Page 103 of Faerie Hunted

I’d never really felt that way around my uncle, despite our issues in the past.

Panic set in when the betas stepped around Will, their sights set on Laina and Livvy.

Will chuckled. “Dae. I’d love to say it’s a pleasure, but then again you did break into my house.”

His powerful baritone had goosebumps rising on my skin and my wolf aching to submit to him. Will stepped inside and flicked the switch on the wall. The glow of the massive chandelier overhead cast his tall, muscled frame into relief.

In his late forties, his auburn hair only sported a few streaks of gray. That was where I’d gotten my color from. I’d always thought it, and now that I saw the two of them standing in the same room, the realization hit home.

Livvy’s hair had only the slightest reddish hue whereas mine would have gotten me teased if I’d gone to public school.

Will’s hazel eyes pierced through me and pinned me in place. “Get out of my house or I will make you leave.”

His fury left me cold and dark and hollow.

“Tell me where the journal is, Will,” Livvy demanded. She stepped forward and physically blocked the two of us, keeping us apart. Using her body like a shield. “We’re not leaving without it.”

The fierceness in her voice resounded through me. Tears welled in my eyes but I kept them contained, this moment too surreal to allow myself to weaken now.

“He’s not going to hurt me.” I reached for her but she ignored me.

He tilted his head to the side in an animalistic gesture. “You come into my house, threaten my niece with your lies, and expect me to speak to you? What have you told her, Dae? Did you spout off about your insane prophecy again? Did you feed her your insane bullshit the moment you met?”

“My lies?” Livvy seemed to grow several inches. “She is my daughter.”

“You abandoned her.”

The others stepped up behind Will with growls, their hackles raised and their wolves close to the surface. No matter what happened, we had to protect the queen. If anything happened to Laina, Mike would never forgive me, and Faerie would be in more danger.

“I did what I had to do in order to keep her safe. I’m not the one she needs to worry about,” Livvy insisted.

The quiet was almost worse than the conversation. My hands froze, my forearm throbbing as it pressed in, and there was no comfort to be found.

My heart was nothing more than a ravaged lump of meat in my chest and a terrible dread sank through me.

I thought I’d been through the worst? No. The worst was yet to come.

The time to talk ended. The room might as well have been slowed like on one of those old-fashioned VCRs. The betas moved first. They flanked Will and stepped forward, their claws lengthening as they swiped the air in front of him, a clear threat to anyone bent on harming him.

Livvy lifted both hands and pressed them together, her magic a shield for all of us.

“I don’t think so,” she muttered. “You three will stay out of it. This is between me and Will.”

Was she speaking to me, Laina, and Elfwaite? Or the others? We were evenly matched body count wise but that was about the only thing matched. My zombie bite burned as I grabbed Livvy’s arm, tightening my grip in an attempt to wrench her backwards.

They weren’t about to back down, and I waited for Will to give the command but it never came.

Instead he stepped around them and his fist lifted and connected with her outstretched palms. He cut right through her fae magic. I reacted without thought, moving in front of Laina and intercepting the delta stealthily creeping forward while the rest of us were preoccupied.

“I don’t think so,” he mimicked, crowing in her face.

A growl rocked through the room and before the delta could attack, I forced my leaden legs to carry me forward, intercepting the hit before he reached the queen.

The weight in the air tripled.

Death would come to this place if we weren’t careful.

My muscles quaked with the effort of holding back the delta as our strength met. Will’s attention fractured when he glanced at me. The opportunity gave Livvy time to retaliate, but rather than use her magic, she met him with fists. Her knuckles plowed into his chin and forced his head to snap back on his neck.

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