Then, with a cry from above, the Moon Mother came streaking across the sky, followed by a legion of bears and panthers, elk and fox and hawks and Moon Witches and priestesses, and warriors long dead. She was beautiful, clad in her hunting outfit of silver and black, her face a mask of brilliant light, while her hands carried the bow and arrows of the Hunt. They raced through the air, pausing overhead.
“Come, Camille,” she whispered. “Come to me. It’s time for you to join me at the helm of the Hunt. Come race like the wind to catch your quarry. And then, strike the blow and bring him into the Hunt with us.”
A sudden wind shook the trees, howling with gale force and I felt myself slip onto the astral. I grabbed Morio’s hand and he let out a sharp gasp as we stepped into the slipstream of energy, catching our breath as we landed next to the Moon Mother, looking down at the ground far below.
“You know what you have to do?” she asked, giving me a stern look.
“I do.” I swallowed my fear and pulled out the unicorn horn, thrusting it into the sky.
“Tonight you lead the Hunt with me. Your quarry is great and wise and powerful. He must be caught—his sacrifice must be met this night.” She grabbed me by the shoulders, her gaze piercing my soul. “Do not fail me. Do not falter. Show no mercy, for truly—mercy tonight will not be the compassion you wish it to be. Sometimes, to heal means to die. And if you fail to catch the prey, you will take his place.”
My voice catching in my throat, I could only let out a strangled cry of assent. She dropped her hand and stepped back. My skin burned from the cold fire of her touch, and I wanted nothing more than to make my Lady happy.
“You took an oath when you pledged yourself to me, Camille. Tonight I ask you to repeat it. Camille Sepharial te Maria, will you live for me?”
The words were familiar on my tongue. I’d sworn them the night the Moon Mother accepted me into her fold. “I do swear . . .”
“Will you heal for me?”
“I do swear . . .”
“Will you kill for me?”
“I do swear . . .”
“Will you die for me?”
“I do swear . . .”
“Then lead on, lead on. Let the Hunt begin, and if you catch your quarry, my priestess you shall become!”
With a loud cry, she pushed me forward and, holding Morio with one hand, I sprang to action, racing across the sky. My Lady ran by my side. Her laughter spurred me on. All I could think of was catching my prey as the cries of the Hunters echoed behind us.
Then I saw him—my quarry, down below. The Black Beast stared as I spiraled down toward him, leading the frothing hounds and huntsmen. He leapt onto the astral and began to race ahead of me, his hooves beating a cadence against the stars and the clouds as we gave chase.
Across the night we pursued our quarry, the glowing moon shining her light on us as the Moon Mother sang her battle song. Lost in her glamour, lost in the brilliant delight of the Hunt, I scarcely noticed the waning night. Morio kept pace with me, his eyes glazed, shifting into his demonic form as we ran.
And then, sometime shortly before dawn, but long, long past midnight, the Black Beast slowed and turned. He was panting, his breath coming in rough, jagged gasps. I slowed, and my Lady slowed beside me. She motioned for the train of hunters to wait as I stepped forward, Morio close behind.
All my doubts fell by the wayside, all my sorrow vanished. This was a time of joy, a time of triumph. The Hunt was nearly over; only there was no solitary victor. We would all win. Morio began a low chant—the Chant of the Dead. A necromancer’s spell I had just begun to learn, the chant was exactly the magic I needed.
I unfastened my cape and let it drop, then slipped out of my clothes. Naked, holding only the unicorn horn, I stepped forward, the astral breeze caressing my body, brushing over me like a hundred light fingertips.
The Black Beast raised his head, showing his chest to me.
“The day is done, night comes to the soul.”
Morio’s voice rang clear behind me, his magic buoying me up and giving me strength. I lifted the horn and gazed into those ancient eyes. They were begging for release, rebirth. The cycle was nearly complete, a new cycle ready to begin.
“The forest dims, the light fades into dusk.”
“Priestess, do not fail me,” the Beast commanded.
“What once was fractured will now be made whole.”
And I felt it—he was tired, he was old beyond counting, and this body was wearing out. The phoenix needed his fire. I stepped forward.
