“That's better than having no one to miss.”
“Very true.” I glanced back at him. “You're calmer here.”
“Calmer?” He cocked an eyebrow at me.
“Less sexually aggressive.”
Arach blinked. “You're right. The urge has lessened.”
“That's interesting,” I murmured.
“Indeed,” he agreed. “It appears that being in Faerie is the trigger.”
“It wasn't your magic but the magic of Faerie that was affecting you. So, it was Faerie itself that caused your behavior. I wonder if the other men have noticed a difference?”
“I'm sure they have.” He lowered his lips to my ear to add, “Do not go inquiring, A Thaisce.”
“I wouldn't. I was just wondering.” I laid my arms over his and sighed in contentment. It was nice to just stand there and relax for a moment. To just—“What was that?” I straightened and peered through the rain.
“What?” Arach shifted to my side and stared out the window with me.
“There, by the treeline.” I pointed.
Something gleamed—two somethings. They looked like eyes except that they glowed. It wasn't a sheen like the reflection of a cat's eyes, but a true glow.
“It's too low to the ground to be a person,” Arach noted.
Then the thing ventured into the wan light from a nearby lamppost. It wasn't a person, though it was as large as one. Shaggy, dark fur covered its canine body. It swung its head to the side as if searching for something. Or perhaps it was simply getting its bearings. Then it howled.
“A bargest,” Arach growled as he spun and ran for the door.
“Damn!” I snarled as I snatched the keycard off the dresser and slipped it in my jeans' pocket.
We barreled down the hallway but were held up at the elevator. As we waited—Arach impatiently shifting from foot to foot—the other men joined us.
“Saw it too, did you?” I asked them.
“It seems that our fears have come true except in the opposite way,” Mallien said grimly. “Something has indeed come through the rath but instead of leaving Earth, it has arrived.”
“Yes, yes, we figured that out,” Arach growled as he rushed into the elevator. “We need to get that bargest back to Faerie before a human kills or catches it. Or vice versa.”
“If anyone sees it, they'll probably think it's a wolf,” Lugh said.
“With glowing eyes?” Arach asked.
“Humans believe what they want to believe,” Lugh argued. “As long as they don't have a corpse to dissect, we should be fine.”
We ran out of the hotel, the startled night clerk jerking back in his seat as we passed. I briefly considered turning up my body heat to keep myself dry but the amount of heat needed for that would likely produce steam and could even burn my clothing. So, I only spiked my internal temperature high enough to combat the cold. It may have been Summer but it was late Summer and also night, making the rain chilly.
Our group darted across the lawn, toward the bargest, which was still roaming the edge of the treeline, held back by water and wariness. It saw us coming and lowered to its haunches, looking as if it was about to put up a fight. But as we drew near, it realized what we were and its fight instinct switched suddenly to flight. It leapt into the forest and sped away.
“I've got its scent,” Arach snarled and took lead. “Split up and circle it.”
The men behind us veered off, going out to either side before circling forward. I stayed with Arach; I'd caught the scent too. The bargest was afraid.
The rain thinned under the tree canopy, though the drops seemed larger. It made it easier to see, especially with the enhanced sight I had from all of my beasts—dragon, wolf, and lion. My instincts took over and I leapt over obstacles with barely any thought, all of my focus on the animal I pursued. I could hear the others around us and I was certain the bargest heard them too. I hated scaring it but we needed to get it home and we'd just closed the rath it had used to get there. That made us its only hope.
An eager growl from my husband warned me that it was time to hem the beast in. I drew up beside him, then slowed to a stop. The bargest was directly before us, its breath spraying water from its nose and its sides heaving. Glowing eyes darted everywhere, searching for a way out.
“It's okay,” I said gently. “We only want to take you home. You don't belong here.”
The bargest's ears poked up. Most fey creatures can sense what a faerie is saying, if not comprehend the words precisely, but when he took a deep sniff, he started to shiver. My words may have been calming if I hadn't also smelled like a Dragon-Sidhe. Every fey animal knew to fear us. Not because we hunted them but simply because we smelled like a superior hunter—top of the food chain. The bargest whimpered and crouched, preparing to fight despite its terror. Even a mouse will bare its teeth when cornered.
Arach sprang before I could say another word. He landed on top of the bargest, grabbing the beast in a stranglehold at neck and waist. They rolled and vanished—traced away in a second. The rest of us walked up to the spot and stood staring down at the patch of wet leaves where man and beast had been. We waited, hoping silently that Arach had made it through the Aether with the bargest.
In a few seconds, my husband reappeared and announced, “The bargest is home.”
“Thank goodness,” I said in relief.
Arach frowned and sniffed deeply. “I wouldn't go thanking anything yet, A Thaisce. It didn't come through alone.”
“Aw, come on!” I whined.
Chapter Eleven
We slept in the next morning; we deserved it. The bargest had come to Earth with his mate and the female was a lot harder to catch. Not a huge surprise there but very annoying. The bitch—I'm fairly certain that's an acceptable term for a bargest female—led us on a merry chase through the cold, wet, Vermont woods before we finally managed to corner her. Even then, it took three tries for one of us to grab her. Arach was especially irritated since it had been Drake who caught her in the end.
We checked out of the hotel and headed to the next location with another step added to our to-do list: check the area for fey animals. We performed the checks prior to closing the raths so if there were animals—and there were—we could attempt to corral them back to the rath and send through on their own. That didn't work out so well with every animal but we kept at it anyway.
Even with the extra searching, we managed to get all of the raths closed, the areas around them cleared, and any infected places warded. I know, using the word infected makes it sound like a disease but despite what Arach had said about cause and effect, it was like a disease. Faerie had infected Earth with magic and we had no idea how to cure the planet.