by Dianna Love
“Not especially and Imortiks attacked before we could finish that conversation. By the time I killed the last one, the woman had escaped.” When Reese lifted her eyebrows in surprise, Daegan added, “I have no idea who Cavan is or where he took Tristan. The only person who can tell me is the woman I spoke to at that cottage last night. Casidhe Luigsech.”
Quinn's eyebrows lifted at the mention of the woman's name. Evidently Evalle and Storm had informed Quinn of the council meeting details.
Worry entered Quinn’s calm demeanor. “So you’ve encountered Imortiks since coming here?”
Daegan admitted, “Yes. I fought a couple last night, plus demons, includin’ one that glowed, at this woman's cottage. She lives a fair piece outside the village. As I mentioned, Luigsech disappeared while I was outside fightin’ the demons.”
“Well, that sucks,” Reese groused. “She didn’t hang around in case you were hurt or needed help?”
Her reaction drew a smile from Quinn, an expression Daegan would call admiration.
Those two had some kind of strange relationship.
He couldn’t believe he was going to defend Luigsech, but he would not allow Reese’s assumption to stand. “Actually, the Luigsech woman pulled out a sword that hummed with energy. She panicked a little at first, but instead of screamin’ and runnin’ in circles, she slashed the heads off Imortiks.”
“You’re joking,” Quinn said, sounding unconvinced.
“I am not. She has trainin’ and power, which surprised me as much as possessin’ a sword with very old energy. I believe that weapon may have come from my time. It’s hard to explain, but energy that old has its own signature. I did not realize she possessed power until her shield slipped while arguin’ with me.”
Reese observed, “I bet she regrets that about now.”
Daegan hadn’t considered what Luigsech had been going through since they parted. He’d assumed she ran to inform someone of his presence, such as Cavan.
Or had she been escaping out of fear?
“To hear this Luigsech has power conflicts with what Garwyli said about the family of your father’s squires,” Quinn mused. “So she is not a human Luigsech?”
Reese shifted an impudent gaze to him. “What? Are there different varieties of Luigsechs?”
Overlooking her sarcasm, Quinn explained, “The dragon squires of Daegan’s era were all human. After Queen Maeve captured Daegan, his father, King Gruffyn, wrote in his last journal that he suspected traitors within his kingdom. For that reason, he brought in a new squire family with the name of Luigsech.”
“I didn’t think people had last names back then,” Reese replied.
Daegan explained, “They used first names, but were known as being of an area, such as Luigsech. Anyhow, the squires were always humans and trusted families as they carried the history of the dragon clans as well as performin’ confidential work.”
“Do you think this woman is impersonating someone from the squire family or just happens to have the same last name?” Reese asked, turning to watch the entrance to the centre Daegan also kept in sight.
“I do not believe in coincidences, especially not of this sort.” Daegan tensed when an older man in dark blue pants and matching vest over a short-sleeved light blue shirt walked up to the door of the ancestral centre. He carried a stack of mail and knocked.
Reese spoke in a hushed voice. “Is that someone you’re looking for, Daegan?”
“I do not think so.” Daegan watched the confusion on the old guy’s face at no one answering the door. After a moment, the man lifted his shoulders, talking to himself as he shoved letters and a magazine into a slot on the door.
Quinn murmured, “Just a postal delivery.”
“Okay, I’m ready to do this.” Reese turned to Daegan. “You said you’re looking for this guy Cavan and last saw him right before Tristan followed him. Maybe you should take me to that spot where you saw Cavan and let me start there.”
“I thought so as well,” Daegan admitted. “Now that ya are here, Quinn, ya stay to keep watch on the centre. I shall take Reese to the grocery lot.” Daegan described Cavan and Luigsech’s features for Reese then considered what to do about leaving Quinn. He could normally cloak Quinn, but Daegan hesitated to depend upon his waning power after the slow teleporting.
