Curse And Craving

59

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 had been the 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 been so seemingly 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 groused. “Wouldn’t be the first time, son.” Alberich laughed as Lochlan shook his head. “Wait, is he your father? Your father is Oberon?” I gaped at Lochlan. 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. “Not 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. He’s my adoptive father, but we display a professional relationship unless behind closed doors.” I recalled Ronan telling me about Oberon, aka 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. 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 astutely. “No, I was just reminded of something Ronan had said.” “Rebecca just informed me that Ronan was involved in the Red Cap attack and has likely abandoned the Hunt.” Lochlan’s tone became grave. He cut his eyes over to his leader, whose face iced over. He closed his eyes and went still. After several long seconds, I whispered to Lochlan, “Is he okay?” 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. In times of great stress, sometimes emotions 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. “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. 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 after work on Monday.” He dropped his chin in confirmation, and I felt his eyes track my movements as I left the room. I breathed deeply once I reached the elevator. I’d survived. Lochlan was going to teach me, Ronan would be ruthlessly hunted until he was captured, and I hadn’t been forced to explain what had happened between us. In all, it was a highly successful evening, but also exhausting. I wanted to get home and collapse in bed, but Cat was coming over. I had one more important task to complete before I could lose myself in sleep. OceanofPDF.com Chapter Twenty-Four I TOOK AN UBER HOME—WITH RONAN OUT THERE, I WASN’T GOING TO wander around looking for a cab. By the time I got home, I had about thirty minutes before Cat was supposed 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. When a knock sounded at my front door, I checked the peephole to make sure it was Cat. It was a precaution I’d rarely taken prior to Ronan’s attack. He’d changed me in a lot of ways in a very short span of time. “Thank you so much for coming.” I offered Cat a warm hug. “I’m glad to help. I love your place, and it’s so close to work!” “Thanks. It’s nothing fancy, but it works great for me. Not much longer and you’ll have a place of your own.” She set her coat over the back of the couch and looked around my small living area. “Hopefully, otherwise, someone might end up dead. I can’t honestly say if it’d be my mam or me, but one of the two.” I snickered on a cough. “What did you bring?” I pointed toward the plastic sack she held dangling from her hands and encouraged her to have a seat on the couch with me. “Well, I wasn’t sure exactly what type of spells you were looking for, so I brought this as an option.” “Great, tell me about it.” “The first thing we do is ward the home against any Fae entering the building.” Oh, crap! I didn’t want to ward the apartment against myself, but I wasn’t ready to tell her that I was well on my way to becoming Fae. Not to mention, I had a Brownie living in the place, and I didn’t feel a need to kick him out of his home.