“Camille, come back. You don’t need to go there—you’re safe now. And Hyto is dead.”
Hanna’s words penetrated through the sudden fog and I realized I was holding my breath. “Right. I’m going to change. And Hanna…thank you. For everything.” I held her gaze for a moment, then headed upstairs.
Trillian was there, resting on the bed with a book. The playpen was sitting near the bed, but the kittens were nowhere to be seen. “Getting ready for the Hunt, love?”
“Yeah. I need to get dressed. Where are the kits?”
As I spoke, there was a loud squeak and then the calico sisters bounced up on the bed from the other side, chasing each other across it. White kitten and black kitten came bounding out of the closet, joining the fray. All of them descended on Trillian, playing with his toes as he wiggled his feet at them. He let out a yelp as one of the calicoes bit his big toe, but laughed.
“Scamp.”
“You just make sure they stay in the bedroom. Delilah’s changed into Tabby, and I’m not sure how she’d take to them at this point.”
“I’ll put them back in their pen in a bit. I just thought they might like to play for a while.”
I suppressed a smile as I turned toward my closet. Trillian came across as aloof and almost rude to a lot of people, but he had a soft spot for those who were innocent and unable to protect themselves. He’d never let on, but I knew full well that he regularly made donations to a number of animal rescue organizations, along with the local food banks and the women’s shelters.
I had priestess robes, but they weren’t exactly the most suitable for riding with the Hunt. Instead, I shimmied into a flowing black skirt that fell just below my knees. It was full and light, but warm. My ribs were still incredibly tender, so I chose one of my acrylic-boned corsets that would compress them lightly, but not as much as the steel bones. Then, fastening the busks, I adjusted my boobs so they were positioned right, and then pulled on my kitten-heeled granny boots, tying up the laces. Finally, I attached a belt around my waist that would hold my dagger, and grabbed my staff.
Aeval had given it to me shortly before Hyto had kidnapped me, but I still hadn’t learned much about it, although it contained the power of Faerie Fire. It was about five-nine—a couple inches taller than I was—and made of polished yew, fitting firmly in my hand. A crystal ball the size of my fist sat atop of it, with silver netting wound to securely keep the ball in place, and a silver foot.
Trillian set his book aside and wandered over to stand behind me as I stared into the mirror. My eyes were starting to glow with the light of the Hunt, and I felt the surge of power beginning to filter into me.
“My wild, feral witch,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I wish we had the time for me to fuck your brains out.”
I leaned back into his embrace. “You and me both.” The energy of the Hunt was seductive and driven, like the rut of the King Stag in the woodlands. Trillian’s breath came heavy on my neck, setting off sparks of hunger that ricocheted through me. “Oh, I want your touch. I wish you could run with us on the Hunt.”
Morio entered the room at that moment. He had changed clothes as well. “Everything I needed was down in the laundry room,” he said, his eyes shining like mine. “Are you ready, babe?” His voice was thick and I sensed his arousal—he was my priest and I was his priestess.
“Yeah, let’s go.” I turned. With one smooth move, I grabbed Trillian by the shoulders and spun him around against the closet door, pressing against him as I pressed my lips to his. My tongue met his and he moaned into my mouth as he slid his arms around my waist. Behind me, Morio let out a low growl of pleasure.
“Ready?”
I tore myself away from Trillian. “Be good. Sleep deep. Be ready for me, I’ll be ravenous come the morning.”
“Oh, I’ll be ready. Run safe, both of you.” Trillian scooped up the kittens so they couldn’t dart for the door and gently placed them in their pen. “Remember, Smoky will be home tomorrow morning.”
As Morio and I headed downstairs, it was almost as though I was walking on air. “This Hunt, it’s stronger than in a while.”
Morio placed one hand on my shoulder. “I can feel it, too. I don’t know why—we passed Beltane, the high zenith of the Hunt, last month.”
“Litha’s coming. Perhaps it’s the solstice. Whatever the case, I can barely feel the ground beneath my feet.”
Hanna was waiting by the door, holding Delilah in her arms, her expression solemn. She always saw me off on the nights of the Hunt.
