Page 12 of Faerie Hunted

“Whoa, whoa.” Baldric surged to his feet at the same time two of the guards stepped in front of me to block my access to the door.

“We’ve got to let him in,” I argued. “He found his way for a reason.”

Did any of them sense the urgency, the gravity, the same way I did?

My senses tuned in to Noren on the other side of the thick steel, uncaring who got in my way or what they tried to do to me. Several of the guards closed ranks and I felt their glares like a physical rasp against my skin.

“Miss Alderidge? Step away from the door. Immediately.”

I barely heard Hezarwick, the magic protecting the room burning the tips of my fingers.

“Miss? You heard him.”

I craned my head up to meet the eyes of the guard on the left. My hackles rose and who knows what flashed across my face before Mike interrupted, sliding his body between me and the guards.

His green eyes were shining as he shook his head.

“That direwolf is too smart for his own good if he managed to find you all the way here during an emergency. I’m sorry we left him behind. Open the door.”

Mike jerked his head toward the guard, who stared at us for only a moment before he bowed to the prince.

The door was hardly open before Noren pushed his way inside and immediately took up every molecule of air in the room. His massive size made even the cavernous space shrink and several gasps greeted us as I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Thank you for coming for me,” I murmured against his ear. “I’ll never leave you behind again.”

He huffed out a light growl that felt almost like a wolf-yyou’d better not.

“Sir, this is highly irregular,” the guard re-locking the door commented. “Especially when the current situation upstairs is unknown.”

“It might be irregular but that beast would have ripped the door down if we hadn’t let him inside,” Hezarwick replied with a groan.

The world narrowed to the two of us as I breathed in the familiar scents of forest and fur, dark things and pagan secrets.

There was something infinitely calming about Noren’s presence and I wondered if it was the product of the bond I’d forced on us when I used my mental manipulation on him.

Even the sliver of guilt I usually felt when I thought about it refused to surface.

It had come down to a matter of his mind or my life, and at that moment it was a last ditch effort on my part. I’d never expected to be able to penetrate the Unseelie spellwork on the direwolf’s mind.

Now that I had, I was forever grateful for his companionship.

I shifted back to look at his familiar snout and dangerous teeth. “Thank you,” I repeated.

He blinked at me, which was as much an answer as anything else.

“It’s a particular worry to me that your father has yet to show up,” Laina spoke from the corner to Mike. “What’s the news on the king?”

One of the guards stood near to her with his posture rigid and his face showing none of the worry I’m sure they all shared.

“I’m more worried about the radio silence.” Mike lifted his gaze to the ceiling as though he could see right through to the world above. “What kind of threat are we facing, and why have the others stopped responding?”

These were rhetorical questions although I noted that Captain Hezarwick opened and shut his mouth, struggling for an answer.

“If he were able to be here, then he would be,” Laina continued staunchly. “Something is wrong. I feel it.”

I shuddered at the thought of having to share these confined quarters with King Tywin, who hated me. The feeling wasn’t really mutual but I’d rather avoid him at all costs.

Queen Laina caught my attention and subtly gestured toward one of the two wooden doors.

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