by Dee, Bonnie
“I was just concerned that we might run out of water.”
Connelly laughed. “The water from that well has been around longer than anyone in town can remember. All we did was modernize the pump when we opened the inn and hooked it up to the generator.”
“Then there’s no need to worry, is there?”
“See for yourself. It’s just to the right of the kitchen garden.”
The well had been built to look like an old-fashioned wishing well. Brigid knelt at its base and pressed her hands to the ground, feeling the damp earth between her fingers. She closed her eyes, concentrated on the moisture hidden below the surface and increased the liquid’s purity. She rose, brushed off her knees and went back to do what she could for Ba’al’s victims.
* * * *
“Kawsantower, Clark, we need your car.”
Ethan and Gabe caught their breath. They’d just returned to the clinic after assisting with digging out more people trapped in the smoldering rubble of their homes. The gentle rain that had been falling for the last while had stopped any additional fires and masked the tears that ran unheeded down the rescuers’ faces as they unearthed more and more bodies.
“What’s up?” Gabe asked.
“They need more supplies over by the inn. We need the ambulance and the few trucks still running to transport people. Your car has a deep boot; it’ll do for the job.” Utter exhaustion in the male nurse’s voice hoarsened it. A big, burly fellow, his smoke-filled whisper could barely be heard. “Seems they actually have some people improving over there. They can use the supplies better than we can.” He nodded to the row of beds with sheet-covered bodies. “They haven’t lost anyone in over an hour. Grab what you can from that stack of supplies and give Dr. O’Neill my prayers.”
Ethan and Gabe quickly loaded up the car and slowly made their way through the debris-littered streets toward Connelly’s. Hunting hounds, pressed into service by desperate folks refusing to give up until everyone in town had been accounted for, continued to discover dead bodies and people scarcely breathing. The two men passed the town ambulance being loaded up. Two trucks were piled with charred bodies, their genders unrecognizable. Sergeant Macklin directed the rescue effort with a calm dispatch that engendered unfeigned respect in the men. They watched him comfort a couple cradling two small, limp bundles in their arms.
Ethan smashed his fist against the wheel and swore under his breath.
“Take it easy!” Gabe touched his shoulder. “Let’s get these supplies over to the inn. No need wasting your breath cursing what can’t be changed.” Gabe paused. “You know, I never thought that toad Macklin had it in him.”
“Aye. And you’re right. It’s too late now to curse Nolen.”
They parked in front of the inn, stacked the cartons on a couple of dollies left outside by the lobby door, wheeled them into the dining room and stopped dead in their tracks. The room was hushed; the screams of the burn victims muted. A sense of hope filled the air.
Ethan jabbed Gabe’s ribs and whispered, “Do you see Brigid anywhere?”
Gabe scanned the room. “Over there by the kitchen.”
“She looks exhausted.” Ethan cursed. “Enough of this. She’s burning herself out. Let’s deliver these supplies and get her out of here.”
“Agreed.”
A redheaded hurricane rushed over to them and grabbed their arms. “Thank God, you’ve come. I’m Dr. O’Neill. We’ve had a miracle here. Hell, a roomful of miracles and we need these supplies more than ever.” The woman’s face glowed with satisfaction. “People are getting better! The deaths have stopped. We haven’t had any additional broken blisters and some of the milder cases have actually healed. Off-load in the kitchen. They’ll know how everything should be distributed.” She pointed them in the right direction, grabbed a box of IVs and headed away.
Brigid looked up as they approached, but continued to tenderly bathe the face and hands of the victim she’d been assigned. Finished, she took the basin and walked to the kitchen where Gabe and Ethan waited for her. She poured out the water, set down the bowl and shut her eyes. Gabe embraced her and she leaned against him, drawing comfort from his presence. She spoke so softly they could barely hear her.
“I enhanced the healing ability of the well water.” She smiled. “The liquid’s now a potent balm. The townspeople will heal. No more deaths.” She drew a deep breath of satisfaction. Her voice was a promise. “Ba’al will have no more sacrifices from this town.”