“What is left, but a shallow and empty husk.”
I gauged my target, searching for his beating pulse. There, against his chest. A mark no larger than a coin, brilliant gold circled with silver.
“There is no room for grief nor for doubt.”
“Blessed is the Mother of the Moon and all who walk her paths,” the Lord of the Dahns whispered. “Blessed is she who gives me release in the Rite of Renewal.”
How could I do this? And yet, my hand was steady and I felt the power of the four Elementals within the horn harken to my silent call. Wind, Water, Flame, the Land—they rose up and combined their powers. Eriskel, the jindasel of the horn, who had once been a part of the Black Beast himself, added his own strength, focusing all of the energy through me.
“Release is sweet, the heart must fly free.”
I bit my lip, but didn’t waver. There was no going back. This was a one-way ticket and I was driving the train. I inhaled a sharp breath and gazed at my quarry.
“This life is over, the light fades out.”
“Join the Hunt! Ride with the Moon! Give yourself over to shadow and joy and passion and the magic that is the glowing Mother who watches over every one of us. I release you from your physical bonds. I release you from your shackles. Run with the Hunt this night by my side, run free, and run wild!” I lifted the horn and aimed.
“Renew and transform, the soul’s alchemy.”
As Morio chanted the last line, I drew his spell through me, combined it with the energy of the Elementals, and let it fly as I plunged the horn into the target on the Black Beast’s chest.
A shroud of icy fire rose forth, as cold as Hel’s domain.
The unicorn screamed, a terrifying shriek that echoed in the heart of every creature living in the Deep. Smoke began to rise from his body. As I stumbled back, the crystalline horn burning my hands, the Black Beast let out another piercing cry and turned. As he galloped away, the flesh began to melt away from his body and the Moon Mother cried out in joy.
“Run! Lead the Hunt, for you are my newest priestess, and it is only fitting you and your sacrifice are honored this night at the helm of the Pack!”
The Moon Mother slapped her hand against my right shoulder and a cutting pain sliced through me as her touch ate into my flesh. Something was happening to my back, but I didn’t have time to figure out what it was because she shoved Morio up beside me and we took off, chasing the now-skeletal unicorn who plunged through the early dawn. Followed by my Lady and the pack, we ran until the stars burnt themselves out of the sky. We ran until the sun threatened to creep over the horizon. We ran until the madness left us.
CHAPTER 16
Groggy, I opened my eyes and struggled to sit up. My shoulder burned. Actually, both shoulders burned like a fury, and I was warm with a light fever. I squinted in the morning light, trying to figure out where I was. I wasn’t still in the Deep, that much I knew. No, I was in a bed, under a thick quilt. I shifted, pushing myself to a sitting position, and heard someone stir beside me. Morio was just waking, under the covers by my side.
“Camille, how do you feel?” Trillian’s voice cut through the fog as he sat down by my side, pressing a cup of dark coffee into my hands. Iris stood near the door, carrying another cup that I assumed was for Morio.
“Like Hel warmed over. Where are we?” I glanced around the room. It was tidy and looked too cozy to be anywhere I was familiar with.
“At an inn. We’re in the Dryfor Village.” He held my hands to steady the hot drink and I slurped it down.
“Where the hell did you find coffee over here?” Otherworld had its pleasures but coffee wasn’t one of them. We’d grown up with it as a treat, because Father used to slip over Earthside and bring it back for our mother, but most Fae had never heard of it.
“I never go anywhere without a stash,” Trillian said, grinning. “So, what do you remember about this morning?”
“Not much,” I said, turning to Morio, who had greedily accepted the mug of steaming java from Iris. “You?”
He frowned. “Vague events, but nothing after . . .” His voice dropped and I knew what he was thinking.
I glanced around the room again. “How secure is this place?”
Trillian motioned to Iris, who checked the door to make sure no one was outside. “Secure enough. Feddrah-Dahns is downstairs, though. They won’t let him up the steps.”
“That’s fine, because I’m not sure how much to tell him or what he knows.” I hesitated for a moment, then just blurted it out. “Last night I sacrificed the Black Unicorn to the Moon Mother.”
