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I ran to Halstad, wondering what the fuck else could go wrong right now. I put a hand on the mage's broad shoulder and crouched down beside him. "Halstad? Shit Halstad, what is it?"
A smooth, silky laugh tinkled through the air like a low-pitched windchime and moonlight sparkled on silver hair as a tall fae came out of the shadows, riding a massive black horse with honest to the Gods fucking fangs.
"Oh dear," Oisin's father said sweetly. "Your poor mage seems to have gotten something...in his eyes."
He slid off his horse and stood regal and erect, surveying me and my pride with disgust. "What an absolute waste of power," he commented, lifting a hand and compelling Halstad to stay on his knees when he tried to rise. "And to think, you had to stoop to using a mongrel like this to do your magic work." He tsked and kicked Halstad in the stomach as he walked by. "A vulture, full of used parts of the dead. And you think I'm the villain."
I growled. "I don't think. I know, asshole." My talons flexed, wanting to feel fae blood gushing over my hands.
He gave me a patient look, as if he were talking to a mentally impaired child. "This has all been quite amusing, but I do have to get going now. Ritual sacrifice to finish and all. I'm not getting any younger, you know." He grinned at his own humor. "Oh, wait...I am."
He moved toward Hisashi, and Oisin and I rushed him. No fucking way was he getting to either of them. The silver-haired fae lifted a hand and I slammed into what felt like a wall of solid glass. I bounced off and landed on my ass in the mud, blood pouring from my broken nose.
"Hand over my son, little fox," the old fae purred. "I grow tired of these games."
Con fired at the fae. The bullet curved around him and struck a nearby tree. Cadoc flicked a hand in Con's direction and the human fell to his knees clutching his throat as if he couldn't breathe. Kai frantically fell to her knees beside him, her hands fluttering over the helpless man.
"Stop it!" I yelled. "Just fucking let him breathe. He's only a human."
The fae tilted his head to look down at me. "They are so frail, aren't they? Crushing them is like stepping on a bug. I quite enjoy the...pop."
He glanced at the moon above and then at Hisashi and Oisin, and I could tell his patience was wearing thin. "Bring me my power," he said to Hisashi, his voice laced with compulsion magic.
Con fell over, unconscious from the lack of Oxygen.
The fox took a step closer, and for a moment, I thought the compulsion was working. Then Hisashi turned to me, broke through the fae's barrier, and placed Oisin in my arms. "Go to the jet, Gesa. I'll be along in a minute."
I gaped at him as I took his precious cargo from him, Con gasping out a startled breath behind us as air poured into his lungs. "Hisashi...what the hell are you doing?"
But once again, I had my arms full of the one thing I'd die for or kill to protect. "Damn you, don't do this."
Kai and a rather blue-tinged Con pulled me back, away from Hisashi and toward the distant hangar. "Hisashi! You motherfucker come on, right now!" I shouted, panic clawing at my chest. He could not be fucking thinking of taking on an ancient, powered up fae by himself. Dumbass motherfucking, self-sacrificing asshole fox!
I couldn't fight my way free of Kai's grip with a busted foot and Oisin in my arms. And the fox fucking knew it.
His snow-white hair lifted in a breeze no one else felt. "You've lived a few centuries too long, fae," Hisashi whispered, his deep voice echoing with power. "Let me help fix that for you."
The fae smiled, showing off sharp teeth, his red eyes flaring with magic. "Are you threatening me, child?"
Hisashi only smiled a feral smile. "Me? Of course not. But them?" He gestured at the air around them...at nothing. "They might have something to say about all the pain and suffering you've caused in the clan you were supposed to lead and protect. The way you've disturbed the balance of nature in your pursuit of everlasting power."
The breeze picked up and a swirling mist started to form around the Hisashi. It curled outward like fingers, grasping, seeking.
Oisin's father's smug expression faltered and a flat mask fell into place to hide his unease. "What are you rambling about now, fox?"
The mist started to solidify, to form people-shaped forms of smoke and shadow that made all the hair stand up on my arms and chills walk up the back of my neck.
Hisashi spread his arms. "Your clan. Your ancestors. The ones you've tortured and murdered. The dishonor. The lives you've crushed underfoot all these centuries." He grinned. "Dude, you can't think you were going to get away with that shit forever. Karma's a bitch and all."
He moved his hands forward and the people-shaped smoke figures rushed the fae, pummeling him with half-formed fists, pulling at his hair and clothing. I was shocked when some of them seemed to be material enough to cause actual damage. Rips and tears appeared in the fae's perfect riding clothes. A long, bloody scratch appeared on one cheek.
