The House Of Gaian

“I don’t know.”
    Selena raised her hands and pointed at the nighthunter that stared at them with dead eyes. “I call fire to cleanse and air to give it breath.”
    The nighthunter burst into flames, burning so hot Ashk took a step back. Moments later, spears of fire shot out of the ground, and she thought—she imagined—she heard something shriek.
    The fire was gone as quickly as it had been summoned. It was only her refusal to give in to the urge to back away—and keep backing away—that made Ashk stand where she was.
    Mother’s Daughters. House of Gaian. They aren’t the same as the witches who live among us.
    And this one . . . Mother’s mercy. This one.
    Selena watched the tendrils of smoke rising from the ground. “You said nighthunters feasted on spirits as well as flesh and blood. If, by some chance, they were able to live even a minute longer than she did, they could have destroyed more than her body. I couldn’t save the flesh, but I could save the spirit.”
    “She wouldn’t have survived long in any case, but she might have been alive when you sent your fire into the earth.”
    “I know,” Selena said softly. “That’s why I had Liam take Breanna away from here.”
    No , Ashk thought, we do not know your kind at all. We do not understand the power that walks in the Mother’s Hills .
    “Do you fear me, Hunter?”
    “At this moment, I am feeling cautious, Huntress,” Ashk said carefully.
    “It is wise of you to feel that way when you deal with the House of Gaian. That is something our enemy has yet to learn.” Selena raised her hands. “Earth.”
    The ground shivered. Softened. The nighthunter, with Ashk’s arrow buried in its chest, sank into the earth.
    Selena raised her hands higher. “Sister moon.” She glowed as moonlight washed over her skin, pooled at her feet, then spread out until it became a shining circle bordered on one side by a crescent of rose bushes.
    The glow faded from Selena’s skin. She turned and walked back to where Mistrunner waited.
    Ashk studied the glowing circle for a long moment before going to her own horse and mounting.
    “Selena?” She waited until the Huntress looked at her. “I am cautious, but I do not fear you.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I think your heart matches your power.”
    A film of tears covered Selena’s eyes before she blinked them away. “We’d better see if Liam needs help with Bre—”
    “Hunter!”
    Ashk dropped the reins, freeing both hands for arrow and bow. She relaxed a little when she saw the Fae male cantering toward her—until she got a good look at his face.
    “The Muse sent me to find you,” he said. “The fight’s started.”
    “Where?”
    “At the field with those tumbled stones. We got to that low rise ahead of them, but not by much. That’s where the fight is— and along the road leading to the village.”
    “Warn the witches in the Old Place, then ride to the Fae camps and tell the leaders to get their huntsmen to that rise as fast as they can.”
    As she and Selena rode over the bridge and galloped over the fields that provided the fastest route to the battleground, she wished there was some way to convince Liam to stay out of the fight for Breanna’s sake—and knew the wish was a futile one.
    Liam slowed his horse as he rode through the arch. When one of the boys came forward to take the horse, he shook his head and turned the animal toward the kitchen door. Since Breanna was in no shape to walk, it was easier to let the horse carry them both.
    The barking caught his attention for a moment before he shook his head. Idjit was dancing under the big tree, defending the world from another squirrel.
    The kitchen door opened. He heard Fiona’s voice, sharp with annoyance. “Either shut him up or lock him up. I don’t need his yapping today.”
    “I’ll get him.” Brooke came out of the house, waved at him, and trotted toward the tree. “Idjit! You stop that now, you hear? You’re giving Fiona the headache.”
    Suddenly Breanna went rigid in his arms. “Keely, no,” she whispered.

    Liam tried to shove aside the worry that flooded through him. They didn’t look anything alike, but Brooke and Keely had been about the same age mentally. That’s why she was confusing the two. She was still stunned by what she’d witnessed. That was all.
    “Keely, no!”
    Breanna rammed her elbow into him, breaking his hold so that she half fell, half slid off the horse. The momentum took her forward a