A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (12 page)

“
Nice,” he drew out the word, sending a shiver down my spine. “I don't believe anyone has ever said that to me before.”

He took my hand, rubbing it between his fingers as if testing the consistency of my skin, before bringing it to his lips. I could feel Danal tense beside me as Arach's face hovered above my hands. I felt him breathe in, then out against my skin before he pressed his lips against the back of my hand. It was strange, sensuous, and disturbed me to my core. I pulled my hand back nervously.

“What's the Host?” I asked as he raised his head and I was rewarded with a look of surprise from him. I had a feeling that few people had ever seen that particular expression on his face. “I know only of the Angelic Host but I somehow doubt that has anything to do with you.”

“
I'll explain it to her,” Danal stammered and took my arm.

We turned to walk away from the dragon-sidhe and his hand shot out, too fast for me to see, and gripped my shoulder.

“No,” he said to both of our hesitant expressions. “I should be the one to tell her.”

“
Of course,” Danal nodded to Arach but shot me a look that was pure warning.

“
The Host is a collection of fire fey who join me on the Wild Hunt,” he let go of my shoulder, his long fingers waving through the air before snapping closed. “We ride the night and hunt those that catch our eye, chase them to ground, and,” he leaned in to my ear and whispered, “snatch them away.”

“
And then what?” I turned my face slightly, so that I was staring him in the eye, his hair touching my cheek, looking like a bloody gash in the corner of my vision.

“
What?” He pulled back, looking a little unsettled that he hadn't unsettled me.

“
After you snatch them,” I whispered. “What's the plan? Torture? Death? Chess? What's the usual routine?”

“
We have a little entertainment,” he quickly recovered his slick expression.

“
Ah, right,” I nodded and shrugged. “So torture. Well, have fun with that.”

“
We haven't had anyone to have fun with in centuries,” he growled.

“
There have been hunts here,” Danal interjected. “The Host are given any who go against the laws of Faerie.”

“
The hunts are few and far between. Most fey know better than turn traitor,” Arach grimaced. “Even then, it's nothing like before, when we hunted humans. Their terror would perfume the air and they would run in delightfully ridiculous patterns, you'd never know where they'd go next. Faeries conversely, are too predictable and hardly scream at all. Well, until we catch them, that is.”

“
Huh,” I sucked at my teeth, “sounds frustrating. A personal problem. I hate it when they don't scream.”

“
Do you like to scream?” He tilted his head, hair the color of thick blood dripping over his leather-clad shoulders.

“
Only in the bedroom,” I smirked at him and nearly laughed out loud when Danal made a horrified gasp.

“
Challenge accepted,” he whispered, gave me a devilish grin, and left before I could come up with something witty to say.

“
Ah fuck me,” was all I got out.

“
I'm sure he will, among other things,” Danal grimaced. “I warned you to stay away from the House of Fire.”

“
You introduced us!”

“
And you kept talking!” He shook his head at my idiocy. “
Only in the bedroom?
Are you mad? You just taunted a dragon-sidhe who also happens to be the Leader of the Host. He will not stop now. We have to return you to your world or you're a dead woman.”

“
Huh,” I bit at my lips. “I kinda thought he was flirting with me.”

“
He
was
,” Danal rubbed his temple, “but you don't want that kind of romance. It invariably ends badly, and not for the dragon.”

“
I don't want
any
kind of romance,” I sniffed, “I got my hands full back home. I was just playing.”

“
With fire, you idiot human,” he groaned. “Did you listen at all to anything I said to you?”

“
Yes,” I gave him my
duh
face. “I said thank you when you gave me the pastie.”

“
Oh sweet selkies, what is wrong with you?”

“
I'm hungry?” I held up my empty hands.

“
Well here,” he grabbed another pastie and shoved it at me. “Put this in your mouth with all haste.”

“
Sir Danal,” a sweet, delicate voice stopped us yet again. “Will you introduce me to the human?”

I turned to see a gorgeous woman dressed in a flowing, light blue dress of watered silk. Her hair was pale pink and opalescent, like the inside of a nautilus shell. It was arranged on her head in intricate curls, decorated with strands of pearls and hair combs of mother of pearl. Her slender neck was white, marred only by the light markings of gills. She looked me over with eyes a little too round and which lacked whites entirely, so only the light green iris and pupil showed.

“Lady Dubheasa, Queen of the House of Water,” Danal nodded to her and then gestured to me. “This is Lady Vervain, Goddess of Love, Lust, Victory, War, and Lions.”

“
Well met,” she nodded regally to me.

“
A pleasure,” I smiled and nodded back.

“
If you stay in Faerie for awhile,” she smiled and revealed the tips of tiny, sharp teeth, “You should come and visit the Kingdom of Water. We'd be happy to host you.”

“
That's very generous,” I smiled back, hoping my smile wasn't too shaky. Have I mentioned how afraid I am of the water? “I'll keep that in mind.”

“
Lovely,” she waved her hand fluidly and I noticed a slight webbing connecting her fingers.

“
My lady,” Danal bowed again and steered me away.

“
Was she some kind of fish?” I whispered to Danal.

“
A fish...” he looked horrified. “That was the Water Queen, not a fish. She is a type of water-sidhe, a mermaid.”

“
Ah,” I nodded sagely. “Does she happen to have a pet crab named Sebastian?”

“
No,” he growled, “she doesn't have crabs.”

“
Well I'd hope not,” I choked out a laugh.

“
I don't even want to know,” he shook his head at my shenanigans.

“
Where's her tail?”

“
She doesn't have it on land,” he sighed. “Aren't you going to eat the rest of that?” He pointed to the rest of my pastie and I made a face at him before taking another bite.