The fae's red eyes widened in fear, but he shook it off and stood tall with a wash of his own magic tingling over him, setting all to rights. "Children's tricks meant to scare the superstitious." He flicked a hand dismissively and took a step toward me and Oisin. "I'm done playing your games. Your parlor tricks are nothing to me." His eyes met mine and his voice echoed in my head. "Bring. Him. Here."
I roared internally when my foot lifted and I took a step toward the fae, helpless against his mind control. All I could manage to do was slow the movements. I was about to deliver the man I loved right into the arms of his tormentor.
"Fae!" Hisashi shouted. "Look at me."
Surprised, Cadoc turned to the fox with a look of exasperation on his face. I was afraid of what that gaze might compel Hisashi to do. But one look at the fox and I was suddenly more afraid of what Hisashi might do all on his own.
His eyes skipped silver and went straight to smoke white. My jaw dropped open as Hisashi lifted off the ground, hovering in a tornado of misty magic, nine fluffy white tails spread out behind him. He spread his hands and opened his mouth in a silent war-cry.
The misty forms rushed the fae...and seeped into him. I watched in horror as the ghosts of the slain filled the fae's body, overwhelming his aura until he was pulsing with a gray light that felt inherently...not good. The pulses of energy grew stronger and stronger as the fae gritted his teeth and tried to fight it off.
The fae threw back his head and howled in anger. Then he...exploded.
The contained spirits flew outward, swirling and howling as they flew skyward and faded out. Chunks of fae meat pattered around us like rain. I doubt there was a piece of him left that was bigger than a dime.
"Jesus, Buddha, and Odin," I breathed.
Well, that was...a thing. What a fucking way to die.
I glanced at Hisashi and my hackles rose. He was still floating, eyes still lost in that misty white. The wind around us picked up and I fought to keep my feet as Kai swore and grabbed a hold of Con and Halstad, pulling them to the ground and anchoring them with her tentacle-like grip and her kraken strength.
"Hisashi!" I called out. "You can stop now. We're good. Call it off."
The wind whipped around us, sucking everything in toward the fox. I staggered another step closer involuntarily as I was tugged forward by invisible hands. Misty forms began to materialize in the wind, along with the whisper of voices forming unintelligible words. They didn't sound friendly.
"Hisashi," I yelled again. "God damn it fox. Stand the fuck down!"
I really didn't want to do that exploding thing like dear old pops. Didn't look fun at all.
I hit my knees and leaned back, holding onto Oisin and fighting the wind. I let out a very girlish squeak when something tickled my neck.
Glancing down, I found dull emerald eyes peering up at me as Oisin made a weak attempt to pull me down to him, his fingers like a ghost touch on my neck.
I bent my head to him. "Oh Gods. Fuck I'm so glad you're alive, you little snark."
He croaked something into my ear. The wind and the ghosts were howling so bad by this time that I could barely hear him. He tugged me closer and I finally understood. "Take me to him."
Pulling back, I looked down at my poor, nearly dead fae. "If you wanted to die, I could have left you back there, you know. Ghostsplosion does not look like a good way to go."
He didn't even crack a grin. His dim eyes flicked to the fox and his long throat worked as he swallowed. I thought he was going to tell me to fuck off. But instead he lifted one scarred, skeletal hand and pointed at the fox.
I sighed and pushed myself unsteadily to my feet. The crushed leg still wasn't completely healed, and it protested the abuse. I let the wind tug me forward until we reached Hisashi. "Hey up there," I shouted over the wind, craning my head back to look up at the floating nine-tail. "Visitor for you, Dr. Weirdshit."
Oisin reached out a trembling hand and I moved closer, holding the fae up like some sort of offering to the scary fox god. Oisin gripped the hem of Hisashi's sweatshirt and tugged weakly. He didn't have the strength of a kitten, his fae healing overwhelmed by the energy drain and what looked like repeated trauma. But it was enough to get through to Hisashi.
White eyes flicked downward, and the silver returned as Hisashi slowly sank to the ground. The wind started to die down a bit and Oisin reached out both hands in supplication, like a baby insisting on "up."
Hisashi reached out and took the fae from me. I was loathe to let him go now that he was awake. Especially since Hisashi was one step away from killing us all. But it felt right, somehow. Oisin went to his other mate and curled into him, putting a hand on Hisashi's broad chest. Hisashi started and his eyes returned to their usual ice blue shade as the spirits and the wind disappeared.
