Ascent: Book 3 of the Scorched Trilogy
Page 12
Again, I saw Áine and Connall. They looked slightly older, and I wondered how long they’d been traveling across the country, trying to hide the lia fáil. It wasn’t like they had cars and planes to zip them across the country. Before we even had the chance to inspect anything close up, the feeling of falling struck me, and my arms flailed as I tried to grab at anything to stop the sensation.
An abrupt oomph was forced from my chest when my back hit the ground. I couldn't tell if we really had fallen, or if it was the work of the magic propelling us from place to place. Whatever the hell happened, it was messed up, and I was feeling the aftereffects of it. Turning my head, I saw that Munro was still right next to me, as if we’d never moved off the blanket. He slowly turned his head and groaned, like it hurt to move even that little bit.
“Well, that was interesting.” His voice sounded gritty like he needed a drink of water. My own throat burned with thirst, and I was dying to drink about a gallon of water.
Neither one of us attempted to get up. We just laid there like someone had knocked us out and it was too hard to move.
“Let’s get back to the others,” I rasped out, “and drink a gallon of water.”
Munro grunted and stood with unsteady legs. He held out his hand to help me up. And my sorry butt needed the boost. Who knew magical memory walks would be so exhausting.
Chapter 13
Everyone was awake and waiting for us when we got back to Estell’s cottage. Whatever the hell had been in that potion was lingering in my system, making me feel like I was a little stoned. And hungover. Or some awful combination of both. At least I wasn’t seeing colors streak across my vision any longer, but there was an overall feeling of numbness in my body. Except for my stomach, which growled loudly to emphasize that it wanted to be fed. Jesus, was there weed in that potion?
The television was still on in the corner, and Lola was pacing in front of it while everyone else sat scattered around the room. They were all showing their nervousness and unease through various ticks and tells. Mari was biting her nails while Butch’s knee was swinging back and forth in an endless shake. Estell was sipping her tea and Theo… well, Theo looked like he was still asleep.
A glance at the television showed a worried looking newscaster before a map was placed on screen, plotting cities that formed an arc as a line was drawn, connecting the points. Munro’s nostrils flared, and he stiffened beside me. “Is it her?”
There was no need to define who the “her” was. We all knew. Butch, who was sitting on the couch, looked relaxed except for his swinging knee. But when he responded, the anger in his voice betrayed his posture.
“It’s her.” His eyes didn’t leave the television until Munro and I came around the front of the couch so that we were facing everyone.
“Did you figure anything out?” Ryan asked. He was drinking a mug of something, and I hoped it wasn’t coffee because his leg was bouncing so fast I wondered if he was already on his second pot.
“It worked.” I smiled tightly at Mari to let her know her potion had done the trick. Mostly. “Kind of.”
“Kind of, meaning what?” Lola asked, pulling her hair out of her tight ponytail and running her fingers through her hair with a tired groan. It was like she could only loosen up for a moment or else all hell would break loose. Because she didn’t leave her hair down but swept it back up quickly in her normal tight ponytail.
“The spell allowed us to see flashes of things, and I believe we know where the missing lia fáil are hidden.”
I looked up at Munro, seeing that his eyes looked a little glazed, and I wondered if the potion had messed him up as much as me. His arm shifted around my back, and he rested his hand so low on my hip that it was almost on my butt. Between his dazed look and his roaming hand I thought he might be feeling a little drunkish-stoned too. I kept my eyes very purposefully away from Estell’s because I did not need his grandma giving me any kind of censuring look. Instead, I kept them laser focused on Munro.
“Did you recognize the places?”
His eyes shifted down to me, and his warm fingers dug into my lower back. I almost groaned because the pressure felt so good, but this was not the time nor the place. “I did.”
I tore my gaze away from him and turned back to the room as Munro detailed what we’d seen, “It’s as we thought. That they are at the four points of fairy. The spear is at dolmen at Poulnabrone and the cauldron at the wishing steps at Blarney Castle.”
