Free The Dark Huntsman: A Fantasy Romance of The Black Court (Tales of The Black Court Book 1) by Jessica Aspen Page B

leaned in close to her ear. “It’s a giant.”
    “Oh,” she whispered back. “I thought they were bigger.”
    “It’s not fully grown.” Logan glanced from side to side. “Mama is likely somewhere nearby. Damn it.”
    The baby giant tore a small tree from the ground and ripped off the branches. It swished the tree back and forth, dirt flying from the roots, and kept the hounds at bay.
    “Go! Go ‘way!” it howled.
    A hound darted closer.
    “Leave it.” Logan snapped out.
    The reluctant hounds shot looks between the unlucky giant and their master. Trina slipped, tangling her fingers in Solanum’s mane and scrambling for a more secure seat.
    The giant’s branch shook at the hounds. It pulled its lips back, revealing a gap where its front teeth should have been, and uttered something between a growl and a whine.
    “Go ‘way!”
    “We need to cross,” Logan said, his calm voice laced with a cord of power. For the first time, Trina saw the small stream that gurgled behind the giant.
    The giant’s distress increased. Saliva began to drip from its open mouth and the sounds it made grew louder.
    The hounds stayed put, their smooth red hides quivered and twitched, only held back from ravaging the creature by Logan’s will.
    “This my spot! You not belong!” The creature swung the branch in a fast arc, stepping forward with each pass, skimming the nose of the nearest hound. A great ripple went through the pack and their bodies shook with strain.
    “Logan, keep them back. He’s just a baby, he doesn’t understand,” she said. She didn’t know what the hounds were, but they weren’t dogs. Her inner sight told her they were shadow, magic, and something else. But not flesh and blood. No matter how real they felt when they touched her.
    “I know what he is. But we need to go through here. Believe it or not, this is the safest path to our destination.”
    “I know a lullaby spell, supposedly, it works for trolls. It might work for baby giants. Let me try.” She’d learned it as a child, all witches did, but she’d never thought to use it in a real situation.
    Solanum shifted his weight. “I could eat it,” Solanum said. His long tongue licked out and Trina flinched. “Then we could go through. It wouldn’t be any trouble.”
    Behind the small rheumy eyes of the giant, Trina swore she could see its desperation building. Soon it would feel it had no choice but to take on the hounds. “Please? Hold them off and give me a chance.”
    “Can you do it from up here?”
    “It would be better if I touched the ground.”
    “It’s just a giant, one less won’t make a difference, but I don’t want to have to deal with its mother.” Logan rubbed his mouth with his free hand and his forehead creased. He sighed. “The forest is a bad place to spill blood. Give it a go.”
    He loosened his grip and Trina slid down behind the pack of hounds. Once on the ground, the slavering giant seemed twice as big. The noises it made increased in pitch and the irritated hounds snapped and whined.
    “Can you keep them back? I’ll need a little time.”
    “They’ll hold,” he said. He leaned over and touched her shoulder. “I’m right here behind you, lass.” His blue gaze held hers, giving her a sudden surge of confidence that he had her back. She nodded and stepped away.
    The dirt path was cool against the soles of her feet as she breathed a quick prayer to the Goddess. No time for a circle. No time for much of anything besides sending a questing link down into the strange earth of the forest and reaching for power.
    And it came.
    It came hungry, looking for a place to go. Strange power poured into her, shot into her feet and out her mouth in a dark and hollow voice that came straight from the decay of the ancient trees.
    “O na wa tig. O na wa ti. O na wa huzaltanate!” This wasn’t her childhood nursery rhyme. From somewhere beyond her body, Trina heard ancient foreign words coming from her mouth, and the power