Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,26

liked attention and he liked having company willing to do what he wanted—which was mostly play games and go for walks.

“All right, then Kipa, if you wouldn’t mind taking Raj for a walk tonight, then tomorrow morning we can head over to the farm at around ten. It opens at eleven.” I leaned back against the arm of the sofa and propped my feet up on the cushions. “So, how’s life in Hanging Hills? Same as always?”

A dark look crossed my father’s face. “Not really. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. The area’s being built up at a fantastic rate. I can barely leave my home anymore. I actually thought I might move.”

I perked up. “You mean, maybe move here?” I loved my parents, even though they could be giant pain in the asses, and the thought of Curikan living nearby made me happy. But he dashed my hopes the next moment.

“No, actually. I am thinking of moving to Annwn. It’s safer over there, and there’s far more room for me to move about without putting anybody at risk. I’m thinking of moving to Y’Bain.”

Y’Bain, the forest of the Autumn’s Bane—or Autumn Stalkers. The offshoot of the Dark Fae could be ruthless, but they tended to stay away from Old TirNaNog—the ancient Fae city-state on which the Earthside TirNaNog had been founded. But that meant my father might as well be half a world away. While there were ways cell phones could manage the portal jump, it was mostly with the gods.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t want him to stay in a place that was growing too populated—it wasn’t fair to him or the people around him. But I couldn’t put my heart into saying, “Go.” I stared at my hands for a moment.

“Raven? Child? What are you thinking?” Curikan asked.

I stayed focused on my hands, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I think…I think you should do what makes you happiest. If you think moving to Y’Bain would make you happy, then you should do it. But…are you sure you couldn’t find a good spot here? We’ve got the Cascade mountains. There are places where people never go. You could find an isolated space and still be close to me.” I wasn’t sure why him moving to Y’Bain felt like the end of our connection, but it did.

Curikan furrowed his brow. “Child, do you really need me around? You haven’t been home in over a decade. I thought you were happy being out on your own.”

I bit my lip, glancing at Kipa, who was wisely keeping out of it. But he gave me a concerned look, and I could tell he wished he could help. Kipa might have a checkered past, but he had a heart of gold and he helped a lot more people than others gave him credit for.

“It’s just…with Typhon and everything, the world is a far scarier place. Are you leaving because of him?” I already knew that my father couldn’t join the fight, but I wanted him to be around when I returned from the coming battles sore and wounded. My mother—and the Wild Hunt Agency—had both made it clear that I was out on the front lines with them. I had already been called out a number of times to deal with vrykos, zombies, skeletal walkers, and other forms of the dead who were rising.

Curikan scooted over to where he could pull me into a hug. “Raven, my girl. I didn’t know you still needed me. Perhaps I can take a trip up to the mountains and see if I can find a place that would be solitary enough for me. But think for a moment—if I go to Y’Bain, I can set up a home so easily, and I can warn people to stay away. They know about the Black Dogs there, and nobody save for a fool would purposely visit me. Also…if things go south here, you’ll have a place to come, should you have to leave Earth.”

When he said the last bit, I froze. I hadn’t even thought about things getting that bad, but when I looked at the overall danger we were facing, he could well be right.

Kipa cleared his throat. “I probably shouldn’t mention this, but Herne and I have talked with Morgana and Cernunnos. If things do go south, we plan on moving the entire agency to Annwn. We’ll stay here and do what we can, as long as we can,