Lorelei took a deep breath and followed the ankou up the steps. The doors opened at their approach and a male hob in the same livery bowed to them.
“Welcome, lord and lady?” The hob paused and looked at them expectantly.
“Lord Vandermere ap Essus and Lady Lorelei ap Moura,” Vandermere supplied.
The hob blinked at them. “Oh. Very well, follow me. The lord awaits you in the sitting room.”
They followed the hob across the black marble of the foyer and through a door on the left. The sitting room was decorated in forest green with a couch and two armchairs near a fire. A tall sidhe male with wavy blond hair sat in one of the black cushioned armchairs with a sifter of amber liquid in his hand. He stood as they entered. His eyebrows raised as the hob gave their introductions.
“Welcome, I am Lord Zaos Nematona,” the sidhe said. “Please have a seat. Can I offer you an afternoon refreshment or tea?”
Lorelei chose the couch while Vandermere sat in the second high-backed chair.
“Tea would be lovely,” Vandermere said, glancing at Lorelei before she could ask for anything else.
She smiled at him innocently. “Yes, tea.”
“Excellent.” Lord Zaos nodded to the hob. The hob scurried away, and Lord Zaos turned back to Vandermere. “I must admit, I’m a little surprised. I expected you both to be married. A lord and his lady traveling together.”
“Well, we are traveling together but not in the way you thought,” Lorelei said.
“Interesting.” Lord Zaos studied her with his sapphire eyes. “And what brings you to my humble town?”
“This is a stopover more than anything. We are traveling farther up the river.” Lorelei paused, wracking her brain for another town along the river. She didn’t want him knowing they’d been hired to investigate the town by a group of rebel thugs, nor did she want him to know their true destination.
“We are traveling to Damerel for business purposes,” Vandermere supplied.
“Ah.” Lord Zaos smiled. “I heard that Damerel was really starting to expand. I would be remiss not to offer my hospitality. You are welcome as my guest in the manor as long as you are staying in Ebonshire. The Swift Swan is quaint, but it isn’t fit for sidhe.”
Lorelei smiled at him. “That would be lovely.”
And it would give them a chance to learn more information from the lord and the household about if something was truly amiss with the town.
The hob returned, pushing a tea cart.
“Excellent. Please inform Jillin on where to find any belonging you want brought up.” Lord Zaos nodded to the hob. “Now, you must excuse me, but I have some business I must attend. Please enjoy your tea.”
Several hours later, Jillin, the hob butler, led Lorelei and Vandermere into the dining room. Lord Zaos stood at one end of a long, black wood table and a lady with short red hair cupped around her face stood at the other.
Lord Zaos nodded at them a tight-lipped smile. “Welcome. Lord Vandermere, Lady Lorelei, this is my wife, Lady Verrona.”
The lady dipped into a slight curtsy, the voluminous skirt of her gold and green gown swishing. “I’m pleased to meet both of you.”
Vandermere dipped his head. “My lady.”
Lorelei curtsied as well though her dress had less layers to it. “Thank you for hosting us while we are in Ebonshire.”
“Our pleasure,” Lady Verrona said.
Lord Zaos clapped his hands. “Now that’s out of the way. Shall we eat, then?”
Lorelei and Vandermere took places across from each other, between the lord and lady. Once they had sat, servants came trailing into the room. They dished out the first course, a fish bisque. Lorelei smiled at the ankou serving girl who poured her wine. She took a drink, savoring the delicate bouquet of spice and fruit.
“This is very good wine,” Lorelei said.
“Thank you,” Lord Zaos said. “It’s a special wine made within Kirkwall. I have a special connection with the Elemental Order, so I’m able to get a casket now and then.”
“My lord has many connections,” Lady Verrona said in a high, giggly voice.
Lord Zaos cleared his throat. “So, what sort of business are you looking into in Damerel?”
Vandermere set his spoon down after taking a sip. “I have a cousin there who is running a house. I was thinking of setting up a trade route with him. Lady Lorelei agreed to accompany me as her father is successful in ship trade. I’m lucky she has decided to visit the West at this time.” He shot a secretive smile in Lorelei’s direction. “Very fortunate.”
