“I know,” Selena said softly. “That’s why I had Liam take Breanna away from here.”

No, Ashk thought, we do not know your kind at all. We do not understand the power that walks in the Mother’s Hills.

“Do you fear me, Hunter?”

“At this moment, I am feeling cautious, Huntress,” Ashk said carefully.

“It is wise of you to feel that way when you deal with the House of Gaian. That is something our enemy has yet to learn.” Selena raised her hands. “Earth.”

The ground shivered. Softened. The nighthunter, with Ashk’s arrow buried in its chest, sank into the earth.

Selena raised her hands higher. “Sister moon.” She glowed as moonlight washed over her skin, pooled at her feet, then spread out until it became a shining circle bordered on one side by a crescent of rose bushes.

The glow faded from Selena’s skin. She turned and walked back to where Mistrunner waited.

Ashk studied the glowing circle for a long moment before going to her own horse and mounting.

“Selena?” She waited until the Huntress looked at her. “I am cautious, but I do not fear you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I think your heart matches your power.”

A film of tears covered Selena’s eyes before she blinked them away. “We’d better see if Liam needs help with Bre—”

“Hunter!”

Ashk dropped the reins, freeing both hands for arrow and bow. She relaxed a little when she saw the Fae male cantering toward her—until she got a good look at his face.

“The Muse sent me to find you,” he said. “The fight’s started.”

“Where?”

“At the field with those tumbled stones. We got to that low rise ahead of them, but not by much. That’s where the fight is—and along the road leading to the village.”

“Warn the witches in the Old Place, then ride to the Fae camps and tell the leaders to get their huntsmen to that rise as fast as they can.”

As she and Selena rode over the bridge and galloped over the fields that provided the fastest route to the battleground, she wished there was some way to convince Liam to stay out of the fight for Breanna’s sake—and knew the wish was a futile one.

Liam slowed his horse as he rode through the arch. When one of the boys came forward to take the horse, he shook his head and turned the animal toward the kitchen door. Since Breanna was in no shape to walk, it was easier to let the horse carry them both.

The barking caught his attention for a moment before he shook his head. Idjit was dancing under the big tree, defending the world from another squirrel.

The kitchen door opened. He heard Fiona’s voice, sharp with annoyance. “Either shut him up or lock him up. I don’t need his yapping today.”