Cecil steps forward, hesitantly. “Guys, maybe we should talk—”
“Shut up!” I snarl.
Cecil flinches. “Yes, sir.”
Javelin glares at me but doesn’t make any move to fight.
With a growl, I turn away from the two of them. “We’ll hunt tonight. But this time, I choose the target.”
The elf wouldn’t expect us to emerge so soon, would he? Maybe luck will be on our side. As if. Luck hates me.
At any rate, we need to hunt. I can feel it. Javelin’s hunger has him on edge. I’ll have a rabid dog on my hands if he doesn’t feed soon.
Cecil’s just as thirsty.
And so am I.
Hate skitters through me, and I stalk into my room. I snatch up the elven dagger I keep on the top of my dresser and fling it with a thud into the wall, only the hilt and half an inch of steel exposed. I need to work on my aim and control.
I’m the leader of this gang.
If I want Javelin and Cecil to keep looking to me as their leader, I can’t let anyone stand in our way.
I’d summoned magic before. It was an instinctive move, but I’ve still done it. I close my eyes now and think.
Fire. Red. Hate. Power.
Blood.
Blood.
Blood . . .
I feel it. Something flickers inside of me and is gone almost as soon as I sense it.
“Come on,” I growl. I try again. I pull my senses inward, and—
“There!”
My fingertips tingle and I focus on the humming. Red light emanates from my hands, and I hold them up to eye level, watching the red waver and dance. It gives no heat, but I know I hurt Stella’s elven attacker with this magic, somehow.
After a moment, I lose my grip on the enchantment, and it winks into nothing. That’s okay, though. I have time.
Closing my eyes, I start again.
12
Eldaren
Striding away from the Ranger’s Inn, I enter the woods. I appear weaponless to the human eye, but nothing is further from the truth, as I carry knives and a collapsible spear. I would prefer not to use them, but if someone or something threatens Stella, I have them.
As dusk settles over the island, the sounds of the forest change, and the shadows lengthen and grow. The fading light turns hazy and darkens on the edge of the eastern sky.
The early spring air is warm, but it’s quickly turning chilly as I walk down a dirt path. This trail appears well used, and I want to know by whom.
I stalk down the trail, easing the blades in their bands, hidden inside my jacket sleeves. Glancing around in a casual manner, I hope no one is nearby to see. I don’t want to give my weapon locations away. I don’t see or hear any humans, which almost certainly means there aren’t any nearby. Humans are abysmal at stealth, so I would be aware of them, otherwise. Even so, after the disaster that befell Liberty last night, I want to make sure I’m ready to go on the offensive at a moment’s notice.
I listen and watch as I walk. Every sense is stretching. I don’t detect any potential threats, and if I weren’t more disciplined, I’d probably relax in such a welcoming atmosphere. I can hardly believe how much magic these woods contain. How did we not sense this before?
But this place is thick with magic, and unless I’m mistaken, the air feels different, almost as if reality isn’t as solid on this island. I can also sense the masked magic. Now that I am here, the enchantment is impossible to hide.
I wonder if this will be the place I’m able to enter the dimension of the fae, and the thought excites me. If I could convince them to return and help, then we might actually have a chance at healing Earth.
“I’m only going to say this one more time.”
I look up at the voice and see the boy from earlier, sitting on the large branch of a tree. He glares down at me. “Your kind does not belong here. I don’t have the time or resources to drive you back to space, but sure as dawn, I will drive you from this isle by force if you do not leave peacefully.”
“Why would I listen to you?” I ask. I mean it as an honest question. I do not see how he could do much of anything.
He smiles, and it’s cold. “You have no idea who you’re messing with, do you, prince? Well, let me give you a bit of info. This island? It’s mine. It belongs to me. I own it. So take your elven backside and get thee hence.”
Ah. So he’s a brat who thinks he can threaten people into leaving his make-pretend realm.
I told Stella I’d beat the boy if I found him again, but looking up at the lanky creature, I can’t help but feel a thread of compassion. His whole world is probably this tiny little piece of land. What seems so big to him is, in reality, extremely small. So rather than thrashing him into the next century, I pass under him and continue my walk.
“Where’s the girl?” The boy’s voice turns musing. “Funny. I could have sworn that you weren’t alone the last time we met.”
My steps falter, and the young man snickers. “Ah. She means something to you. Good. I was rather hoping she did. Though what you see in that malnourished rat, I don’t know.”
He’s one to talk. I turn around. “You are complicating matters,” I say. “I don’t want to hurt you, but when you threaten those under my care, I am left with little alternative.”
I tense, ready to spring and snatch him down. I will hurt him just enough to make him cry and remind him I rule this island.
“She’s not alone,” Bren whispers. “Someone is there, in that building with her. Right. Now.”
Fear shoots through me, and with a