Lord Zaos looked at Lorelei. “And how are you liking the wild West?” He chuckled. “I’m sure you think it’s all very uncivilized compared to Elphyne.”
“It’s interesting,” Lorelei said. “There have been some unexpected events, but I’ve enjoyed my time here for the most part.”
“Is your father looking to expand, then?” Lord Zaos asked.
“My father is always looking to expand. He has yet to decide what would be advantageous to him.” Lorelei glanced at Lady Verrona. “How long have the two of you been married?”
The lady’s lips curved into a smile, stretching across her thin pointed face. “Oh, Lord Zaos and I have only been bound for a short while.”
“We’re still in the honeymoon phase,” Lord Zaos said quickly.
Lorelei cast him a glance. The lord appeared calm and affable despite his quick response. He tipped his glass of wine at her with a nod.
“Your home is very lovely,” Vandermere said. “Such a unique wood.”
“Ebonwood,” Lord Zaos picked up his glass and took a long drink. “There is a forest several miles away.”
“Ah,” Lorelei said. “That explains why most of the town is crafted of it.”
“Ours is of the finest wood,” Lord Zaos chest puffed out as he leaned back in his chair. “We’ve recently been renovating since my marriage to my lovely Verrona.”
“Have you been here a while?” Vandermere asked as he picked up his glass of wine.
“Only for about a decade. I was granted lordship of Ebonshire shortly after the Elemental Order built their church in Kirkwall.”
Lorelei paused with her wineglass at her lips. “Isn’t the Quorum the ones with the authority to grant titles and land, not the Order?”
Getting such a title would have been difficult for Lord Zaos under the correct circumstances, considering how most of the Empire felt about his House. Even if they had been recently accepted back in the Quorum, no one really trusted House Nematona, at least not enough to grant them lands they Empire didn’t fully control.
Lord’s Zaos’s eyes grew cold as did his voice. “My dear Lady Lorelei, I think you’ll find things are very different here in the West.”
“I’m learning that,” Lorelei murmured.
“We are in an untamed land,” Lord Zaos said. “Spirits and heretics abound. The Order stands between us and the danger.”
Lady Verrona gave a high-pitched giggle. Lord Zaos glared at her, and she covered her mouth with her napkin.
He turned back to Lorelei and leveled his gaze at her. “You should be careful, my lady, or your lack of knowledge of this land will surely kill you.”
20
Lord Zaos parted from dinner with barely another bite or word. The lady didn’t bother to keep up any conversation. She only stared at Lorelei and Vandermere with a creepy smile while pushing her food around on her plate.
Lorelei glanced at Vandermere, and they hurried to finish their meal and excuse themselves. Something was amiss in the household. They convened in the foyer and, after a brief argument, decided Lorelei should be the one to sneak out and find Wes to see if he’d learned anything about what was happening in the town.
She waited until well after midnight, when the house had settled down and even the servants had gone to sleep, before pushing the large window in her guest room open. The moon hung high in the sky, casting a strange luminance over the yard of the ma
nor below. Using a rope from her bag, she climbed down from the second story. She landed softly on the grass and scanned the yard. It appeared empty. Only the sound of chirping insects filled the cool night air.
She ducked low and trotted across the yard to the small door in the outer wall of the manse. It made a small creak as she opened it, and she winced. Once out, she was on the road. The trek back to town was a little long, but she hurried her steps. She needed to get to Wes and find out what he knew and then get back to the manse for a few hours of sleep.
The ship bobbed in the water at the harbor. A single lantern was hung out and the gangplank was missing. Lorelei paused at the edge of the dock and bit her lip. Why had they pulled up the gangplank? She walked to a nearby post where a single bell hung and rang it. After a few minutes, Wes’s head peered over the side of the ship.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” His voice reverberated out over the water.
