Free Crave the Night by Sharon Ashwood, Michele Hauf, Patti O'Shea, Lori Devoti Page A

“You
don’t know the whole story.”
    He grabbed the remote, turning off the TV.
“And I suppose you can’t tell me.”
    Lila tried to snatch the remote, but he held
it away. “Give that back!”
    His brows drew together. “Tell me.”
    She gave up. “I made a vow to give Masterson
something of equal value to the woods as a bribe for leaving us
alone.” She was getting a horrible headache, as if someone were
driving an ice pick into her skull just above her right eye.
    “ I guessed that much.”
    “ I was watching my people get thrown
off their land. There’s no place else for most of them to go where
they’ll survive. What was I supposed to do?”
    Rafe said nothing. She felt hot tears
leaking from beneath her lashes.
    “ It was a bad oath, made in haste. I
should have slowed down and thought about what I was doing, about
the promises I made, but I bound it in blood. I have to live with
that.” She snatched the remote and turned the TV back on, dreading
what she might see. The sound blared, jamming the ice pick further
into her head.
    Masterson was raging at the cameras. “I had
a bargain with these fey, but this press fiasco negates any
agreement we made. The deal is off and the forest is mine!”
    Bloody hell!
He’d betrayed their bargain. Now she’d have to pay the
price.
    Lila dropped the remote. As it hit the
ground, the news program switched to a comedy show. Silently, Rafe
picked it up and shut off the TV. The ensuing quiet blared through
the room.
    Lila’s vision had gone white with fright and
fury. Her lips chilled to numbness. “The wolves are safe. For now
at least.”
    “ Can Masterson break his side of your
deal?”
    “ He just did.”
    “ There must be consequences if he
backs out now.”
    “ For me. For the fey.” Her voice
sounded distant in her own ears.
    “ But it was Darak who called the
media. You didn’t do anything.”
    Lila shook her head. “The only thing that
matters is what Masterson said. The deal is off. He always had the
option of backing away at any time. That was one of the flaws of
the oath. I should have known better.”
    “ What does he forfeit?”
    “ He cannot profit from whatever
replacement deal I found for him. Wolf Creek is safe.” Her voice
shook, and she could feel the tremors spreading through her
body.
    Vows had been broken. Magic was
unraveling.
    Rafe swore long and foully. “That doesn’t
seem penalty enough.”
    Lila pressed her fingers to her temples.
“Masterson’s honor, such as it is, lies in amassing gold for
himself and his supporters. His word means nothing. It’s hard to
penalize him for breaking something he does not value himself. The
magic has nothing to stick to.”
    Rafe gave a low growl. “Next time let me
negotiate your deals. Better yet, don’t make any.”
    Lila managed a withering look.
    A rumble came from somewhere deep in the
house. Rafe looked toward the office door, shoulders tensed.
“What’s that?”
    The pounding in her head was compounded by
the harsh flicker of the overhead light. The pen on Lila’s desk
rolled back and forth. She grabbed it, then her cell phone, which
was skittering across the desk, and stuffed them in her pockets.
The world lurched again. She gripped the back of her chair, feeling
the floor slide sideways for an instant. The rumble stopped as
abruptly as it started.
    “ Earthquake.” Rafe concluded. His
shoulders tensed under the tight fabric of his shirt.
    Lila forced the words past rising nausea.
Her vision was narrowing to a dark tunnel, with unbearably bright
light at the other end. “No. Everything that was created as a
result of Masterson’s bargain with me is breaking down.”
    She felt Rafe’s hand on her arm. “Are you
all right?”
    “ It doesn’t feel great.” She licked
her lips. Fey were supposed to be light, airy beings in gossamer
nighties. They weren’t supposed to hurl in public. “Before it
disappears, the house is going to collapse. We have to get out