Oak & Thorns by Yasmine Galenorn

Author:Yasmine Galenorn [Galenorn, Yasmine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nightqueen Enterprises LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

BY THE TIME we returned to John’s yard, stepping through the scarlet oak portal, two hours had passed. It felt like far longer, but that’s how interdimensional realms tended to work. Herne pulled out his cell phone, checking to see if he had any messages.

“Talia wants to know if we’re back yet. I’ll text her that we are on the way.”

I glanced at my wrist, which Ferosyn had wrapped again. It wasn’t hurting as much, and the jar of salve was comfortably tucked away in my bag.

“So what did you think of my father?” Herne held the car door open for me and I slid into the passenger seat, fastening my seatbelt.

I had expected the question and was prepared with an answer.

“He’s intimidating. I sure as hell wouldn’t want him angry at me. But he was really nice, and I wasn’t as afraid of him as I thought I would be.”

Herne’s phone rang and he answered it before turning on the ignition.

“Cernunnos,” he mouthed to me. “Yes? Uh-huh, really? So what does that mean for us?” He paused, frowning. “Can you send me the information? Email me the file, if you would. All right, thank you.” Again, he paused. “Yeah, she is, isn’t she? She said she liked you, too.”

As he popped his phone back in his pocket and started the car, I waited for him to tell me what he had found out. I already knew he had been talking about me at the end.

“My father likes you a lot. He says you have spunk. That’s a compliment. It looks like we are dealing with Blackthorn, the King of Thorns. My father is emailing me a file on him now. He warned me to be very careful. Blackthorn is highly dangerous. He’s extremely old, which makes him even more cunning. He’s going to hold off talking to Astrana for as long as he can.”

“Then we’ve bought a little time before she figures out we’re on to things. Once he gets back to her, she’ll know we talked to Cernunnos and told him everything. Or will she? Is there any chance that she’ll assume he made an arbitrary decision without finding out the facts?” It wasn’t likely, but I could hope.

“I don’t think so. She’s not stupid. My father’s right, we have to walk carefully on this one. Considering what those bushes did to your wrist, I think that being tangled up in an entire patch of them could very quickly lead to death.”

“Do you think the murder victims found out something about Blackthorn and were going to cause trouble?”

Herne turned onto Oceanside Drive. “That seems like it would be a possibility, except for the timing. They died during two time periods per year. Near Beltane and near Samhain. When did all the missing people vanish?”

I thought for a moment. “It had to be during those time periods. They were the only ones we checked the papers for. April and May, and October and November.”

“That’s hard to ignore. Some of the Ante-Fae are drawn into the cyclical nature of the year.

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