by E.J. Stevens
Torn hesitated.
“Tell me,” I said.
I flicked my wrist, snapping the grip of a throwing knife into my palm. The faerie would spill his guts one way or another. I grinned, showing too much teeth.
“Wait, princess,” he said. Torn raised his hands, palm out. “Let’s be smart about this. If you kill me, you’ll be stuck in Mag Mell forever. You need me.”
My fingers itched to draw all of my blades and use Torn for target practice, but he was right. I had no idea how to leave this place. The cat sidhe was my ticket home. I slid the knife back into its sheath and sighed.
“Just tell me what we’re dealing with,” I said. I ground my teeth and shook my head. “Please.”
See, I can play nice.
“Ah, perhaps you’d like to frolic a bit in the field or go skinny dipping in the lake while we chat?” he asked.
My fingers twitched and I snarled.
“Don’t press your luck,” I said.
“Right, probably for the best,” he said. “It’s not wise to dally in the Otherworlds. Shall we walk and talk?”
Torn gestured to a path I hadn’t noticed before and I strode forward. His comment made my pulse quicken.
“Okay, spill,” I said, walking at his side. “Who is this seer, what do I have to sacrifice to get my answers, and why is it “not wise to dally” here?”
“The seer is Béchuille, a druidess and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann,” he said. “She’ll do the sacrificing, not you. As for the latter, it’s not wise to dally in the Otherworlds, because time moves differently here than in the mortal realm. If we don’t move quickly, you could return to find your human business partner long dead.”
“And if we do move quickly?” I asked.
“Then no more than a few hours will have passed,” he said. “Now come along.”
If we stayed too long in Mag Mell, Jinx, not to mention my mother, would be dead and gone upon my return. Didn’t I say faeries were trouble? I knew I’d regret my alliance with the cat sidhe.
I took a deep breath and ran down the path.
Chapter 35
One of the amazing things about Mag Mell is that you never tire. According to Torn, it’s part of the magic here. Nothing ever grows old, becomes ill, or dies on the plains of delight.
I ran faster than I’ve ever run, covering miles in a matter of minutes. Torn sighed and ran beside me, the bones dangling from his ears clattering. We reached a ring of standing stones approximately ten miles from our starting point without breaking a sweat.
I slowed, examining the menhirs that towered overhead. A huge stone placed horizontally across two of the others formed the lintel of a door. Though the circle had no walls, we made our way toward the doorway.
“So how many questions do I get to ask this seer, anyway?” I asked.
I’d done some thinking while running across the plains of Mag Mell. If I was only allowed one question, I’d rather ask where my father was instead of requesting the location of the door to Faerie. Heck, if I found Will-o’-the-Wisp, he could tell me the door’s location himself. No augury necessary.
“You just get the one question, Princess,” he said. Torn shrugged. “Don’t ask me how it works, but Béchuille will already know what you seek. Since she is gifted with the knowledge of gates and pathways, she’s most likely to give you the location of the door.”
“And if that’s not the information I want?” I asked.
“It’s not wise to argue with one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but do what you want,” he said. “It’s your funeral.”
Yeah, that didn’t sound ominous or anything. I guess I’d have to settle for the knowledge the druid was willing to give me. I sighed and stomped toward the circle of stones.
In the center of the circle, a woman stood over a fire singing in a strange tongue. Béchuille was not what I expected. The woman looked more like a goddess than a druid. The Tuatha Dé was tall and slender as a supermodel, with long, blond hair that fell in waves around her body. She wore a golden torque around her neck and red robes that brushed the tops of her sandaled feet.
At our approach, the woman ceased her chanting and turned to face us. A scarlet tanager settled on her shoulder and began to sing in her ear.
“Welcome, Sir Torn and Princess Ivy,” she said.
“My Lady,” Torn said, bowing. “We come seeking knowledge.”
“I know that which you seek,” Béchuille said. “Now show me the key.”
Torn turned to me with a smug grin.
“Yes, princess,” he said. “You do have the key, don’t you?”
