An Immortal Descent

by Kari Edgren

  “We’ll request some supper first,” I said, “and see if my friends have arrived yet. Then we can ask around for Sean. One of the serving girls may know where he’s gone for the night.” Part of me hoped he would be easy to find so I could get on with the inevitable mediation. Another part wanted him well out of harm’s way on the road to Kildare, or wherever he considered home these days.

  Ailish nodded and patted her own grumbling stomach. “I be hungry enough to eat a horse—” She stopped abruptly.

  I stopped as well and took in the flush of heat that tinted her usually pale cheeks. “What is it? Are you feeling unwell?”

  She tilted her head in the direction of the dining room. “The whole place be overflowing with Brigid’s blood.”

  A low rumble of voices came from just out of sight—far too many for my three companions. “It appears we won’t have to search for Sean and his men after all.”

  “There’s a piece o’ luck, though I’ll be taking me supper upstairs if’n you don’t mind. Too much heat ruins me appetite.”

  The contention would ruin mine. “I’ll join you once I speak to my brother.”

  A serving girl came around the corner, a full tray of empty tankards balanced in one hand. “Yeh’ll have to take yehr suppers in the kitchen tonight or go to the tavern. Some lady buttered me master’s palm to spare the tables for a private gathering.”

  “They’re expecting us,” Ailish said, her confidence admirable for someone about to walk into a room full of mortal enemies.

  The girl shrugged beneath the weight of the tray. “Then I’ll not waste me breath to tell yeh what happened to the last lad who went in there uninvited looking for a hot meal.” Her gaze rested on us just long enough to make sure her words found purchase before resuming a hurried path to the kitchen.

  I faced the doorway and prayed one last time to find Justine around the corner. “Let’s get this done with—”

  A lady’s laughter drifted from the room, infused with a familiar musical charm that reminded me of a hundred little silver bells. Catria... My spine stiffened as the blood drained from my face.

  “Damnation,” I cursed under my breath. An image popped into my head of the aged couple hobbling into the inn earlier, and I cursed again for having dismissed the sight.

  Ailish peered at me. “You’re not expecting that one, eh? The one with the lovely laugh?”

  For a split second, I debated cutting a hasty retreat from the inn and the lovely laugh that belonged to the most powerful goddess born alive. Nora alone kept me in place, and the absurdity that I would face a witch but run from one of my own kind.

  “Remember the woman you asked about? The one who takes in orphans?” I threw a thumb toward the dining room. “That’s her in there.” It had only been a matter of time before she had caught up to me. I should have considered myself lucky for the five-day head start.

  “Lady Cate Dinley.” Ailish repeated the name I had shared in Seamus’s cart. “I thought she be a friend o’ yours.”

  “She is,” I said through gritted teeth.

  Ailish shifted her weight to one foot. “Not by your tone, she’s not.”

  “Our relationship is...complicated.”

  The serving girl rushed past again, ale sloshing over the rims of several full tankards in her haste toward the dining room. We watched in silence until her skirts disappeared around the corner.

  “Did you speak true about her being Brigid’s strongest descendant?”

  “Oh, she’s that by far.”

  “Then why don’t you want to see her? With Carmen waiting, we could use her help.”

  I heaved a heavy breath. “I know, but she’ll think it too dangerous and may try to send me back to England.”

  Ailish looked me up and down. “You’re a woman grown. She’s no right to be sending you away.”

  Embarrassment warmed my cheeks, and I let my gaze fall to the floorboards. “Lady Dinley isn’t just another goddess born. She’s also my great-grandmother, and she’ll use that authority to her advantage.” My eighteen years might be a drop in the bucket compared to Cate’s millennia, but even so, I despised being treated like a child.

  “Great-grandmother, eh. By her laugh, I’d guess her a lass o’ twenty years.”

  “Try fifteen hundred,” I groused. “Or very near to it. Brigid released her from mortality centuries before Saint Patrick came to Ireland.”

  “Me grandmams both crossed over afore I was born, so I’ve no experience to share. Still, I say you’re old enough to decide for yourself, no matter how many years she’s got behind her.”

  “Except that if I refuse to listen, she may try to plant ideas in my head.” Voices raised in jovial conversation, followed by the metallic clank of tankards. I eyed the doorway, wary of what awaited me.

  “She can do that?”

  “With just one touch, she can have me sailing to Greenland as though it were my own idea.” Another laugh came from the room, this one deeper and gruffer than the first. Tiarnach...”That would be my great-grandfather.”

  “By the sound of it, they be having a grand time in there. Is he as old as the lady?”

  “A few hundred years younger.”

  Ailish shook her head. “That’s a peculiar family you have, Selah Kilbrid.”

  I huffed another heavy breath. “Just wait till you meet them.”

  Cate’s gaze found mine the very instant we rounded the corner. Tom’s soon followed, and the chatter quieted at the table where they were seated. Sean sat across from Cate, Marin at his side. Both saw me. Neither smiled.

  The silence spread from their table to the rest of the room. I stole a quick glance around to find Brian, Aron, Marcus and Conri seated around tankards. Two other men stood at the hearth, smoking pipes. I recognized them at once as the men I had incapacitated during the swordfight. Judging by their hard stares, they remembered me as well.

