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er, then I wanted to be with her—my wolf wanted it even more. But I was done with this farting around in the desert bullshit. Court of Gales be damned.
My wolf howled at me to stay the course, but I ignored him and turned west. Still, I couldn’t make myself move, even knowing that there was nothing to the east. Nothing for miles in that direction and if I kept going that way, I would just walk until I fell down dead.
The sun was falling behind the dune in front of me, and there was nothing that way either.
I wanted to trust Eli that I was headed somewhere that would help Cosette, but there was literally nothing here. Nothing as far as I could see in any direction. Unease settled heavy in my empty stomach and I knew this entire day had been a waste. I was a waste. What was I even doing here?
Cosette.
I turned east, but then I looked west again. I had to go west. The urge to head that way hit me hard.
So, I had to go west. I had to start that way before I died. I needed—
Son of a bitch.
I spun back to the east.
Those sneaky bastards and their sneaky fucking magic. I knew what this was.
I took another two steps east.
This—this—was finally something familiar. These wards didn’t hit as hard as the ones at the coven’s compound—it was way more subtle and insidious than that—but they were wards all the same.
The magic that kept anyone from walking on the coven’s land was like hitting a wall of anxiety and dread and terror. There was no subtlety. Their wards smacked me in the face and it was like a switch flipped in my brain. All I wanted to do was run to get away from the slimy magic that coated my skin. Crossing them was nearly impossible, but I knew when I hit them because I could see the houses in the distance—just beyond the magical barrier—and I could tell myself to ignore it and keep walking.
But the fey were sly. Their wards must’ve wormed their way into my mind hours ago. Slowly filling my head with doubts and worries. I’d started to move slower and slower. I’d wanted to rule that out as exhaustion, but picturing Cosette in danger was enough to fuel me for days. I knew the only way to save her was to keep moving forward, and I’d still turned around.
I didn’t feel any greasy magic along my skin. My wolf wasn’t scenting anything other than my own BO and sand and heat, but Eli said that the Court of Gales was to the east. I couldn’t see anything ahead of me, but the fey’s underhills were hidden on a different plane of existence than the mortal realm. So, it made perfect sense that I couldn’t see anything. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
Nice try, assholes. But your wards aren’t enough to keep me away.
I took another step, and then another. My wolf was on edge, sensing a fight to come, and he wasn’t wrong. I might need him soon. The hair on my arms grew thicker and my nails became a little too long, a little too sharp to be considered human.
I took another step, and the magic grew. I could almost hear the voice worming its way into my head, urging me to turn back.
I took one more step and my teeth tingled with magical pressure. I was getting closer.
One more step.
Then another.
And one more. An internal battle waged inside of me with every foot I gained. My gut was telling me to turn around. To run. To get the fuck away from here before I got myself killed, but that was the magic.
I pushed it away. I could do this. For Cosette, I would do it.
One more step.
The wind rose, violently whipping the sand into the air, blocking out the harsh sunlight. A dozen fey bamfed in, surrounding me, dressed in all white—white shirt and white loose pants. Their faces were guarded behind intricately carved golden masks that covered their eyes, leaving only a small slit to see through. Each mask had a different design, and I wasn’t sure which one was the leader of the bunch. But it didn’t matter. They were fey. Every single one of them was dangerous.
I raised a hand to protect my eyes as the wind moved faster. Something told me that if I shifted this would get a whole lot worse, but that left me at a disadvantage. I could fight as a human, but without claws and teeth, I was minus the weapons that came with being a wolf.
Hold strong. That’s all I could do while I waited for them to stop their display of power. They were going to make a decision about me soon. Either kill me or see what I wanted. From what Eli said, I was assuming that I was going to pique their interest.
The wind was gone from one breath to the next. The sand fell to the ground and the sun glared brighter than before.
I lowered my hand. One of the fey had come forward to stand in front of the rest. The person lifted their mask, revealing a beautiful woman with skin the same color as the sand. The whites of her eyes swirled with black and gray smoke, and at times, I couldn’t tell where her irises started or if they were even there. And the way she looked at me—like I would make a pleasant snack—made me take a step back from her.
My move made her grin widen, and I noticed that her canine teeth looked a little more defined, not like mine when in my wolf form, but somewhere in between that and normal human. But combined with the way she licked her lips and narrowed her gaze as she stepped toward me was enough to give me the distinct impression that she could literally eat my flesh and enjoy it. She leaned toward me and breathed in deep, scenting me. Why do that unless she was going to hunt me?