Damn, it was a bit late to be asking that. I glared at Torn and struggled to keep my hands at my waist. I wanted to strangle the cat sidhe and toss him into the cauldron that bubbled on the fire.
“Princess?” Béchuille asked.
Torn had played me well. I didn’t want to admit to having a key to Faerie, but now I had no choice. If I claimed I didn’t own a key, I wouldn’t learn the location of the door. This trip would have been for nothing.
I lifted my chin and, with stiff movements, unzipped a jacket pocket and retrieved the jewelry box. My nostrils flared, seething, as I opened the box and lifted the key for the druid’s inspection. I ignored Torn’s arrogant laugh.
“Good, now let me prepare the bones,” she said.
Béchuille lifted her hand to the bird on her shoulder. I thought she was going to stroke its feathers or pet its head. I gasped as she grabbed the bird roughly in both hands and deftly broke its neck. I’d bought into the Hollywood image of druids as peaceful, animal loving, hippie types who commune with nature. I chided myself for being a fool.
The druid dropped the bird to the ground at her feet and poured a ladle of steaming liquid from the cauldron over its broken body. My eyes widened as the bird was quickly reduced to bone. Whatever was in that cauldron had eaten away all sign of feathers and flesh. So much for Mag Mell being an idyllic paradise; just try telling that to the bird.
“Béchuille’s cauldron contains waters taken from the Fountain of Knowledge in Tír Tairngire,” Torn whispered.
A bit late for him to be informing me of that now. I inched away from the fire, putting Torn between me and the cauldron.
While I changed my position, Béchuille stuffed the bird’s bones into a leather pouch. She tied the pouch and shook it, making the bones rattle inside. I bit the inside of my cheek and tried not to think about the pretty bird that had perched on the Tuatha Dé’s shoulder mere seconds ago.
The druid stepped to an area beside the cauldron that was void of moss and flowers and used a wooden staff to draw a circle on the bare ground. She tossed her head back, chanting, arms lifted to the sky. Her green eyes rolled back in her head and I wondered idly what would happen if the woman fell into her own cauldron. Torn had claimed there was no such thing as death in Mag Mell, but I’d already witnessed the bird’s demise.
Béchuille tossed the bones onto the ground with a clatter and I snapped my eyes back to circle. A low moan escaped the druid’s lips and Torn sidled up to me, chomping on his apple.
“I love this part,” he said.
A breeze stirred the woman’s golden hair and her face paled to a sickly hue. She pointed a shaking finger at me and a chill ran up my spine to creep into my scalp.
“The door you seek is one that hides,” she said. “You must await midsummer tides. Upon the summer solstice when the moon doth wane, the wisp princess shall sit upon her throne again.”
“Riddles?” I muttered. I should have known this wouldn’t be easy.
“Shhh,” Torn said.
“Muster your allies and gather your power,” she said. “You must reach Tech Duinn’s steps by the witching hour.”
“Oh shit,” Torn said.
“Shhh,” I said.
“Brandish the key and do not lose heart,” she said. “On solstice night the ocean shall part. Go to Martin’s Point at final light of day, and the stones of Donner Isle will le
ad the way. Not by sea, but by land. You all will take your stand. To the house of Donn you must carry, king Will-o’-the-Wisp’s key to Faerie. Inside Donn’s hearth bend your knee, close your eyes and turn the key.”
The druid lowered her head, shoulders shaking, and scratched her foot across the edge of the circle. Once the circle was broken, the bones pulled together and began to sprout flesh and feathers once again. I gaped at the bird as it chirped and took wing.
Maybe death truly couldn’t touch this place. After witnessing the bird’s apparent death and rebirth, I didn’t find that very reassuring. I was pretty sure that having your neck broken and the flesh boiled from your bones was unpleasant whether death followed or not.
“So I have to bring the key to Martin’s Point at dusk on the summer solstice?” I asked.
The seer didn’t answer. At closer scrutiny, I realized by the rise and fall of her chest that she’d fallen asleep on her feet.
