Shadow Hunted: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Shadows of Salem Book 3) Read online

  Finished with my food, I ran my tongue over my teeth as I leaned back in my chair, trying to recall what Maddock had told me about my father. My chest tightened at the thought of him, but I pushed his betrayal aside and tried to focus.

  Maddock had mentioned that the Unseelie were divided into twelve main tribes, and the leaders of those tribes fought for the right to rule the rest every hundred years. Apparently, the Winter King had once been the Unseelie King, but the rest of the clans revolted against him when they found out he was negotiating a peace treaty with the Seelie. After being deposed, he’d gathered up what was left of his tribe and traveled for a long while, exploring largely unknown parts of Faerie before settling into a stronghold somewhere.

  Cano had mentioned that the Winter King’s keep was located in the Hoarfrost Hills. Just how far away was that from here? How many miles of land comprised the Unseelie territory? God, it would have been great to have a map. Maybe I’d ask the Wolf chieftain for one the next time I saw him. He’d said the Hoarfrost Hills were very far north of here, but I remembered the creature I’d run into when I’d been retrieving that artifact with Maddock in Faerie. He’d seemed fearful of my father, and the place had been hilly and covered in snow. Could we have been close to his demesne at the time? Perhaps even in it? And if so, why hadn’t Maddock told me?

  Since when does Maddock ever tell you anything he doesn’t think you need to know? a snide voice in my head pointed out.

  I sighed, resisting the urge to run my fingers through my hair. I didn’t want to mess up the hairdo that Milgred had worked so hard on this morning. So instead, I drummed my fingers against the table, chewing on my bottom lip. I hated I was even thinking about him at all, but I had to wonder what Maddock was doing right now. Had he heard of my kidnapping? Was he doing anything to try to find me? Or had he simply said good riddance when he’d found out and went back to the business of running his club and securing his borders?

  Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I slammed the table with my fist. “That bastard isn’t worth crying over,” I growled under my breath, blinking hard.

  But the ache in my chest wouldn’t subside—it became a living, breathing thing trying to claw its way out. The hot tears rolled down my cheeks, and I buried my face in my hands, breathing hard.

  Why did things have to end between us the way they did? The memory Oscar had shown me left me shaking inside every time I thought about it. Maddock truly hadn’t wanted anything to do with me, despite our attraction. He’d always intended to kick me to the curb when he was finished, hadn’t he?

  Well, fuck him, a determined voice snarled inside my head. If Maddock couldn’t grow the hell up and get over his butt-hurt, he’d see that he wouldn’t have acted so differently in my situation. Wasn’t he always withholding information from me in order to manipulate me, or because the circumstances weren’t right? Why was he the only one allowed to play that card?

  No, I decided, straightening my shoulders. It was time to stop letting others push me around. It was going to take all my attention and energy to reconcile my past self with my present, and I couldn’t afford to waste time worrying about what others thought about me.

  I passed the rest of the afternoon in solitude, grateful for my full belly and warm clothing. It was nice to just lie here and think, with no worry of scolding, chores, or gnawing hunger. It seemed like it had been forever since I’d last had a good night’s sleep, and I spent the afternoon drifting in and out.

  A knock at the door roused me from my latest nap, and I sat up onto my elbows.

  “Princess,” Darun called through the door, and the appellation sent a little thrill through me. “It is time.”

  “Time?” I echoed as I stood up. I smoothed the wrinkles out of my dress and patted my hair to make sure it wasn’t completely messed up. What I wouldn’t give for a mirror! “Time for what?”

  “The summoning ceremony,” he said as if I’d taken leave of my senses. “You requested one, remember?”

  “Right,” I said, grabbing my cloak. My fingers fumbled as I secured the clasp, but I managed to get it on. Excitement thrummed in my veins, and I flung the door open, ready to go.

  Darun arched a brow, folding his massive arms over his broad chest. “You may want to put some shoes on. We’ll be trekking through the snow.”

  Glancing down, my cheeks flamed as I realized I was only wearing my woolen socks. I slammed the door in his face without thinking, then spun around and opened it again.

