Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,55

cleared his throat. “Or, when they’re created through the ritual, it’s usually the worshippers of Reyas behind it. And his worshippers are usually earth witches and, most often, women. You said the family who owned that place was a family of earth witches?”

A whole bevy of thoughts ran through my head. “All this time I’ve been thinking that the father probably killed Aida but now, I’m thinking…”

“That it was the mother?” Kipa asked.

I nodded. “Suppose—just suppose the mother worshipped Reyas. Maybe the crops weren’t doing so well, and so as a petition to Reyas, she sacrificed her husband and he became an autumn wight?”

“What about the daughter?” Llew asked.

I bit my lip, trying to think. “What if she found out her mother was planning to sacrifice the father and tried to warn him? Or talk her mother out of it? Maybe her mother killed her to silence her. It sounds hideous, but we’ve dealt with worse.” I shook my head, convinced I was on the right track.

“It would fit,” my father said. “Some of the earth witches can be scary-assed people. They’re powerful and among the most powerful, they can cause earthquakes and summon earth elementals. I think there are one or two of the Force Majeure who work with the energy of the earth.”

“Is there anything about what can destroy an autumn wight?” I asked.

“Not that I can see. But I’ll keep looking. Now that we’re pretty sure of what this thing is, I can dig deeper. Don’t try to go up against it, though. Not until we know more. Wights of any kind are dangerous, and these seem like a disaster in the making.”

After I hung up, I turned back to Kipa. “All right, let’s go see if we can find Aida’s remains. If we do, maybe we can free her.”

“Do you want to wait until morning?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Morning or night, it’s not going to make any difference to the autumn wight. It’s just as powerful in daylight as it is during the night.” I turned to Jordan and Llew. “You should go home. It’s not safe out here for you. Emrys? Can you and one of the other men escort them to their cars and make sure they get off the farm safely?”

Emrys nodded. “Lord Kipa, do we have leave?”

“Of course. Come back as soon as the men have driven away.”

Emrys and one of the other guards took off, leading Jordan and Llew back toward the farm. I watched them go, then glanced at Kipa.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking Emrys to do that before I asked you. I just have a feeling we need to keep those two off the farm for now. The wight can influence shifters, humans, and probably the Fae. I doubt if he can do much to me except try to kill me physically. I didn’t sense any attempt at mind control while he had me bound in his energy.”

Kipa waved off my worries. “No, I didn’t mind. It occurs to me that we might find an altar to Reyas buried around here somewhere. If the Lanchesters worshipped him, then they probably had a temple for him on the farm.”

“Could be,” I said as we stood and started moving forward again, Kipa’s other four guards flanking our sides. “You know, I’m dedicated to Arawn, the Lord of the Dead. Not once has he ever demanded I make any sort of blood sacrifice—except for my own—to him. What makes some of the gods demand murder to prove allegiance?”

Kipa wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “That, I can’t answer. There are those, among the gods, who are as disturbed as the sociopaths and psychopaths among humans. God or human, Fae or Elf, Ante-Fae or shifter, there will be disturbed individuals in every group.”

“I suppose so,” I said.

“Honestly, any god demanding an unwilling sacrifice—be it person or animal—I find disturbing. I suppose if you’re going to eat the animal afterward, that’s one thing—as long as it’s humanely killed. But invoking terror for the sake of ego—it’s pathetic. Most of the gods tend to steer clear of our counterparts who are so inclined. If they go unhinged, we do what we can to control them, like Typhon. But…take Mars and Aries—the gods of war. They’re both off their rockers. Tir’s not nearly so rabid. The Norse are more stoic and less prone to vanity.”

We continued along. By now my arrow of location had dissipated, but Kipa remembered where he had last