Frost & Bothered (30 page)

They hadn’t bothered Nick, but if I could be honest with myself about why we’d ended up together, I could also be honest about the two things I hadn’t liked about him: He’d been too possessive and over-protective.

Logan didn’t think I was a helpless idiot.

“Here they come,” he said. “Maybe another ten minutes.”

I nodded, trusting his eyesight, and kept right on musing. He was a great guy, and keeping with the being honest thing, the surety of no babies was a huge draw. Logan was older, and self-confident. He was willing to share a lot more about himself, his family, everything, than Nick had been.

Huh, maybe I was finally beginning to grow up. Here I was, thinking serious thoughts before things became serious, instead of rushing to the next step.

“You’re quiet.”

“Just thinking.”

“Need a sounding board?”

“Not right now, but thank you for offering.”

“Any time.” Logan rearranged the front of his cloak, for a more secure grip on the edges.

Maybe I was overthinking. He was a good guy, person, and friend. Hell, we might not even survive to start officially dating.

Well, that was a dumb thought, because it triggered the urge to jump his bones so I wouldn’t miss out on that experience if we died.

The rest of our group had come far enough that I could distinguish their figures from the shadowy landscape. I checked the sky. Yes, there were clouds, which probably meant more snow. “Hey, you having any luck over there?”

A grating noise responded, and we turned around. The bars were rising as the elf dropped his hand from the stone block he’d been silently communing with. “We have permission to enter, but if we cause harm to any Unseelie within, the castle will respond with extreme prejudice.”

“We’ll be really, really careful.” I wasn’t curious enough about what a building would consider “extreme prejudice” to risk finding out.

T
he wall around the castle was perhaps thirty feet wide. It was hard to tell for certain because the entrance tunnel wasn’t straight, but sort of S-shaped.

The far side opened unto a large open area that appeared to be a combination of court and stable yard. I could see a few horses in the stables to the left, their heads lowered and eyes closed.

Selwin whickered, but none of them responded to the mare.

I saw something else, and tugged on Logan’s sleeve. “What’s that?”

He looked at the shape crumpled at the base of one stall door. “A body.”

Thorandryll sent two of his men over to check things out at the stables. They returned and reported what they’d found. “The horses sleep, but all the stable hands are dead. Long dead.”

“They were human,” Kethyrdryll murmured to me, and I nodded. Sal and Cernunnos had both said the Unseelie slept. Humans couldn’t sleep for years without medical help. Or magical, but obviously the Unseelie or the bad guys had felt the need to assure... Wait a minute: “What were humans doing here?”

“Some swore their lives in service, and therefore stayed among us in spite of the Sundering spell,” Thorandryll answered. “There are benefits, Miss Jones.”

“What benefits?”

“Prolonged life for one.”

I glanced at the shape I’d first noticed. “Uh huh, that worked out well.”

Kate snorted. “Didn’t it just? What are we looking at here? A Sleeping Beauty or Snow White spell?”

“I beg your pardon?” Thorandryll raised both his eye brows.

“One’s a curse, the other is a poison,” Alleryn said. “Curse is more likely. It’d be quite difficult to administer a poison to so many at once.”

“Not if you poisoned the well,” I shrugged. “If there is a well.”

“Underground reservoir, which is connected to most rivers and lakes in this realm,” Kethyrdryll said. “It would take barrels and barrels of poison to ensure a proper dosage, and likely would’ve affected every creature in the realm.”

“No Snow White, check,” Kate crossed it off an invisible list. “Sleeping Beauty?”

“I doubt they all pricked themselves on cursed spindles. “ Alleryn waved his hand at the stone steps leading to the castle’s heavy doors. “We need more information.”

“Then let’s collect it,” she said. “Forward ho, and all that.”

Forward ho we went, climbing the stone steps to a wide terrace. Crossing it, we paused at the doors. Thorandryll put his hand on one, and it opened about an inch. His brother helped him widen the gap.

I filed in between Logan and Damian. The warlock tapped me on the shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to ask you what you think of Tabitha?”

Nice to discover I wasn’t the only one distracted by personal stuff. “I like her. Why?”

“Do you think she’d agree to a date?”

“That, I don’t know.”

“Well, of course you don’t. You’re not her. She’s the only one who knows.” Damian sighed as we stopped to check out our surroundings. “I’ll have to ask her.”

Fighting a grin, I patted his shoulder. “Yep, sorry.”

A long hallway led to wide stairs, but there was more hallway beyond them. Doors or archways dotted the walls beginning about forty feet past the main entrance.

Dane and Logan exchanged a glance before Logan said, “Why don’t you three stick with us? Let the elves lead.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re used to the sort of magic this place is made of.”

“Oh, right.” The elves might be able to avoid tripping any traps. “Okay.”

Leglin pressed against my leg, and I scratched his shoulders. He managed to nearly knock Alleryn off his feet with the resultant tail wagging.

“Really, Leglin,” the mahogany-haired elf muttered after regaining his balance. My hound responded with a doggy grin, his tail still sweeping the air.

I stifled a laugh. Leglin’s habit of whacking people with his tail had become a source of amusement for me. Most of my friends had learned to stay out of range by now. Alleryn was officially a friend, but he hadn’t exactly hung out with us.

“We’ll set up camp here.”

