Page 17 of Woodland Web

“You like this?” Briar asked, reaching out to stroke the petals.

I nodded. “We don’t really have blue roses. The color doesn’t exist in the rose family. How do you grow them?”

“We have our magic,” Briar said, picking off one of the roses and handing it to me.

I lifted it to my nose. The scent of rose was overlaid with the scent of something else. I couldn’t identify it, but it smelled like dusky summer nights and moonlit walks. I started to thank him but caught myself.

“This is beautiful,” I said, staring at the rose.

“Please, sit.” He motioned to a nearby bench and I gingerly took my seat.

Briar sat near me, but not close enough to make me uncomfortable. “So, how is the search for the sluagh faring?”

“Well, I think I know where it’s hiding. And I’ve learned several things about its nature.” Before I could stop myself, I added, “It would have helped if you would have given me a dossier on it, you know.”

Briar grinned—a slow, easy grin that caught me off guard. “Ah, but where’s the fun in that? You’re a tenquitara, you should be able to find out these things.”

“I’m a witch, but that doesn’t mean I have access to all the documents in the world. But I do know that it’s going to be a battle fighting the sluagh. They’re dangerous. It’s already killed two of our townsfolk and injured a third.” I shook my head. “How did it get loose? Do your people—the Overkings—keep control over all of the sub-Fae?”

Briar sprawled against the back of the bench. He was cocky, arrogant in the way people have when they’re born and bred to not only think, but know, that they’re better than others.

“Eventually, if negotiations go right, you’ll know more about us. We need to enter the ways of the world, even to a minor degree, and the best way to make that entrance is to work with witchblood. And so, we negotiate for an even footing on which to do so.” He straightened. “If negotiations falter, there will be trouble.”

I stared at him. He was deadly serious now. “Trouble? Like what?”

“Just hope that the negotiations conclude successfully. We’re in the later stages but until we strike the bargain, anything can upset the cart.”

“Does my grandmother know about all of this?” I was truly curious. She hadn’t said a thing to me.

“Yes, but you are not to question her. She won’t give you an honest answer, because she’s not allowed to, regardless of your familial connections. But back to the sluagh. You say you know where it is? And it’s truly neither male nor female. They’re hermaphroditic, and they can reproduce without a mate. Hence, you’d better capture it before it spawns eggs, because it can fertilize them as well. And be aware, bullets will not work against them. Only cold iron.”

I blinked. “That’s not good. And yes, I think we know where to find it. I’m going to call my coworkers and, hopefully, go hunting for it this afternoon. Now that I know it can reproduce on its own, there’s a time crunch. The last thing we want is for more of them to be running around.” I paused, then decided to ask a question I’d been thinking about. “This will take care of my debt, I assume?”

Briar gazed into my eyes and I could feel him pulling me in, so I turned my head, studying the vast array of roses around me.

“Do you want it to?” he said softly.

“Quit toying with me,” I said, keeping my gaze focused on the rose in my hand. The tea I had drunk was kicking in. I could now feel the charm he was working on me, and I could resist it.

After a moment, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Then yes, it will. Destroy the sluagh and you are free from your obligations.”

I almost said thank you, but once again, caught myself. I shook my head as I stood.

“How the human world is going to manage interacting with the Fae, I have no clue. I just hope the negotiations include a damper on those little ways you have of entrapping people into unintentional obligations. Anyway, if you have nothing more to say to me, about the sluagh or anything else, I’ll be going.” I stood. “Oh, when I’ve managed to destroy it, should I send word through Rebecca?”

Briar looked none too pleased, but nodded. “That will work. I’ll see you again, I hope. Allow me to walk you back to the portal and help you through.”

Again, I refused to thank him, merely nodded. He walked me back to the pair of trees and, without a word, I stepped through them and back into my world. I let out a sigh of relief to see Rebecca there, standing beside a large lovely gray wolf.

I knelt beside the wolf, throwing my arms around his shoulders. “You were worried about me!” The wolf nuzzled my neck, then licked my face as he searched my eyes. “I’m all right,” I said. “Honest. It wasn’t that pleasant but…” I paused, then looked down at the rose in my hand. It shimmered in the forest light, and then vanished into a wisp of blue smoke, as though it had never been there.

Rebecca, chatting about the weather, guided us back to the trailhead, where she slipped into the bushes. Killian and I walked back to the house together, where he changed back into his human form.

I told him what had happened. “I need to call the others. It’s imperative we catch this thing now, before it lays eggs.”

“I agree, on one condition,” Killian said.

“What’s that?”

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