I ventured a look at Estell, and her face was thoughtful but serious as she nodded her head like this confirmed what she’d suspected all along.
“Sorry, how’s that now?” Theo asked, sounding confused. It looked like he was finally awake. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll have to split up to get to both places without wasting any time,” Estell said, and Theo looked exasperated, like hello, anyone want to answer my question. I pulled a face and shrugged at him to tell him I had no idea, and he rolled his eyes.
“What about defeating Cailleach?” Lola asked, much more focused than Theo.
I shook my head. “We didn’t see anything. The memories didn’t show us how they put her in the ground. It just flashed to where they hid the lia fáil.”
“And what, we’re going to waste our time trying to find ancient relics when we have no idea how to use them? Do you at least have some idea of how we’re supposed to find these lia fáil once we get to the spots?”
The more questions Lola asked, the more I felt like our memory walk had been a complete failure. There was so much we hadn’t learned, so much that was still left up in the air that, what, we were just supposed to guess our way through? Probably not the ideal situation to guestimate how we were supposed to handle things.
Munro outright ignored Lola and turned to Ryan. “How well do you know Roark?”
Ryan’s lips turned down in confusion. “Munro, you’ve known Roark for most of your life. What are you asking?” His question held genuine confusion, and I started gnawing on my lip nervously. Had what we’d seen in the memory been real? Maybe we’d mistaken the man. Maybe he really was Roark’s distant relative. Maybe the memory wasn’t real. But if that was the case, then how could we trust any of the things we’d seen? Ugh, my head hurt.
“Yes, but how did you meet Roark?” Munro’s gaze was level and serious as he stared at his uncle.
Ryan’s eyes flickered down, looking like he was searching for a memory. His lips parted and then closed, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he continued to search for and fail to grasp the thought. Surprise lit his face as he looked back at Munro, shaking his head.
“I don’t remember.” Ryan turned to look at Estell. “I don’t remember. Do you remember when I met him?”
Estell shook her head with a tight shake, pursing her lips together, but not saying a thing.
“Now that we’ve established everyone has shitty memories, can you tell us why we are talking about that hulk of a dude? Is he going to kill us or something?” Theo asked, looking at everyone with his brows raised.
“Language, Theo,” Mari said, but there was little fire behind the words as her contemplative face told me she was trying to figure out the same thing as Theo.
“He was in one of the memories,” I replied, filling them in on what little we did know.
“You had recent memories too?” Mari asked, trying to make sense of what we were telling them. You and me both, Mari.
“No, he was in one of Áine’s memories,” Munro stated blandly, although I knew he was frustrated that no one had any idea about Roark’s history, despite Ryan having known him most of his life.
“That’s not possible. Are you sure it wasn’t just someone who looked like him?” Ryan scratched at his stubbly jaw. Everyone in the house needed a good shave. Well, the guys at least and probably my legs too if I was being honest.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure it was him,” I said, “or else his genes are magic, because this dude was his twin.”
After their confirmation, Butch continued, “What is critical right now, is that we find the lia fáil and figure out how to stop more of this from happening.”
He was pointing toward the television, and I could see the scroll of a twenty-four hours news station listing off the names of cities that had been impacted by what they were calling a massive and sweeping illness. There were tips for protecting your health, like wearing a mask, carrying hand sanitizer, avoiding public places if at all possible, and I could only shake my head as fear and disgust bubbled in my stomach.
There was no amount of handwashing that was going to stop this monster. Stopping her was on the shoulders of our ridiculous band of misfits. In the movies, it was always people who had crazy kung-fu moves, enhanced strength, speed, super intelligence. I felt like a fraud. I was smart, but not, like, insanely so. I’d taken a kickboxing class once. Once. And it kicked my ass so bad I could hardly walk down the stairs the next day. I’d never won a foot race, and my arms got noodly if I carried too many groceries into the house at the same time. My magic was slightly more willing to do what I asked it to now, but I still didn’t know what I was capable of. Ultimately, I had no idea how I was supposed to use it to stop an ancient, insane witch who was infected with addictive dark magic.