Vanzir joined us from the living room. “The energy is so strong tonight that I’m a live wire. Roz went out to walk the grounds and I may join him.”
“It’s a powerful moon. I’m not sure what’s up, but keep an extra watch on the wards. Trillian will help. He’s up in our room, but I’m sure he’d be glad to come down if you need him. Also, since Bruce is gone and Iris is preoccupied with the babies, you should probably do a sweep past their house, too.” I stopped as a wash of energy left me lightheaded. “We have to go. They’re almost here.”
“Be on your way, then, and the Moon Mother be easy on you.” Hanna opened the door.
Morio and I clattered down the porch stairs, stepping out into the night. The skies were clear, and we could see the moon on the rise. The Hunt was coming in from the east. I could see them in the sky, ghostly forms racing through the heavens in a long train—so long nobody knew how far it extended. I backed up, my gaze locked on the moon.
The Moon Mother was riding at the helm of the Hunt, so huge that she dwarfed the riders behind her. She sat astride a skeletal horse clad in silver armor, with crimson eyes. Steam rose from its nostrils’ openings, and he was easily the size of the Black Beast. The Moon Mother’s hair flowed out behind her in the astral winds and she was a silhouette of fire encased in silver form, with her bow and arrows over on shoulder. Her eyes shimmered, also silver, glowing and endless. Behind her, running fast and free in a tunic of plum, with black breeches and boots, was Derisa. Her aura crackled with lavender sparks, her magic running wild. She was the High Priestess of the Full Moon, and I was the High Priestess of the Dark Moon.
My own aura flared a deep purple as the trumpets echoed around us. The trumpeters rode to both sides of the Moon Mother, aside skeletal mounts like hers. The Hunt stopped overhead, waiting. Morio and I clasped hands and I hit the staff on the ground, thudding the silver boot so hard it felt like the earth quaked, and then we were running up a bridge of dark sparkling energy, to join the Hunt.
I threw back my head and let out a shriek, long and piercing, as the energy of the Hunt slammed into me fully, buoying me, driving me toward the chaotic and lovely strength that raced through the train of riders and runners. As the Moon Mother set off, Morio and I began to run, caught in the frenzy, beside Derisa. Behind us, all the warriors of the Moon who had fallen through time, and the priestesses long dead, raced with us. And intermingling in their midst were the spirits of bears and pumas, of elk and deer and wolves and all things wild. The winged spirits of owls and ravens were part of our chain, and hawks and eagles.
We tore through the night, a chain that encircled the worlds—both Earthside and Otherworld, brilliant in the skies of both but yet separate and part of neither. We were the fear and the shiver, the lamentations of the dead that made men cover their heads as we passed. We were the wail of the Bean Sidhe, and the jubilation of witches dancing under the moon’s light. We were the ecstasy of the rut, and the march of the dead.
As we swept through the night, through the world, chasing the moon, we caught up the dead who were to join our pack. At one point, I glanced over my shoulder and—for just a moment—caught sight of my cousin Shamas. I caught my breath as we locked eyes, and then he smiled, a fierce, joyous smile, and I knew that he was all right. I turned back to the front, my attention latching onto my Lady, and as we ran, I lost all thought except for my love of the Hunt and the Moon. With Morio beside me, we
ran across the worlds, until the night was spent.
Early morn, the Hunt slowed, and the Moon Mother turned to look at me. “Well met, my Dark Priestess. Go now, and next I see you, you will understand truly what it means to walk in my shadow. Derisa will prepare you.”
Before I could kneel or say farewell, Morio and I were standing in the yard. A faint light in the east shimmered. The sun was preparing to rise. And the Hunt raced away for another month.
Chapter 8
HANNA WAS ALREADY up, even though she had gone to bed late. She had a huge farmhouse breakfast waiting—bacon and eggs, hash browns and biscuits, fresh-squeezed orange juice and a compote of berries with cream. The scent of the food hit me hard and I realized just how hungry I was. My stomach let out a loud rumble. Morio snorted, but he looked as famished as I was.
