Huntress

I gasped, falling to my knees, my body shaking hard, “I’m ok…”

Sam helped me stand up, I leaned against her, noticing our glamour was gone and we were in regular street clothes.

“How did you do that?” Ifan asked.

“It’s a very tricky Hunter spell,” I muttered.

“We need to find some where warm and safe to regroup,” Sam said, “we can go to my house, it s a bit far but we should be able to get there before night fall. We can rest and figure out what happen and what is going on.”

Thus we began the slow walk through snow with night fast approaching. I stumbled several times, exhausted by my use of magick. Ifan offered to carry me but I rejected his offer immediately.

When I stumbled and fell to my knees, Ceron scooped me up despite my protests and carried me the rest of the way to Sam’s house. She and I were both exhausted by the time we arrived bur the boys seemed fine. Ceron put me on the sofa in the large spacious living room that looked like something out of a log cabin magazine before wrapping the throw from the sofa around me. Rhydian lit the fireplace for Sam’s benefit and mine while Sam made some coffee for everyone. I almost laughed at the boys’ expression as they took the offered coffee mugs looking at the contents with uncertainty but seeing Sam and I drinking it, they took sips. Rhydian put his down immediately but Ceron and Ifan seemed to enjoy it. Once everyone was seated did we really try to figure out what happened.

“First of all how did the hellhounds get to Faerie in the first place? Only the Fae know of the doors and apparently Hunters have this spell but you said its tricky?” Ifan started.

“It’s a very hard spell and normally takes at least two if nor three Hunters to do.”

“How did you manage it?” Ceron asked.

I shrugged tiredly, “Hell, if I knew. It was the only way out and I was determined to get us away.”

Sam looked at me, “She isn’t your average Hunter. She is special, the elders of her Pride realized that when she was in her mother’s womb and casted a spell that saved her life and allowed her to be born, otherwise her mother would have had another miscarriage. Ro’s always been unnaturally strong in her magick for a Hunter her age.”

“Who wants you dead?” Rhydian asked.

“Well it’s the second attempt on my life in just a few days. The day I was originally suppose to go to Faerie, someone spike the community hot cocoa with witches’ brew, which is poison that affects Hunters and other species. It was a low enough dose that most would be fine however Hunters magick could speed up the metabolism and force the poison deeper in the body system killing us faster then other species which is what happened with me. It isn’t certain if it was a bad prank or a attempted murder and there is no way of knowing if it was aimed at me.”

“I think we can safely assume it was,” Ifan replied polishing his coffee and looking disappointedly into his empty mug.

Sam took pity on him and grabbed his cup to refill it.

“Ya but that doesn’t explain the hellhounds in Faerie,” Rhydian said.

“Someone let them in, simple as that. Someone who knew today would be the hunt. It would be easy to pass it off as a hunting accident. A Faerie monster attacked and killed her, tragic but not unreasonable.There are plenty capable of it in the never lands and the death wounds could have been easily blames on a number of them that live in never land,” Sam replied giving Ifan his full mug, which he took with a smile.

“Again who wants you dead, Ro?” Ceron asked.

“My cousin is the person who comes first to mind. He wants to be heir and expected it when my mother couldn’t have children then I was born. He doesn’t hide it from me. However there could be plenty of people out there with a grudge against my Pride and I am a good target. The mysterious spell around my birth isn’t a secret. Also this isn’t the first time my life has been in danger.”

“It isn’t?” Ifan asked curious.

“Over the last three years there has been an attempt on my life nothing as serious as thing but the attempt has been there. A lagoon monster my freshman year of high school, though its hard to say that was aimed at me and not the human students it was eating, a pack of gremlins second year defiantly after me, chased me all through the woods and last year a possessed kid and then a hellhound, a much smaller hellhound.”

Rhydian’s eyebrows went up, “don’t catch a break do you?”

“Nope. I was hoping this year would be better but apparently not.”

“Now you have a pack of real hellhounds summoned from the demon realm after you. You will probably be safer in this realm since the Hellhounds are in Faerie. We will gather a hunting party and go after them. You are our guest and a threat was made on your life while you were under our protection,” Ceron replied getting up.

I sighed running my hand through my hair, “it is not that simple. I need to find out who it was that sent those hellhounds after me. Demon summoning is forbidden. Killing them without finding out who sent them would be pointless. Besides you saw how strong they were and big, I know you Fae are tough but I will not have anyone die or hurt because of someone’s vendetta against me.”

Rhydian groaned, “so we either have a Fae who helped someone get the hellhounds into Faerie or we have at least two Hunters who forced a doorway and let them through.”

“Yup and that seems to be all we know. There is no way to find out who sent the hounds without talking to them and I doubt they really want to talk. My cousin isn’t going to flat out admit to attempted murder and we don’t know for sure it was him.”

Ifan lifted his head from where he had been apparently thinking; I thought he had fallen asleep.

“How will the bad guy for lack of a better word know if the hellhounds were successful and how would he or she get them back to the Demon Realm?”

I thought for a moment, “maybe that was the deal, they get a new home, new things to hunt in exchange for killing me, if they don’t succeed they could be summoned again and sent back to the demon realm. My death would be news everywhere in the paranormal society.”

“So we can assume if whoever did this hasn’t heard about your death in a day or two he or she will summon the hellhounds to find out what happened. They will realize you are back in your realm and release the hounds here.”

I looked at Sam as her words sunk in, “the hounds will find me eventually and they might kill innocent lives trying to find me. Someone is seriously going to pay for ruining my vacation, however before that there is a vampire I need some answers from.”

Notes