Quinn must have realized something being off with Daegan. He suggested, “Allow me to step out of the cloaking. I’ll drop behind these trees and call to you if anyone shows up.”
Once Quinn exited the cloaking, Daegan and Reese walked down the road where it was more open, stepping out of the way of one slow moving vehicle.
At the grocery location, he pointed out the specific place where Cavan had stood. Reese sat there and closed her eyes, then yanked her head back. She opened her eyes and blinked hard. “That’s like ... strange.”
“What did ya see?”
“He had so much power around him, it was blinding to look in any direction. He’s got a crap load of energy.” She shook her head. “I can’t see through that. Do you want to hunt another spot after he walked away and try that?”
“No. We would be movin’ ya all over the sidewalk and probably still have the same result. This was the only place I could point to for sure.”
“Sorry, Daegan.”
“Don’t apologize. Ya are aidin’ me in narrowin’ down all directions to search until I find the one to lead me to Cavan or Tristan.”
When she stood again, they moved back to where Quinn hid. He emerged and Daegan drew the cloaking around all three of them. Before Quinn asked, Daegan told him what had happened.
Running her hands over her hair in an agitated motion, Reese asked, “Didn’t you say the last place you saw Luigsech was at her cottage? Why aren’t we there?”
He’d been right to ask Reese to come here. She had as sharp a mind for investigating as she had a gift for remote viewing. “The Luigsech woman said she had to meet Cavan here this mornin’. If we do not find her soon, we go to the cottage next. But here is the best hope for meetin’ up with Cavan.”
“It’s fifteen after ten,” Reese declared. “Either one or both have missed the meeting, unless they’re inside doing it right now where we can’t see them. What’s the plan?”
Reese had voiced Daegan’s thoughts. “I shall teleport in. If someone is in there, I will contain them first then drop your cloakin’ and teleport ya in.”
“Both of us,” Reese clarified.
“Of course.”
“I should go with you to watch your back,” Quinn offered firmly.
“No, stay here. If I run into somethin’ unexpected and require help, I will call ya telepathically.” Daegan stepped from the cloaking and teleported into the front area of the ancestral centre.
Chapter 8
Daegan appeared inside the ancestral centre next to a desk facing the front window.
He called up a sword and stood still.
A distinctive “click” sounded at the rear of the building.
He ran through an opening on the left side of the room into an area full of books with blinding speed. No one there. Nothing but walls and walls of bookcases.
Something had made that sound.
He reached out with his senses to detect another energy. Then he inhaled a mix of scents from the fading flowers to a very recent visitor.
Ruadh rumbled, The woman.
Daegan agreed. His nose seemed to search out Luigsech’s scent immediately. How long ago had she been here? Was that from yesterday or ... today?
Or was he trying to assign a simple noise to her?
A solid wood exit door to the exterior stood shut with a heavy bolt slid into place. That door would have made more noise than a click.
Disappointment swamped him.
He opened his senses to the building, picking up residual energy. Luigsech’s, nothing else he could identify, as someone like Cavan, but the woman was no longer here.
Daegan called to Quinn, alerting him to
prepare Reese for teleporting. He rushed back to the front room just as those two reappeared.
Reese grabbed Quinn’s arm, weaving where she stood.
Quinn glanced at her hand as if unsure if he should acknowledge her touch. “Would you like something to drink, Reese?”
She shook her head, “No, thanks. I’m good.”
When he patted her hand, her gaze shot to his fingers. She snatched hers back to her chest. They stared at each other for a second then Quinn went into mission mode. “Where do you wish Reese to begin?”
Sounding relieved to move ahead, Reese asked, “You remember how my remote viewing works, right, Daegan?”
“Yes, I do.” Daegan shook off his distraction from that first noise to stay on point and find Tristan. He didn’t know the extent of Reese’s gift, but he understood how it had worked in the past. The best result would be based upon finding a specific place in this building Luigsech had used recently.
