by Linsey Hall
As we neared the place where the scar deviated away from the hill, my druid sense pulled me toward the hill.
“That’s weird,” I muttered.
“What is?” Lachlan asked.
I pointed toward the scar. “My premonition gift wants me to deviate and go toward the hill.”
The ground beneath us trembled, cutting off my words. Light glowed through the grass. I glanced down. A swirling design formed beneath my feet, three spirals attached together at the middle.
Lachlan wasn’t even looking at it.
“Don’t you see that?” I asked.
“See what? I’m looking at the dogs.”
I glanced up, catching sight of the two spectral white hounds who had guided us through the maze. They stood near the hill, watching us with silent majesty.
I looked back down at the light under my feet. “You don’t see the light in the ground? It’s a swirl.”
He squinted at the grass, clearly confused. “I see grass.”
“So, just me, then.” What the heck was it?
“Aye, appears so.”
The hill in front of us began to glow as well, a door appearing in the side. “Do you see that?”
“Aye. A door.”
It opened, and two figures stepped out. They wore sweeping green dresses, and their eyes glowed with power. Pointed ears peaked through their hair, and their figures were slender and willowy. The hounds strolled up to stand next to them.
“The fae.” I studied them as they approached, debating.
I needed to follow the scar in the earth, but my druid sense dragged me toward the fae. The druids and my mother had made it clear that I had to get the torc before I confronted the invaders. Perhaps this was part of that.
“We have to speak to them,” I said. “I feel it.”
“I doubt they’re going to let us off the hook, anyway.” Lachlan nodded toward the weapons on their backs. One carried a bow and the other a sword. Despite their dresses and slender forms, they were clearly battle fae.
The fae on the left spoke, her blond hair gleaming in the light. “Warrior Druid?”
I nodded. “I think that’s me.”
“I am Errawen.” She gestured to her partner, a dark-haired fae. “This is Bren. We are here to guide you to Annwn.”
Of course. The white hounds were the hounds of Annwn. They’d led us here.
“I’ve heard that not many people are invited there,” Lachlan said. “Yet you invite us?”
“We saw you help Sulis,” Errawen said. “Which means you must be good.”
“You know Sulis?” I studied them. They were beautiful, but danger vibrated from them.
“We do. We are from different branches of the Celtic pantheon. She is Romano Celtic, a melding of British and Roman belief, while we are Irish. But we know her.”
This pantheon really was huge, stretching all the way across Europe.
“What will we find in Annwn?” I asked.
“Answers, I believe,” Bren said.
I could definitely use some answers, so I nodded. We followed them toward the door to Annwn. As soon as I stepped through, magic took my breath away. It felt unlike anything I’d ever experienced. As if I’d stepped into a whole new world in which the very air was made of different stuff. Magic, mostly.
We followed them deep into the earth, taking a winding path that led downward. The space widened up until it felt like we weren’t underground at all. A pale sun even shone overhead.
“How does this work?” I asked.
“Another realm,” Bren said. “Everything is not always as it seems. We live under the hill, but not underground like rabbits in a warren.”
“Certainly not,” Errawen said.
We walked through a forest of trees with pale trunks. They were almost a silvery tan. The leaves themselves looked to be pure silver, and lights glittered through the branches.
Fairy lights. Just like at the enchanted grove back at the Protectorate. The forest gave way to a village filled with beautiful pale wooden houses. They were carved with delicate scrollwork, and the roofs were made of pale gray tile. Fae faces peered out at us through the windows.
“Have you experienced any trouble from the evil that is making its way through Otherworld?” I asked.
“We have someone who would like to talk to you about that,” Errawen said.
Well, that was clear.
She led us across a delicate bridge that arched over a glittering river. It sparkled with blue light deep within, and I was simultaneously drawn to and repelled by it.
“We’re nearly there.” Bren led us toward a tall palace built of pale wood with silver trim. It was almost too beautiful to be real. The large courtyard housed a sparkling silver fountain that burbled with water. Desperately, I wanted to drink from the fountain, but I remembered what the Kelpie had said. We must not eat or drink anything from this realm if we ever wanted to leave.
And I did want to leave.
As beautiful as it was, something in the air here made me uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Lachlan still had the pack of food from my mother.
“Odd place, isn’t it?” Lachlan whispered.
“Yeah.” Like the fae themselves. Beautiful but dangerous. Offputtingly so. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to coax us to eat food and stay forever.
Except, maybe they didn’t even want us. I’d make a terrible guest.
Fortunately, they led us around the side of the castle. I didn’t want to go in the castle, no matter how beautiful it promised to be.
At the side of the castle, there was a small grove of trees. Silver birches, tall and slender. In the middle of the grove sat a well, guarded over by a woman.
I gasped. “Cebhfhionn.”
She turned to us, her pale eyes bright. “The real one, this time.”
I believed her. I might not trust the elves, but this was the real Cebhfhionn, unlike the Bean Nighe back at the maze. The Bean Nighe had possessed a powerful magic, but it had been nothing like Cebhfhionn’s.
