Page 90 of Faerie Hunted

“You’ll be painting a target on your back. After so long in hiding, are you sure you—” Laina began gently.

“It doesn’t matter,” Livvy interrupted. “The target doesn’t matter if my daughter is in trouble. She was brave enough to come find me. It’s time for me to take the next step of the journey with her.” A pause, a scramble for supplies, and then, “I only stayed hidden because I thought it would keep her safe.”

My mind churned. I didn’t care if she stayed or not. We just needed to run, immediately, before the Claw & Fang burned the entire building to the ground with us inside. The sense of urgency pushed at me and I drew a deep shuddering breath.

Calm down.

Nope, no calming down.

I held out a hand for Onyx. “Do you need help?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

He faltered on his first step, and Bronwen and I stepped up to take the brunt of his weight. She flashed me a look telling me not to say anything.

Together we limped toward the door. Mike held it open, gesturing for us to hurry, and we skipped down the steps as quickly as possible, Laina at our front, Livvy at our back.

The noise from below grew with every riser we traversed and by the time we made it to the last step, I knew.

In my blood and in my bones I knew what we’d find on the other side of the closed door.

Laina opened it. The restaurant was already crawling with our enemies.

Livvy moved faster than I could ever have imagined. She passed us with a sweet breeze gusting in her wake and stepped in front of Laina, her hands lifted in front of her and fae magic pulsing in a golden corona around her wrists.

My heart lurched into my throat and lodged there as a shifter surged forward, knocking a table out of the way. The wood crashed to the floor and he swung a fist at Livvy.

Her magic erupted in a wave and shoved the shifter back. The man flew off his feet and landed heavily on his tailbone.

The crack of the impact was lost in the shouting.

A low growl reverberated through me, and when I turned to Onyx, his eyes had darkened and his lips were peeled back to show overly white, sharp teeth.

My veins lit with terror and bloodlust when a second shifter ran for Laina. Mike stepped up in time to take the brunt of the attack but there was little maneuvering room. They collided, the shifter driving Mike backwards with a yell.

We weren’t strong enough to fight. Not now, with our energy stores so low.

Onyx and I were barely able to put one foot in front of the other.

Fear burned through me.

Then Noren rose like a ghost behind me and launched at one of the shifters closing in on us. A blast of magic came from the side and several tables lifted at once before crashing down and taking several members of the Claw & Fang with them.

Livvy yelled an incoherent stream of curses, and out of the corner of my eye I watched the seedy one-eyed dude and his cronies bum-rush her.

Suddenly another voice was heard. “Help Livvy! She needs us.” Xordon bellowed out the battle cry and the rest of the room erupted.

The one thing I hadn’t counted on was the patrons’ love for my mother.

One burly patron wrapped a massive arm around the neck of one of the shifters and yanked, drawing him back and strangling him.

Another blast of magic shot at us from the left.

I ducked, inhaling the stench of ozone and singed wood, lifting my gaze in time to watch the blast hit a shifter square in the chest. My hackles rose, my skin prickling with the urge to change despite my lack of strength.

Noren swept through the crowd, tearing at limbs and yanking people off their feet. He towered over the rest of the fae.

With this many members, not to mention patrons, there was no clear way to the door.

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