“To answer your question, Quinn, I have no idea what spot would work best. I wish to determine if Luigsech has been here since I saw her last night, and if Cavan has been as well, though I have picked up no other recent power signature.”
Angling his head at that, Quinn asked, “You picked up Luigsech’s?”
“Yes, but I have no idea if ’tis from this mornin’ or yesterday. She had not left a strong energy residue here as she did last night after battlin’ the Imortiks. If she has been here since then, she may have shielded her power.”
“Good to know.” Reese sounded as if she’d caught her second wind. “Here are my thoughts. You two should spread out and see what you can find to get me set up faster, but what about people coming past the window and door?”
“I have shielded us inside here.” Daegan moved to allow Quinn to step past him to where one of two desks sat in an L positioning. Quinn paused in front of the one closest to the door and studied it.
Reese remained in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. “I’m not Nancy Drew, so I’ll just stay out of the way and let you two do whatever you’re doing.”
“Who is Nancy?” Daegan had never heard of this female.
Quinn snorted. “A storybook female detective. We’ve got this, Reese.” Turning back to the desk where he carefully moved documents and opened drawers, Quinn suggested, “This appears to be the desk of the person who greets visitors.”
“Might be where the Fenella woman sits,” Daegan commented.
Luigsech’s scent surrounded the other desk he stood nearer. He’d been trying to ignore her scent, but hadn’t been able to since leaving her cottage.
His gaze traveled over the room and stopped at cut yellow flowers in a glass vase in the corner. Ah, now he identified the coconut smell of aiteann. He’d thought nothing of the yellow flowers as he’d seen a few yesterday, but now the image and smell took him back thousands of years to when he’d grown up running through fields covered in the same flowers.
Luigsech had those planted around her cottage.
But he singled out her unique scent.
He allowed his nose to lead him to the right side of the room as he faced the door. The wall behind the desk where Quinn stood ran from the narrow opening to the massive library in the back.
He stepped through the opening and paused, noting a stronger hint of Luigsech in this spot, but mixed with smells of aged leather and ink.
She spent her time here. Every day or maybe only recently?
The wall behind the central desk Quinn dug through had been created by the backside of a heavy bookcase. This area needed light for anyone wishing to read the many oddly-shaped books that appeared to have been written over many centuries.
These books and the aged smell brought back memories of his da’s reading room where he’d learned to read. Good memories from too short a life.
This was not the time to be distracted.
Returning to the front, Daegan checked on Reese who had moved to a chair near the window, evidently tired of standing while they determined a place for her to start.
Quinn looked up. “I believe this desk belongs to a woman named Fenella, just as you suspected. From what I can determine, she handles correspondence and has a stack of potential work for Casidhe Luigsech. That would lead me to believe the desk near you is Miss Luigsech’s.”
That confirmed what Daegan had surmised simply by her scent clinging to the furniture.
Quinn joined him and stared at the messier side of the room. “Why have that old chair next to the desk? It doesn’t match the ones like Reese is sitting on, which appear to be for guests.”
Daegan examined the worn leather chair with a small dark-wood table on one side with a standing lamp secured on the backside. Another wider table on the opposite side of the chair allowed more room, probably for books. Clean cloths folded into squares sat on the lamp table with a note pad and pen.
Daegan deferred to Quinn who had lived in this modern world longer than him. “What do ya see?”
Quinn gave the chair a long look. “You said Luigsech is the one who translates very old text. Now that I consider her everyday work, I can see her spending more time reading in a place where she's comfortable for hours. I see her only utilizing the desk for things like correspondence or limited research work. Something requiring shorter periods of time. I say we start there.”
This was why Daegan believed in surrounding himself with capable people and allowing them the freedom to work.
Daegan took in Reese’s pale skin. Could she do this without harming herself? She tended to bristle whenever Quinn inquired regarding her health. He’d follow Quinn’s lead to respect Reese’s ability to make her own decisions about using her remote viewing gift or not. “I believe we have a place for ya to try, if ya are ready, Reese.”