Her magic vibrated, strong and bright. Like Sulis’s magic, it was so powerful that it nearly knocked me off my feet. There was no doubt that this was the true goddess.
I approached, stopping about ten feet from her. She wore a brilliant white dress shot through with golden thread that matched her hair. “So you know you have an imposter?”
“She’s still in the maze?” Cebhfhionn asked.
I nodded.
“Aye, that doesn’t surprise me. The Bean Nighe will transform into whatever she thinks you want. The maze helps her.”
“What did I want?” I asked. “Why did she pretend to be you?”
“I would think it’s obvious. You want knowledge, and I represent that.”
“Okay, you have a point.” I’d thought I wanted many things—my sisters’ safety, to earn my place at the Protectorate, to master my magic.
But at the heart of it, I wanted knowledge. In the end, knowledge would get me everything I wanted.
“Why did you call me here?” I asked. “I’m meant to follow the path to the sacred grove. It should align with the path taken by the evil that has invaded Otherworld.”
“Aye, that is your mission. But first, I wanted to offer you some water from the well of knowledge.” She dipped her silver bucket into the well and drew out some water.
“Why?” I asked.
“You are the Druid Dragon God, and this is my gift to you. Like Sulis gave you her light and the druids gave you their sense of premonition, I’d like to give you the gift of knowledge. It will help you control your magic, and it will sharpen your sense of premonition.”
“Thank you.” I stepped forward, eager for anything that would help me. Then I pulled up short. “Wait, I’m not supposed to eat or drink anything here.”
She smiled. “Ah, smart, Ana. This is true. Someone has warned you about the dangers of the fae realm.”
“The Kelpie.”
“He is a smart one
.” She smiled. “But fear not. You will not drink this water. You must bathe your hands and face in it.”
“I’ve been having a lot of magical baths today.”
She gave me a quizzical look, then her brow smoothed. “Ah, Sulis and her baths.”
“Exactly.”
“That didn’t hurt you, and neither will this. As long as you don’t drink it. Humans—even magical ones—cannot handle the full strength of the water within my well. It is why I must guard it from them, here at this underground palace. But you are strong enough to bathe in its waters.”
I nodded, liking the compromise. I wanted the knowledge and the power that she promised. And if this kept me from the long-lasting side effects of spending eternity in Annwn, I’d take it.
But I couldn’t stop myself from sparing one last glance for Lachlan. He looked torn, but finally, he nodded, as if agreeing that this was a good idea.
I’d have done it even without his approval, but I felt a bit better since he’d deemed it safe.
I stopped in front of Cebhfhionn, and she held out the bucket. Carefully, I rinsed my hands within. Then my face.
My mind seemed to clear, clarity of thought falling over me and making me gasp.
My druid sense tugged hard, as if it had been given a hit of an energy drink.
“I can see that it has worked,” Cebhfhionn said. “But you must use it wisely, in pursuit of good.”
“Speaking of that, do you know anything about the evil that is cutting through Otherworld and leaving a dark stain on the earth?”
She nodded. “The evil bypassed our realm, of course. It was not welcome here. But my scouts report that the evil consisted of three shadowy figures who are nearly opaque. Women, they thought, but they could not be sure.”
A lightning bolt of recognition shot through me. My eyes flared wide, and I glanced back at Lachlan. His face betrayed almost nothing, as usual, but even his eyes were slightly wide. He met my gaze and nodded.
He agreed.
The three figures could be the same that we’d encountered a few days ago—the ones in the cloaks. The cloaked figures had been Lachlan’s nemeses ever since they’d stolen the ancientus spell.
They’d become mine, too.
I turned back to Cebhfhionn. “Were they powerful?”
“Very. When our guards confronted them, they used their magic to blast them backward. Like a sonic boom, but more powerful.”
I rubbed my stomach, remembering the pain of being hit with that type of blow.
“Yet they didn’t come here,” I said.
“No. But we have a vested interest in stopping them. They may not be coming after us now, but they are hurting our fellow citizens here in Otherworld. We may be a loose collection of cultures and individual religions, but it is still our duty to watch out for one another.” She shrugged. “Anyway, they may grow tired of destroying the rest of Otherworld and come here for us eventually.”
She had a point. “So you don’t know what they are after?”
“I do not. Only that their strength is growing and they don’t hesitate to kill.”
“We’ll stop them,” I said. “We have to.”
“That is true. Your destiny is linked with theirs, this I know. This is a battle you were meant to fight, Ana. Perhaps the battle.”
Suddenly, exhaustion pulled at me. Almost as if the strength of Sulis’s bath had worn off and the difficulty of the day was catching up with me. I could still feel her power within me, but I needed to recharge.
“You must rest.” Her gaze traveled behind me to Lachlan. “You must, as well. When you encounter the evil, you must be strong and able to fight.”
She had a point there. But… “We can’t stop. We need to catch them before they get whatever they are after.”
