The Hunt: A Custodes Noctis Book (24 page)

“Galen, gods damn it, let him go,” Rob said from somewhere far away from the red fury filling him. He heard his brother again, then felt a hard blow against the back of his head.

The gas fire in the fireplace was hissing, the sound sinister in the quiet room. The fog was starting to come in, a gray curtain moving slowly over the landscape, wispy tendrils preceding the larger bank. Rob was pacing, both Flash and Stephen had tried to speak, but he’d snapped at them and they were sitting silently, Flash glaring at the priest, Stephen calmly watching the mist roll in.
 
Galen was still unconscious. Rob hadn’t meant to hit him that hard, but there hadn’t been any choice, his brother’s fury had nearly consumed Rob and the echoes of it were still tingling along his spine.

One thing the anger had done was blast away the call of the Hunt, at least momentarily. He knew it would be back, but for now he could think without the chiming of bells and that joyful longing that made his bones ache. They needed a plan, Stephen’s revelation that he intended for Galen and Rob to take their ancestors places worried him—it also explained why he was losing himself to the call. When he contacted the priest to get the spell that would force the
each uisge
to think he was Galen, Stephen had said it would also allow him to better control the loss of identity Keepers who joined the Hunt suffered. He should have known. The Sagas were full of stories of people trusting the Fae and the horrors that plagued them afterward. He never thought he’d be one of them, but apparently he was, much to his chagrin.

Rob didn’t regret the spell, he would have lost Galen without it. What they needed to do was figure out a way to keep control and stop the
feorhbealu
from destroying the world. He did believe Stephen when he said that he, and by extension the Fae, would suffer if the
feorhbealu
were let loose on the world. There was a snatch of a Saga that mentioned the devouring of the Fae by a dark force, though it was largely dismissed by
Custodes Noctis
scholars as mere rhetoric. Rob had never believed that, and he’d been right. Of course, if he and Galen were lost to the Hunt, how could they convince the riders to follow their duty and hunt the
feorhbealu
?

The call was so strong, Rob was beginning to doubt if he would even want to stop it. Once he was riding with them, all he knew was the joy of the ride, of the companionship of his lost brothers. Once the final rituals were performed, he had no idea if he could maintain himself long enough to gain control. Galen was supposed to be there as his champion, but Rob was beginning to suspect there were those working against that eventuality. Someone had tried to kill his brother and Flash, but who was it? Minions of the Fae or of the champion? And if it was the champion, who was he and why would he be working with the
feorhbealu
?

If Rob knew the Sagas better maybe he could have found an answer there. Once again his own clumsy scholarship was going to lead to disaster. He knew Galen still didn’t fully accept his role as Keeper, even now, even after the Ritual of Swords. It was why the Hunt had been able to call Galen, that reluctance. He should have seen it, should have stopped it, should have found an answer in the Sagas, to stop the
feorhbealu
and help Galen accept his place. No doubt Galen knew about Rob’s shortcomings as a scholar and Keeper, and was still unsure about serving with him. Rob had kept every Tradition, knowing he’d never be a Keeper. Galen had denied his own role. In a way, they were both fodder for the Hunt’s punishment. Maybe that was why it was happening. He led them to this place and the only way to solve it was…

Galen said through the bond.

Rob had been so absorbed, he hadn’t sensed the shift of awareness in Galen.

Rob said, frustrated.

Rob took a breath, getting ready to respond when Flash made an impatient noise. “What?” Rob demanded, stopping in front of the table.

“We need to make plans, wake Galen up or something.”

“Robert had to hit him, didn’t you notice? He’s not napping, you idiot, he’s unconscious,” Stephen said with the mildness that was beginning to set Rob’s teeth on edge.

“He hit me hard, too,” Galen said, sitting up.

“Sorry,” Rob said sheepishly.

“No need to be sorry, Brat. We should probably find out the rest before I kill Blake.” Galen turned so he could see Stephen and Flash. “Am I wrong in thinking there’s more?”

“I’m sure there is,” Stephen replied with a grin. “I’m positive, in fact.”

Rob could see colors he was beginning to think might be amusement swirling through the maelstrom surrounding Stephen, underneath the brighter sparks was something that looked like fear and uncertainty. “Why would you want to free them from the Hunt?” Rob asked, glancing at Galen before meeting Blake’s eyes.

Stephen was the first to drop his gaze. “Guy and Robert were my friends. I promised them that they would come back from that ride.”

“Why would they need a promise, wasn’t that when Keepers rode by choice?” Galen said, getting up and coming over to sit at the table.

Stephen watched him, the colors around him shifting. Galen’s comment had hit a nerve somehow. Rob narrowed his eyes, letting the Gift come to the surface a little more, trying to get an idea of what was going on. In someone else he would think it was guilt. “They knew something was wrong, didn’t they?”