It was only then that I sensed a hint of Oisin's magic. The moment Hisashi came back to himself, Oisin slumped, passing out again. The idiot had probably just used up all the magic he had left.
Hisashi clutched the fae to him and let out a half-sob, lifting silver-rimmed eyes to mine. "Gesa?"
I heaved a sigh and tugged at his sleeve. "Walk now, talk later."
We all turned and headed toward the hangar. Thank fuck this nightmare was almost over.
"Faster," Halstad urged, his gravelly voice even more gruff than usual. His face was still stained with bloody tears and he was wearing his goggles. He limped and shuffled but managed to pick up the pace. "I sense fae magic. The rest of the fuckers are still headed this way."
I grimaced. Of course. The rest of the nobles. Maybe what was left of the hounds. And we had just murdered their dear leader. We burst into the hangar and I slid to a stop, causing the others to slam into me from behind and send me a few more staggering steps forward.
The troll was lying dead on the ground, fae arrows protruding from his thick chest and his face. Next to the jet stood a six-foot tall stone gargoyle, a few fae that I recalled from Evalyn's group lying dead around it.
I ran to the statue and smoothed my hands over the stone wings and the ugly bulldog head. "What...Granite?" I turned back to the others, way the fuck out of my element. "Is he...dead?"
Halstad shuffled over and put a hand on the stone beast. "Dormant. I can still feel a trace of magic there." He shrugged. "Probably wounded so badly he had to go into stasis...it's a gargoyle thing. It'd take a nuke to hurt him now."
I rubbed a hand over my head. "Who did this? Why?"
Kai let out a string of curses and I turned to watch her shove a dead fae out of the jet. This one was dressed like the ones in the hunt, all dark fabrics and bristling with weapons. "These fuckers," she muttered. Her dark blue eyes met mine and her mouth was pinched. "There's a few more dead ones onboard. Looks like Granite and the troll killed them. But not before...." She gestured for me to follow her.
The cockpit had been completely destroyed, the wires and controls ripped out and smashed, then melted.
"Gesa!" Con called from outside the jet. "We need to get out of here."
Kai and I joined the others to find Halstad pacing awkwardly on his bum leg, weaving a shield over us. "They're coming."
I could see the moonlit landscape out the wide door of the hangar. The thunder of huge hooves and the baying and howling of the hounds was shitty enough. But beyond that...torches. The wild hunt was nearly upon us, and they were followed by the rest of the enraged Silverleaf clan.
I had no idea where the fuck Evalyn and her crew had bugged off to...but we were screwed. We had no way home. And all of us were injured in some way or another. Halstad and Hisashi might be strong, but they couldn't hold off a mass of other magic users indefinitely.
"I...." I looked at my pride. There was nothing I could fucking do to save them. I was supposed to be capable. Strong. I was their fucking alpha, for fuck's sake. And we were all going to die here.
"Come closer to me," Hisashi said softly. "All of you. Touch me. Get a good grip and don't let go, no matter what."
We all shifted closer, sharing wary glances. After that little exploding fae trick, I think we were all a bit gun-shy of our fox.
Halstad backed closer to Hisashi, one raised hand still holding up the shield. "Boy, you can't seriously be thinking what I think you're thinking."
Hisashi just gave him a nervous smile. "What's the point of power if you can't use it for good. Someone old and wise—and fucking cranky as hell—taught me that. Grab a tail, old man. I can feel it inside me. The power calling me to come. We're going for a little trip."
I reached out and clutched one of Hisashi's fluffy fox tails as the others did the same. "Hisashi? What is he talking about?"
The fox held Oisin tighter and closed his eyes as the air began to rush around us. "I know it's scary. But please Gesa, believe in me just a little longer."
The air around us began to shimmer and waver, like looking down a long stretch of blacktop on a hot summer day. Fae riders poured into the hangar through the wide door, brandishing swords and magic, trailing deadly hellhounds. Then we...shifted.
It was like stepping sideways, like falling into a reflection in the puddle at your feet and coming out on the other side.
The world around us was misty and gray. Smoky creatures I had never seen before leered at us from every direction, interspersed with humanoid forms, ghostly vegetation, and the tall, broken skeletons of half-finished buildings and dead trees.
"Hisashi," I breathed, my voice oddly flat as if there was nothing for it to echo off from in this place. "What the hell have you done?"