“Even they must rest,” she said. “And so, too, should you. Tomorrow morning, we’ll give you fae horses that will carry you far faster than you’d ever make it on foot. They can’t go out at night—their vision isn’t good enough—but in the daylight, they’ll take you. You won’t lose any time, and you’ll get some sleep.”
I believed her. Maybe because I wanted to, but she had a vested interest in us stopping the invaders, so I doubted she’d lie to us.
I turned to Lachlan. He looked exhausted as well. He nodded.
I turned to Cebhfhionn. “We’ll stay the night. Thank you.”
They set us up in a cute little cottage on the main street. It was for guests, apparently, and the whole place was made of pale wood and silver paint. All of the cushions were white, and the place definitely felt like a fairy cottage.
I had a quick shower in the strangest little room I’d ever seen. It was lined with gray stone like a normal shower, but the water poured from flowers that grew out of the ceiling. It even smelled good.
By the time I was clean, my stomach was rumbling. I changed back into my clothes, which were only semi-dirty since they weren’t coated in blood, and traded places with Lachlan.
While he showered, I dug into the backpack that the druids had given us. There had to be magic involved, because no matter how many things I removed from the bag, it never emptied.
Eventually, once I had a whole lot of stuff from every level of the food pyramid, plus a bottle of wine, I closed the bag. By the time Lachlan returned, I’d made a nice little platter of sliced meats and cheeses, along with some fresh veggies and fruit.
“That looks amazing,” he said.
I did a half bow from my seat at the little table and grinned. “Thanks, made it myself.”
He joined me, and we dug in.
“Wine, even?” He took a sip.
“You wouldn’t believe that bag.” Once we’d sated the worst of our hunger, I looked at him. “So, the three figures. I think they must be the three shadows that drifted out of the cloaked figure when I removed their cloak.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Given that they have a type of sonic boom power as well, and a connection with Italy, I’d say you’re right.”
“But how the heck is this all related?”
He leaned back in his chair, expression thoughtful. “First, they were after the ancientus charm to bring back a spell from the past. Second, they went after the power source provided by Arach’s heart.”
“And now they are after strength and knowledge here. But for what?”
“Whatever their end goal is. Which is pretty damned unclear right now.”
I bit into a bar of chocolate—had the Celts really had chocolate, or was this an import?—and mulled it over. “We need to figure something out at the sacred grove.”
He nodded. “You’re getting better with your magic, though.”
“I am. I can feel it. This place is really helping. Each step on this journey has made me stronger. I just hope I can master the rest of my magic.”
“I have faith in you.”
“Thanks. I’m going to call my sisters, all right? I want to let them know what’s up.”
“Sure. I’ll clean up.”
I went to the other side of the room and pressed my fingers to my comms charm. “Bree? Rowan?”
“Yeah?” Rowan’s voice crackled through the connection, as if she were farther away than normal. Probably because we were in Otherworld, which wasn’t truly on earth. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. But we’ve found some info we want to pass along.” I relayed everything I’d learned to her.
“All right, thanks. I’ll tell Jude. But be careful, Ana, okay?”
“Definitely. You, too.”
“Love you.”
“Love you back.” I killed the connection and joined Lachlan where he sat on what I assumed was a fae version of a couch. It was like a large cushion made of soft white fabric. Sinking into it was like sinking into a cloud. But the lack of support meant that I drifted right into Lachlan’s side.
As soon as my skin touched his, my breath caught.
This was the first time we’d been together alone and hadn’t bee
n fighting for our lives. And the Cats of Catastrophe weren’t here. I couldn’t imagine what that peanut gallery would have to say if I kissed Lachlan in front of them.
I turned to look at him, trying not to show how affected I was by his nearness. The last time we’d been really alone together, we’d decided not to pretend that there wasn’t something between us.
But what did that mean? And where would it lead?
The questions made me so uncertain that I decided to go with another question instead. One that had been bugging me for a while.
“Why did you hesitate to admit that there was something between us? You said the whole we work together thing was just an excuse. What was the real reason?”
A sad look crossed his face, but it was distant. Like he was in the past instead of here in the future with me. He wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, waiting.
For a while, he didn’t speak. I was about to bug him when he finally opened his mouth.
“When I was young, I loved a girl.”
“How young?”
“Seventeen.”
“So it’s been a while, old man?”
He chuckled, and I was glad to get the sound out of him. The air was almost too heavy otherwise.
“What happened with her?”
“We were walking in Edinburgh one night. In the Grassmarket. The bars had closed, and it was too late to be out. It was during the Difficulties.”
“The Difficulties?”
“Aye. A period when law and order wasn’t as easily maintained. There were more demons about then, wreaking havoc as you’d expect. The government instituted a curfew for anyone who didn’t want to get in trouble with them, but we were young and stupid.”
I’d never heard of the Difficulties, but then, I’d been struggling to survive in Death Valley at the time and hadn’t had much—or any—knowledge of the outside world. “I have a hard time imagining you were ever stupid.”
“When I was young? Yes. I was infatuated. Totally lost my mind. We shouldn’t have been out, but we were. And we weren’t paying attention. I wasn’t paying attention. All I could see was her. Until the demons came.”