Hood's Obsession (3 page)

Goddess, that rankled. Of course it was probably for the best; there was the whole pact with the devil thing to consider. She’d been a fool to even try and flirt with the man, and she needed to remember who she was.

Tossing her head, she shoved in front of him and walked the last few yards home in silence.

Being stared down by the Big Bad Wolf, a mountain of a man with shaggy black hair and piercing golden eyes, was bad enough, but add the firecracker of his wife, Violet—a.k.a. Little Red Riding Hood, a.k.a. The Heartsong, a being of such infinite and dark power that all of faedom would tremble at the mere mention of her name—and for the first time in his long-lived life, Giles could admit to feeling a slight case of the nerves.

And the tension only continued to mount the deeper into the den he went. Three other sets of eyes glared at him from within shadowy alcoves, shifter males whose throaty rumbles broadcasted much louder than words what they thought of the strange male entering their home.

One of the males glared at Giles with murder clear in his eyes. The other two brothers had come around the young lad and pushed him back into a separate room, muttering low beneath their breaths at him.

“Don’t worry,” Lilith whispered into Giles’s ear. “They smell the adrenaline of St. John and the pack on you and me. Erich is only fourteen and his wolf is a wee more volatile than the rest—he is simply confused. But they shouldn’t kill you once it’s all been sorted out.”

She said it so blasé, and with a flick of her wrist, that he almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his situation. Not that he wasn’t powerful, but a clan of five—and with one of them being the Heartsong—filled him with a shade more insecurity than he’d normally feel.

Lilith walked with her spine ramrod straight several steps ahead of him. “Heel, boys,” she said matter of factly. “The knight’s with me.”

The brothers simply nodded, but all eyes were on him. Swallowing hard, he inclined his head, knowing to show even a hint of fear was like the ringing of a dinner bell to predators of their caliber.

The den was much larger than any Giles had seen before. Sectioned off into several different units. There were the main living quarters, with rugs scattered beneath large couches that’d been gashed and slashed from what looked like sharp claws. Then there were the areas where curtains hung across doorways for privacy—those he could only assume to be the sleeping chambers. A heavenly waft of sizzling meats filtered down the long hallway.

The reddish walls were packed adobe that had small, drill-sized holes in them. The holes gleamed with a bright golden wash of light that helped the interior not get too dark. The den was colorful and homey. But being underground reminded Giles too much of his home in his past life, and what he wanted more than anything was to get above ground as soon as could be. Back to the expanse of a never-ending sky and the gentle sway of a springtime breeze.

Lilith entered the living room and stopped, then pointed at Giles. “Father. Mother, meet Giles. He is the dark imp’s butler, and apparently I am to sojourn with him to Fyre Mountain. I’m starving; what’s for dinner?”

Giles blinked, confused all over again by the woman before him. Outside in the forest she’d seemed aghast at the thought of being asked to journey, but now she acted as though it were no big thing.

The rest of the family banded around Giles like a wave of sharks circling chum. He stood absolutely still and raised a brow, taking a turn to look them each in the eye.

Some eyes were golden, others blue. All the men were tall, coming to head level with their father, but not all shared his dark head of hair. Some had blond hair like their mother—one even had a skunk stripe of white down the center of it. But all of them shared the same strong features.

Lilith, Giles decided, favored her father more in her dusky-skinned coloration, although she had the cobalt-blue eyes and the slender, more feminine curves of her mother, Violet.

Violet stepped forward.

Unlike the rest of her family, she was not nude. Dressed in buckskin clothing that had been dyed a brilliant ruby color, she lifted a golden brow. Her porcelain skin and youthful features were at odds with the knowledge Giles possessed of her dark and dangerous nature.

Years ago Rumpel had worried that the Heartsong might actually learn to become more powerful than even he, and there’d been a contingency plan in place should the wee woman ever become a thorn in the prince’s side. Thankfully it had never had to come to that.

