A Little Night Muse(69)

                Raze chuckled. “Such a simple human.”

                “But better armed.”

                Slowly, the vizier lowered the athame and sheathed it at his                     belt. “As humans have always been.” He turned his fathomless gaze on Adelyn. “I                     take it you found the missing Hunter.”

                She lifted her chin. “You might stop us, but not him. And he                     will find a way to free others who weary of the Queen’s reign.”

                Raze sneered with scorn as withering as Josh’s iron. “Who do                     you think will reign in this Queen’s stead?”

                She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

                “The walls of the phaedrealii are                     crumbling, and what the Queen holds, she holds only with the power of her                     madness.” The vizier shifted his gaze to Josh. “Your world stands to lose even                     more, should the phae break their bonds.”

                Josh held his hand out to Adelyn. “Whatever I lose, I won’t                     lose her.”

                Raze smiled thinly. “You think your world is ready for a                     snake-haired girl who cries a king’s ransom in jewels?”

                With the warmth of Josh’s hand over hers, Adelyn took a step                     forward. “His world is cows and dogs and stars and other runaway phae. They take me as I am.”

                The vizier’s lips twisted toward a laugh. But in the end he                     only sighed. “Then take this too: a message to the Hunter and his sylfana who would fight a war against the Queen. Tell                     him there are battles even a phae cannot                     imagine.”

                Closer now, the black dogs howled, as if in agreement.

                Raze lifted his head. “You are more of a menace here than gone.                     So go.” He stepped aside.

                Without another word, Josh dragged her past the vizier.

                She glanced back once before Raze vanished behind the curve of                     the hall. Gray on gray, he should have seemed part of the corridor itself.                     Instead, he seemed to float, cut off.

                She shuddered. She had been that lonely too. But no more.

                She gripped Josh’s hand as they fled.

                A blast of light from behind them rattled the hall and she                     stumbled. Josh dropped the spear to haul her upright. Before he could grab the                     weapon again, a chunk of the ceiling fell toward them.