Prince of Cats - Tasha Black Page 0,8

with. We don’t want anything extra getting in.”

Gods, but she had a powerful grip.

Kieran, meanwhile, had found a bright green leaf. He was waving it around and laughing.

Killian distracted himself slightly with his son’s mirth.

At last, the woman seemed to be satisfied. She began binding his leg tightly with the rags that seemed to be the only remnants of his shirt.

When she was finished, she sat back to admire her handiwork.

He had to admit it, wasn’t badly done.

She grabbed the dagger from beside his hand and shoved it in her belt loop.

“Okay, let’s get you up,” she told him.

“Not without my dagger,” he said, hand out.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “You’re as weak as a lamb and may need my support. I can’t come close if you’re armed with a dagger and I only have a bow.”

He could hardly argue with that cold-minded logic.

He allowed her to help him up, peevishly not putting forth as much effort as he could have just to be difficult. She struggled, but it didn’t bring him nearly as much joy as he hoped it would.

After he was on his feet, she scooped up the baby who laughed and waved the leaf at her.

“That’s awesome, Kieran,” she said.

Killian tested out his injured leg. It hurt to put weight on it, but it would hold him.

The woman rummaged around in the trees and came back to him carrying a solid ash stick.

“This should help,” she said, handing it over.

“I suppose you are waiting for my thanks, woman, after you injured me in the first place,” he sniffed.

“My name is not woman,” she said. “It’s Piper. Now get me home.”

Piper…

He hadn’t wanted to know her name.

And now he hated himself. He hated himself for standing here, bleeding, in a dangerous place, while she glared at him with all the hate of hellfire, knowing he wanted her more than he had the night he’d first seen her through the veil and had to have her.

Piper, you’re mine…

7

Piper

Piper gazed into the beautiful, serene eyes of her baby’s father and wished that she could smash him over the head with something, preferably something heavy.

Unfortunately, Killian was her only way out of this place. She would have to put her head-smashing fantasy on hold until he got her and baby Kieran home.

“Come on,” she said in a businesslike way as she headed for the gate, hoping maybe they could glean some information from it.

“Don’t go that way,” he warned her. “It’s dangerous.”

“You just don’t want me to figure out where I am,” she said lightly, continuing onward. “Don’t try to play me for a fool. Kieran and I will find our way out of here, even without you, if we have to.”

“Kieran is staying in Faerie,” Killian roared.

“Over my dead body,” Piper retorted.

“If necessary, yes,” Killian said.

His voice was like ice, but something about the way he looked away when he said it made her think he might actually feel a little bad about it.

Good. He should feel bad. He tried to steal my baby.

She reached the gate and studied it. There were no words, but a few symbols she didn’t recognize adorned the posts.

She crouched to get a better look at them.

Kieran leaned forward in her arms to grasp at the peeling paint.

“No, baby,” she told him, grabbing the little hand.

“It’s a graveyard,” Killian said from right behind her.

“That must mean we’re close to civilization,” she said, straightening up.

“Quite the opposite,” he told her. “We don’t keep our dead close like you do. They don’t always sleep as lightly. Graveyards here are on the borders.”

Piper didn’t want to think about exactly what that might mean.

“The borders of what?” she asked.

“Kingdoms,” he told her simply. “This must be the border between the Summer and Autumn Courts. See how dry the grass is over there? And there’s a warm breeze, with just the slightest edge to it.”

“Which court do you belong to?” she asked.

“Autumn,” he told her after a brief pause.

“So you know how to get me home from there?” she asked, purposefully not mentioning Kieran. The man was crazy if he thought there was any way she was leaving without her baby, but there was no need to force the issue right now.

Killian studied her for a moment and then nodded.

“Let’s go then,” she said, heading into the graveyard.

“Piper, no,” he called to her.

“Help me or watch me,” she offered over her shoulder.

“You don’t understand,” he yelled. “Get back here, right now.”

Did he still think he was the boss of