Page 81 of Faerie Hunted

The street lines on the map began to glow. They seemed lit from within, the luminescence radiating from the drop of my blood and weaving, pulsing, until a specific location began to sparkle.

Laina opened her eyes and pointed. “Not nearly as bad as I thought. Your mom is here, Tavi. She’s here and your connection is strong. The energy bonds between you…”

I gulped. “What does that mean?”

“It means she’s been looking for you, too. Otherwise we wouldn’t have found her so quickly.” Laina’s voice seemed far away.

“She’s not looking for me. She’s in the city, hiding.” Everything else faded and I stared at the spot on the map until dark dots danced in front of my vision.

It was more than I’d dared hope for and easier than I deserved. Another lucky strike, except nothing in my life felt like luck, only a series of missteps that eventually landed me where I needed to be. Or somewhere close.

There were too many scrapes and near-misses in my life to call me lucky. But I felt like it right now. Even when Laina smiled sympathetically at me like she knew something I couldn’t possibly understand yet.

She snapped her fingers and the magic dissipated, sparks flying up away from the map. “We’ll look for her tomorrow. At least now we have a location to start.”

“Are you certain it’s really her?” I asked.

“I’m fairly certain, yes. Unless our friends in the Unseelie Court have mastered the art of replicating blood bonds with their spells…but have hope, darling,” Laina replied. “Have hope that everything will work out because it’s not just you and Onyx anymore against the whole of Faerie.”

No, she was right.

I had Bronwen. And Mike and Laina. Melia, wherever she was now. We had an entire team.

I reached behind me and scratched Noren between the ears before getting up. Rather than heading toward my empty bunk, I changed direction and crawled in beside Mike, on top of the sheets.

His chest rose and fell evenly in sleep, his eyes fluttering behind his closed lids in whatever dream he found himself.

He looked innocent sleeping like that. Lightly snoring and twitching slightly.

Our magic hadn’t woken him, thanks to his mom’s shielding, and I was grateful. Things between us hadn’t always been easy. Hell, from the start there were so many obstacles that sometimes it felt like whatever world we were in wanted us to stay apart.

But as I snuggled at his side, curling close as Noren stretched out on the floor, a sense of peace blanketed me.

Tomorrow things would be better. Whether they actually looked better or not remained to be seen. For tonight, we’d accomplished something incredible.

Sleep crept up quickly enough and when I woke in the morning, Mike had wrapped his arms around me, my head on his chest and nothing but safety in his embrace.

There was no stopping anyone once we woke for the day. They all wanted to be part of the search, no one left behind. The argument between Mike and Bronwen, short and easily ended once Laina returned with breakfast, brought a fierce grin to my lips.

Food solved all manner of small irritations. Even I had to admit it felt way too good to have food in my belly.

Those nights of sleeping on the ground and half starving were for the birds.

Bronwen wanted to look for weapons, dividing and conquering so that we covered more ground. Mike wanted to stick together because we had a definite location in mind. In the end, Onyx was the voice of reason, although Mike bristled whenever my wolf friend spoke.

We’d stay together, and we’d go disguised, just to make sure we were covered in case some Claw & Fang members were out looking for us. Which they most certainly would be.

Covered and disguised from any prying eyes, we ventured out into the city.

Chances were good that Dorian Jade already knew of the boarding house, and the moment the thought birthed in my mind, goosebumps ran up the length of my spine. After what happened yesterday?

I was almost positive he was coming for us.

We had to make sure to watch our backs and fronts and everywhere in between.

Although hands down, this place was on par with other massive cities I’d seen in the mortal realm, places like Boston or Baltimore. Of course, fae cities were filled with magic, the kind entwined in the land and felt with every inhalation. There were flowers growing out of buildings, and houses with no roofs, kept dry during a storm with shields of hardened air.

There were fae with wings and scales and all manner of clothing.

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