“Let’s go, Princess,” Torn said.
The cat sidhe started walking toward the pathway from which we’d come. The bones and feathers adorning his leather clothing rattled as he sauntered away from the ring of standing stones. He swaggered confidently, but I wasn’t fooled. Torn’s face had paled at the mention of Tech Duinn.
“What is this Tech Duinn?” I asked. “And who is Donn?”
“Tech Duinn is the house of Donn,” he said. Torn rubbed his chin and grimaced. “Celtic god of the dead.”
For once I was in agreement with Torn. Oh shit.
Chapter 36
I stumbled into the alley and braced my gloved hands on my knees. A person may not tire while in Mag Mell, but the return trip was a doozy. I sucked in air and looked around for my unlikely travel companion. Torn rested against the dingy brick wall and waved.
“I’m famished,” he said. “Later, Princess.”
He grabbed hold of a rusty fire escape and pulled himself gracefully off the ground.
“Wait,” I said. “I have one more question.”
“What now, Princess?” he asked. “You’ve already ruined a perfectly good trip to the Otherworld. Give a man a break.”
Right, like the druid’s divination was all my fault. It’s not like I chose to have the door to my kingdom accessed through an Otherworld realm of the dead.
“This question is easy,” I said. “No death gods, just access to your information network. I need to find someone by the name of Inari. I think she’s fae.”
“THE Inari?” he asked. “As in, Inari, queen of the kitsuni?”
“Um, yeah, I guess so,” I said.
“Count me out, princess,” he said. “Inari and me, we have a history. I learned a lesson from my time with the kitsuni queen.”
“What lesson is that?” I asked.
“Don’t date chicks with nine tails,” he said.
Torn scampered up the fire escape and onto the roof of a neighboring building. I’d gotten all I could from the cat sidhe for one day. It was time to head home.
Time.
I bit my lip and pulled out my phone with shaking hands. Torn had said that time in the Otherworlds moved at a different pace from the mortal realm. How long had I been gone? I checked the time and date and let out the breath I’d been holding. I’d only lost six hours in Mag Mell. My human friends were still alive.
The downside? I was late for my date with Ceff.
I’d hoped to pay Jenna a visit at the dojo. I needed to see about scheduling a date to begin training again. I couldn’t afford to get rusty, not now that I’d be spending the summer solstice breaking into the home of a death god.
I didn’t have time now for a trip to the dojo, but at least I could give the Hunter a call. I squeezed the bridge of my nose, a headache building behind my eyes, and punched in Jenna’s number. The Hunter answered on the first ring. There was nothing wrong with that girl’s reflexes.
“You on a new job already?” she asked. “Jinx said you were on bed rest all week.”
Jenna sounded out of breath and her words were interspersed with the clanging of metal against metal. The Hunter was talking on the phone while sparring. Show off.
“No, I’m taking it easy,” I said. “Just working on something personal at the moment.”
“You need someone to provide backup?” she asked.
I heard a loud thwap and a grunt and the ringing of metal ceased. Jenna had struck a victory against her opponent while chatting with me on the phone. The pint sized redhead made being a badass look easy.
“No, I’m good,” I said. For now. I’d need Jenna’s help to survive passage through Tech Duinn, but I wasn’t ready to talk about that yet. Kaye said I had to keep the door to Faerie secret from humans and the last thing I wanted was to put Jenna on the fae’s hit list. “I wanted to thank you for the replacement blades and see when I can return to weapons training.”
“No thanks necessary,” she said. “I’ll add the cost of the blades to next month’s training.”
That was Jenna, always practical.
“So I can return next month?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said. “Stop by next week and we’ll try running you through some drills. Once I assess where you’re at with your recovery, I can give you some flows to practice as homework. Last thing you need is to stiffen up or lose muscle tone.”
“Thanks, Jenna,” I said.
“Anytime,” she said. “And Ivy? Try not to get bitten by anymore lamias?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I said.
That was one promise that I hoped I could keep.
