Iron Master – Jennifer Ashley Page 0,73

window, which started to dissolve into thicker mist.

At the last minute, Stuart reached to the foot of the bed and grabbed his jeans. Then Peigi was jerked off her feet and slammed sideways into the thick fog where the window had been. She grabbed Stuart’s hand as he passed her, and hung on.

Cold clamped her, and then blackness. Peigi felt only Stuart’s grip, a lifeline in the freezing darkness, and then nothing.

Chapter Twenty

Peigi landed on prickly ground, in the darkness, her eyes stinging. This was no dream. Icy chill swirled around her, far colder than a Las Vegas January night.

Where the hell was she? She inhaled, but there were too many confusing scents. Wood smoke, animals, snow, the acrid smell of burning debris, and … Shifters.

Before she could register what Shifters and where, Stuart, whose hand she’d lost hold of, slammed into her. His presence sent relief through her, though she remained alert, wary.

“What the fuck?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Where are we?”

“Faerie, I’m guessing.” Stuart climbed laboriously to his feet. He pulled on the jeans he’d been able to grab and hastily buckled them. He was barefoot and bare-chested, the cold prickling his flesh. “Where, I have no clue.”

The scent of Shifter increased, and then Peigi heard them, growls and roars that grew louder until they melded into a single din. Shifters attacking. Peigi instinctively put Stuart behind her as she crouched in a defensive stance.

They poured from the mists that rolled back to reveal the black trunks of trees, like dark cutouts in the white.

Lupines, bears, Felines, not attacking at random but in coordinated columns, divided into where each Shifter could give others the most cover. They ran with determination and with enough wildness to strike fear into their enemies.

All this for her and Stuart?

The moment the thought formed, Stuart grabbed her and forced her down. Over their heads flew bolts, fired from crossbows by a line of warriors in leather and metal.

Iron and steel, not silver, Peigi realized immediately. They were dokk alfar.

One of the dokk alfar shouted and a second line of crossbows fired. Shifters went down, screaming. Others raced aside, sprinting to flank the crossbowmen and get behind them.

Peigi roared and dropped to all fours as bear. Shifters attacking dokk alfar? For the Fae, or on their own—and why?

Stuart’s voice sounded in her ear, “We need to get out of here.”

No kidding. Peigi slammed her shoulder into Stuart, who caught on quickly and climbed onto her back.

She ran. Choosing a path perpendicular to the action, Peigi charged away, Stuart clinging to her back, head down. He hung on with ease, as though riding a fleeing bear was no big deal to him.

Peigi ran until the sound of battle receded, then she slowed her steps. As Stuart slid off to his feet, she morphed into her half-beast, her heart pounding, breath coming hard.

“What the hell is going on?” she gasped.

“A very good question. We need to find Cian.”

Peigi glanced around wildly. “How did we even get here? A gate came to find us?”

Stuart rubbed his short hair, flinging droplets of mist from it. “Again, I’m thinking Cian. He half-pulled me into Faerie once before. Maybe he figured out how to do it all the way.”

“I hope not. For his sake.” Peigi snarled, her blood pumping high. Screw hiding in the shadows waiting to feel better—she wanted to thump heads, lots of them. “How do we find him? Every direction looks the same to me.”

As when they’d first entered Faerie, the trees that surrounded them, marching into mists, appeared identical—each view mirrored the other.

“We retreat to the dokk alfar side,” Stuart said. “Even if these aren’t Cian’s men, dokk alfar lands will be in that direction.”

“What if those Shifters are ours?” she asked. “I mean, sent by Dylan. And the dokk alfar want them dead for some reason?”

“Accidentally being shot with a crossbow bolt won’t answer that.”

He had a point. “All right,” Peigi said. “We find Cian and slam him against a wall until he explains everything.”

Stuart laughed, a startling sound in the dank air. “My mate is kick-ass. Don’t mess with her.”

“Damn straight.” Peigi sent Stuart a smile, probably alarming in her half-bear, half-human face. “Want to ride again?”

“It would be faster.” Stuart bumped himself into her. “Besides, your fur is soft.”

“Sweet talker.” Peigi dropped down to become full bear. Stuart climbed aboard, and they were off.

Behind them, the battle raged on. Shifters shrieked, dying, and dokk alfar screamed as they went down under the