His head disappeared from view and a few moments later the gangplank was lowered, hitting the dock with a small crash. Lorelei boarded the ship and raised an eyebrow at Wes who was standing on the deck, rocking back and forth on his feet.
“Something happened.” A chill shot through Lorelei. “Is Vaana alright?”
Wes started, snapping his head in her direction “What? Yeah, why wouldn’t she be?”
“I don’t know. You seem like you’re about to flip out. What happened?”
He shook his head. “I can’t explain it. You have to come see.”
Lorelei followed him below deck to one of the cabins no one had chosen. Vaana stood over a bunk that held the body of a phooka male. His dark hair was mussed and had blood caked on it and his skin was ashen.
“Is he dead?” Lorelei leaned closer for a better view.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. Ferro and I met to talk about the town.”
Lorelei blinked at him “He’s your contact?”
Wes rubbed his face with one hand. “He was. We met up and talked for a few moments. When my guard was down, he came at me with a knife. Luckily, my reflexes were quicker than his. I had to fight him off. I only meant to knock him out…”
“You didn’t kill him,” Vaana interjected. “Not exactly.”
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “How can you not exactly kill someone?”
Vaana leaned down and pulled the phooka’s shirt aside. One lone thin red line ran from his collar to his navel. It looked sealed, but not scarred over. As if it hadn’t even healed, just been closed by some other means.
“I had a look at it while Wes was gone. It seems to be held shut by some sort of spider silk. It’s so fine it’s nearly invisible. Someone cut his chest open, and I think they took something out.”
Lorelei swallowed as her stomach roiled. “Something like an organ?”
Vaana gave her a look. “Of course. We need to know which one.”
“You’re planning to cut him open, aren’t you?” Wes’s face paled even more.
Vaana pulled a dagger from a sheath in her boot. “It shouldn’t be too hard, There’s already a line.”
“I’ll wait outside the room.” Wes stumbled out in haste.
Lorelei rested against the wall and crossed her arms. Vaana shrugged and leaned over the body. She leaned forward and ran the blade over the incision line on his chest.
Lorelei swallowed again, gripping her arms. She could take this. She fought monsters, after all. A little blood shouldn’t be a problem.
Only there wasn’t any blood.
“Interesting,” Vaana said as she leaned closer. “His veins seemed to have shriveled. There is no blood pumping through them. He should look like a shambling corpse.”
“So, it’s just his blood?”
Vaana reached into his body, pushing organs aside. “No, he’s missing his heart.”
Lorelei shuddered. “How was he even walking around?”
“Most likely whatever creature took his heart is able to keep him animated as a puppet.”
There is a Sluagh that can do that, Murgleis’s voice sounded through her head. She is known as Arachne, the Spider Queen.
Lorelei started and stood up with a shiver. “A Sluagh?”
Vaana glanced at her with a dubious expression. “Maybe. We’d need more information.”
Lorelei pointed to Murgleis then stretched her thought out to him. You think this Arachne is here?
I sensed something in the manor that felt…kindred.
Lorelei gritted her teeth as gooseflesh rose on her arms. Why didn’t you say something before?
I wanted to avoid detection. Besides, you didn’t ask.
Lorelei gulped and turned her wide eyes to Vaana. “We need to get to the manor. I think Vandermere is in danger.”
If Lorelei was quick to travel to the ship, she was as swift as the wind in her race back to the manor. She outpaced both Vaana and Wes by several yards. The entire time a mantra kept repeating in her mind.
Please be safe.
The rope was where she’d left it. So, it appeared no one had been alerted to her sneaking out. Hope fluttered in her chest. Maybe she was wrong and the Sluagh, Arachne, wasn’t after Vandermere. Having a sidhe as a puppet would be useful to her or Zaos.
She glanced back at Wes and Vaana, who were sprinting across the yard, and climbed up the rope. Her chest tightened and her arms ached as she climbed into her window. She placed her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
What was she thinking? She didn’t have time to rest. She ran across the room, yanked her door open, and ran down the hall to Vandermere’s room, just two doors away. She flung the door open so hard it slammed against the wall with a loud bang.