Pursing his lips, Trillian let loose a low whistle. “So that’s what the commotion was about.”
“What commotion?”
“When you and Fox Boy came tumbling off the astral, so did another woman—a priestess of the Moon Mother. She hustled us up and told us to get you out of the Deep before dawn broke. In fact, she paved the way by bringing horses with her. If you could call them that.”
Iris cleared her throat. “They were skeletal beasts, terrifying, really, but they ran as fast as the wind and stopped on the outskirts of Dryfor Village. Then, before we could say a word, they vanished. The priestess said someone would be in touch with you once you return Earthside. She suggested strongly that the moment you two are fit to travel, we get the hell out of here.”
“Camille, look,” Trillian said.
“Look at what?”
“Your back.” He held up a small hand mirror sitting on the chest of drawers. I glanced over my shoulder at my reflection.
On the right shoulder blade a new tattoo had emblazoned itself in my skin. Opposite the silver spiral on my left shoulder marking me as Moon Witch was the outline of a black owl flying over an elaborate crescent moon with horns pointed up. The crescent sat atop a dark orb.
The emblem all priestesses of the Moon Mother were tattooed with.
I caught my breath and watched as the tattoo shimmered and glistened. The spiral on my left shoulder mirrored its brilliance and it looked like my back was inset with diamonds and onyx rather than the ink of the Moon Mother.
“I’m a priestess,” I whispered.
Iris nodded, her face serious. “So you are, Camille. And someone will be coming to visit you to help you adjust, but now we have to hurry.”
“Should we tell Feddrah-Dahns?” Morio asked.
The moment the words hit my ears I shook my head. “I don’t know. Ignorance may ensure our safety . . . maybe we shouldn’t. I feel it’s important we keep this under wraps and just get the fuck back home. The priestess was right. Help us get dressed and let’s get out of here now.”
“What about portal jumping? How will we manage it?”
“I suppose we should sneak back to Dahnsburg and jump from there. We aren’t that far away from the portal near the Deep. We’ll return the same route we came and pray they don’t catch us.”
I started to pull on my skirt, but stopped. All my clothes were soaked through with mud and grass and blood. “Lovely. I can’t wear this,” I said, looking at the sodden mess. “I’d look like a reject from Satan’s School for Girls. I was naked when I killed him but my clothes still caught the worst of it.”
Iris laughed. “I can take care of that. Both of you were a sight when we brought you in here. I washed you up the best I could,” she added, blushing as she glanced at Morio. “You, too.”
“Thanks, Iris,” he said, winking at her. “You’re a peach.”
She blushed again, then brought out a bag. “While you slept, I did a little shopping at the early market. I couldn’t find much but . . . here.” She drew out a simple robe in a brilliant blue shade and handed it to me, along with a finely made leather belt. And for Morio, she held out a pair of brown trousers and a green tunic. “I was able to clean your shoes, and they’re over there in the corner.”
We dressed quickly and shoved our filthy clothes in the bag, then—eating bread and cheese on the run—hurried downstairs.
Feddrah-Dahns and Mistletoe were waiting. The unicorn surprised me by motioning me aside with a wave of the head. “Priestess Camille, rest assured, my father will not find out what transpired from me. Revealing that information will be up to the new Lord of the Dahns Unicorns.”
Priestess? I stared at him. “You know what happened?”
He bobbed his head. “Of course. I felt his death. All of the Dahns Unicorns did—it rocked through every one of us. But none except for myself know exactly how it happened. Each time he is reborn, the herd feels the passing.”
“I should have known,” I said. “What will your people think? Will they hate me?”
Feddrah-Dahns shook his head. “No. At least not my people. Others may not see the matter so clearly.” He paused as if he were wondering how much to say. “Understand: The Black Beast chose you, Lady Camille. His command is sacred among the Dahns Unicorns.”
“Then is there a problem?”
“To some degree. There are rites and rituals my father would demand you undergo, and you do not have time. I have a premonition there are things afoot Earthside that you must take care of. So I will make sure you get back through the portals without any questions.”