  “Sorry. Just give me a minute.” I gave him a sheepish grin, then closed the door more quietly and hunted down my boots. When I opened the door again, Darun nodded his approval, then motioned for me to follow him. He led me to the town center, where a small group of fae were gathered—the chieftain, his mother, and five older-looking fae with silver hair and gently lined faces. Six guards flanked the group from either side, including the guard captain, Bran. Darun bowed to them, and I inclined my head respectfully.

  “These are our tribe elders,” the chieftain said before introducing me to the other fae. There were four males and one female, and they regarded me somberly, their ancient eyes assessing me. “They perform our ceremonies and rituals and will be guiding us today as we attempt to contact your father.”

  “I appreciate that.” I gave them a real bow this time, to show my gratitude. “Are we to begin right now?”

  The chieftain smiled. “Soon. But first we must make it to the ceremony grounds.”

  The ceremony grounds turned out to be a stone pavilion of sorts. It was on top of a hill that jutted out of the center of the forest bordering the wolf clan’s village. Darun hadn’t been kidding when he said it was a trek—we walked through miles of forest before we even reached the base of the hill, and even then, it took us a good hour to get to the top. By the time we got there, I was panting, my face flushed and my legs burning.

  “Wow,” I whispered as I took in the pavilion. It was made of shimmering, pearly grey stone that stretched to provide some twenty-square feet of shelter. Black, thorny vines twined around the edge of the roof and the pillars, and I was shocked to see white roses blooming on them despite the chilly weather. I reached out to touch one, but Darun grabbed my hand.

  “These are sacred,” he growled under his breath. “The blossoms absorb any evil energies directed toward this place, so that the elders may perform their rites undisturbed.”

  “Sorry.” I pulled my hand from his grasp, but braced myself against his forearm as a gust of wind nearly bowled me over. Up this high, the winds were very strong, and they instantly froze the sweat that had gathered at the base of my dress.

  Darun immediately fastened my cloak around my shoulders—I’d given it to him halfway through the hike for safekeeping, the exercise making me far too warm for it, but it provided good insulation now from the biting winds.

  The chieftain entered the pavilion first, stopping at the threshold to bow his head and murmur some kind of prayer in thanks. His mother, who I’d learned was called Erlina, followed suit, as did the elders, and I came last, mimicking them the best I could. I didn’t know what prayer they’d spoken, but I whispered a thank you to whoever might be listening, and a gentle wind seemed to brush against my cheek in return.

  The elders had the chieftain, Erlina, and me sit closest to the fire pit, forming a triangle. Then they stationed themselves around us, forming a five-point star, while the guards took up positions at the perimeter of the pavilion to keep watch. All five elders lowered their hoods, and since the chieftain and his mother did the same, I did, too.

  Two of the elders, a male and the sole female, reached for brown leather pouches hanging from their belts and approached the fire pit. They sprinkled copious amounts of some herbal mixture into the pit, and then in three concentric circles around it. My nose itched a little as I inhaled the spicy-sweet mixture, and I sneezed. The chieftain’s mother gave me a sharp look, as if sneezing were sacrilegious, and I did my best to ignore her. It wa
sn’t as if I’d done it on purpose.

  Once the elders were done sprinkling herbs, they rejoined their brethren in their outer circle. Another one of them pointed to the fire pit, chanting a brief spell. A fire roared to life instantly, and I flinched back from the heat of the flames. I wanted to move away from them, but the chieftain and his mother hadn’t budged, so I didn’t dare. If being this close was part of the ritual, I would just have to endure it.

  Sweat poured down my temples, soaking the hem of my dress as the elders lifted their arms and began chanting. They began to sway in some sort of dance, lifting their chins so they could stare heavenward, and I soon forgot about the heat of the flames.

  Power emanated from the elders in a soft glow, and the air was humming with it. My shadow instincts reared up, that inner hunger awoken by the presence of so much power, and I had to make a concerted effort not to reach for it. The flames leapt higher, their tongues darkening from yellow-orange to an otherworldly bluish-purple that captivated me, making me forget my hunger.