A metallic stench mixed with the heady aroma of perfume hit her nose. Her stomach sank. The room was dimly lit, but it was enough to paint the picture. Lady Verrona stood over Vandermere as he lay sprawled on his bed with his legs hanging over the side. Blood had pooled around him, staining the pale sheets dark blue. As Verrona— Arachne—turned, her skirt rustled and a large, hairy spider leg poked out from beneath it.
With a scream, Lorelei yanked Murgleis from his sheath and rushed toward Arachne. How dare she touch Vandermere. The blade slashed into Arachne’s side splitting the fabric and flesh. Arachne’s screech reverberated through Lorelei’s head like a thousand knives slashing through her mind. Lorelei clutched her head as something wet tricked from her nose.
Arachne skittered over Vandermere and the bed to the other side of the room with the clacking of many legs. As she moved away, the agony inside Lorelei’s head subsided. Lorelei straightened up and wiped the blood from her nose, her gaze darting to Vandermere. He laid so pale and still on the sheet.
Please let him be alive, she chanted silently.
The stomp of two sets of footsteps grew louder from the hall behind Lorelei. Wes burst into the room, followed by Vaana. He cursed and then sprinted across the room as he drew his sword. He brought his sword down on Arachne’s skirt, cutting through the layers of cloth and into one of her many hairy legs.
Arachne screeched.
Vaana narrowed her eyes at Arachne and chanted under her breath. A light left her fingers and raced towards Arachne. It slammed into her chest, but fizzled out. Vaana’s eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed, as if she didn’t understand how she had failed.
“Tend to Vandermere!” Lorelei called to Vaana and dashed across the room to Wes and Arachne.
She slashed Murgleis at Arachne. When the blade met flesh, the agony in Lorelei’s brain flared up. It was like a cacophony of screams filling her mind, impeding her ability to think, much less move.
Murgleis’ voice echoed through the screams though it sent a spike of pain down her body. You are being mentally attacked. Any pain you cause Arachne will be visited upon you triply.
How am I supposed to kill her then?
“You can’t kill a Sluagh.”
Lorelei stumbled at those words. What?
Two of Arachne’s spider legs bur
st out from the tattered remains of the dress and grabbed Lorelei, pulling her in. Arachne wrapped her arms around Lorelei and dipped her head, fangs piercing her shoulder.
Lorelei gulped back a scream as a burning sensation spread through her shoulder and below. Dizziness swept through her, muting the screams in her head. Everything started to move in slow motion.
Wes darted to the side and jabbed his sword into Arachne’s open back. Arachne screeched and released Lorelei.
Lorelei tried to turn, but her legs slid out from under her and she fell to the ground.
Arachne skittered backwards to the window. Her red-eyed glare darted over them.
“This isn’t over,” she hissed.
The shattering of glass filled the air as she burst through the window and disappeared.
21
Lorelei swallowed as the dizziness swept through her. Vaana leaning over Vandermere seemed so far away.
Wes pulled a pistol from a holster on his hip and hurried to the window. The breeze blew at his hair as he scanned the side of the building and ground below. He shook his head and stepped away before holstering his pistol again.
“She’s gone,” he said.
Lorelei crawled towards the bed, the dizziness making it difficult to even pick her head up. Perspiration beaded on her forehead.
Wes muttered a curse. Seconds later, his arms were around her and she was lifted into the air. The distance passed in a blur and he laid her on the other side of the bed. She turned her head toward Vandermere.
Vaana’s hands hovered an inch above his chest, glowing with a soft light. As she chanted, her hands moved above the wound, sealing it as she went. From the looks of it, she was about half way finished.
Lorelei closed her eyes as dizziness took over again. It made her head feel like it was three sizes larger. She floated on the waves of darkness that flowed behind her eyes.
Vaana’s voice snapped her back to a semi-conscious state.
“There,” Vaana said. “I think it’s done. Though his body is still combating the aftereffects of the poison. Looks like you are too.”
Song of Shadow Page 16