Chapter 37
I trudged up the steps to my apartment and paused on the landing outside the door. My body felt heavy and I took a deep breath, fighting the tightness in my chest. I didn’t relish the prospect of keeping secrets from Jinx.
Holding information back from Jenna was easy. There are some things that fae, even half-breeds, don’t share with Hunters. But not telling Jinx about my father’s key and my search for the door to Faerie felt like a terrible lie of omission. I pushed open the door to the loft with a bitter taste on my tongue.
I looked around the loft, listening for movement in any of the back rooms, and smiled. Jinx was nowhere in sight. Ceff was preparing food in the kitchen and Jinx had apparently gone out. I wouldn’t have to face my roommate just yet.
I tossed my jacket over the back of the couch and strode to where Ceff was holding two empty glasses.
“Champagne?” he asked.
“Hell yes,” I said.
“Bad day?” he asked.
“The worst,” I said.
I explained about the visit with my mother, our trip to the hospital, the key my father left me, Kaye’s instruction to keep the whole thing quiet, and Torn’s trick to learn of the key’s existence.
“So now I have to secretly plan how to breach the gates of Tech Duinn, break into a death god’s house, and find a door hidden in his hearth,” I said. “If the key opens the door, then I’ll have to bring my investigation of my father’s whereabouts to Faerie.”
“Not tonight you don’t,” Ceff said. “You’ve visited the Otherworld and had a breakthrough in the relationship with your mother. You can begin your planning tomorrow. Tonight we dine.”
Ceff waved a hand at the plates and silverware he’d set out on the bar. Candles were lit and placed around the apartment. He’d even bought flowers and arranged them in a vase set between the two place settings.
The smell of roasted meat and vegetables made my mouth water. My stomach growled and I realized I’d missed lunch while in Mag Mell. Dinner sounded fabulous, but first I needed to freshen up.
“Do I have time for a shower?” I asked.
“That depends,” he said. “How much time do we need?”
Ceff’s eyes began to glow and warmth spread to my belly. I licked my lips and kicked off my boots. Dinner could wait. I started walking toward Ceff, the heat rippling off my skin making the room shimmer.
“An hour,” I said. �
��Maybe more.”
Ceff turned off the oven and leaned in close. Water swirled around his body and a champagne bottle burst open behind him. Ceff lifted me onto the counter, pressing his lips against my own. When our lips met the visions of Ceff’s memories came streaming through me, but, this time, they were gone in a flash.
I shed a tear when I experienced Ceff’s torture at the each uisge’s hands and then I was back in the kitchen, safe and whole. Ceff brushed the lone tear from my cheek, watching me raptly from inches away.
My breath caught as cool droplets of water and champagne skimmed across my heated skin. Ceff smiled and pulled me closer. This time when we kissed his lips pressed hard with need. Ceff opened his lips and his tongue searched my mouth with the same urgency as the rivulets of moisture which now explored my body.
I moaned and Ceff smiled against my lips. The flames of my wisp blood rose and heat flared. The dozens of liquid fingers disappeared, filling the room with steam.
“Need more water,” he said.
Ceff lifted me off the counter and strode out of the kitchen. He carried me into the shower and I forgot all about secret keys, deadly missions, and death gods.
Chapter 38
This morning Ceff returned to the sea. He’d stayed a week while mourning the loss of his ex-wife, and exploring the new aspects of our relationship. I was sorry to see him go, but all water fae must return to water and, as king, Ceff had responsibilities he couldn’t put off any longer.
At least Jinx was happy. She’d finally get a good night’s sleep.
With the place to ourselves, Jinx and I tackled the job of putting our office back to rights. Anxious parents can do a number on hardwood and our lobby floor was no exception. Armed with a power sander and wood putty, we repaired the scratches and deep grooves left by hooves, claws, and talons.
I rubbed sore muscles and surveyed our handy work. Jinx said she liked the new lobby better than before. It probably says something about me that it took a mob of faeries to motivate me to give the place a make-over. I wasn’t one for appearances, but I had to agree with Jinx, the place looked great.