“Then we need to find Nolen and figure out his plans,” Ethan said. “Let’s leave and check out the manor house.”
“And hope he’s still there, nursing his wounds.” Brigid ran a weary hand through her hair then placed her hands on the small of her back and stretched. She closed her eyes and rolled her head in a tight circle to get the stiffness out. She didn’t see the avid looks of both Ethan and Gabe as she arched her body. She opened her eyes as they shuttered theirs, trying to contain the desire that seemed harder for them to control.
“We’ll get the car and drive over to his house; we should make good time since the road leading there is clear,” she said. “And Dr. O’Neill told me the two main roads out of town are blocked.”
Gabe shook his head. “He’s got to have another way out. Ask the doctor if we can take a break so we can make sure that the rat hasn’t left his hole.”
Gaining the doctor’s assurance that they’d be fine without them, they headed back to the cottage.
* * * *
“Take the spear and the harp,” Brigid said as she entered the cottage and went into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face and toweled off most of the grime. The inn’s generator obviously kept the pump going in the cottages, too.
“Wouldn’t think of leaving them. We hid them in the bedroom closet.” Gabe went into the bedroom to retrieve the weapons and gave them to Ethan.
“I’ll stow them away in the boot of the car. And get a move on, please. We’ve no time to hang around here.” Ethan slammed the door behind him, evidently not wanting to witness any tender love scenes. Though why Ethan might think there would be time for any lingering moments escaped Gabe.
Gabe gazed at the door, shrugged and continued to pack. He looked up as Brigid came out of the john, her hair damp around her neck and brow.
“Pack everything, Bridge. Who knows if or when we’ll be coming back.” He picked up a small, slim case and patted it with affection. “I’ve missed my laptop.”
Brigid started shoving clothes into the luggage, dumping the contents of the drawers and closet and jamming as much as she could inside. “I was wondering about that. This is the longest you’ve gone without it.”
“Just shows that I haven’t been thinking that straight. I’ll need it to tap into KOTE's resources.”
The slamming of the door heralded Ethan’s return. “You done? Then let’s be off.”
* * * *
“Are you ready, Gortham?” Nolen growled with frustration as he stood beside the SUV, crammed in the back with the crated up hellhounds.
“Aye. I’m glad I remembered the Stone Circle and the Grove. We couldn’t leave them as they stand, even damaged as they are.”
“Yes, yes, very commendable, but it’s set us back yet again. We can’t speed down that narrow bog road around the outskirts of the town, even if the few town folk who know of it and remember it’s there think it overgrown with debris and unpaved. They can have no way of knowing I had that taken care of.” He frowned. “But that’s no reason to slack off. Hurry, man!”
Gortham got behind the wheel and drove away from the mansion. A sharp veer to the right took them away from the main road to town. Seated behind him, Nolen finally relaxed. Everything was now in place. There would be no further glitches.
* * * *
“Why didn’t he put up barriers along the way?” Brigid gazed at the undisturbed road in disbelief.
“Too egotistical? The bastard certainly didn’t do much to conceal any
thing when I was in his study. You were the one who told me how condescending he is, Bridge.”
“You can’t believe he’s just twiddling his thumbs waiting for us.” Ethan peered into the darkened woods lining the road, thanking their lucky stars for the light of the full moon. “He’s probably long gone.”
“To where? The road out of town is blocked and Bridge damn near killed him. Dagda told us he’s been restricted to this area for thousands of years. We fucked up his plans. He’s probably making excuses and begging Ba’al for mercy.”
Brigid turned around and looked at Ethan in the backseat. “Ba’al has until sunrise to punish him, then he loses strength.”
Gabe took his attention away from the road. “How do you know this?”
She shrugged. “Just something I remembered Ethan telling us.”
“Me?” Ethan raised startled eyes to her.
She nodded. “You overheard Nolen urging Mil to push the battle date forward because once the first of Bealtine dawned, Ba’al’s power started to dwindle until the mid-point of the year when it began to grow again.”