  The friendly faces I had hoped to see were nowhere in sight. I reasoned they would arrive later, and refused to consider the possibility that the message had failed to reach them. Even so, it did nothing to change the fact that I was presently on my own in a room of hostile company.

  Ailish scuffed a step over the flagstone. No, I’m not alone.

  The serving girl set down the last tankard from her tray in front of Tom. “I’ll go check on yehr suppers,” she said, before beating a path back to the kitchens

  My nerves aside, I couldn’t have asked for a more convenient situation as almost every goddess born near Wexford was assembled and awaiting my next move. So large an audience could also keep Cate in check, at the risk of exposing our relation to those present. Though far from a permanent solution, it would at least buy me some additional time to figure out how to outwit my great-grandparents yet again.

  Pushing my fear down, I straightened my back and stepped farther into the room with Ailish beside me. Tom and Sean stood to greet us, and I stopped a long stride shy of the table.

  Cate’s expression remained the picture of calm serenity. “My dear Miss Kilbrid. What a surprise meeting you so far from London.” A bit of Irish brogue laced her genteel English accent in clear deference to her true heritage and current audience.

  “And you, Lady Dinley.” My eyes darted to Tom. “Last I heard, you were involved in a misunderstanding with the Duke of Norland. I hope you were able to leave London on amicable terms.”

  Tom grunted a Gaelic oath under his breath. Cate merely laughed and waved off my concern. “Nothing more than a trifle, my dear. Lucy Goodwin sends you her love.”

  I swallowed my guilt for abandoning the woman. “How does she fare?”

  “Tolerably well, considering the circumstances. I left her in Sophie’s capable hands.” Cate turned her gaze on Ailish, and for the first time since entering the room, I saw the sli
ghtest crease in her delicate brow.

  Towering well over six feet, Tom also stared at her, though with little effort to conceal his disapproval. They know... Without the benefit of touch, they had somehow sensed Cailleach’s blood in her.

  A soft whimper sounded at my side, and a boot heel scraped over the floor as Ailish shuffled back a step. If not for the guaranteed pain, I would have taken her hand in a show of support. I settled for a reassuring smile, only to see that she had turned red as a cooked lobster since entering the room. And no wonder, being in such close proximity to Brigid’s oldest and strongest descendants. She looked so miserable, I thought to suggest she go straight upstairs to await supper, but Cate spoke first.

  “Will you introduce your companion, Miss Kilbrid? She reminds me of someone I’ve not seen for many years.”

  “Of course,” I stuttered, trying to regain my composure. “This is my friend, Miss Ailish O’Bearra.”

  At the name, Cate’s smile turned knowing. “Pleased to meet you, Miss O’Bearra. Have you known Miss Kilbrid long?”

  Ailish shuffled her feet again. “We’ve been traveling together since the Sea Witch sailed from Bristol, milady.”

  “I see,” Cate said, in such a way I truly wondered what she did see. “Would you care to join us for supper?” She waved a hand at the empty seat across from Marin.

  “Not tonight, ma’am, I...it’s...” Ailish stumbled over the words.

  “Too hot?” Cate asked in a kind voice.

  Ailish nodded furiously. “That’s it, ma’am. No offense to you, but I’ll be having me supper upstairs.”

  “No offense taken, though I would like to speak to you later. Perhaps outside where it’s cooler.”

  “I’d like that ma’am.” Ailish darted a sideways look at me. “Best I run along afore I’m cooked through. I’ll wait for you in the room, Selah.” She bobbed a curtsey at Cate, and then dashed out of sight, abandoning me to the wolves.

  Now I was alone. Silence settled in her place, and my shoulders threatened to droop under the weight of so many hard stares. Clearing my throat, I jumped straight to the point. “You and Tom were right about Carmen.”

  Tom crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Figured as much, which is why we told you to stay in London.” His Irish brogue was even thicker than Cate’s.

  I crossed my arms to match his stance, lifting my chin for added defiance. “I’m afraid that wasn’t your choice to make, Mr. Faber, no matter how much you may have thought otherwise.”

  A grunt came from Sean. “He was only trying to keep you safe, Selah. You can hardly fault a man for that.”

  My head jerked in his direction. “Don’t even start with me, brother, for I’ll not listen to someone who runs at the first sign of trouble.”

  Marin shot up with such force, the table moved several inches toward Cate. “Hold your tongue, lass. No one will be accusing me Sean o’ cowardice, sister or no.”

  I fisted my hands against my ribs to keep from swatting her hand away. “And who are you to tell me what I’m allowed to say?”

  “His wife, you hothead, and don’t you be forgetting it.”

  My mouth fell open, and all I could do was gape at her.

  A chair scraped over the floor, and the next thing I knew, Cate stood beside me with a hand on my shoulder. When warmth infused my skin, I was too shocked to pull away from her calming touch.

  I looked at Sean and saw a dark-haired stranger. “You...you got married?”

  He nodded but offered nothing more than a guilty look.

