Briana made a mental note to give all the blossom-covered trees a wide berth as Lucan finally lowered his sword, giving Vaughn the opportunity to stand.
“A rabies shot and clothes,” Elena added. “I have no interest in seeing the pup’s dangly bits.”
Vaughn angled his dark head, his grin as cocky as ever. “Best show you’ve ever seen.”
“If I wanted to see a real purebred specimen, I’d go to a dog show.” A burst of blue formed in Elena’s palm. The sorceress closed her fist and fired it like an all-star pitcher directly at Vaughn.
Her friend staggered back from the force of it, then clutched to his chest the towel that materialized, laughing. He glanced at Briana. “I think I just fell in love with the rookie.”
Elena made a gagging sound.
Briana’s head spun with the surreal turn of events. It still felt like only moments ago she and Lucan had been alone, her body on fire and her heart ready to make any sacrifice to be with him.
Between one scorching moment and the next, everything had come crashing down, leaving her scraped raw and forced to face the harsh truth she’d been denying for months—she and Lucan had no future.
She’d been in denial for weeks, convinced that if she didn’t think or talk about him then she wouldn’t have to deal with the situation. If she didn’t acknowledge he was her mate, she could stay in control of her feline instincts and keep her heart intact.
How blind she’d been.
Lucan turned his back on the others. His gaze flicking down her body then back up. “Okay?” he mouthed, and she couldn’t decide if she was grateful or not he kept the exchange between the two of them.
She managed a nod despite the temptation to admit she was anything but okay. She didn’t care to have the surrounding immortals know how shaken up she was—a group of immortals who wouldn’t come together on their own under any other circumstances.
Could Emma be right? Had they all been marked to compete in the Gauntlet?
The reality of that possibility was nearly as troubling as her own fate now that Lucan had made it clear where they stood.
Putting some much needed distance between herself and Lucan, she edged closer to Vaughn, her gaze falling on the same Fae glyph branded on the back of his shoulder. He wrapped the towel around his waist and turned his attention to the already healing wound on his leg, distracting her from the glyph.
Had he been shot? “What happened?”
“Hunting or fighting,” Nessa guessed her eyes narrowing in speculation.
“There are no rules against either, huntress.”
Briana had to drop her gaze over a foot to notice the Korrigan who’d joined them at some point.
Who would be next? The Easter Bunny?
As crazy as that sounded, she couldn’t rule anything out at this point. Highly dependent on their magic, Korrigans left their territory about as often as the fictional fluffy-tailed, chocolate egg lover. Beyond their borders it was far more difficult for them to entrance and enslave other immortals.
Barely four feet tall, the fairy with reptilian red eyes smelled faintly of rotting oranges. The cat snarled softly at the back of Briana’s mind. There was no way to know how far they were from Korrigan territory or how strong his magic was here. She kept from making direct eye contact knowing it would give the Korrigan a distinct advantage if he was as powerful here as his home.
So a wolf, cat and dragon gargoyle, a sorceress, huntress, Korrigan, wraith and an enchantress—Briana finally spotted the blonde wearing a clingy red dress that made the shimmery fabric appear painted on—all together in one place.
The only immortal race missing was the Fae. Did that explain who their abductor was? It certainly offered no clues to explain why Briana knew some of those gathered, and knew them fairly well. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?
The Korrigan strode right up to Nessa. “What has your bitch goddess done now?”
“Back the Tonka truck up, short-stack. Nobody said anything about Rhiannon being responsible for this.”
Elena smirked at Nessa’s insult, but her expression quickly morphed to one of distaste as the dragon lowered himself to the ground, his back resting against the stone half wall that separated one section of the courtyard from another.
He closed his eyes and tipped his face up to the sun.
The sun… Oh shit.
She shot a glance at Lucan from the corner of her eye. He watched the dragon intently, unveiled fury darkening his expression until he looked right at her.
“Kellagh the Black!” Nessa growled.
Briana wasn’t usually grateful for the huntress’s innate need to go looking for a fight, but she was all for whatever kept Lucan from asking questions.
Nessa reached back for the sword she would have removed in Pendragon’s, and stalked toward the dragon as though her missing weapon changed nothing. Nessa and Elena had the same provoke and move-in-for-the-kill style of causing trouble that had made the two both friends and rivals since Emma had introduced them.
While Briana appreciated the distraction, she also knew it wasn’t a good idea to let things get too far out of hand considering no one knew what was going on.
She stepped into the huntress’s path. “Now isn’t the time.” It wasn’t by chance that they’d ended up here together. Something or someone had intentionally brought them here. Someone powerful enough to override a wraith’s blood tie to a goddess and likely a huntress’s ability to travel by thought alone. “Can you leave?”
Nessa scoffed. “And turn my back on Avalon’s biggest traitor?” Venom dripped from her words. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the dragon. Aside from the one questioning glance he’d thrown at Briana, Lucan, too, had kept his gaze locked on Kel. While his expression wasn’t nearly as murderous as Nessa’s, there was no mistaking the banked fury in Lucan’s eyes.
Kel folded his arms across his chest, unfazed by Nessa’s hostility.
“Are you anchored here?” Briana pressed.
Nessa glared at her, them seemed to consider the question. “Yes. I can’t flash.”
“Disappointing,” Kel drawled. “I’ve always wanted to see a huntress’s rack.”
“Don’t waste your time.” Elena cut in before the huntress lunged for him. “He’s just blowing smoke up your ass. Pardon the pun.” She shot the dragon an innocent smile over her shoulder.
Nessa didn’t look sold on the idea of leaving the dragon alone, but made no move to engage him at the moment.
Briana let out a breath, surveying the group and their surroundings. Aside from the brand only two of them wore as far as she could tell, there were no other signs they were about to be pitted against each other in a competition for an object of power that had the ability to affect the outcome of the next campaign.
“The sun is up.”
Whatever reprieve she’d been granted had just run out and Lucan wanted answers.
Vaughn whistled. “Startling observation skills, Holmes. Where did you find this guy, B?”
“He’s a friend of the family,” she answered, although friend no longer fit the role Lucan filled in her life. Neither did the fantasy she’d foolishly indulged in before reality had come crashing down around her.
The only thing worse than her brothers pressing her for details about her mate would be Lucan doing the same. There was no point in telling him anything when he’d been very clear about his feelings.
Elena strolled between her and Lucan, keeping both the dragon and Vaughn in her peripheral vision. So she considered both of them a threat?
The sorceress glanced at the sky. “An illusion.”