Ethan concentrated. “Aye. I’m starting to remember. It’s the reason why Nolen’s plans were so carefully timed. There’s one moment when Ba’al is the most vulnerable and one when he’s the most powerful.” He smiled. “Once the sun rises, Nolen will also be defenseless.”
“If we can find him and trap him,” Brigid reminded him.
“We’re nearing the house. I’ll park the car a little away from the front door.”
They moved cautiously toward the front of the house, noting that the lights had been left on in the rooms and the drapes left open.
“It looks empty,” Brigid said. “Damn, we must have missed him. I can’t believe he drove straight through town.”
“Aye, I didn’t think he would either. Could Nolen have put some sort of spell to conceal his vehicle?”
Gabe shook his head. “I doubt it. Look, let me do a little reconnaissance here.” He smiled. “I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve.”
He fingered his watch and it emitted a series of beeps. Holding his arm straight out, he swept the area around the house from left to right. As his hand moved, the sounds varied. “No one’s inside. There’s some sort of security system in place. Knowing Nolen as we do now, I figure he’s got some type of destruct mechanism set up.”
Ethan grabbed Gabe’s hand and examined the watch. “That’s some sort of gadget you’ve got there,” he said, his tone filled with the longing that all men had for fancy toys.
“I hate to break up this love affair you have going with Gabe’s little toy, but when will what’s going to happen, happen?”
“The only thing I know is that we’ve got ten minutes before whatever it is goes off and nothing has been rigged to blow if we open the front door.”
“Good, then let’s get cracking.” Ethan boldly opened the door and walked into the empty mansion. “Do you think he left anything behind that could be of some help in figuring out where he’s gone and what his plans are?”
Gabe shrugged. “We have to take a look. Let’s check the library first. That’s our best bet.”
Nolen’s study was empty, stripped of most of the costly objects he’d had on display. Gabe opened the lid of the round table. The ceremonial tools had been removed. He ripped open the drawers. None of the passports were left. The PC monitor’s screen sat blank, mocking them. Ethan sighed. “Not worth turning on. He probably wiped the hard drive.”
Gabe’s grin was smug. “Ah, but we have ways of making those hard drives talk. Let me disconnect it.” His watch beeped. “Shit.” He pulled the PC’s plug from the wall, ripped off the wires from the tower and grabbed it. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
They ran as if the hellhounds chased them, and raced toward the car.
The house exploded, the gigantic force knocking them to the ground. Debris rained down upon them as they neared the car. A second explosion rent the air and the grove of trees behind the house splintered apart, sharp shards of wood like battle spears piercing the clouds. Ethan launched his body toward Brigid, shielding her as they fell. Gabe tripped and went flying, the PC tumbling from his hands. Yet another blast shattered their ears as the Stone Circle pulverized, rock bullets zigzagging like random potshots.
Finally, a calm settled upon the area, though a haze of fine wood and stone particles hung over everything.
Gabe dragged himself on his belly toward Brigid and Ethan.
Blood mingled with the powdered stone and sawdust that covered Ethan. His clothes were shredded. Blood soaked the dirt by his head. A sharp, foot-long splinter pierced his right shoulder, but at least he was still breathing. Barely. Brigid lay still beneath him, her arms scratched and bleeding.
Gabe rose to his hands and knees beside her, feeling desperately for a pulse. She couldn’t be dead. There. He felt it, thin and thready, but there and getting stronger by the moment. He shifted her carefully from under Ethan’s comatose body. She whimpered as he rolled her over and drew her up into his lap.
Brigid moaned and raised her head. “Is Ethan…”
“He’s alive, but we’ve got to get him back to the cave. It’s closer and his wounds are going to need more than what traditional medicine can give him.”
She took a deep shuddering breath. “If Ethan dies…”
“He won’t. We won’t let him. Let me see if I can pull that shaft of wood from his shoulder.” He lifted her from his lap and moved over to Ethan.
“No! It may make the bleeding even worse.”
