Hunted (War of the Covens 1)

Magnus, Dimitri, and Ella returned home. Ryder was already on his way back with Marion, Sebastian informed him. Apparently, they had news of their own. Lucien wasn’t sure he could take any other news at the moment. He told Sebastian not to tell his parents anything yet, but to go home and get some sleep. He would call him when it was time.

Ella tried to ease her son’s guilt, assuring him they’d all done what they thought was best.

But none of them knew what had been happening to Caia lately. None of them knew the extent of her fear. And they should have. He should have. He should have scented it on her at the very least.

Lucien could feel Magnus’s disapproval rolling off him in waves. He deserved the Elder’s anger; he welcomed it at the moment.

As for Caia, she made no move toward waking. They checked on her regularly until Dimitri assured them she was just exhausted.

Finally, Lucien sent them all to bed while he stayed up all night, unable to sleep for worrying.

At 6:00 a.m., he heard an approaching car followed by heavy feet on the porch steps. The front door swung open. Lucien trudged out to investigate.

There before him was Ryder, his face tight with anxiety, and next to him, Marion. She was a small woman with flaming red hair that reached her buttocks. She had the largest pair of violet eyes Lucien had ever seen, and pixie features that gave away her heritage as a magik.

“That was fast,” he said in appreciation.

Ryder grimaced. “It sounded urgent.”

“It’s time.”

“Apparently so.” Marion’s voice was like a wind chime, a tinkling, musical sound so in contrast to a husky lykan’s. Lucien watched in bemusement as she looked around the home, wandering from room to room, and eventually fell into an armchair in the main sitting room. “I can feel her.”

Lucien was unsurprised by her comment. He looked at Ryder. “Why were you already on your way back? Seb said you had some news.”

“That would be because of Saffron,” Marion interjected.

“Saffron?” His face scrunched in confusion. When no answer was forthcoming, he turned to Ryder with a snarl curling his lip. He wasn’t in the mood for a mystery. Sleep deprivation and his worry for Caia didn’t exactly bring out his patient side.

Ryder’s expression was hard. “Saffron. She’s Marion’s faerie.”

“And?”

“She was the one who came to inform me about the rogue. But she waited until we got back to Marion to tell us she’d also felt energy in our town.” Ryder’s eyes snapped to Marion in irritation. Lucien could feel an argument brewing and managed to refrain from yelling at them to explain what was going on.

He spoke slowly and quietly, a growl coiled around the last few words, “Would someone please explain to me, in full detail, what the hades is going on?”

Marion’s eyes flashed. “There’s no need to be rude, Lucien.”

A deep rumble rattled in his chest.

“Oh, all right. Saffron, my faerie,” she enunciated carefully, as if speaking to a moron, “came to get Ryder because we’d encountered another pesky rogue lykan. When she returned with him—after some ill treatment from your lykan there, by the way”—she gestured to his friend with a look of reproof—“she told me she had sensed the energy of another faerie in town.”

“Another faerie?” The blood drained from Lucien’s face. “As in an enemy faerie?”

Her countenance was suddenly grave. “The Daylight Coven would know if we had a faerie in town with you.”

“You’re sure this Saffron is right about this?”

“Of course, I’m right!” a voice squeaked from behind him. He whirled but could see no one. He looked at Ryder in confusion, but he only shrugged.

“Where are you?” Lucien snarled.

“I’m right here,” the voice answered just as testily. His lykan ears strained, swearing the voice was coming from the window, but there was no one there.

“Marion,” he warned.

“Saffron, stop playing games. I’m afraid our young friend is in no mood for it.”

“The window!” the voice cried.

Lucien took tentative steps toward the large window in the sitting room, his eyes straining to see anything.

“Here!”

That time he caught a flicker on the pane and his eyes narrowed on the small face smirking at him. He should have known. The faerie’s face was, in fact, a spot of sun dapple filtering onto the window through the branches of the surrounding woods.

“Goddess,” he muttered, amazed by their abilities and what treacherous spies they made. Glaring at Marion, he demanded, “Make her appear.”

“They do like to show off, don’t they?” Marion chuckled. “You heard him, Saffron.”

He heard a weary sigh, and in the matter of a few blinks, a tall, willowy blond stood before him, her hands on her hips, her ice-blue gaze flicking between him and Ryder. “Your kind needs to learn patience.”

“Patience? I think I’ve shown quite a lot of patience considering I’ve just been informed there’s an enemy in my town and everyone is taking their sweet time with the details.”