Steal the Sun (22 page)

“You son of a bitch!” I shouted as he turned me around.

“I don’t think that applies,” the Hunter said seriously. I tried kicking him and caught him once on the shin before he stepped back and out of the way. It sucks being short. “I don’t think I had an actual physical mother so she couldn’t have been a bitch.”

“Fuck you.” Since he hadn’t tied my feet, I started to run as he let go of my arms.

“I thought we decided I shouldn’t do that.” He gave chase.

I didn’t get far. He was on me immediately, his big hands a vise around my waist. His body pressed against my back. He felt like granite. I struggled, but there was no way I was getting away from him. “Stop fighting me, Your Grace. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe?” I practically shouted the question. “You’re going to keep me safe by tying me up and offering me to a flesh-eating ogre as some sort of human sacrifice?”

“I have no intention of sacrificing you. You can’t believe I brought a human female along with me on this venture as a partner. I always intended to use you as bait. You see, the ogre isn’t smart but it is an instinctive creature. If he thinks a great hunter is in the woods, he will hide rather than show himself. This is why the
bean si
said only you can stop the war. You will attract the ogre and then keep silent about the fact that he was here.”

The Hunter hauled me back into the clearing. The dogs panted at my feet as I forced the bastard to drag me the whole way. I did not go quietly. I kicked. I screamed. I cussed like I was starring in a Martin Scorsese film.

“Very good, Your Grace,” the Hunter said approvingly. He looked around as though he expected the creature to show up at any moment. “This racket will definitely bring the ogre out, though I don’t think he understands our language so you don’t have to curse.”

I closed my mouth. He was right. I was going to have every predator in the woods curious about me if I kept the current volume set on maximum. He pulled me back toward a tree with a nicely rounded trunk. “Oh, I’m cursing, you can count on that. I’ll just be quiet about it. You just try to stop me. You know what else I’m doing? I’m calling you an oath breaker, Herne the Hunter. I call for the Wild Hunt. It’s my right as Her Grace, the wife to the High Priest of all Faery. I demand you call them and hold court.”

He released the restraints on my hands but kept one locked firmly in his grip. I took the opportunity to slap him upside the head as hard as I could. His head snapped back satisfyingly, but he wouldn’t let my other hand go. I tried again but he ducked this time, ready for the move. He pulled me until my back was against the tree trunk and caught my other hand easily. “There’s no need for violence. It won’t help us in attracting the creature. Your screams are good enough. I don’t wish to exhaust you. After I kill the creature, we still have to walk back to the palace. You should save your strength.”

I rolled my eyes and tried not to scream as the Hunter successfully managed to retie my hands behind my back. I made as big a fist as I could while he tied me and pulled my hands as far apart as my strength would allow. “I wasn’t trying to attract the creature, you bastard. I was trying to hurt you and get away from you because you’re a psychotic idiot.”

He seemed happy with his work and walked around to face me. “How does running away help our cause? I thought you wanted to aid me in killing the creature so we can stop the inevitable war that will occur when Queen Miria discovers someone from the Unseelie has unleashed the ogre on them.”

“That was when I thought you wanted my hunting skills.” He snorted as though the idea was insane. I continued my tirade. “I wanted to help you before I was cast as the goat from
Jurassic Park
. Just so you know, that damn goat dies!”

“You aren’t going to die, Your Grace, and I won’t be bringing any dead goats in, though I’m not sure what they have to do with anything. They would distract the ogre and he would eat them quickly. I need live bait.” He pulled more rope out of his pack and started laying it out.

“Where is my hunt?” I asked, stubbornly pulling on my bindings. The ropes were hot against my skin.

“I’m not going to call a Wild Hunt on myself when I’ve broken no oaths,” he replied, working diligently. The dogs came up and sat down beside my well-restrained body. “I promised you I had no intention to cause you harm. I firmly intend to defend you. I need a reason for the ogre to ignore the fact that I’m in these woods. As I said before, the ogre is not intelligent, but he has an excellent sense of self-preservation. The only way to get around that is to overwhelm his senses with very vulnerable prey. You are human and female and pregnant. I can’t think of anything the ogre will like more. He’ll be so attracted to you that he’ll forget about the danger I pose.”

