Dani Harper - Storm Bound

Brooke’s smile faded. “I guess loved him the first time I saw him. I’m crazy about him. But Aidan’s a good man, and an honorable one—”

“He’s not married is he?”

“Oh, hell no, not married. It’s not that. A thousand years ago, a fae princess killed his fiancée. He’s made a solemn vow to avenge her before he moves on with his life. With our life together.” She swallowed hard. “I’m just hoping he lives through it so we have a life together.”

Morgan put an arm around her shoulders. “Believe me, I know the type. My husband would cut off his own arm before he’d break a promise or a vow. It’s admirable and scary at the same time. But it’s how things were done in the past.” She paused for a long moment. “Does this particular faery know where Aidan is? Or you?”

Brooke nodded. “As a matter of fact, yes. She found Aidan at my shop in the middle of the night a little over a week and a half ago. I guess she sent him a creepy message. I was in bed with him at the time, so if she was scrying, then I assume she saw me too. We moved out of the building immediately though, and we set up all kinds of magical protections in the house we’re staying in, and—”

Morgan looked around and motioned Brooke to a bench. “Look,” she said. “I don’t want to scare you, but I have to scare you—understand? If a faery has your number, they’ll never stop hunting you. It won’t matter where you go on this planet, they’ll find you sooner or later. You’re going to have to be on your guard constantly.” She smiled weakly. “It’s become a lifestyle for us.”

“But it’s wrong for them to interfere in mortal lives.”

“They don’t care about that. They want what they want, Brooke. And they live practically forever, so they’ve got all the time in the world to spend on getting it.”

They want what they want. George had said some people were just like that, and she’d certainly had more than a few potential customers that fit the mold. “Then what do we do? What can we do? I don’t want to live my life in fear.”

“Maybe Aidan’s doing it. Maybe killing this Celynnen is more than a matter of revenge for him. He might be doing the only thing that will protect you and everyone you love.”

“I have a hard time with that. It seems wrong to do harm.”

“Yeah, I hear you,” Morgan sighed. “I’m a veterinarian, and that makes me a healer first. Speaking of which, maybe you could give me some advice on my four-legged patients. Right now I have a pudgy spoiled lizard named Petrie that has a skin infection, and I just can’t seem to find anything that will treat it effectively.” They resumed their walk as they discussed herbs and charms that Morgan might try. Brooke offered to go to the clinic the next day and see what she could do for the little lizard with her magic. As they rounded the corner of the barn, however, a loud argument reached their ears. It was coming from the direction of the forge.

Oh crap , thought Brooke, hurrying after Morgan to see what was going on. And I thought things were going well.

“You’re a damned twpsyn ,” Rhys shouted. “Only a fool would think you could just walk into the realm and make one of them do as you please. By all the gods, you’ll be a grim again in a heartbeat, if they don’t feed you to a hungry bwgan a piece at a time just for the fun of it.”

“They fear iron. It is their weakness.”

“They don’t fear it from a distance, and you’ll never get close enough to them to use it.”

“’Tis Celynnen I’m after. And, aye, she’ll let me near enough all right. She wants me to bed her. It’s what she’s wanted from the damnable beginning.” And because of it, he would get very, very close if he appeared willing to finally give her what she wanted.

“And how will you secrete an iron weapon on you then? Up your arse?”

Aidan shook his head. “’Twill not be the kind of weapon she expects. I’ll have a dagger for show, and she’ll take it from me, thinking she’s disarmed me. But I have another idea, and I believe it will work.” The slim iron blades would be small, but just one would be more than sufficient if he used it well. A wound made with iron would not close, not without considerable magic from a healer. If he was alone with Celynnen, he would have to ensure that he aimed for something vital. Like her flawless white throat…

Rhys took a deep breath as though calming himself. “I understand revenge more than most. I have hungered for it more than most,” he said. His voice had lowered, yet it felt far more intense than when he had been shouting. “The Romans made war upon my people, burned my village, killed my family. And when they were done with that, they made me fight for my life in the ring, over and over again. They were cruel and I hated them. But they were men, human, each of them mortal like me. When the Tylwyth Teg took me, I found I hated them far more than the Romans. Because their hearts were ice. Their cruelty was worse because of their apathy. I was but a toy to them at best, an insect in a jar.

“’Twas Morgan made the difference. Because of her kindness, I escaped the Fair Ones. And I escaped the craving for revenge as well. The love I have here with this woman is worth far more than the satisfaction of standing over a thousand dead fae.”

“Aye, I’m wanting a life with Brooke too,” declared Aidan. “But I’ll be true to my vow to avenge Annwyl’s murder. I must settle the past before I build the future.”

“Then you really are a twpsyn,” said Rhys. “Because you have no future if you go after a fae, especially one of the Royal Family. And Brooke will have no future either, because once you’re dead, the tywysoges will come after her and everyone connected to her.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” growled Aidan. “All you’re giving me are more reasons to kill Celynnen. We’ll have no peace until she’s gone.”

“There is no peace to be had in this time. The faery realm is in chaos right now, everyone vying for power and conspiracies springing up everywhere. The queen is honorable enough, and powerful beyond words, but even she can’t control all of her subjects. She can’t control her own family, or Celynnen would not be keeping so many pets .”

“I’ll not be spending my life in hiding, behind walls of horseshoes and charms, like you are here. You’re living in fear, man.”

“If we were that fearful, we wouldn’t have chosen to stay here, to make our stand here. The entire Wild Hunt has ridden through this very farm, so the Tylwyth Teg know exactly where we are,” said Rhys, bristling. “We’re living with an abundance of caution because some things are worth fearing, and that’s reality.”

“Some things are worth fighting for, and that’s reality too,” declared Aidan.

Rhys’s voice dropped to a dangerous tone. “Don’t speak to me of what’s worth fighting for. I’ve seen far more battle than you have.”

“You didn’t take on the whole Roman army at once. You picked them off, here and there. You chose your fights and you harried the Romans at every turn. They feared you. You were not called the Bringer of Death for nothing.”

Rhys appeared stunned. “How would you know? I didn’t tell you all of that.”

“Did you think you would not be remembered? In my time, the stories were still being told of you. As a boy I pretended to be you, with a wooden sword my tad made for me.”

“The Romans were not immortal. And neither are we, not now. Taking on even one faery would be suicide—or worse.”

“Evil must be opposed,” declared Aidan.