrug off another touch and then I am free of the press.
A breeze teases the gauzy curtains. Beyond the glass are hollow pumpkin heads. Each one with a mocking grin and a flickering candle for a soul. Beyond that, there is only darkness.
With a sigh, I cross the threshold into the night.
9
Andrea
Hannah pulls me outside after taking one look at Kov. “Oh my god, did you find the biggest guy here?”
