Twilight Siege

5

“Rebecca, I see you made it back home safely.” His lips hinted at an amused smile and I got the feeling there was a joke somewhere that I was missing. I returned his smile shyly. “Yes, and thank you for your help. I was rather out of my element.” “It was my pleasure.” Lochlan cut in somewhat tersely. “I didn’t realize you two had become acquainted at the palace.” Was he upset that I had met this man? The man in question lifted his chin as his eyes met Lochlan’s. “Not formally. As you know, I happened to be at the palace the night Rebecca joined the queen for dinner so I tried to guide her though the evening.” Lochlan held eyes with the man for an uncomfortable second before cutting his glance in my direction. “I suppose introductions are in order. Rebecca Peterson, this is the Erlking of the Wild Hunt, Alberich.” The name sounded like all-brick and in a vague way it sounded familiar. I smiled and started to give a Faery bow of greeting but froze as bits and pieces of my prior internet research came back to me. “I know that name!” My voice came out almost reverently. “Alberich is another name for Oberon! After we learned about the Fae, I researched Titania and Oberon to see what I could learn and one of the names for Oberon, was Alberich. Am I right?” Alberich flashed a dimpled grin and bowed deeply. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” My eyes rounded and I turned to Lochlan. “So that’s how you knew I had been in Faery!” I was stunned that the man who had so gallantly given me guidance while I was in Faery was leader of the Wild Hunt—not that I had expected him to be brutish or anything. I was simply amazed that the mythological giant had seemed so ordinary and approachable. The legendary Oberon, or Alberich as he was called, stood just feet from me, eyes laughing as I gawked at him. “I think you may have broken her.” Lochlan teased. “Wouldn’t be the first time, son.” The two men laughed at each other in a warm and familiar manner. “Wait, is he your father? Your father is Oberon?” I looked at Lochlan in astonishment. They didn’t look much alike—Alberich had a darker complexion and was altogether smaller, whereas Lochlan was blond, blue eyed, and solid with muscle. “No exactly, he’s not my biological father. If you’ll recall I mentioned being raised in the Hunt. Alberich took me in as a boy so he’s my adoptive father, but we display a professional relationship unless behind closed doors.” I recalled Ronan telling me about Alberich with palpable disgust. If Ronan hated Lochlan and Alberich was essentially Lochlan’s father, that would explain his agitation toward Alberich. Ronan had intimated at his own blatant disloyalty, but I didn’t have the background to put the pieces together. Had I known that the man we had discussed was his leader, perhaps I would have caught on to his betrayal and could have stopped him before he had attacked me or hurt anyone else. No, I refused to entertain remote scenarios to shift blame onto myself. The ‘what ifs’ were a slippery slope, and while they might help me see ways I could do better in the future, they were also a one-way ticket to the blame game. Ronan was drowning in hatred and that cancer had eaten away at his soul, there was nothing I could have done about that. “Is something wrong?” Alberich asked with concern. “No, I was just reminded of something Ronan had said.” “Rebecca was just informing me that Ronan was involved in the Red Cap attack and has likely abandoned the Hunt.” Lochlan took on a more formal tone and his eyes cut over to his leader, whose face iced over with fury before he closed his eyes and went still. “Is he okay?” I asked with concern. Lochlan’s eyes stayed fixed on Alberich. “When a new Erlking is chosen, the members perform a rite that grants him the ability to sense us. It’s not a way to communicate, just a generalized sense of where we might be and in times of great emotional stress, some of those feelings may be communicated through the bond.” After a tense moment of silence, the Erlking’s eyes opened and they were filled with something akin to regret and condemnation. “He has severed the bond, I cannot sense him.” The two men shared a look and while I may not have been part of the exchange, the meaning was clear. Ronan had gone from hunter to hunted and these men were now out for blood. An unexpected sense of relief fell over me and exhaustion tugged at my mind. I wouldn’t feel safe with Ronan out there, but knowing these men were hunting him went a long way toward calming my addled nerves. “All right.” As I spoke, their heads swiveled in my direction. “I think you have this covered and it’s been a long day for me, I’d like to head home but I have one more favor to ask.” I looked at Lochlan imploringly, knowing I might be pushing my luck. “My parents are in Ireland, they came to visit but I’m worried about them being here. I need you to use your Fae mojo and convince them they need to go home. They are supposed to stop by my place tomorrow evening to discuss our weekend plans, I thought maybe you could stop by then.” “Not a problem, we’ll get them sent home.” “Thank you, that would be a big weight off my shoulders.” I turned to face Alberich. “It was a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it had been under better circumstances.” I gave him a tight smile and turned back to Lochlan. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” As I rode the elevator I called for an Uber—with Ronan out there, I wasn’t going to wander around looking for a cab. They were relatively prevalent in downtown Belfast but I wasn’t taking any chances. Once my ride showed up, I exited the building and hurried into the car. By the time I got home, I had about thirty minutes before Cat was scheduled to come by. I changed into comfortable clothes and threw together a sandwich for dinner. I hadn’t seen my brownie friend since my fight with Ronan but I had no reason to believe he had left, so I fixed a small plate for him as well and left it on the counter. Finding a six-inch green man gathering crumbs on my kitchen table had nearly convinced me I was going crazy. But in a few short weeks everything had changed and now I would be forever grateful to the little man for bringing me my necklace when Ronan attacked me. If it hadn’t been for his small act of bravery, I wasn’t sure I would have survived the night. Memories from the night before started creeping up on me until there was a knock at the door and I was flooded with relief. I had no desire to dwell on that darkness. Checking the peep hole, a precaution I rarely took prior to Ronan’s attack, I verified that it was Cat and ushered her inside.