Delilah was sitting there, rubbing her head and sniffing a cup of peppermint tea. Hanna started up the espresso machine and began to pull shots as we stumbled in. I was covered with the sparkles of magic that had coalesced into physical form as we came off the Hunt, and they were starting to itch.
“Take a shower, then come eat. Trillian is still asleep, so let him be. He stayed up most of the night with Rozurial and Vanzir, keeping an eye on the place. We had a fracas with a couple of goblins who decided to try to come through the rogue portal in the back yard.” Hanna shook her spatula at Delilah. “Drink that tea, young lady. You knew better than to tear open the whole bag of catnip. Now you can just nurse that hangover.”
I laughed as Delilah glared at her. “You mean that ten-ounce bag of catnip we bought for you the other day?”
She nodded.
“You tore open the entire bag?”
“And she ate half of it. No wonder she has a stomachache.” Hanna went back to the hash browns. “Hurry up with that shower or your breakfast will get cold.”
“Yes’m.” I grabbed Morio’s hand and we headed upstairs, tiptoeing into my bedroom to avoid waking Trillian. If he and the other men had been fending off goblins in the middle of the night, they deserved to sleep as much as possible.
Morio and I snuck into the shower without waking him up. As the hot water began to trail down my body, I slumped against the wall, luxuriating in the sensuous feel of the bath gel that Morio was lathering on my back. He slid his arms around my waist, reaching down with the washcloth.
“Spread your legs,” he whispered.
I inched my legs apart. Morio slowly drew the cloth between them, lathering me with soap. He tossed the cloth to the side and then, inching down with his fingers, began circling my clit. I moaned, leaning back against him.
“Squeeze your breasts,” he said.
I reached up, sliding my hands along the soap on my stomach, then rubbed my breasts, squeezing them together. I ran my hands over my nipples, pinching them and gasping as Morio chose that moment to increase his speed.
“Oh, fuck me.” I raised one leg onto the side of the tub, balancing against the shower stall with my hand as the water streamed over us. Morio adjusted his stance, shoving his cock deep inside me from behind, penetrating me with his length and girth. I swiveled, a purr of delight catching in my throat as he slowly began to thrust, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist to keep his balance. Letting go of my breast, I brought my left hand down to stroke myself, my breath coming in ragged pants as he drove into me harder.
“Harder. I need it harder.”
“On your hands and knees, woman.” His throaty growl sent prickles up my spine and he pulled away. I immediately went down on my hands and knees, the shower spray beating down on my back. Morio was right behind me, on his knees as well, and he found my slit again, driving himself in so hard that I lurched forward. He caught hold of my waist.
I leaned my head back, letting the water splash into my face as he rode me. The feel of him inside me pushed me on and I suppressed a cry, trying not to wake Trillian. But apparently we already had, because the door opened and there he was, naked, his jet skin gleaming like polished obsidian. He was erect, with a spark in his eye.
“Room for one more?”
“There’s always room,” I choked out.
Morio waved him in. “The water’s fine.”
Trillian stepped into the shower in front of me, cautiously kneeling in the midst of the water and soap that was swirling in the bottom of the big tub. He was lined up at eye level for me, and I eagerly opened my mouth for him, taking him in, tonguing him as I drew his cock deeper into my mouth. I licked his length, tickling the ridge on the back of his shaft with my tongue, drawing my teeth along his cock with just enough pressure to make him moan.
Morio let out a hoarse laugh. “Our wife gives good head, doesn’t she?”
Trillian fisted my hair, holding my head firmly as he plunged his cock in and out. I formed a tight suction around his length with my lips, gripping him with my mouth. “Oh she does, yes. That’s it, babe. Take me in. Swallow me down.”
Morio began thrusting again, deeper and harder, and with his left hand, he reached between my legs to finger me. Dizzy with the energy of the Hunt, swaying with the rising passion, I let out a muffled cry as I suddenly came, the orgasm hitting me so hard that I spiraled up and out of my body, then back again, reeling as the waves of climax rippled through me. Morio pounded me hard and furious, then let out a long howl as he came, holding me tight, so deep he couldn’t push any further. At that moment, Trillian came, his cock pumping as he filled my mouth. I swallowed his cum, and then licked his cock clean as the shower continued to rain down on us, and the energy of the Hunt spent itself in the wash of our sexual glow.
