“I don’t, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know me.”
Lydia glanced at the fairy again. “I thought fairies would look less gangster.”
“She knows?” Verden crossed his arms.
Caspian shrugged. “I don’t keep secrets from my lover.”
Verden shimmered again. Lydia gasped as she saw him how he really looked, all sharp-edged beauty and elegant clothes. This time he expected her to swoon.
She stepped back as if fully appreciating the danger. “This is about the mirrors. How did he know to find you here?”
“Caspian’s father keeps track of him,” Verden added unhelpfully.
Caspian turned to the fairy. “That’s really very creepy.”
“Very.” Added Lydia. “Just how powerful is your fairy father?” she added in a lower voice, as if hoping the man at the door wouldn’t hear.
He paused for a moment. Now probably wasn’t the best time to mention his father was actually the Prince of Death. “Let’s say extremely and that he’s sent his most powerful messenger.”
“Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Verden, Lord of the Hunt. I’ve come to escort Caspian to Court. I would have been more upfront had I known you knew about Annwyn.” He gave a small bow.
“Shit,” she said and then glanced at the fairy. “Sorry.” She turned back to Caspian. “You can’t go to Annwyn. I thought that is heaven and hell and all that. Won’t you die?”
“Hopefully not.” He really hoped that he would make it back.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I suspected. But I did what I had to. It will be okay.” He took her hand. “I’m sorry I brought this to your door.”
“Is there anything I can do?” She squeezed his hand, and her brown eyes filled with concern.
Caspian shook his head. “Just be safe, follow the rules.”
She nodded but looked uncertain.
“Are you coming with me or do I have to set the dogs?” Verden’s hand flicked to his side and two large black dogs appeared.
Their heads were hip height and their eyes glowed with a red light most people mistook for demonic, but it was simply pure hunger and bloodlust. These were the bad kind of fairy dogs. The ones used for dragging unwilling souls to Annwyn for judgment. He really was in trouble if the Hunter had brought the shucks and not the white hunting hounds.
Lydia hadn’t said anything about the shuck’s magical appearance, which meant she couldn’t see them, or hear them. That low rumble could be distant traffic—or wishful thinking.
“I’ll come, just give me a moment.” Caspian pulled Lydia farther down the hallway. Not out of earshot of the fairy, but Lydia didn’t know that. “I can’t refuse the invitation. This is what I meant when I said I’m bound by Annwyn’s rules. Making that deal I broke them. I knew that. I had no other choice.”
“You shouldn’t have done it.”
“Shea would have torn this house down. He’d have tricked you out of your soul just to get me to obey. That would have been far, far worse.”
“Will your father protect you?”
He didn’t have an answer for that.
“Caspian?”
He looked at Lydia. For two nights he’d tasted the kind of life he’d like, one where his lover knew the truth. One where he could happily wake up in her bed and eat toast at the kitchen table. He was imagining a life with Lydia in it and just as fast it was snatched away.
“You’re scaring me.”
“I am scared. I’m just trying not to show it.” He tried to smile but was pretty certain it wasn’t reassuring.
“You’re doing a good job.” She put her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. “You’d better come back. I don’t invite just anyone into my bed.” Her lips pressed against his for a moment before she drew back.
He gripped her hands, an idea forming. He could make a deal with her, one that would hopefully guarantee his return from Annwyn. “If I’m not back in three days, panic.”
Her eyes widened. “Three days? Don’t most people get killed in the first twenty-four hours?” He must have looked shocked because she immediately apologized. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean your father was going to kill you.”
“If he was going to, he would have done so already.” He almost believed that. He touched her cheek and let the strands of her blond hair trail through his fingers. “I’ll be back. I want to be back. I want to come back to you. So if this hasn’t freaked you out totally, kiss me good-bye and keep me in your prayers. I understand if you’d rather walk away.”
Lydia looked at him—was he serious? “I’m not walking away, and you’re coming back to me.”
“I will come back, I swear.”
For a moment she felt the force of his words. She had to believe that was true. But when she glanced at the fairy on the doorstep she wasn’t sure. At first glance Verden looked melt-at-the-knees hot. The face, the casual disheveled look like he was too cool to care, and those pale gray eyes. Women could get whiplash if they passed him on the street. But after that first glance, when she looked a little closer, that was when warning raked icy fingernails down her back. He smiled and she saw the restrained power, and the hunger as if he could never be satisfied. His eyes weren’t cold and empty, but whatever he wanted out of life had eluded him. The Hunter of Annwyn, but what was he really hunting?
She stepped back as he leveled his gaze at her.
Caspian stepped between them. “Leave her out of it.”
Verden inclined his head and tapped the sword at his side. “My patience is wearing thin.”
Caspian turned as if to go, but she wasn’t ready for him to leave with Verden. What if she never saw him again?
“Wait, you need your shoes and wallet.”
“I won’t need them. Look after them for me.” He glanced up at the ceiling and drew in a breath. He was trying to remain calm. “Why don’t you get those quotes while I’m away so we can make plans to save the house when I return.”
He was thinking about quotes now? No, he was trying to keep things normal. He was trying to think of the mundane and not the fairies. He was giving her something to do and something else to think about instead of where he had gone.
She stepped forward and gave him another hug. “Be safe.”
“You too.” He returned her embrace and held onto her. “I will do everything I can to come back.”
“You will get him back. Debts must be settled. Reparation made. You don’t want to be late, so come along.” Verden smiled, but there was nothing friendly in it.
She swallowed and released Caspian. She didn’t want him to be in any more trouble with the fairies. Especially this fairy.
Caspian took a step back, gave her a single nod, and then turned away. He closed the door. For a moment Lydia stood in the entrance, not sure what to do. Was there anything she could do? Praying that she hadn’t seen the last of Caspian seemed like the only option.
Chapter 16
Caspian closed the door behind him and stood on the step with the Hunter of Annwyn. “Is this where you get the dogs to tear me to pieces?”
“Mortals are so melodramatic. Do you have any idea how complicated arranging this meeting has been?” Verden walked down the steps. When Caspian didn’t immediately follow, he turned. “If you want to be dragged into Court by the dogs, I can do that, but I thought you’d like to walk in with a bit of pride. Do you really think the Prince would send me to kill for him?”
Caspian didn’t answer. Keeping his mouth shut around fairies had always worked in the past, and he was still trying to work out what Verden meant about engineering a meeting with his father. He walked through the garden and out on to the road.
“You’re here to take me to Court, nothing more?” The asphalt was cold and rough against his bare feet. He knew they were walking toward the old graveyard and church that had once been part of the estate.