Page 77 of Broken Veil
What would he do now that he knew Seren lived in another realm?
“Enough of your human sentiments,” Angus growled. “There is a goddess wreaking havoc on the Brightlands at this very moment. I can feel how weak the gates have become.” Heplanted his staff in the dirt and pointed at Carys. “You have a task to fulfill, dragon lord. Until it is done, that is your only concern.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The passage back through the gates was less treacherous than the previous journey, but Godrik had not appeared in the forest, and Carys could see that his absence was troubling Naida.
They had just walked through the dense stand of rowan trees and the blue wisps were scattering into the predawn forest when Carys slowed down to walk next to her.
“I’m sure he’ll find us,” she told the small fae woman.
Naida nodded. “I think the imps triggered his true form, and it’s possible he joined a local pack for a time.” She glanced at Cadell and Laura on the path in front of them. “Creatures of all sorts usually prefer their own kind.”
“Sometimes, yes.” Carys nodded. “But not always.”
Naida smiled. “Do you wonder if I have feelings for the wolf?”
“I’m sure you have feelings of friendship.” Carys wanted to be nosy, but prodding at Naida—after knowing her history with Dru—just seemed cruel.
“Godrik is protective and loyal,” Naida said. “Those are qualities I admire. They are not so common among my kind.”
“He’s blunt too.”
Naida smiled. “He is.”
They passed the ruins where Andy had said the redcaps hid, but there was no sign of the imps or the small wild fae that had pursued them on the way into the Shadowlands.
“Looks like your visit to Lord Algar was successful,” Carys said.
“It was not unpleasant, and he was very respectful toward Lachlan. I believe seeing imp bites on the son of the Alban king brought the gravity of the situation into focus.”
Lachlan.
Carys glanced over her shoulder to where Lachlan brought up the rear of the walking party. Angus had remained deeper in the forest to shore up the fae gate on this side.
The sky was a deep azure blue as dawn creeped closer, and Lachlan’s pale face took on a moonlike luminescence as they walked out of the trees and into the rolling meadows that marked the boundaries of Murrayshall House.
Duncan turned, his face lighting up. “Carys, almost there.”
She was shocked to realize that it had been less than twenty-four hours since they’d crossed into the Shadowlands.
She walked to Duncan and slipped her arm around his waist. “I feel like my internal clock is going to take a year to recover when all this is over,” she murmured, leaning into his side as they waded through the long grass.
“We should rest at the house today,” he said.
“Do you think we have time?”
Duncan said, “That fae lord seems to be doing his job, judging by how much easier it was walking back. Angus will harden the gate on this side so the imps and redcaps can’t sneak through.”
“That’s one gate. Angus can’t shore up every gate in Scotland.”
It was fairly evident to Carys at this point that Angus was some kind of demigod or deity, which meant his power overthe gates was at least as strong as Dru’s. Good news for them, but hardly helpful for the hundreds of fae gates that dotted the British Isles.
“You need sleep, Carys.” He glanced over his shoulder at the ragged group of travelers walking down the hill. “Even Cadell is exhausted. And he’s probably hungry as fuck. I don’t think he had time to hunt in the Shadowlands. At least let Mary feed him. Naida is looking peaked again, and Laura is dragging.”
“Okay, fine.” Leave it to the acerbic blacksmith to end up being the mother hen of the group. “You’re right. We need to rest.”
“Besides” —Duncan glanced over his shoulder— “Angus didn’t change a whit when we walked through that gate, so I need to figure out how to disguise a goat man so we can move around the Brightlands without going viral.”