  My gaze returned to Marin, to the dark auburn hair secured in a messy knot. Understanding came in an instant. Cate hadn’t been in the garden with Dr. Gillman, as I’d made myself believe in Bristol. It had been Sean, accompanied by his wife.

  His wife!

  More warmth flowed into my shoulder, calming my nerves, though it did nothing for the pain in my heart. “Well, I guess if you couldn’t bother to tell me you were alive, I shouldn’t have expected a marriage announcement.”

  The guilt intensified in his face, and even Marin had the good grace to appear somewhat discomfited.

  Cate released her hold, and only then did I collect my senses to recall the risk of direct contact. I stepped to the side, not completely out of reach, but enough to send a message that I preferred some distance.

  “Marin and Sean,” Cate said. “Would you be so kind as to take your seats?”

  They obliged, though grudgingly by their expressions. Tom sat as well.

  “Now with as much fun as it is to catch up, there are other issues that need our immediate attention.” Cate looked at me. “What have you learned about Carmen?”

  “She’s Deri’s mother like you thought.”

  “What else?”

  “Deidre thinks she’s trying to break the curse that’s kept her imprisoned so she can finish what her family started all those years ago.”

  “Who’s Deidre?” Tom asked.

  “Deri’s stepmother. She lives in a cottage about an hour’s ride from here.”

  “How did you find her?”

  “Is she in league with the wretch?”

  Cate and Tom spoke at once, one question atop the other.

  “Ailish found her and no, Deidre despises Deri as much as we do. Maybe even more.”

  They continued to stare at me, their expressions expectant, but there was so much to share from the past five days I found myself growing tongue-tied. After a moment, Cate tipped her head toward the wall, in a subtle gesture for the two of us to move away from the table. “A word please, Selah.”

  I eyed her suspiciously and edged back another step. “In the mood for some planting?” I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear.

  A sardonic smile pulled at her lips. “Is that what’s got you in a dither? I wondered why you kept moving away.”

  “Do you blame me? It’s no secret that you don’t want me here, and I prefer to make my own choices rather than be coerced into obedience.”

  We kept our voices low, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Marin leaning closer to catch what we were saying.

  Cate sighed. “I only desire a little more privacy. We won’t leave the room, and you’ve more than adequate witnesses to keep me on my best behavior.”

  My mouth pressed to a thin line. “Fine,” I said after a moment. “But you’d better not try anything.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Yes, you would,” I mumbled, but followed all the same when she moved the short distance to the wall. “What do you want?”

  “Tom and I attempted to join you on your outing today, but by the time we’d changed forms and returned to the street, you were long gone.” She spoke under her breath, though there was little chance of our being overheard.

  “I realized the connection right before we came in here.”

  “Then perhaps you also understand that we’re wasting valuable time here.” She darted a look at my forehead. “Will you allow me to look at your thoughts? It will be quicker and far more accurate than a verbal recounting. I can then relay the information to Tiarnach in a similar manner.”

  I glanced at my great-grandfather. Tight worry lines marred his face as he watched us. “How do I know you won’t try to put ideas in my head or compel me to return to England?”

  “As much as I wish otherwise, I give you my word not to interfere with your agency.”

  Several long seconds passed. “I don’t know.”

  “Let me remind you that while we’re here arguing, your best friend is in the hands of a lunatic.”

  My grandmother knew just where to strike. “Very well. You should probably go back to when I first left London. A lot has happened since then.”

  Cate nodded, and having no need to hide the int
rusion, she sent another flood of warmth into my shoulder. It traveled up my neck into my head where it blossomed inside my skull.

  Half a minute passed when her brows rose in surprise. “My, my,” she breathed. “You have been busy.”

  I didn’t say anything, just shifted my gaze to the table, where Sean had placed a hand over Marin’s. They watched us, no doubt confused by our odd behavior. A smug smile quirked on my lips from the shock they would experience upon discovering their relationship to Lady Dinley and Mr. Faber. It would serve them right for what they’d done. Or not done, in their case, thus keeping me in the dark all those years.

  Tom took a long drink from his tankard. The other men continued to watch us as well, four at the table and two at the fireplace, until two serving girls arrived with trays laden with food.

  Cate’s hand lingered on my shoulder after the warmth faded from my head. “Are you certain Brigid’s knife was stolen?”

  “I’ve searched my saddlebags, and it’s nowhere to be found. All I can guess is that one of the sailors took it while we supped with Captain Lynch.”

  Her disappointment was evident. “Do you think Miss O’Bearra may have recognized its importance and tossed it overboard when she took the stone?”

  I considered the question. “If she had, she would have told me by now.”

  Cate nodded. “Her grandmother was the same. I’m pleased to see the family trait has continued.”

  “Is that why you were kind to her?”

  “A small part, I guess, though mostly because I detected no guile in her countenance. You were wise to trust her.” A flicker of annoyance crossed her face. “Lord Stroud, on the other hand, has yet to prove his merit and should not have been given my true identity.”

  “Justine told him first.” I sounded like a petulant child.

  “Your aunt may have given up her own identity to save you, but she would never have revealed mine to anyone outside the family.”