I looked at Thorandryll. “Camp? We need to...”

“I’m aware of our mission. My people and the hounds can search. They’ll inform us of their findings.” Thorandryll paused to listen to Kethyrdryll’s whisper. He nodded. “It will be safer to remain here until we know where the Unseelie are.”

I hesitated but then nodded. Exploring unfamiliar territory really wasn’t high on my priority list after the things we’d already encountered. “All right.”

The prince sorted his people into teams while his brother set up camp. Camp consisted of a pavilion along each wall, between the entrance and the first doors, plus a thorny barrier across the entrance and the hallway at the opposite end.

A narrow opening was left in that barrier, so the elves and hounds could leave. One elf and hound pair were assigned to guard the opening.

Kethyrdryll stabled his mare. The rest of us—three shifters, two witches, Thorandryll, three hounds, and me—went into Kethyrdryll’s pavilion. The table had been set for dinner.

Looking over the beautifully glazed ham and assorted veggie side dishes, I felt sorry for the other elves having to work without a hot meal first. I loaded my plate and a goblet of chilled juice and carried it out to the guard. “I thought you might like something to eat.”

The guard, an elf with white hair and blue-green eyes, gave me a startled look. “That’s very kind of you, milady. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I handed the plate, silverware, and goblet over to him. ”I put an extra slice on for your hound.”

The hound’s ears perked, and I realized it was Enid. “Oh, hi, I haven’t forgotten about the steak. We’ll have the cook-out as soon as it warms up, okay?”

She gave a small wag in response. I patted her broad skull and went back into the pavilion. There was a new place setting in front of my chair.

“That wasn’t necessary, Miss Jones,” Thorandryll said as I began to serve myself.

“Maybe not, but it was polite.”

He stared at me. “Are you implying my treatment of my people is lacking?”

“Nope, I just felt weird eating while they didn’t.” Though if that’s what he thought my act meant, maybe Prince Snooty Pants needed to do a little self-assessment. “That’s all.”

“I have found Lady Discord to be quite kind,” Kethyrdryll said. “Kindness is an admirable trait.”

“She does have a tendency to let her inner mushy show.” Kate fed Percival a bite of apple. I checked the area in front of the fireplace. All four hounds and Illy were settled there with raw hambones. The bones had chunks of meat still attached.

“I’m not mushy. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to others.” One of Mom’s favorite sayings. Of course, it did cost time, but so what? A few minutes here, an hour there...better way to spend time than constantly worrying about stuff.

Like where dating Logan would lead, or what would happen if we couldn’t wake the Unseelie.

Once I’d thought those things, I began to worry again.

O
ne by one, the searchers returned with bad news. None had found a single Unseelie snoozing anywhere.

“Maybe I can locate someone with telepathy. I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?”

“If you’re willing to make such an attempt, please do,” Thorandryll answered.

“Just be careful.” Kate frowned. “You know what can happen when you make contact with old minds.”

“They’re elves, not vampires.”

“Right. Instead of a massive attack of blood thirst, you’ll acquire an ego the size of an ocean.”

“You know, we are right here. Actually in the same room,” Alleryn said.

She smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. “I’m aware of that.”

“Okay, I think I’d better go outside, have all of you behind me.” When I stood, so did everyone else. “I work better without a crowd watching, people.”

Dane and Logan remained standing as everyone else sat down. I shrugged. “Okay, you two can come with.”

The same elf I’d taken dinner to had stayed on guard duty. He allowed us out, and the guys took up positions on either side of the opening. Logan said, “We’ll wait right here.”

“Okay.” I turned away and walked about ten feet before halting and closing my eyes. I concentrated to put as much juice into my mental shout as possible.
Anyone home?

No response. I tried again.
We’re here to help
.

I listened carefully, and though I heard something, maybe a faint whisper.
Hello?

Dead silence. Shaking my head, I turned around and walked back. “Nothing.”

“Hey, you tried.” Dane grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll find them.”

“Before or after the big kablooey part?” I let Logan pull me into a hug when I was close enough. “You know, sometimes I dream of being a stripper.”

That earned hoots of laughter from them both, and Logan squeezed me a bit tighter. “Why?”

“It has to be a far easier job than being a psychic.”

“My question is, are you any good at it?” Dane waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, and what’s your stage name?”

“Barbi Ella.”

Logan chuckled. “Seriously? Barbarella?”

“No, I had to make something up because he asked, and that movie came to mind.” My head was beginning to ache again, and all the worrying I’d been doing made it feel as though snakes of uneasiness were squirming around inside me. “I’m tired.”

“Bet Logan will tuck you in.” Dane hurried ahead of us to avoid the cuff Logan aimed at him. “Missed me.”

“I won’t next time,” Logan promised. “Quit teasing Cordi. She’s tired.”

“Thanks for letting us out,” I said to the guard elf, who nodded.

It sucked to have to shake my head at everyone’s hopeful looks when we reentered the pavilion. Dane bent to whisper to Alleryn, who left his seat. “I’ll bring you something for your headache.”

“Thanks. I’m calling it a night.” I glanced at Logan.
You’re welcome to snuggle when you’re ready to go to bed
.

He smiled.
Okay. I’ll be in after a while
.

“Good night.” I went to my room, and took my medicine when Alleryn brought it to me. I was asleep before Logan came in.