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“Not my problem,” Rune shot back while I blinked, trying to take in the new information.
Rune was the son of the Queen of the Unseelie Court? And the Queen in question wanted him back?
That didn’t sound good.
Erskine’s answer was even less good. “I believe I have a boon coming to me and I’m not picky about who provides it,” he declared, the weakness he’d shown earlier now totally invisible as he threw my recent mistake back in my face. “Either I can offer your kitten to the Queen and see if that’s enough collateral to free me from this prison, or you can save us all some trouble and open the door yourself.”
“You want me to save you,” Rune countered. “Again. But that didn’t work out so well last time.”
“Last time was a gift,” Erskine countered. “This is the repayment of a boon. Do you really want to do this the hard way?”
“For old times’ sake,” Rune said, words as rough as sandpaper, “I would have thought you’d warn me about the Queen then let the matter go.”
Erskine’s eyes widened. “And be stuck Between? For an eternity? You want me to sacrifice myself so you can play in the mud?”
“Which,” Rune observed, “brings me back to my original point. You haven’t changed a bit.”
Their bickering rolled over me as I assessed the situation. Erskine had taken us Between at my bidding, to save Kale from the magical wind. Unfortunately, it appeared he wasn’t about to carry us back out again.
Luckily, I had another fae on call.
Kale must have come to the same conclusion. Because his eyes met mine as we sank down to the ground together. Then we started to dig.
The first layers were easy to push through. Moss then fluffy soil. The trouble was, even when my finger stubbed up against a root, the being didn’t bite.
So perhaps the standing stones kept the Guardian out just like they kept Erskine in, at least in his human form? I swallowed. I didn’t really know the laws of Faery. Didn’t know if calling on the Guardian had any chance of working here.
Meanwhile, Erskine’s voice had turned sweetly seductive. “Remember the pleasures of Faery? Haven’t you missed it, living in your cold, gray world? The cakes. The nectar. Beautiful bodies, ready and willing.”
Rune, to the best of my knowledge, possessed no such hedonistic urges. Still, the boon I’d tossed at Erskine must have weighed heavily upon him. Because my Consort started to bargain.
“Before I consider opening this door, I’d require proof of Lupe and Ryder’s safety. Plus, Tara”—his voice caught on my name—“Tara’s pack must be protected against all fae intrusion.”
“You ask more than I promised,” his brother countered. “I drew the danger away from the ones Tara asked me to. I’ll pop your kitten and her pet over into the mud world before you and I head home. But that’s the entirety of my offer. Take it or leave it.”
Kale was digging sideways along the root now. He hadn’t given up, so I couldn’t either. I brushed his hand aside and followed the route he’d suggested.
The instant I did so, the harsh greeting of the Guardian bit through my skin.
***
“I NEED YOUR HELP.” I murmured my request aloud, hoping Erskine wouldn’t hear me. But I trusted Rune to prevent anything from happening while I knelt, eyes closed, communing with our family ally.
To my surprise, I received an answer in words rather than sensations. “Why should I help you?” The voice in my head was female, throaty. I could almost see a silhouette of the Guardian against the insides of my closed eyelids.
Did that mean this stone circle was closer to Faery than the grove where the Guardian and I usually met? Did that even matter? Clenching my eyes closed more tightly, I muttered my reply.
“Because of our family Bargain. We provide you with a foothold in the human world and you protect our pack.”
She snorted. “But you haven’t lived up to your side of that Bargain. No Heir. No Beta. I don’t make deals with power-hungry wannabes. I make deals with sworn Alphas.”
“So that’s why you let strange wolves trespass on our territory? Why you allowed fae to invade our factory?”
The Guardian was silent. Her root slid away from me, but I grabbed it between my thumb and forefinger before it could fully retreat. Ripping at the soil just like Kale had done, I soon had enough length to wrap around my wrist.
This time the root wriggled harder, trying to evade me. But I knotted it with my other hand, pulling the loose end tight with my teeth.
Spitting out grit, I continued. “I will uphold my end of the Bargain. I have a full week left until Beltane.” The traditional date when a new Alpha proved to the Guardian that she’d followed all rules to the letter. It would take luck to conceive before then. But Rune had promised to be my Consort and I could select a Beta as early as tonight.
The Guardian was less sanguine. “I want it done sooner. There’s danger to the pack.”
This was far more words than the Guardian had ever offered previously. I bit down on the inside of my cheek, drawing blood then spitting it over the root in gratitude.
“I’ll move up my timeline,” I promised. “But I need your help now. To take myself, Butch, and Kale back to the human world. To remove whatever spell is on our glitter.”
Because that must have been what impacted Kale. He wasn’t furious enough to run off on his own or he wouldn’t be helping me now. No, he’d been impacted by the charmed glitter and we’d only barely fended off terrible consequences.
The Guardian didn’t appear to care, or at least she didn’t answer. Not for one long moment, during which time the brothers’ argument flowed over me like bird song.
“You’re receiving far more from me in exchange for the boon than you would have received from Tara,” Rune observed, and I got the distinct impression he’d raised his voice to block out my muttering. “So I expect more in exchange as well.”
Erskine breathed out through his nose, sounding very much like his unicorn self. “Alright. I’ll give you a fragment of Faery. Your beloved can use it to build a force fire and remove any pesky charms from her glitter.”
Rune’s frustration, for once, was palpable. Or maybe he was only feigning emotion to buy me time to come up with another solution. “I don’t know what a force fire is.”
“Should’ve stuck around a little longer to learn your own heritage, shouldn’t you? Never mind. You can find the relevant details on Wikipedia.”
“Wikipedia? You’re telling me you logged onto a computer using hooves and a horn.”
Erskine’s rejoinder was airy. “I have my ways.”
“Guardian,” I murmured, “is that your final answer? You refuse to help me until the Bargain is complete?”
Silence was the only response. So I opened my eyes and broke into the brothers’ conversation. “The boon is none of Butch’s business. It’s mine to repay.”
They turned to face me together. “Tara,” Rune started.
“Kitten,” his brother added.
“I want to protect you.”
“Best let the big kids handle this. I only have enough magic on hand to start one fire and if you waste it....”
I cut Erskine off. “No.” As I spoke, I stood and let the root rip away from me. I had one week to fix this issue with the Guardian, but I wasn’t about to toss Rune back to some Unseelie Court in the meantime.
“Erskine, give me the fragment of Faery, take us back to our world, and I promise that I personally will prevent you from being stuck Between forever.”
Somehow. Eventually. I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Then, before Erskine could consider reeling in favors from two of us instead of one, I added, “But Rune owes you nothing. I do.”