Page 61 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
A howl split the air and turned my veins to ice.
A dozen more answered.
The ground thrummed.
In the distance, a pale wave with flaming eyes surged along the road.
The Wild Hunt weren’t just abroad—they werehere.
The Wild Hunt
That howl. The hounds had my scent. That surging pale shape—it was the pack, running this way.
Coming for me.
Their baying tore through the night, just like it would tear through me, body and soul, and toss me into the waiting arms of their masters.
Black spots bloomed at the edges of my vision. Even as I stood, frozen, I knew. The changeling had driven me here, like a dog herding sheep.
Would it take my place or just enjoy watching me die? If it shifted and became unAriadne, would anyone know? Would it finish Ly’s suit? Would it kiss him like I had earlier? Would it seek him out in the forest tonight and claim him as part of the Calan Mai celebrations?
Its hands, not my hands, on him, on his body, on his cheek, pulling him close for a kiss…
Its clumsy stitches finishing his suit without making him unseen, leaving him vulnerable…
Move.
The word twitched through me, and I staggered down the slope leading back to the forest.
I reached the first tree as the ground rumbled, reverberating through my bones. Hoofbeats. Louder and louder.
I shouldn’t look, but…
Beyond the white and crimson hounds rose the silhouettes of thirteen riders. Some rode stags, others horses. Antlers and horned helms blocked out the stars, blacker than night, deeper than the darkness of eyes screwed shut.
Knees quaking, I clutched the tree. Its rough bark scraped my skin, something solid that cut through the terror.
If I ran, their hounds would follow my scent. And if I led them into Ly’s estate, that could bring the Wild Hunt’s wrath upon him. His wards stopped them setting foot on his land, but what then? Would they wait there? Could they attack his wards? They were powerful, and he had to conserve his strength to keep the yew tree alive until he could retrieve the seed.
You endanger him.
No. The changeling was wrong. I wouldn’t bring them to his doorstep.
All these years of hiding, and perhaps the bravest thing I could do tonight was to be seen, even if it meant my death.
I pressed my forehead against the bark and took the longest, deepest breath of my life. I wouldn’t let him down.
Shoulders squared, I turned.
They were a hundred yards away, thundering closer.
I took one lurching step towards the road.
Something white burst from the trees ahead. It streaked into the road between me and the hounds. It stopped, lifted its head, and howled right back.
“Fluffy?”
The hounds slowed as though confused.