“Sure thing.” Popping up from one of the chairs near the window, she pointed at the spot Quinn had suggested could be Casidhe’s place to read. “You want me there, right?”
Daegan nodded.
With Reese’s initial burst of irritation having passed, she sounded calmer. She walked over and paused, giving the chair a once-over before turning to sit. Clutching the thickly padded arms, she murmured, “Man, this thing is broken in and super comfortable. I’d like to find one like it back home.”
Daegan held his breath when he would normally be ordering one of his warriors to get busy, but not a woman, especially one helping him.
That didn’t stop his mind from screaming to take action, save Tristan and Devon. How many others were in jeopardy while he hunted Cavan? He would not forsake Renata and any others as well. But first he had to take care not to lose Reese or Quinn.
His jaw muscles felt hard as stone from keeping them locked.
It was do that or he’d sound like the madman living in his brain.
Ruadh had never possessed patience, but he spoke in Daegan’s mind. The gryphon is strong. He will survive.
Even so, Daegan suffered over what Tristan might be having to survive.
Nothing moved fast enough for him.
Quinn asked, “Are you sure you want to do this, Reese?”
She lifted her face to Quinn and had an argument going on behind her eyes, but she shook it off. “I'm fine, really.” Then she reached over the left side of the chair to pick up a small cushion from the floor she shoved under her left arm. It matched the one next to her right hip.
She cleared her throat and announced, “Let’s give this a try.”
Stretching her hands out along the chair arms, she clenched the leather again and leaned back. Closing her eyes, her fingers slowly relaxed. Then her forehead creased with what appeared to be confusion. She stayed that way a moment, then cocked her head as if looking at something only she could see.
Then she shoved the cushion on her left off the chair.
What had that been about?
She had just made a point of picking up that very cushion.
After a few seconds, Reese began speaking softly in a monotone as she had
done at another time.
“Luigsech was alone ... sitting cross-legged. She pulled a book from the table to her lap. Then she cleaned her hands on a cloth and ran her fingers over the strange letters, or symbols maybe, on the cover. I think she’s wondering about the title. She said something like ... Before An, no, Before Ainvar.” Reese gave a little headshake as if confused. “Luigsech kept turning pages. The text is full of strange shapes and symbols.”
Daegan crossed his arms, struggling to remain still. He needed action and results.
Still mumbling along, Reese said, “This woman went back to the first pages and held two fingers together like when you salute someone. She ran her fingers over the text and ...” Reese gasped.
Daegan jerked, startled. He checked Quinn to see what they should do.
Quinn didn’t hide his concern, but shook his head to not disturb her.
Sounding awed, Reese’s voice went up. “The letters glow and change as they lift off the page. What the hell? The woman is running her fingers as fast as she can back and forth. I don’t understand any of it. I think ... she’s translating the text with power.”
Quinn spoke to Daegan telepathically. I believe that answers one question about this Luigsech woman. She must have some significant power to do that sort of translating. She is definitely not human, as you said.
Daegan nodded, unable to take his eyes off Reese, who went on to describe how Luigsech stopped reading at a point late in the day. She got up, tidied up the office, lifting her mobile phone, which had a photo of yellow flowers covering a field on the phone’s display, then her backpack, and a tote bag. She locked up and put the tote in the basket on the handlebars of her bicycle.
Reese had been seeing what happened yesterday right before Daegan began following the Luigsech women.
At this point, Daegan relived what he’d seen as Reese continued describing Luigsech through her remote vision as the woman pedaled through the village and stopped at the grocery.
He leaned forward, listening for any hint to what Cavan might have said or his identity.
Reese’s jaw tightened and her words came out angry. “That man grabbed Luigsech’s arm. She’s pissed. She’s talking. ‘What do you want, Cavan?’ Then she tried to yank away, but he held her like he had a steel grip.” Reese paused and cocked her head again as if listening to someone and her frown returned. “The man is threatening her if she does not meet him and ... find a grimoire.”