Exton

Raina and I walk over to Jack's table - or rather, the table where Jack happens to be sitting. Firebrand is nowhere to be seen, which might explain why her pet looks more relaxed than usual. We pull up chairs and sit. Jack does the intro.

"Guys, this is Gareth. Gareth, Mr. Long-in-the-Tooth here is Nick, and the hottie beside him is Raina. Guys, you're just in time; all I know is Gareth's name, and he won't have to repeat himself.

Oh, one thing… you can trust these people with your life. I have."

Gareth nods. "My name, as Jack has told you, is Gareth. The woman you have seen is called Morgan. She is of the Unseelie Court - the Shadow Court of the Sidhe. She holds my friend Conal hostage for my cooperation. If I do not obey, if I fail to please her, she will have him killed as painfully as possible.

I have just under an hour to join her at another bar - O' Riley's - so if you have questions, ask them quickly."


"How'd you happen to be with her? You don't seem the type."

"Conal and I were on a secret mission for my lord, one that took us through the Dark Lands. We were captured by Morgan's soldiers and brought back to her. That first night, she had us flogged for her guests' amusement. Afterward, Conal was taken to one of her prisons, and I was sent to her bedchamber." He hangs his head. "I failed to please her, and now she keeps me as her toy, with Conal's fate in the balance."

Raina is next. "Where is Conal being kept?"

Gareth shakes his head. "I know only that she keeps him Underhill, in her domain. It covers many leagues, and I would be surrounded by her people. Searching for him would not be practical."

She persists. "Could you bribe someone? A guard, maybe? I can't imagine someone like that inspires much loyalty."

"No, but she inspires great fear, and that is far more useful to her. Her punishments tend to be - creative, and all her people are commanded to watch, to know what will happen to them should they displease her."

Silk comes to stand by their table, listening. The hood hides her features, and she straddles a chair joining the group. There is a roll to her words and she pushes back her hood and leans her elbows on the table.

"So we need an inside man... what about a demi-fae?" Her gloved fingertips tap the table. "She has the signs of a Hunter. Tell me, Gareth. Just what does Lady Morgan... Hunt?"

Gareth's shoulders sag, and he turns his face partly away.

"Children," he says brokenly. "She Hunts children."