Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel

“Let me go,” he commanded.

“No,” said Raj. He sounded exhausted. “You brought me here because I was going to be stronger than you. Because you wanted to have power, and this was the closest you could come. You didn’t save Mother when she got sick—you wouldn’t let me feed her, because you said future Kings couldn’t show favors. That’s how you see Kings. That’s not how I see them. That’s not how the people I trust see them. I don’t have to listen to you.” He let go of Samson’s wrist, pushing him away at the same time, so that he went stumbling backward.

Samson started to step forward again. Tybalt was suddenly between Raj and his father. I hadn’t even seen him start to move.

“Your challenge has been refused, Samson,” he said quietly. “Now trouble the boy no further, or you’ll answer to me.”

Samson’s eyes narrowed. He looked past Tybalt to me, hissed, and spun on his heel, stalking toward the shadows. He stopped just before stepping into them, saying, “You will regret this.” Then he was gone, leaving Raj, Tybalt, and me alone in the center of the alley.

The cats on the crates and cans lining the walls watched us with unblinking interest, as though this was the sort of entertainment they expected to receive every afternoon. One yawned and began washing himself.

I shook my head. “Sometimes I’m not sure whose politics are worse, you know.”

“All politics are terrible,” said Tybalt. He looked to Raj. “Go rest in my quarters. Your father is a fool, but even a fool will think twice before troubling you.”

“And if you want to head for my place when you wake up, May will be happy to let you order pizza,” I added. “She’s worried about you.”

Raj smiled a little. “Okay. See you both later.” He darted in and hugged me before turning to run into the shadows opposite the ones his father had disappeared through. He should have run right into the wall. Instead, he ran through it, and he was gone.

I pulled the Luidaeg’s charm out of my pocket. It was still glowing neutral. Chelsea wasn’t nearby. “Can you get me back to Tamed Lightning?” I asked, stepping closer to Tybalt. “I should get back to Quentin and the car and let him know Raj is okay. He’s got to be worried by now.”

“How angry do you think he’ll be that we went to Annwn without him?” asked Tybalt.

I laughed, a little unsteadily. This close, his presence was distracting. “On a scale of one to livid? Livid times ten. That’s the sort of field trip nobody likes to be left out of.”

“Perhaps we should have sent a postcard before departing. ‘Deserted heaths are lovely, it’s probably best you aren’t here.’”

I laughed and was still laughing when Tybalt took my arm and led me back into the shadows. They were no warmer this time than they’d been before, but they felt safer. I was getting more comfortable in them, and more at ease with the fact that Tybalt had me—he had me, and there was no way he was going to let me go while we were out there in the dark. Tybalt would never let me go. Maybe it was time for me to come to terms with that idea.

We ran together through the shadows. The blood on my hand was freezing again, but that didn’t matter; I could wash it off when we got back to Tamed Lightning. And after that—

I never finished the thought. Something slammed into us, knocking my arm out of Tybalt’s hand. I cried out before I remembered how thin the air was on the Shadow Roads. Tybalt roared…and the roar of another Cait Sidhe answered him, followed by another, and another. We were surrounded by his subjects. In the dark. Where I couldn’t see, or help him fight them.