“Good to know I have my uses.” I hated him in that moment. He was using my child to attract a dangerous predator who would probably kill me despite the Hunter’s best intentions. I’d come out here to save Devinshea only to lose my own life and that of our child. “You understand my husband is going to kill you.”

“Devinshea will understand,” the Hunter said. “We’re doing this to save him. It’s likely that the ogre is the one who would kill him. It makes sense. It would inevitably start a war between our people. You’re doing exactly what the
bean si
said you would do. You’re the only one who can stop the conflict.”

I didn’t mention the fact that the banshee had said following the path of the Blood Stone would lead to me stopping the war. “I wasn’t talking about Dev. I was talking about my vampire. He won’t understand and no explanation will make sense to him. He isn’t going to like the fact that you tied me up and offered me to an ogre.”

Of course, he’d also probably be pretty angry with me.

The Hunter seemed to think about this for a moment as he covered the ropes with leaves he found on the forest floor. “Perhaps. But here is the way I see the situation. If we persevere then you won’t wish to tell your vampire of the adventure since he’ll be angry that you traipsed through the forest with a strange man after lying to him about where you intended to spend the evening. If we perish, then it won’t matter.”

“What happens if I die and you manage to kill the monster and live?” That was the most likely outcome of our current endeavor.

“Then I’ll probably attempt to cover up your death,” he admitted with a straightforward stare. “It would do your vampire no good to kill me in revenge. It wouldn’t bring you back and it would only kill my host, who was against this plan in the first place. I would survive. You’ll agree that if that scenario happens, it’s better for everyone if the vampire never knows what truly occurred.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s a sad occurrence since I actually find you to be quite interesting,” he said seriously. “I think you could be important. You could do more to bring our people together than anyone else. The Unseelie will find you fascinating and the Seelie will eventually accept you because they need Devinshea’s magic. You could be a conduit between the two faery worlds. Now be still. I don’t wish for the rope to harm your skin.”

He fell silent as he continued his work. He tied a long length of rope around a tree opposite me and gracefully climbed up its trunk. Though I couldn’t see what he was doing, I watched as the tree shook and I thought about my quandary. I had to hope that the Hunter was as good as he thought he was or I was in deep shit. That ogre would make a beeline for me. It struck me as odd that the ogre had made its way this far without the Seelie army noticing his passage. Maybe I didn’t understand the geography of the
sitheins
.

“How far are we from the door?” I asked quietly.

The Hunter dropped to the forest floor again and adjusted his ropes. “We’re deep in Seelie territory. Like the Unseelie, the Seelie built their palace far from the door. It’s a defensive strategy. You don’t want an army to be able to come through the gates and immediately attack your stronghold. You want advance warning.”

“Is the gate guarded?”

“Of course. I had to go through much security to be able to enter.”

“Yet someone got through with an ogre?”

He thought for a second. “That does not make much sense, Your Grace. I follow your line of thinking. You believe someone from the Seelie is working with someone from the Unseelie, and this is the way they managed to bring in the ogre undetected.”

“Let me make myself clear, Hunter.” I was going to put my theory out there. If I got eaten, I wanted someone to know who to send the dinner bill to. “I believe that the Duke of Ain or someone close to him is working with someone from the Unseelie. It’s the only thing that makes sense. He controls the lands surrounding the gateway. It’s his army that allows passage from the Unseelie
sithein
. How else would they get an ogre through the gates and deep into Seelie territory? Someone wants a war and they’re willing to work with the enemy to get it.”

“Then we are dealing with traitors on both sides,” the Hunter agreed, his eyes dark. I wouldn’t want to be the traitor because I was betting the Hunter had plans for him. “It’s an astute observation. I will speak to my king about it.”

“Your king doesn’t want a war?” It wouldn’t be the first time a ruler used subterfuge to get the war he wanted. Propaganda and misdirection were the games of kings.

