Smolder (Crown of Fae #3) - Sharon Ashwood Page 0,37

for a moment before relaxing into her arms.

“I’m so, so glad you’re okay,” Leena murmured. “I’ve lost Morran and Fionn.”

“It can’t be too hard to find two armed fae in a sea of humans.” Kifi began cleaning her whiskers. “They smell entirely different.”

“I can’t follow their scent.”

“Then be glad you have me on this adventure.”

“You took a terrible risk when you interfered with the mirror.”

“It pained me to think the general would get his way,” Kifi grumbled. “That stinky creature is far too smug.”

“Oh, my girl. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Hysterical laughter bubbled inside Leena. Her nerves were shredding to pieces as they spoke. She set the squirming cat back on the ground.

The feline gave the briefest of purrs, but she stopped abruptly when she saw another cat coming down the alley. It was small and white with a blotch over one ear, but the newcomer was eyeing them with clear suspicion.

Kifi hissed, putting herself between the cat and Leena. “This is my charge. She is under my protection.”

The white cat gave a small growl. At the signal, more cats appeared, creeping up stairwells and slinking out from behind garbage bins. At first, Leena had been amused, but the number of felines kept multiplying. There were five, then twenty, then a sea of fur and tails. Kifi began to tremble, but didn’t move a whisker.

Leena moved to pick her up, but then stopped. She would do nothing to undermine Kifi’s authority among the cats. Faced with so many beasts, their lives might depend on it.

These cats did not speak in the language of the fae, but, judging by the growls and hisses, they were trading insults. Kifi gave as good as she got, tail lashing.

Lightning flashed, followed by a rumble.

As the sudden brightness faded, a large ginger tom arrived, his tail held high over his head. The cats fell silent and stepped aside, allowing him to stalk through their midst until he was nose to nose with Kifi. She was a third of his size, but she puffed up until she resembled a shiny black ball. The tom sat on his haunches, his green eyes narrowed to slits.

“Fire burns the sky, and the earth shakes in warning,” he said in a voice that matched his impressive size. “Your arrival awakens powerful magic. Why are you in my city?”

Leena opened her mouth but faltered, astonished this cat of the human realms could speak, but it was Kifi who answered. “Our apologies, my lord. It was not our intent to cause a disturbance.”

The tom looked up at Leena, eyes filled with an intelligence more wizard than alley cat. Leena’s neck prickled in warning.

“Regardless of your intent, you brought the tainted enemy to our streets,” the tom said.

Leena’s breath caught. He meant Fionn.

The orange cat rose, ears flattening against his huge head. “We shall not forgive that trespass.”

13

Morran hurled himself through the traffic after Fionn. He’d battled trolls with nothing but a broom handle and a bad temper, but the streets of the city held a new level of chaos. A thread of clarity had returned since his arrival, but the noise and stink weren’t helping. Nor was the thunder still prowling the sky.

Wavering at the edge of the road, he studied the flow of speeding vehicles, each one promising to crush him. They ripped by with grumbling howls, suggesting there were demons trapped inside the gleaming shells. Huge birds flew overhead like dragons. Everywhere was hard, dead stone. The only thing that seemed to thrive here were humans—thousands and thousands.

But, at that moment, he had only one point of focus. Stop Leena’s brother.

Fionn was a dozen yards ahead, dodging through the lanes of traffic with a sense of purpose. Perhaps the Shades had provided a destination, or the unfortunate lad was following the source of the quake. How—Morran could not say. This unfamiliar realm had jumbled his usual sensitivity to natural power.

All the more reason not to lose Fionn. Morran leaped into the traffic, earning a furious blare from one of the hurtling demons. He ignored it. A swirl of dark robes disappeared between the careening vehicles ahead. He set off at a run, leaping aside as one of the monsters all but clipped him. He jumped over the next, feeling as if he’d joined a bizarre type of chariot race. In the frenzy, he lost sight of Fionn.

Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed.

Before he’d crossed the next lane, the vehicles inexplicably came to a halt. Morran seized the opportunity