Gabe paused and ran his hands through his hair. “You’re right. That’s one hell of a chunk of wood. Damn! It’s deeply embedded in his shoulder’s fleshy part. I’m worried about that head wound, too.”
“He’s so … still.” Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over as she took in Ethan’s condition.
Gabe rose and brushed off his hands. “We’ll have to carry him on a stretcher. Let me see what’s in the car. Maybe I can come up with something.”
He shot a look at the battered PC tower as he went over to the car. If he were lucky, it would take him only a couple of minutes to get at the hard drive and remove it. He opened his case in the boot of the car, grabbed his travel kit, knelt by the damaged tower and opened it. He took a moment to assess the set up, then a twist, a turn and a tug—the hard drive was freed and safely stowed away, wrapped up in a clean hanky in his pocket.
There were only a few other things they needed to take with them to the cave—Ceol Mhor, his laptop and the spear.
In the boot he had noted an emergency kit and a rough woolen blanket. It could serve as the base for a stretcher. He could use the spear for one support and a branch for the other. He’d carry the harp, and Brigid, the laptop. He rummaged in the boot, praying to find one more necessary piece of equipment.
Bingo! God bless duct tape and the wise person who had included it in the emergency kit.
“Bridge, help me find a long enough branch for one side of a stretcher. We’ll attach the blanket with the tape I found in the car’s emergency kit to a branch and my spear. I’ll carry Ethan’s harp and you take my laptop.”
Brigid’s keen eyes quickly found a suitable length of wood and the stretcher was put together with prayers and a whole lot of tape.
Gabe eyed their work with mixed feelings. “It’ll have to do.” He turned to her. “One more thing and then we’ll get going.”
She looked up from where she knelt by Ethan’s head. Using some bottled water and a chamois from the car, she’d been cleaning his head wound, bathing away the blood and grime. Although it wasn’t deep, it was the type of wound that bled a great deal and a small bump was forming. She’d torn the cloth in two and now had fashioned a temporary bandage. “What else?”
“I’m going to try and break off some of the wood. He’ll rest easier if it’s not moving around as we carry him. You’ll have to help me and hold him down while I do it.”
Sh
e nodded and shifted so that Ethan was lying flat on the ground, and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Go ahead.”
Gabe took a deep breath and exerted all his strength, breaking off all but about four inches.
Ethan cried out, then lapsed back into unconsciousness.
Tears ran down Brigid’s face as she sought reassurance from Gabe. “We’ll save him, right?”
“We’ll save him.”
They slid Ethan onto the stretcher and set off toward the cave.
* * * *
“Help us!”
Strong, willing hands rushed to their aid and caught up the stretcher as Gabe and Brigid appeared in the cave with Ethan’s limp form. Gabe set down the harp and directed Cull and Torc as they moved farther inside. “Gently. He’s still got a shard of wood in him. Lay him down on the bed.”
Torc and Cull set him down as if they were handling a baby.
Brigid moved over to him, pushing his hair from his forehead. The short, oaken stake thrust up from his shoulder and the cloth beneath his head was sodden red with blood. She gazed about briefly, looking for the twelve warriors. “Alaran and the others?”
Dagda shook his head. “In the Warrior Cave. They feel most comfortable there.” He sighed. “Their time grows short. They will need to decide whether or not to let go of their existence on this plane or join their comrades below.”
She sighed. “I wanted to see them one last time.” She turned back to Ethan, pointing to the wicked piece of wood. “We didn’t want to pull it out; the bleeding couldn’t be stanched easily and there was no way we could take care of him at Nolen’s.”
“The wood must be pulled out. The wound needs to be bathed before it becomes infected,” Dagda said.
She nodded and looked around. “Give me a dagger.”
A gleaming, sharp blade appeared in Torc’s rough, hairy hand.
“Thank you.” She cut off the remains of Ethan’s shirt, tossing the scraps to the ground. “And I need to take care of his head wound, too. Father, is there water nearby?”
“Aye. A small underground stream. I keep a supply of water from it here in that keg in the corner.”