snarled. “No one touches my mate. Admit it, Furies, your plan backfired. Deal with your shame on your own time. We’re out of here.”
Fury #3 clicked its tongue. “There, there, Queen Brigantia. You called for the Wild Hunt. You struck a deal with us. And Princess Ileana answered the summons. All seemed well, but you threw a complication into the mix by having her fated mates hunt her down. The trio found a loophole—they completed the mating ritual to counter the blood demand of the Wild Hunt. Instead of hunting her, they mated with her. They used sex to replace violence, and sex is a greater force, as it creates life. You failed to detect the mating bond that already existed between the King of Nightmares and Princess Ileana before she agreed to be hunted in the Wild Hunt. Both of these self-centered and selfish Fae kings overcame their bloodlust and rejected our persuasion to keep hunting their shared female, shielded by their mating bond, which had no precedent. Regretfully, the hunt must end.”
No one had ever survived the Wild Hunt, but my mates and I had beaten our immortal foes and the unshakable, eons-old system.
Brigantia shrieked in rage. She could no longer steal my power. Nor could the Furies harvest my magic.
I grinned, drinking in my enemies’ bitterness, and flipped the bird toward my despicable sister. “Next time, we hunt you, usurper bitch.”
She lunged for me, and I raised a handgun, aiming at her head.
“Come at me, viper,” I goaded her, Netherbane in my other hand.
I wanted to feed all the bullets into her deformed face and cut her open from navel to head, but I wouldn’t make the first move. I didn’t trust these Fury fuckers. If I initiated the violence just when the Furies announced the end of the Wild Hunt, I might trigger another hunt. But as soon as the bitch touched me, I would be allowed to pull the trigger, and then I’d bury my blade in her black heart.
My mates seemed to be thinking along the same lines. They shifted positions to shield me, their swords ready to impale Brigantia.
Brigantia halted and stepped back, and the Furies nodded.
“After our arbitrating,” Fury #3 said, “anyone who draws the first blood would be trapped in the Wild Hunt.”
“However,” Fury #2 offered in an eerily singsong voice, “Queen Brigantia, you still have one option left, if you haven’t realized it. You brought the kings in as your champions to participate in the hunt, but they didn’t fulfill their obligation. The Wild Hunt can no longer hold them responsible, but you can. The kings cheated you out of the commitment the four Fae courts shared. It’s come to my attention that the kings aren’t aware of every clause in the ancient pact their ancestors swore regarding joining and forming a bond in the Wild Hunt when it is demanded. The pact still binds all the monarchs in Elfame. They found a loophole to end the game. We can’t punish them. But, Queen Brigantia, you may curse them for refusing to hunt your designated prey.”
I glared at the Furies, and they flashed me identical, creepy smiles.
A spark of malicious understanding formed in Brigantia’s inky eyes, and she came alive like a shark smelling fresh blood.
“Night King and Summer King, I’m giving you one last chance,” Brigantia pronounced. “As my champions, I command you to put down Ileana like a rabid dog, or I’ll enforce my right of vengeance and curse you for eternity for defying the faerie law of the Wild Hunt.”
“To hell with you all, gremlins!” Baron roared. “I’ll never hurt my mate! May Hell burn your rotten bones for eternity.”
Vicious lines formed around Brigantia’s thin lips, and hatred blackened her eyes. Her demonic heritage flickered into sight for a second before she controlled her transformation.
“I’ll wait for the day I can feed you piece by piece to my worst nightmare creature,” Rydstrom said mercilessly.
“Then I curse you!!” Brigantia screeched, throwing up her hands and starting to chant the curse.
I raised my handgun and fired at her. I’d take down the bitch even if I had to go down with her. I no longer cared that I’d kick off the hunt again. I wouldn’t let that viper curse my mates.
But an invisible barrier arose in front of my evil sister, and my bullets vanished before hitting her shield. I lunged at her, thrusting Netherbane out in front of me, but a force threw me back. My mates charged