“Red,” Giles rumbled low, nodding his head in a show of respect.

No longer did Giles sense the darkness in control of her, but the energy flowing off her was still plenty powerful. Enough to make the fine hairs on his arms stand on end.

“
Demone
.” She smirked at him. “Please call me Violet. I have not gone by Red in years. And know that we allow no one into our home without knowledge of whom they are and what they want. My wolf may be”—she looked at Ewan with an amused grin—“a tiny bit unamused by all this. But I do know that you are indeed here for this quest and that my brash, thick-headed daughter—”

“Mother!” Lilith scolded.

Red’s laughter sounded like the chime of ringing bells. There was an ethereal quality about the Heartsong now, one Giles did not remember the woman possessing years ago. Before she’d been angry and full of righteous fury, but now she seemed almost domesticated and tranquil.

Rumpel would eviscerate Giles for ever thinking so, but even his own prince seemed more docile these days since meeting and marrying his Shayera.

It seemed love, even on Kingdom, was a powerful magic.

Laughing, Violet shrugged. “You know you are, my beautiful child. More headstrong than all three of your brothers combined. And we will talk about what St. John did today.” Then, leaning in, she whispered something into Lilith’s ear that caused the spitfire to blush furiously.

Red’s look was knowing and irritated, but not at her daughter specifically. “Trust me that your father will handle
tha
t situation.”

With the way she said “that,” Giles could only assume she was referring to the incident in the glen. When Ewan popped his knuckles, Giles knew his assumption was correct.

“But as this is your going-away party, let us not talk of such violent things,” Violet finished with a bright smile. “Your brothers have captured and killed a buck earlier today, and now we will roast in celebration of you and your speedy return.”

Giles was more than confused by Lilith’s clan’s reaction. He’d expected weeping, begging for him not to do this, not to take their only daughter on such a perilous quest. Ewan clapped him hard enough on the back that he stumbled forward two steps.

“Come let us eat, demon knight,” Ewan boomed.

At the sound of it all the males threw up their fists and then turned on their heels, racing down the hall toward the overwhelming scent of roasting meat. Only Lilith and Violet stayed with him.

The younger woman had her head bowed, but not as though bowed from humility, rather like she was attempting to hide her humor at the whole situation.

Violet chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Welcome to the lives of wolves, sir knight. In time, you’ll get used to it.”

Lilith’s head snapped up at this words and she glared at her mother, not with anger, but with a question burning in her bright blue eyes.

He nodded, keeping pace with the women as they led him toward the kitchen. “I apologize for any inconvenience my coming here might cost you both—”

Violet waved his words away. “You were expected, Giles. Though not by my daughter, I’m sure.”

Glancing at Lilith, Giles was surprised to see her still wearing a mask of astonishment. She tucked a black thread of hair behind her ear but still refused to ask her mother any questions. Though even he could sense them rolling around on her tongue. He wondered what could make the fiery shifter so tongue-tied all of a sudden.

Patting his arm, Violet smiled. “You will rest here the night, then in the morning I shall pack you a basket of food that will see you through to the next day, when food will become easier to rustle up.”

He shook his head. “I’d just as soon leave this night.”

She laughed. “No, that won’t be happening. There is a powerful nor’easter ripping through the Howling Canyon. It will wipe away anyone attempting to walk through the valley. You will wait and leave on the morrow.”

Frowning, he glanced back at Lilith, who was now attempting to hide her chuckle behind her wrist. Giles had allowed no one but his prince to dictate anything to him, the only reason he stayed his tongue was not because he was currently surrounded by a pack of barely leashed tempers, but because he knew the power the Heartsong wielded. If she said it was bad, he’d have no choice but to believe her.

“Then I shall do as advised.”

Her smile was huge. “Come, then, let us break for supper and talk of this quest.”

