The fog dispersed and Herne’s ancient world faded into nothingness. The pictures in Kelley’s mind disappeared and, with them, the silken princess gown. She found herself sitting once more astride a painted carousel pony, bobbing gently up and down as the ride wound to an end. She looked over and saw that Sonny’s eyes were closed, and there was a grayish pallor to his skin.
“Did it work?” she demanded.
His eyes snapped open, and he struggled to focus his gaze on her.
“Sonny?”
“It did. Leaderless, the power of the Hunt itself was diminished, thrown into chaos and confusion. Auberon and Titania were then able to weave an enchantment that would lock them away, forever sleeping in a place that is not in this world, not in the Other.”
“And Herne?”
“Free. Ultimately…,” Sonny said sadly. “But even though he was released from the horrific enchantment, Herne was broken in spirit and body. Despairing of the crimes he had committed as leader of the Wild Hunt, he retreated deep into his forests. After so much time spent in the company of the immortal Faerie, Herne found that he himself was unable to die. But he faded, century after century, until he was no more than a shadow of his former grandeur. And the Hunt has remained locked in enchanted slumber.”
“So…where’s the problem then?” Kelley asked, although she had the uneasy feeling that she already knew the answer.
“As per Mabh’s vile enchantment, they will only stay that way as long as they remain leaderless.”
“Okay…” The uneasy feeling deepened in the pit of her stomach.
“And they will only stay leaderless as long as the Roan Horse remains riderless.”
“But I saw the Roan Horse go poof!” Kelley protested.
“It did.” Sonny nodded, the color slowly returning to his cheeks as he swung himself out of his saddle. “The Roan Horse was destroyed. But the magick that Mabh used to create the Roan Horse remains.”
“And…it’s all tangled up in Lucky’s mane. Isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry.”
Bad Lucky, Kelley thought.
Sonny helped her down off the back of her painted mount, and she found that her knees were shaky. He put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“It’s not all bad, Kelley,” he said. “Not yet. The creature is safe as long as he stays in your bathtub. Water is a gateway-if he stays standing in it, he’s not in this world and not in the Other. As long as he stays that way, even if someone were to blow Mabh’s war horn, the call of the Wild Hunt can’t touch him.”
“So I have a Faerie water horse stuck in my tub for the rest of eternity?”
“No. Just for the rest of the Nine-Night, until the door to the Otherworld shuts again. Then there would be no way for the Wild Hunt to cross over, and we could try to remove the enchantment.”
“And if the unthinkable happens? If he gets out somehow and he’s still enchanted?”
“Then if someone were to sound Mabh’s war horn, Lucky would transform and become the Roan Horse,” Sonny said in a quiet voice. “The Roan Horse seeks out a Rider. Once it has a Rider, the Wild Hunt wakes. Once the Wild Hunt wakes, they come thundering through the Gate on the backs of their shadowy steeds, and they kill. They are insatiable and they are unstoppable. The whole of this city-the whole of the mortal realm-could conceivably be destroyed.”
Images from one of her recent nightmares flooded back into Kelley’s mind: Manhattan awash in blood and fire; herself staring down at her own hands grasping, white-knuckled, the tangled strands of a fiery mane…
She shuddered and looked up at Sonny. “And is it, then, some kind of lunatic coincidence that the Roan Horse is in my tub? And I just also happen to be the daughter of a Faerie king?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t believe in coincidence.” Sonny smiled at her wryly. “No-I do think the two things are connected. Because I’m reasonably sure that, insofar as you are a daughter of the Faerie king, someone wants you dead. I believe that is why a Black Shuck was set to track you. To lead the Wild Hunt to find you specifically”-his expression darkened-“among whatever other quarry they might find to give them sport.”
Kelley stared at him, her eyes wide. “Isn’t that a little like hunting quail with a cannon? Haven’t these people ever heard the phrase collateral damage?”
“I suppose. But for someone like Mabh, for instance, collateral damage is the fun part. And she does hold something of a grudge toward your father. The whole imprisonment after the Wild Hunt thing.”
“Oh, right.” Kelley hugged her elbows, possessed of a sudden deep chill, and muttered, “She sounds delightful. But she’s still locked up?”
“She is confined. Within her own realm, a grim place called the Borderlands. But she has outside agents through whom she can still work her will.” Sonny scowled. “Auberon suspects her of trying to wake the Hunt. If he’s right, she will most likely try to do it on Samhain-when the Gate is open widest.”
Kelley shivered. “You know, New Yorkers take Halloween pretty seriously. There are going to be a lot of hapless partygoers and trick-or-treaters on the streets come the thirty-first. Sounds like a recipe for a whole lot of collateral damage.”
“The Janus Guard will also be out that night,” he said, one hand reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. “Just as we have been and will be for every night of the Nine.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of which-Kelley…” Sonny seemed suddenly exhausted. He turned his face to the west, and she could see the fatigue etched into the lines and planes of his face. “It’s getting late. You need to leave the park. Please. Don’t argue with me this time. Just go. The sun will set soon, and I have to go to work.”
He squared his shoulders as though he expected her to put up a fight.
She did-a little-but only out of actual concern for him. “Shouldn’t you be taking it easy? I mean, you try to hide it with the whole tough-guy-swagger thing and all, but I saw the bandages. You’re really hurt. Aren’t you?”
“It’s not so bad.”
“Wow. You are a terrible liar.”
He frowned fiercely at her.
“You also look like you haven’t slept in a week.” She took a tentative step toward him and put a hand on his chest, looking up into his silver-gray eyes.
He put his hand over the top of hers, and she could feel the rhythm of his heart beating under her palm, through his shirt and the bandages.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
With his other hand, Sonny reached up and brushed a stray auburn curl out of her eyes. “I’m sure.”
He smiled down at her, and she felt her insides melt a little. His whole face changed when he smiled. It was like the sun coming out.
“But,” he continued, “I’ll be even better if you are safe at home and I don’t have to worry about you for tonight.”
“I can take care of myself, Sonny Flannery,” she bristled, halfheartedly.
“Please?” He turned up the wattage on his smile.
“I…okay.” She felt her own lips turn up in a shy, answering smile. “I’ll be good. This once.”
“That’s my girl.”
Kelley was silent. Those three words of Sonny’s had managed to render her utterly speechless.