BY THE TIME we were lathered up again, then dressed and headed down to breakfast, I was sore and tired. I felt like I’d not only run a marathon, but like my pussy had run a marathon, too. And my knees were aching from the hard tile of the shower floor. But I felt complete and the energy of the night had settled enough for me to think.
Hanna looked up as we entered the kitchen. “I kept everything warm for you.” She didn’t mention anything else, but a glint twinkled in her eye.
Delilah looked like she had recovered a little. “Oh man, that was one hell of a party I had myself last night.”
Shade, who was sitting at the table, eating, laughed. “Yeah, and I have the pictures to prove it.”
“Oh no, you didn’t?” She dropped her fork, holding out her hand. “Hand over your phone.”
“Nope. I can use them as blackmail. You should see your squirmy fuzzy little butt. Camille, I sent you one of the videos I took.” He laughed, fending off Delilah’s attempts to get hold of his phone. “Hey, I put up with your litter box, your toys, you pouncing on my feet, playing with my hair, so you can just allow me this one perk of being engaged to a werecat.”
“He has a point.” I pulled out my phone and began playing the video. Delilah was lying in the middle of the entire bag of catnip, squirming on her back, squeaking as she tossed a sisal mouse in the air. Her eyes were glazed over but she looked happier than I had seen her in a long time. “Oh, Kitten. You might want to check into CA—Catnip Anonymous!”
“Very funny.” She wrinkled her nose at me, then went back to her breakfast. “So, how did the Hunt go?”
“Powerful. I saw Shamas, by the way. He looked happy.”
She paused. “You okay?”
I considered the question. Shamas had been our cousin. At one point he and I had been secretly engaged, but that had ended due to his mother refusing to accept that I was half-human. And then…so much water under the bridge. But he had died, still loving me, and somewhere in my heart, I knew a part of me would always love him.
“Yeah. I am.” I glanced at the clock. “Smoky should be back today. And…I guess…” I stopped, thinking that it was time to face up to the fact that I had to leave for Otherworld, to find the Keraastar Diamond. That was the next step in my evolution and one I couldn’t get away from. The days till my coronation were counting down a
nd I had to dive in and take the reins of what was quickly becoming a one-way ticket into unknown territory.
“Otherworld?” Delilah pushed back her plate. “We have all the spirit seals.”
“Yes, we do. And so…the Keraastar Diamond. We’ll need Menolly to go with Roz and bring back the Maharata-Verdi tonight. I’ll have to take it with me. I’ll contact Aeval and have her bring Venus. He’ll be going.” I held out my hand, trembling. “And you, Kitten. You still willing to journey with me?”
She nodded. “Of course. Who else?”
“I don’t know. I thought I’d ask Aeval and Derisa. They’ll be able to tell me.” I thought back to Grandmother Coyote’s words. “My world is about to grow so much bigger, and like Sharah, my life won’t be my own anymore.”
Delilah crossed behind me chair, leaning down to wrap her arms around me. “It will be all right. I promise. It will be okay.”
“I know,” I said, but inside, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was right. Would I still be me after everything was said and done?
THE GATES OF Talamh Lonrach Oll were thirty minutes outside of Seattle on a day with moderate rain and moderate traffic, an hour if conditions were worse. Tonight, it was late so traffic was light, and the skies were clear. Smoky and Morio were with me. Delilah was driving her Jeep and Menolly and Vanzir were riding with her. The others had stayed back at the house to watch over things.
Smoky had shown up minutes before we were ready to head out, and he hadn’t had time to tell us about the council meeting in the Dragon Reaches yet. I let out a slow breath as I pressed on the gas pedal, speeding up. I was wearing my best skirt and corset—both black lace with silver embroidery—and a pair of black pumps fit to kill. They were strappy sandals, with four-inch chunky heels. I had brushed my hair till it shone, and I was wearing a silver necklace. My tattoos on my back—one from when I had first been initiated into the Moon Mother’s service, and the second when I had been made a priestess—felt like they were practically glowing.