What choices did he have? Die slowly, taking what pleasure he could as his humanity came back in one last hurrah, or die quickly, and perhaps save Ashe’s daughter? Duty, dignity, death.
An aching lump worked its way up his throat, as if all the arguments for life scrambled for breath at once. He choked them down in one hard swallow.
At the last moment, he let his gaze linger on Holly’s baby, softly sleeping in the corner. As his last vision of the outside world, the innocent infant was a good one. She was a symbol of everything love could achieve. Life from death.
He couldn’t make life, but he could save it. He could do his duty.
“Will that crystal work outside the circle?” he demanded.
“Sure, the spell’s got an hour or two left on it.”
“Will it work for me?”
“Yeah—”
“Then give it to me.” He held out his hand. Reluctantly, Holly handed it over. Her elfin face was filled with questions.
Reynard took a deep, steadying breath, finding the discipline that had kept him strong for centuries. He pulled himself straight. “Tell Ashe that I know where her daughter is, and that Eden will be safely home by morning.”
“Wait a minute,” said Holly, her voice rising with tension. “What are you planning? You know you can’t go back into the Castle. It makes you sick.”
Reynard couldn’t help smiling. It was so nice that someone cared what became of him. He hadn’t always had that. “There’s no time to argue. I know the Castle. I can find Eden faster than anyone else.”
As he spoke, he pulled power from the air, grabbing the scraps of Holly’s magic and the wild anxiety of the searchers roaming the streets and calling Eden’s name. He spun it, letting it build fast and hard.
Holly grabbed a slender wand from where her tools were arranged, her knuckles turning white as she gripped it. “Reynard? Don’t go all cowboy on us.”
He shook his head. “The vampire is working with the dark fey. I’m sure of it. No one knows what fairies might do, much less their prince.” The fey take children, and Miru-kai has been in the thick of this from the start.
“Dark fey?” Holly demanded, the words cracking with fear. “What are you talking about? What’s happening to Eden?”
He released enough energy to make a portal. The charred scent blasted the room. A spinning dot appeared and spread like oil poured in a pan, growing to man height in a wash of bright orange, prickling energy.
“Talk to me, Reynard, or I’ll zap you,” Holly warned, raising the wand. “Don’t think I won’t!”
He would have rather told her all that he knew, explained his choices, but every second counted. Eden’s welfare trumped everything else. “Tell Ashe I’ll make everything right.”
The portal swallowed him with a pop.
Chapter 18
Miru-kai stared at the little girl, delight in his heart. A human child! Who would have thought such a prize would come to him here, in the dismal Castle?
She stared back, terrified but struggling not to cry. With the aid of Shadewing and the goblin guards, it had been a matter of moments to snatch her away from the vampires. As a feat of arms, it was barely a challenge. Miru-kai was a commander of armies and every bit Belenos’s equal in battle. After that, Miru- kai’s knowledge of the Castle had made it child’s play to lose them in the maze of corridors.
The vampire’s outraged howl had been a delight. Proud Belenos hadn’t anticipated anything but fawning admiration. From a prince of the fey! Idiot.
Just to add insult to injury, Miru-kai had sent Shadewing to tip off the Castle guards that there were unwelcome visitors afoot. An excellent way to win points with Mac and send Belenos on a merry chase. All in one fell swoop. Priceless.
Now Miru-kai was alone with the girl. Terrified, she sat curled into a ball, knees drawn up to her chin, eyes watching his every move. He’d sent the goblins away, hoping that would calm her. He was the first to admit their appearance took some getting used to.
It had worked. Now, for a very frightened child, she was remarkably loquacious.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
A fey prince had many names and titles, so he offered something a child could remember. “Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Yes.” Hearing the name tugged at something deep inside him. Only the closest of friends had ever used that name. Friends like Simeon.
The emotion doubled his desire to keep this human as his charge, safe and sound. No vampires would steal her from under his nose. The fey took better care of children than that.
She gave him a serious look from large, dark eyes. “You sort of look human, but you’re not, are you?” Her tone was all accusation.
“My grandfather was human,” Miru- kai replied, keeping his voice gentle. “But the rest of my ancestors were kings and queens of the fey.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s a prince doing in here?”
He allowed himself a slight smile. “My arrival was an inconvenient accident. I’ll be leaving shortly.”
“Uncle Mac is going to let you go?” She looked even more suspicious. Not a stupid girl, this one.
“Of course,” he said smoothly. Now that Miru- kai had the gem, Uncle Mac had little choice in the matter. “It’s time to join the modern era.”
But it wasn’t just himself he was thinking of. All of his people wanted freedom as much as he did, but whether the new human world and the dark fey were ready for each other was another story. How he approached integrating dark fairies into the twenty-first century would depend on what he discovered beyond the Castle door. He had heard the hellhounds hadn’t found the outside world particularly welcoming, and they were as human- friendly as monsters got.
He had his work cut out for him.
“Captain Reynard and Mom will come get me, you know.”
The girl’s statement snapped Miru-kai’s mind back to the here and now. “How do you know the good captain?”
“He likes my mother.” The girl looked down, frowning at her hands.
Oh-ho, what have we here? “Does he?”
She tucked a curl behind her ear. “They kill things together. He’s okay.”
Reynard’s been gone how many days? The old fox works quickly!
She gave him another narrow look. “Are you one of those creepy guys who touches little kids?”
The prince shook his head. “I give you my word; I simply enjoy your company. No harm will come to you while you are with me.”
“Are you sure?” Her chin stuck out stubbornly. “The first bunch put a bag over my head when they stuffed me in their car. I think it was a potato sack. I smell like dirt.”
“I am not personally responsible for the sack. Those were vampires and their servants. Nasty things. And you do not smell like dirt. You smell like human.”
She looked faintly embarrassed. “What does that mean? Do I need a bath?”
He laughed, something he hadn’t expected to do ever again. Not after Simeon. “It’s hard to put into words. Humans smell like their houses. Warm. Like food. Yours has a scent of magic. And you’ve been near a baby.”
Eden made a face. “Yeah, Robin stinks. She can’t help it.”
The girl looked away. Her cheeks held the bloom of health and sunshine, despite the circles of fatigue under her eyes. What is her story?
“My mom will get those vampires.”
