The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow (The Guild Codex: Unveiled #3)(9)

The horse’s ears flicked—and a voice brushed across my mind in a jumble of unfamiliar sounds. Another language? Did this fae not speak English?

“You, girl!” a rancher with a gun shouted. “Get off that horse before you break your neck!”

I leaned forward, urging the stallion to move. His ears swiveled again, then he sprang into a canter. I held on tight as he thundered toward the fence. With another easy leap, he cleared the barrier and thumped down on the other side. The open field stretched ahead of us.

Run! I told him, hoping he could feel the meaning of the word.

He took off at a gallop, faster than a Kentucky Derby winner. The eight auction horses he’d freed from their pens scattered fearfully as he sped past them, streaking for the trees at the far end of the field. In seconds, we reached the woods, and I ducked low as branches whipped past.

The stallion slowed to a death-defying canter as he bounded over the uneven ground, swerving around trees and leaping fallen logs. I barely clung on, my limbs burning with the effort.

After a minute that felt like ten, we burst into a small clearing and the stallion slid to a stop. I fell onto his neck before pushing myself upright and hastily sliding off his back. One ride was enough for me.

His head swung toward me, and I was caught off guard by his beauty in the dappled light beneath the trees. Cautiously, I raised my hands and cupped his flat cheeks, his coat silky under my palms.

“You can’t do this,” I told him, trying to share the meaning of my words. “You can’t save those horses. You’ll just end up dead.”

He pinned his ears.

“I know, but even if you set them free, they won’t survive out here. The mountains are no place for domestic horses.”

He nudged me hard in the chest with his nose, and a wave of his unfamiliar language rattled through my head. I couldn’t understand him, but I could feel his question in the sounds.

“I can’t save them either.” Pain, fury, and helplessness thickened in my chest, dulling the grind of sharp edges. “You need to take care of yourself, okay? Head that way”—I pointed north—“and keep going until there are no more humans.”

A puff of warm breath blew strands of sweat-dampened hair off my forehead. The stallion stepped back, pulling away from my hands. His burning orange eyes gazed into mine, fierce and furious but somehow sad.

An odd, uncomfortable feeling prickled up my spine—then recognition hit me.

Stunned by the realization of where I’d seen this fae before, I didn’t react as he turned. His tail swished, raven hair streaming, then he trotted into the trees. The shadows engulfed his dark form, and I lost sight of him.





CHAPTER FOUR





The Dullahan’s steed? Ríkr repeated disbelievingly.

I nodded as I picked a comb through the tangles in Whicker’s mane. The gray gelding was doing much better. He’d gained weight over the past few weeks, and the thrush infection had cleared up.

“When Lallakai knocked the Dullahan to the ground, his horse ran off.” I glanced at the white cat sitting on the side of the tack stall. “I didn’t give him a second thought, to be honest. I assumed he went back through the crossroads to wherever the Dullahan came from.”

That would have been my assumption as well. Ríkr gave a slow, thoughtful blink. I doubt the stallion served the Dullahan willingly. He may have been unprepared for his sudden freedom.

“I wonder if that’s why he’s still hanging around.” I smoothed Whicker’s mane. “Rescuing auction horses … I’ve never seen a fae go up against humans like that.”

It is uncommon in this age of deadly human weapons, but not many centuries ago, humans feared us. Ríkr stood and arched his back in a stretch. Perhaps the stallion was in the Dullahan’s power for so long that he is unaware of how humanity has evolved.

In medieval Europe, a horse with fiery eyes would’ve terrified villagers. But nowadays? He was lucky he hadn’t been riddled with bullets.

“I hope he goes north,” I murmured, patting Whicker’s neck. “He needs to get away from people.”

Indeed. It will be inconvenient if he continues to cause mischief on the doorstep of our territory.

Our territory. It was a strange thought. I’d been his consort for three days and he already had me practicing aura spheres on the hour, every hour. Attuning the land to my power, he’d said.

A memory reared up in my head of the aura sphere I’d created at Luthyr’s crossroad. I could feel Zak’s hand grasping mine as he’d added his power and aura. For those brief moments, we’d been in perfect harmony. My hands clenched.

Whicker’s head turned as he caught my tension, and I hastily reassured him with another pat on the neck. “Ríkr, were you able to find out anything?”

He swished his tail. I gleaned nothing about Zak’s movements. He must have traveled in his vehicle, either to cover more distance or to avoid notice.

“Or both,” I muttered, unclipping the crossties keeping Whicker in place. “Do you think he went back to Hell’s Gate?”

I cannot imagine why he would. Ríkr hopped to the ground, following as I led Whicker to his stall. Zak’s thoughts I cannot guess, but whatever drew him and his lady away must have been of great urgency for Lallakai to leave without the power of The Undying.