  The elders’ chant swelled, their voices growing with power, and the hair on my arms crackled with it. Finally, the chant reached a crescendo, and the flames suddenly grew translucent. I gasped as the form of a man—no, a fae—appeared in the center of the fire pit, his eyes glittering with annoyance. He was an exact reproduction of the man I’d seen in my memories this morning—the silver hair, the antler crown, the ornate robes.

  So this is the Winter King.

  My father.

  “Good evening, Chieftain Maoilriain,” Chieftain Cano said, inclining his head, “I apologize for this unexpected intrusion, but my clan has come upon something we think would be of great interest to you.”

  “Is that so?” the Winter King asked, his voice as soft as a gentle snowfall. “And what might that be?”

  “Your esteemed daughter,” he said. “Returned from the dead.” Cano swept an arm in my direction. “Is that not her, sitting on our sacred grounds in all her majestic glory?”

  My cheeks colored as the Winter King turned, his shocked eyes meeting mine. Eyes that were identical in shape to my own. We had the same narrow nose, the same high cheekbones. God, he really was my father!

  “By the Lady,” he exclaimed, sounding as shocked as I felt. He reached out with his right hand, then pulled back as if remembering he couldn’t actually touch me. “Riona. I am so glad you are safe. I have been greatly worried ever since Oracion told me of your disappearance.”

  Murmurs broke out from the rest of the group at the Winter King’s confirmation of my identity, and I did my best to ignore them. “Oracion?” My brow furrowed as I tried to put a face to that name. “Who’s that?”

  My father chuckled, his icy eyes warming. “I forget that you know him as Oscar. I trust he made contact with you on that forsaken island?” His voice darkened a little at the mention of the Morrigan’s secret hideaway.

  Wait a minute. My father knew Oscar? I opened my mouth to ask how, then closed it—I didn’t want to give too much away to Cano or the elders.

  “Yes, that’s how I escaped,” I said instead, my voice brimming with excitement and anxiety. I had to fight not to bounce up and down like a small child. “Do you know if he is on his way?”

  “I’m sure he is looking for you,” my father said, “but I will contact him and point him in the right direction. It should not take him more than a day or two to reach you, and from there, he will bring you to my domain.” He gave me a glowing smile. “I look forward to seeing you again, daughter.” He turned back to the Wolf chieftain then. “Thank you, Chieftain Cano, for looking after my daughter. If you are ever in need of a favor, call on me again and I will do my best to deliver.”

  The flames abruptly winked out, taking the image of my father and leaving me with such conflicting feelings of hope and dread that I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.

  Chapter 8

  After the ceremony was over, we made the trek back to the village, where we were heartily greeted by the rest of the clan. Chieftain Cano proudly announced I had been confirmed as the Winter King’s daughter, and that I would be their esteemed guest for the next few days while I waited for an entourage to come and collect me. The crowd reacted with cheers and applause, and we all made off to the great hall for a huge feast in celebration.

  The great hall was a huge log building located not far from the chieftain’s home, set up with rows of wooden tables and a podium toward the front of the room where the chieftain or elders could go to make announcements. There was a kitchen toward the back, where a stream of servants constantly came and went, carrying platters of wild boar, quail, roasted vegetables, and other hearty fare. A strange, blue-colored alcoholic beverage was also served in tankards. Curious, I took a whiff of it, and I was instantly overcome by a dreamy, giddy feeling.

  Darun chuckled beside me. “You should probably get some food in you before you imbibe any of that,” he said. He sat to my left, even though we were seated at the chieftain’s table, because I’d requested it. “It’s very strong stuff, and it will knock you on your ass if you haven’t tried it before.”

  “Aww, let the princess have some fun,” said another fae a little farther down the table, lifting his tankard in my direction. I bit back a grin at the flushed look on his rugged features and the sparkle in his eye just before he threw back his head and drained his drink. “A little aifaul never hurt anybody!”

