Page 42 of Back in the Hunt

Everly was about to ask if it was better after he found Fletcher but the front door opened and he forgot. “Bryn!” he cried and leapt at him. “I missed you so much and all hell broke loose!”

“It did?” Bryn asked.

“What?”Nox said as he stepped around them and looked for Nelson.

He was coming down the stairs and grimaced at Nox in warning. “I need you to stay very calm and focus on the fact that he’s already doingmuch better,” Nelson stated slowly and clearly, but Nox’s eyes were wide as he searched the foyer.

“Why? What happened, Nelson?” he asked as his voice grew louder and more suspicious.

Everly heard Nelson whisper a prayer. “It’s Tony. The same thing that attacked Everly and Ronan O’Sullivan?—”

“MyTony?” Nox yelled and dashed up the stairs. “I’ll kill Hugh if thatthinghurt Tony!” He went the wrong way when he reached the top of the stairs, sprinting to the right. “Tony?” he called as he opened a door, then shut it and ran across the gallery to check the other end of the hall before another door was thrown open. “Tony? What the hell happened?” they heard him cry when he found the right door and Nelson sighed as he went to calm Nox down.

Bryn shook his head, looking angry and worried. “Anything else break loose while we were gone?” he asked and Arawn sighed as he nodded at Everly.

“He didn’t move until Tony happened. Ev’s been watching the door since you left. He took a few potty breaks, but we had to bring him snacks and juice,” he said and stopped Bryn before he could ask. “I am not joking.”

“He is not joking,” Everly confirmed. “I was so worried the visit would go poorly and we’d lose one of you.”

Bryn shook his head, laughing softly as he squeezed Everly nice and tight. “I missed you too. I thought we’d have to camp in Beartown but Merlin was just as determined as I was to get home as fast as we could. He practically ran down the mountain.”

Arawn chuckled as he offered him a fist bump. “Glad you all made it back in one piece. How did the visit with Dùbhghlas go?” he asked, earning a long, hard look from Bryn. “That bad?” Arawn asked, his gaze switching between Merlin and Bryn.

“Worse,” Merlin said while hanging his cape. “It’s as I suspected: Hugh Dùbhghlas has taught a changeling how to use dark magick and suck souls. Let’s make sure poor Tony is on the mend and then we can share what we found in the mountains.”

Thanks to Arawn’s efforts, Tony was more lucid and Nox and Merlin were able to question him more thoroughly. They spent hours with Arawn in the guest room, treating Tony and feeding him, but he was still drained and fading so they let him rest.

“I can’t make any sense of it, a changeling attacking a human,” Merlin said once they had adjourned to the study.

“But you were able to confirm it?” Nelson had his notebook out and was scribbling. “Dùbhghlas has a changeling like Everly. How old is he?” he asked and Merlin let out a loudHa!

“Itis nothing like our Everly. It’s…the anti-Everly.”

“How?” Nelson asked, looking around.

Nox hissed as he headed for the decanters. He poured a drink and handed it to Merlin. “This changeling is undead. Looks likehe was in the ground for a while,” he said and Everly covered his mouth to hold in a startled yelp.

“He died?” he verified and began to cry when Nox nodded. “Oh, no!”

“Sorry,” Bryn said as he put an arm around Everly. He raised two fingers and pointed at himself and Everly when Nox held up another tumbler. “Douchebag’s changeling is an abomination and he should answer for it. After we deal with thislittleAbhartach.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe that…speck of zombie took a shot at me in the Nothing. And had me down for a moment,” he added, making Merlin hum.

“Fae magic can be very powerful and volatile. There’s no telling how many fae souls and how much fae magic it’s gathered.”

“I could see it,” Bryn growled and his lip curled. “It didn’t have a soul of its own but I could see the faded bits of the souls it stole.”

Merlin scowled into his glass as he sipped, then turned to Fletcher. “Dr. Bixby, we have a much better idea of who you’ll be hunting for,” he said and Fletcher became alert.

“Tell me everything you know about our victim,” he replied, earning a wry snort from Merlin.

“A victim to be sure but for once, I am hoping you’ll find an autopsy.”

“That might be one of the grimmest things I’ve ever heard,” Fletcher murmured with a slow shake of his head. “I want to take notes,” he said as he headed for the desk and Merlin went to the sofa and fell back with a loud groan.

“I want to be unconscious in an hour and Jeff is on his way so you had better write quickly,” he warned. “The child was a male, six or seven but it’s very hard to tell. It was abeautifulchild and very small. The left leg was badly injured before its death and it needed glasses when it was a human.”

Nelson raised a hand, interrupting. “How do you know?” he asked and received a confused look from Merlin.

“It didn’t have eyes, Nelson. Just black, empty sockets. Why would it bother with glasses unless it was used to wearing them when it was alive? It was wearing the pajamas it had been buried with as well so that would not suggest that much thought was given to the body’s appearance before burial. That tells us a great deal about where it might have come from and how many decent relatives it had.”