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Cahal, my sire, was possibly the most ancient Fae still alive. His magic linked him with water and healing, but his spirit was restless and he frequently traveled across England, drawing power from, and bringing life to, the country’s bodies of water. The Falls were his sanctuary.
I stripped and waded into the cool, clear water until it lapped against my chest. Then I pushed off the rocky bottom and swam across the pool to the base of the falls, ducking under the wall of water. I surfaced on the other side and let my ears adjust to the crashing roar of tumbling water echoing against the rock before climbing up onto a ledge. It took only a thought to dry my skin and conjure my clothes back onto my body. Then I ducked into the cave entrance hidden by the waterfall.
The falls blocked most of the light, and within a few meters, the darkness had enveloped me. I cupped my hands in front of me and conjured a ball of light. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I released it and let it float in front of me, illuminating my path. I nudged it ahead and followed the narrow, dripping corridor deeper into the cavern. Flashes of blue-green light at the far end of the cave were my first indication that I was not alone.
In case the flashes were not something produced by my sire, I extinguished the glowing orb and transformed into my animal form, something I hadn’t done since before I’d set foot in Lydbury. Each of my kin could take a different animal form. Mine was a mountain lion. I hadn’t picked it—the form had picked me. But I loved the enhanced senses I gained: stealth, night vision, and a more refined sense of smell than my human form afforded me. I flexed my muscles and relished the increased strength, power, and grace compared to my human body.
I padded around a bend in the cave wall. Another flash illuminated a hunched figure near the back of the cave. I approached on silent paws along a path that led to a ledge overlooking the cavern floor. I kept my senses trained on the figure as I paced to the overlook. When I reached the edge, a ring of sparking light rose from the figure’s outstretched hand, growing larger as it sped toward my face. I let out an instinctive, low snarl and shrank back, away from the light.
“Come down from there, son.” The figure let its hood fall back to expose a mane of white hair surrounding a deeply lined face.
I pounced from my ledge to a lower perch, then landed on the cavern floor.
“You’re out of practice,” Cahal said. He’d gone back to fiddling with the object in his hands and didn’t look up at me, even after I’d transformed back into my human form.
“I haven’t been using my magic,” I admitted. His scolding stung more than Arabella’s constant reminders.
“Yes, I heard,” he said, still without looking up from his work. “You’ve been masquerading as a human. Living among them. What nonsense.”
I sighed. “Sire, I didn’t come for a lecture.”
“What did you come here for, then?” He glanced up from the object he held to glare at me.
“Mother’s fading.” Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them escape here.
“I am aware.” He frowned and returned to his tinkering.
“Is there nothing you can do?” I took a step forward and swept my arms out toward the cave walls. Anger replaced the sadness I’d felt moments before.
He stopped and his head snapped up, his blue eyes blazing in the dim light. “Don’t you think I would have done something if I could?”
I took a step back and dropped my hands to my sides. “I don’t know. You’ve been away so long…” I shook my head.
“I have my responsibilities and your mother has hers. She knew that when we bonded.”
“But, she’s fading. Aren’t you…don’t you want to…say goodbye?” My sire hadn’t lived with us, but I knew my parents loved each other deeply. I couldn’t understand why he would behave this way.
“How do you know I haven’t already?” he asked, his voice low.
“Have you seen her?” My heart ached at the way my mother had looked, so frail in her bed, just hours ago.
“I’ve done what I can, as she asked me to.” He frowned.
“She came to you?” Hope returned in a rush. She hadn’t given up.
“You think you’re the only one who knows how to find me?”
“I know she’s lived a long life, even for the Fae. But we need her to hold on just a bit longer. Just until we can end the Hunt.” We were so close. He had to understand that.
“The Hunt.” He shook his head and returned to tinkering with the box in his hands. “And what makes you think you’ll be successful this time?”
“We think the artifact anchoring Edric’s spirit to the living world is still at Lydbury. If we can find it and destroy it, we can banish him to the Underworld for good.” It sounded so simple when I put it like that.
“I suppose this is why you’re wasting your talents and hiding out as a human?”
“I was better suited to this than any of the others.”
“Your plan will fail, and then what? I can’t hold her here forever. She deserves rest, peace.”