I munched on the pastry as we sauntered ever closer to the center of the spiral. I could see the High King and Queen, seated at the thrones at the very center, talking to a crowd of faeries. While my attention was on them, something caught at my boot and I fell forward, stumbling a bit.

A scrunched up, wrinkled face peered at me around the legs of taller fey. Black eyes were too large, completely lacking any whites, and bulged slightly out beneath bushy brown brows. The creature was bent over, twisted limbs pulled close to its body as it stared up at me with malice. Veins pulsed dark blue against his pallid skin, and his nostrils flared as he sniffed in my direction.

“
Human,” it hissed. “Human witch! Taint of fey in human bones. Sour the soup but I know. I know how to soak it out. Soak it! Soak the meat in malted wheat and give us all a tasty treat!” He started laughing gleefully, jumping up and down. “Soak the meat! Soak the meat! Soak the meat!”

The other fey backed away, narrowed looks shooting between me and the creature. I looked toward Danal but even he just stared hard at me, willing me to do something less idiotic this time. I had no idea what I was even facing, much less how to deal with it, so I decided to just be myself. I flung my arms down, releasing my claw-like blades from my leather gloves and eliciting a startled gasp from the assemblage.

“I'll give you a tasty treat,” I growled and lowered myself into a fighting stance.

“
Tasty treat!” The thing laughed wilder and jumped toward me.

He was a nightmare come to life but I'd been facing my nightmares for years and this guy barely managed a bleep on my fear radar. I punched him in his chortling mouth, catching him up into his soft palate and penetrating his brain in one go. The thing went limp as I continued through with the swing, lifting him up on my blades like a trophy for the entire court to see.

I was shaking with anger. I knew this world was different from mine but I'd been offered a certain amount of hospitality and I knew that meant something to the fey. The little monster had just violated that and no one had lifted a fey finger to stop him. Nope, they wanted to know what I was capable of, dressed up in silk and velvet like they were. They wanted to know if the savage lioness could fight without her beast form. So I took great pleasure in holding that thing aloft and looking slowly around the room, staring all those shocked faeries right in the eye, before I flung the body away from me like garbage.

A huge arm reached out and caught the corpse, pulling it in to a massive chest before lifting a hideous face to mine. He pushed his way through the crowd, climbing over the curve of table in front of him to get to me. Easily eight feet tall, my new adversary reeked of rotten things and dark places. His skin was a putrid green, his eyes pus yellow, and his features seemed too small for his huge head. Upon that head was a knitted cap, dark red and clotted black in places. It was dripping blood over his right eye.

“Fuck,” I breathed. This guy, I recognized. The red cap. A type of goblin if I remembered right, and so that would make the little monster a goblin too. Well, in for a pound. “He started it,” I pointed at the dead goblin and the red cap roared, spittle flying in all directions. “Okay fine, it's your funeral.”

I rushed him mid-roar, a trick I don't think he was expecting. In fact, from the look in his eyes, he wasn't expecting me to fight back at all. Those eyes widened even further when I drug my claws up from his gut, after stabbing in both sets of blades. They caught on his ribcage and as I tried to yank them out, his hands went around my upper arms and pulled me up to the level of his face, effectively dislodging them for me.

“Oh, hey,” I grinned at him. “Thanks for that. I was having the hardest time getting these loose.” I head butted him and he staggered back, both hands to his face as he roared again, this time in pain.

As I hit the ground, I pushed myself forward, going right between his legs and coming out behind him. I flung the skirts out of my way, along with my hair, before leaning forward and slicing into the back of both of his knees. The red cap fell forward, into a kneeling position, and I came up behind him to do what I do best. I used both hands, eight blades total, because I just wasn't sure I had the strength to behead him, even with the god-spelled steel.

I shouldn't have worried. The enchantment was hella powerful and I sliced through both tendon and bone in one shot, pulling the head back with me in my momentum. I ended up kind of cradling it, blood running from the open neck and the still dripping cap. It soaked the front of my dress, ruining the beautiful fabric and thoroughly pissing me off.

I don't know what possessed me to do what I did next. Maybe it was the staring crowd, faces rapt with admiration and blood lust. Maybe it was simple exhaustion or fright but something told me it was the right thing to do. I dropped the head and pulled the cap off it. Then to the amazement of all, including myself, I put it on my head.

The fey burst into delighted cheering, voices shouting in approval and echoing around me with the force of a tornado. I grinned at them as I felt blood drip down the side of my cheek and they roared louder. One face suddenly separated itself from the crowd, dragon eyes filled with desire. Arach grinned at me and raised his hands slowly. He began to applaud in an even tempo before giving me a nod of approval.

Danal looked nervous as he came forward and offered me his arm. I tried to smile at him reassuringly but I think it might have come out more like a grimace. I did manage to pull up my claws before I placed my hand on his arm though. His brows furrowed low and he looked away as he led me further into the spiral.

My dress was sticky with blood and clung to me uncomfortably but I held my head high and smiled as I passed the congratulating crowd. Inside me, my beasts rumbled their approval. They knew I'd done what was necessary. Just as Fallon had done with the Froekn, I'd shown the fey that I was worthy. Not a simpering human after all. Come at me and I'll drench myself in your blood and then wear it proudly. It was a message they seemed to not only understand but heartily approve of. Too bad my stomach was gurgling from the scent of the bleeding cap on my head. I just hoped I could get through dinner without throwing up all over the High King.

“
So,” the High King stood as I approached and waved to a chair on his right. “You may have more faerie blood in you than I first suspected.”