Turning the corner, Giles suffered a moment’s pang of homesickness. The kitchen was massive and hewn from the same red clay as the rest of the home. The table and chairs were obviously whittled by skilled hands. A deep, burnished mahogany wood that mingled with the rich, meaty brine of roasted haunch gave their kitchen an old-world feel.

The entire leg turned on a spit over the flame inside the massive hearth. The drip of liquid fat sizzled on the heated stones beneath and made his mouth water.

Ewan and the rest of the clan were seated in their places, smiling broadly. A wolf’s love of meat was well known.

“Sit.” Violet pointed to the three empty seats on other side of Ewan.

Taking the one directly beside the Big Bad Wolf, he sat and waited as the woman lifted the meat from the spit, bringing it to the center of the table that was already overflowing with baskets of cheese, fruit, and bread.

He expected the moment the meat hit the table that it would be an all-out brawl to get at it, but the men stayed calm. Though their gazes never swerved from the juicy leg.

Lilith took the seat beside him and Violet the one across from him.

Ewan then took a large knife in hand and began making thick cuts, which Violet would stab with a large, silver-handled fork and plop onto the plates of her young. The men did attack their food then, completely ignoring everything else on the table.

Picking up a knife and fork, Ewan sliced into his chunk of meat. “This journey my daughter is to take—what is it for?”

Accepting the proffered slice of meat, Giles also grabbed some cheese and fruit. Violet took no meat at all, choosing to stick with the other items on the table. Lilith took a small square of meat, but mostly tore into the bread.

“Rumpel’s son is cursed.”

Popping a grape into her mouth, Violet nodded. “Aye. I told you, mate, remember? The boy is missing his sliver of humanity. Because of Lilith’s skill and Giles’s brute strength”—the Heartsong snorted and Giles couldn’t figure out whether she mocked him or not—“they must take on this quest together.”

“Ah.” Ewan scratched his jaw. “Right. I’d forgotten.”

Giles narrowed his eyes. He’d known the Heartsong possessed great power, but he had not known, however, that she was a seer.

She smiled. “I can read your thoughts like a book. You wonder whether I’ve grown stronger. I have. Though I do not read minds, let us just say that I have friends in high places and we were told of your coming. But there is no need to worry about me, not so long as my family remains hale and whole.”

Ewan nodded, ripping into a meaty chunk and chewing as he gazed at Giles.

“Is that a threat?” Giles asked before popping a bite of cheese into his mouth. The creamy yellow wedge had a smooth, slightly nutty texture to it. It tasted fresh, and almost like it was homemade.

Shrugging, Ewan swallowed his bite of meat. “My woman is a power even greater than I. We do not deal in threats, only in actions. That she warns you is a kindness I wouldn’t have offered.”

Violet patted his tanned hand before turning back to Giles. “I sense your heart, and it is good. I know that my daughter is in good hands, but I will give you both words of caution.”

“But will they succeed, Mother?” one of the men piped up—the one with the skunk stripe in his hair. His voice was still young, but he was well on the cusp of manhood.

Giles realized he was older than all of them with the exception of Ewan and Violet, who were ancients even by his standards. Shifters matured quickly, freezing into their prime form on their eighteenth birthday, so it was never easy to gage a shifter’s true age just by looking at them.

Which made him wonder just how old Lilith actually was. The last thing he wanted was to be saddled with the body of a woman who had the brain of an immature whelp.

Lilith rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her brother. “Will I succeed? Uriah, you’re all kinds of a fool if you’d even doubt it.”

Ewan glared at them both. “A little humility, Lilith. And Uriah, never interrupt your mother.”

“It’s all right.” Violet patted Ewan’s arm. “The boy meant nothing by it. Uriah, I cannot tell them the outcome, for there are several. Some end in success, others do not. It’s simply dependent on the choices they make. But,” she said, turning to Giles, her blue eyes piercing, “I will give you a bit of advice that shouldn’t alter the outcome by much. Trust—that is the key to success.”