  The strange word triggered another memory—one of dancing in the Winter King’s glittering ballroom in the arms of a handsome fae male. He paused as we neared the edge of the dance floor, and I snagged a tall glass full of the blue liquid and drank half in one go. That giddy feeling I’d experienced before hit me tenfold, and I felt as if I was floating, drifting high above the ceiling. Pure, unadulterated lust flooded me as I gazed at my dance partner again. The fae gave me a wicked smile as he whirled me across the ballroom and straight out the side door as I laughed…

  “I think I’ll pass,” I said, nudging the tankard away from me. I may have gotten into the good graces of these people, but I wasn’t comfortable enough to essentially get high in front of them. Never mind the fact that I did not want to make myself insatiably horny. Sex was the last thing I needed on my mind right now.

  The night passed in good spirits, dancing and singing following the food. Soon, I was caught up in the festivities, whirling from partner to partner as lively music thrummed through the hall. I even danced with the chieftain once. He made no secret about his attraction to me, with his admiring gaze and lingering hands. But I wasn’t even remotely interested in going down that route with him, especially since Erlina kept eyeing me with that chilly look of hers. She would probably try to use me as a pawn and arrange a marriage alliance if she thought there was the slightest chance she could do so.

  Later in the evening, Darun escorted me back to my quarters. Night had fully fallen, and a large yellow moon hung in the dark sky, illuminating our path so well there was no need for a torch. The whole way, villagers smiled and waved as if earlier they hadn’t been eyeing me as if I were a diseased dog running rampant in their streets.

  “Everyone sure is a lot friendlier toward me now,” I mused.

  “You’ve been confirmed as the Winter King’s daughter,” Darun said simply. “Our clans have long been friends, but it has been several centuries since we’ve last seen each other. My clanmates are excited at the prospect that we might re-establish our relationship once more. You are a sign of interesting times to come, Princess.”

  “Maybe,” I allowed, “but if that’s so, then why does Cano’s mother keep looking at me like she expects me to start slaughtering babies? I’m pretty sure she hates me.”

  “It’s not like that, Princess,” Cano assured me. “She’s just worried, and I cannot blame her. As much as we want an alliance, we also don’t want to attract the wrong kind of fae to our territory. If the wrong people found out you were here, things could turn very bad for us.”

 
“Oh.” My stomach plummeted at the thought that I was putting these people in danger. “Should I leave, then? Surely there’s someplace else I could hide and wait until Oscar comes to collect me.”

  “No.” We stopped outside the cabin, and Darun took me gently by the shoulders. “The chieftain has declared you to be under our protection, and he would not dishonor himself by abandoning you. Your father was once a great ally of ours, and therefore, so are you.”

  I nodded, emotion swelling in my throat, then bid him goodnight. I wasn’t really sure how to deal with the idea that people I’d never met were willing to risk their lives for me because of an alliance with my father. I also wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get used to being addressed as “princess.”

  As I settled down for the evening, I thought how strange this was. But I was going to have to get used to it, fast, because this was Princess Riona Maoilriain’s domain, and I needed to learn how to become her again if I wanted to survive.

  “Princess!” Darun’s voice woke me from a very sound sleep. He banged on the door, and my eyes reluctantly cracked open. “Princess, wake up!”

  The urgency in his voice had me bolting upright, and I scrambled to make sure my nightgown covered me completely.

  “What is it?” I shouted as I rushed to the door. “Are we under attack?”

  “No,” Darun said as I opened the door. He took in my anxious expression and what was probably a gnarly case of bedhead, and laughed. “We aren’t under attack. I just don’t want you to miss the boar hunt!”

  I scowled at him, pushing my hair out of my face. “What’s to miss? You guys aren’t going to come back until late afternoon! Why are you waking me up at this forsaken hour?” For Christ’s sake, it was still pitch black outside.

  Darun looked taken aback. “Don’t you want to come with us? I thought you might want to get out. You spent almost all of yesterday holed up in this stuffy cabin, aside from mealtimes and knitting with the women.”