“They suspected, yes. Guy was worried, they’d sensed something on their previous ride, but they weren’t sure what it was. Robert did say there were members of the Hunt that weren’t happy.”

“Weren’t happy? What do you mean?” Rob asked.

“You have to understand that even though Keepers and vassals rode voluntarily then, it was already touched with darkness.”

“Thanks to the Fae, no doubt,” Galen said with a smile. Rob felt a pulse of anger buzz through the bond, small sparks snapping and popping around Galen.

“In large part, yes. What better way to control something than to make it more like yourself? Robert used to say…” Stephen stopped and shook his head. “Never mind that right now. When they left for that last ride, I promised they would come back.”

“How could you guarantee that?” Flash asked, frowning at him.

“I thought because of who I was I could get them back.”

“And who were you?” Galen set his hands carefully on the table.

“I helped found it, I was the only Founder left.”

“The only one left? But there were other non-human. Huh…” Rob began, then stopped, his brain turning over that statement.

“Rob? Want to share with the class?” Galen nudged him with a foot.

“You disappeared right after the trial, but if they’d released you there was no reason to leave unless there was another threat.” Rob looked at Stephen. “The other Founders were killed, weren’t they?”

“All of them,” Stephen confirmed. “Within three months of that last ride.”

“There’s no mention of that in any of the Sagas.”

“Actually,” Stephen said with a grin, “there is, just not in one that anyone has seen in centuries. The loss was covered up, the Saga relegated to myth and then, finally, dismissed as a fabrication.”

“Shit!” Rob said as a snippet of verse popped into his head.

“What is it?” Galen looked at him.

“‘They that once walked, they that served the dark, they came and killed, they killed those that hunt the night,’” Rob quoted softly. “Gods, it’s one of the lost Chronicles. It was found in a burned-out fortress in Wales, the place had been ‘consumed by dark fire, the flames blackening the landscape with death.’” Rob closed his eyes, trying to call the rest of the work to mind. “It talks about a series of murders and strange hauntings of the countryside around a megalithic structure that some scholars believe was once an altar. It’s been discarded as invalid because there’s no other record that reports a similar occurrence, nothing to verify the supposed facts. I ran across it while researching, it never occurred to me that it was related to us—or the Hunt.”

“I didn’t know there was a translation available,” Stephen said, giving him an odd look.

“There isn’t.”

“So what does it all mean?” Flash said.

“Why would they change the Hunt and make it a punishment for fallen Keepers?” Galen said.

Rob paced away, turning over facts, snatches of Sagas and the parts of the Chronicle he’d seen. Stephen and Flash were talking, but Galen shushed them as Rob paced. It was starting to make sense, all of it. He stopped in front of the door to the balcony and looked out at the fog. The ravens were out there, sitting on a rock, an
each uisge
moving through the grass. “The punishment is part of something else,” Rob said, reflectively. “The Hunt has been a powerful force for a long time, by adding fallen Keepers, absorbing them rather than having them join, they build on the power of the group. If that power could be used somehow and they became allies of the
feorhbealu
rather than enemies, there would be nothing to stop the
feorhbealu
coming over the Veil and devouring this world.”

“Why would Keepers allow that?” Flash looked confused.

“Denying your place as
Custodes Noctis
is the gravest sin we can commit. When you deny who you are, you not only condemn yourself, but you could end your family line and…” Rob stopped, horrified at the implications of that statement.

“Oh gods,” Galen said, catching Rob’s train of thought.

“If they could drag more and more
Custodes Noctis
in, they would effectively end the chance of opposition. There would be too few Keepers to stop them and no one would know that the Hunt could be turned to help.”

“And you think you aren’t enough of a scholar?” Galen scoffed.

“That’s not scholarship, it’s mostly guesswork,” Rob corrected him. “It would explain why they came after you, though, and why they’re now dead set on removing you from the equation.”

“Why?” Galen asked him.

“Why?” Rob repeated incredulously. Sometimes his brother was so dense he wanted to strangle him.

“Your power,” Stephen said quietly.

“What?” Galen turned to the him.

“The both of you have a greater Gift than I’ve seen in millenia. Even Guy and Robert weren’t close to what the two of you have. You’re the Keepers of the Legacy, so it makes sense, but as much power as your brother has, Galen, you have more.”

“No,” Galen said flatly.

“You don’t believe me?” Stephen looked honestly shocked. “He doesn’t believe?”

“No, I
have
tried to convince him. Tried to explain that little things like calling the former Keepers isn’t just something anyone can do,” Rob huffed.

“He did that?”

“Yes, when we were facing the Old One last year.”

“I hadn’t heard.” Stephen suddenly grinned. “We might have a chance after all.”