The House Of Gaian

grave. But Minstrel knew the way to Liam’s as well as he did, and he trusted the horse to get them there safely. Besides, if he didn’t come back, Lyrra would worry about him and never get any sleep. And he didn’t sleep as well if he didn’t fall asleep holding her. Too bad they were usually so worn out that they didn’t do much else when they fell into bed.
    Minstrel stopped so suddenly, Aiden wobbled in the saddle before regaining his balance. The horse’s attention was focused on the fields.
    Reaching down to give the horse a reassuring pat, he felt the muscles quivering beneath his hand.
    Alarmed, he strained to see if there was anything out there in the dark. Nothing. But something was spooking Minstrel.
    Then he thought he heard a muffled cry of pain. Was someone in the field?
    He looked back toward the grave and saw two of the huntsmen moving toward the brook, their attention focused on the field as well.
    Horses galloping away. Not Fae then. He wouldn’t have heard Fae horses. Humans who had lost their way in the dark and realized where they were when they saw the glow of moonlight around Nuala’s grave? Possible. But Minstrel still trembled under his hand, and his own skin was starting to crawl.
    “Come on, boy,” he whispered. “Let’s get away from here.”
    Wide awake now, he let the horse run. He didn’t want to be out in the dark. He didn’t want to be near that field.
    When he reached Liam’s house and led Minstrel into the stable, Arthur sleepily offered to bed down the dark horse. Accepting the offer, Aiden gave Minstrel a farewell pat and hurried to the house. It was locked at night now, but guards kept watch at the front windows, so the door was open for him as soon as he reached it.
    He rushed up the stairs, then hesitated in front of Liam’s bedroom door. Had he spooked himself over something that had a simple explanation because he wasn’t easy about being out at night anymore? But that didn’t explain Minstrel or the huntsmen who had also heard or sensed something. So he knocked on the door, grateful he didn’t have to rouse the whole house in order to wake Liam.
    Liam opened the door partway and raked a hand through his hair. “What is it?” he asked, his voice sleep-roughened.

    “We have to talk,” Aiden said, keeping his voice low. “Ashk and Selena, too.”
    Liam stared at him, then seemed to really wake up. “I’ll join you in a minute.”
    Nodding, Aiden hurried to the other rooms. Selena was harder to rouse, but Ashk was still dressed, which meant she hadn’t even tried to get any sleep yet.
    They gathered in the hallway outside Ashk’s door. As soon as Liam joined them, Aiden told them what he could. When he’d finished, the others said nothing.
    Finally, Ashk shook her head. “Are you certain the huntsmen were aware of something out in the field?”
    “I saw two of them moving toward the brook. Since we were all looking at the same field, I’m assuming they sensed something,” Aiden replied.
    “Then they’ll warn the others when the watch changes. I’ll go out and take a look around.”
    “You can’t go out there in the dark,” Selena protested.
    “Shadow hounds hunt in the dark,” Ashk replied quietly.
    “Then I’ll go with you.”
    Before he or Liam could argue, another voice said, “No,” sharply enough to silence all of them.
    They turned to find Morphia, pale and shaking, walking toward them.
    “You can’t go out tonight,” she said.
    “Morphia—” Ashk began.
    “You can’t.” Morphia closed her eyes. “Dreams. Blood in the water... and blood-soaked fur. And ...
    more.” When she opened her eyes, they were glazed with fear. “We can’t lose either of you. Something’
    s coming. Something terrible. And something is already here. If you go out tonight, we’ll lose you... and then we’ll lose so much more. Please. Don’t go.”
    Silence.
    Finally, Ashk said, “All right. We’ll go out at first light.” She brushed a hand lightly down Morphia’s arm.
    “Go back to bed. Try to get some rest.”
    They watched Morphia go back to her room. Waited until the door softly closed.
    “I don’t want you to go out either,” Liam said slowly, “but it is just a dream.”
    Ashk looked at him. “Liam, do you want to tell the Sleep Sister it’s just a dream?”
    After a brief hesitation, Liam shook his head.
    “Then let’s get what rest we can. It looks like we’ll be hunting in the morning.”
    Adolfo took a long sip of