“No. He’s adamantly against it,” the Hunter said firmly. “He believes Devinshea’s ascension is a sign that all of Faery has a chance at renewed life. Like the Seelie, many of the Unseelie have faded over the last hundred years because our fertility is gone. We need children to give our lives meaning. It might be different if the priest was someone else, but the Unseelie believe Prince Devinshea will treat them fairly.”

“He might not if you get his goddess and unborn child eaten by an ogre,” I said sourly.

He sighed. “I won’t let you be eaten. Please relax. All we have to do now is wait. If you would like, you should feel free to scream. I believe that might attract the creature. Crying might have the same effect.”

“I’ll take a pass.” I wasn’t about to help the damn thing find me. I would be quiet as a mouse if I thought the ogre would ignore me.

I stood there with my hands tied behind my back as the Hunter took his place hiding behind the large tree with the ropes he’d secured earlier. I wasn’t sure what those ropes were supposed to do but I hoped they did their job and caught the ogre in a stranglehold. The Hunter kneeled down and settled in like he thought it might take a while. My hands already hurt. The next time I had to deal with something like this I would be much more careful about the wording of the oaths given to me.

I saw the Hunter stand quickly, though he made almost no sound. He’d heard something and every muscle in his body was primed for action. Every muscle in my body was worried about becoming an entrée. I listened intently but couldn’t hear what had caught the Hunter’s attention. My eyes roamed the dimly lit forest and finally I saw a woman in white appear from the tree line across the pond.

I relaxed since she was obviously not an ogre. From my viewpoint, I saw a woman with platinum blonde hair and a white dress that did nothing for her pale complexion. Girlfriend needed some color or at least a spray tan because she was all kinds of washed out. She sort of floated along the ground, and I gave her points for grace. It took a lot to walk through the forest in a long, flowing gown and not trip all over the place. There was an odd air of fragility that clung to her, and I started to hope that maybe the ogre would eat her first.

“Good evening, Hunter,” she said in a strange singsong voice. She paid no attention to me or the dogs, who looked at the woman curiously but obviously didn’t see her as a threat.

I expected that this would be the time the Hunter clocked her over the head and pulled her off to safety so she didn’t screw up his carefully laid plans. He hadn’t shown any weaknesses where women were concerned. He was all about the hunt, and she was a monkey wrench to be dealt with.

“Hello.” The Hunter left his perch and walked toward the woman in white. He seemed much more relaxed now, as if he’d had a little too much to drink and all his inhibitions had fallen away, leaving a man ready for pleasure. I didn’t need a man ready for nookie. I needed a man ready for some serious ogre killing.

“Hey,” I said, trying to get his attention.

“Is she your mate?” The woman spared me only a second’s glance. Even in that moment, I could see that there was something off about her eyes. They were deep and black and far too large to be normal. She was something magical, and I doubted it would come to any good. It was like my dad always said, nothing good happened in faery forests after midnight when you’re tracking an ogre.

“She’s of no consequence, beautiful one,” the Hunter said, his voice deep and seductive. I huffed because if this was the way the man treated his precious bait, then I would hate to see how crappy he was to his prey.

“Then she won’t mind if you dance with me.” This was said in a little girl voice that made me want to puke. And I minded. I minded a lot.

“Hey,” I tried again. “Don’t you have a job to do? King Angus gave you a mission to complete. I didn’t realize you had a date in the middle of our special time with a hungry ogre.”

But he only had eyes for the ridiculously pale skinny chick who circled him in what looked to be a weird-ass paso doble. I only know that because Neil made me watch
Dancing with the Stars
and let me tell you, Bruno would have been all over the Hunter’s footwork. It was awful but the weird woman didn’t seem to mind. She was too busy doing something with those odd eyes of hers that drew the Hunter in further. They circled each other with no thought to anything but their dance.

She moved her body sensuously, her breasts and hips flowing in time to some music only she and possibly her prey could hear. I used the word prey at this point because I was pretty sure that was how she was viewing my male companion. It was the only thing that made a lick of sense. I doubted that hookers prowled the forest hoping horny hunters had a little cash on hand.