I must have made a sound or maybe my face was just too transparent because Munro squeezed my side and leaned down to whisper against my ear. His warm breath tickled my neck and goosebumps rippled over my skin as he spoke, “We’ve got this.”
Tipping my head back to look at him, I let all my vulnerability shine through, not wanting to hide the fear and worry that I was feeling from him. “How?”
Munro’s gaze was steady and sure, his gray eyes so focused on me that the rest of the world faded to just background noise. “I feel it in my bones, with everything within me. Together, you and I can do anything.”
My heart thumped almost painfully, threatening to beat right out of my chest and jump into Munro’s palms. Damn, he had my heart, and I would follow wherever he decided to take us. My hand grasped at the fabric of his shirt. I needed to feel the texture of the threads to know I wasn’t dreaming. That he was a real, tangible thing, standing in front of me, telling me that we were a team.
“Okay,” I said on a ragged exhale.
Once Munro was assured that I accepted his words, he turned back to everyone else. “We should plan to leave first thing in the morning.”
The rest of the night was spent planning our trips. Everyone, besides me and Theo, tossed out thoughts about what would need to be done to retrieve the lia fáil. In the end, there was no consensus except that none of us had a clue. We were counting on the fact that Áine wanted us to find relics and whatever spell she’d used to protect them would also allow us to retrieve them.
Munro’s gran made us dinner with the help of Ryan and Butch. It was so delicious that I ate until I wasn’t sure I’d be able to move until morning time. It was all oddly lulling and provided a false sense of safety that was, frankly, going to make it very hard to leave in the morning. Estell’s little cottage was homey and comfortable and with all of us there together it was like we were in our own safe bubble that couldn’t be punctured. But even as we laughed and told stories over our meal, I knew it was an illusion.
After dinner everyone took advantage of the calm before the storm to relax and take a breath. Ryan and Munro were in the library with Estell, catching up. Lola and Theo were in the small sitting area, talking with their heads huddled together. Mari had gone up to bed with the declaration that she was pooped, and Butch had walked her up the stairs like it was an honor.
Butch came ambling back down the stairs a few minutes later, rubbing a weary hand across his face. He spotted me alone on the couch but headed toward the kitchen. He came back out a few minutes later carrying two glasses of water, handing me one before sitting on the chair across from me. His smile was as genuine as always and his kind eyes looked at me over the top of his glass as he took a drink. He leaned back in the chair, propping his feet up on the wooden coffee table, crossing them casually.
It struck me again how different he and Lola were. It was hard to believe they were siblings. I returned his smile but found my gaze darting over to where Lola and Theo were talking. If not for the similar shape of their eyes and mouth, I wouldn’t believe it. It was funny, because the shape of their mouths was exactly the same, but Lola’s mouth looked so different from Butch’s. Mainly because hers was always pressed into a displeased line, while his was usually wide with a grin.
My observation must have been a bit less covert than I intended, because Butch chuckled, drawing my attention back to him. “Hard to see the resemblance sometimes.”
I scrunched up my face apologetically. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. But yes. You guys are really different.”
Butch set his glass down on the side table next to his chair. He wiped his hand on his pant leg, as if water had sloshed onto it. He looked sad when his eyes glanced over at his sister. “She’s twelve years younger than me.”
I nodded and set my own glass down on the coffee table, unsure how to respond to his statement. Butch’s hand was rubbing gently over his jaw, and his eyes had taken on a faraway look as if he were reliving some old memories. They didn’t look like happy ones if the tension in his posture was any indication. Coming out of his brief stupor, Butch shifted in his seat, pulling his feet off the table and planting them on the ground as he leaned forward, picking up a carved stone knick-knack from the table that was shaped like a bird.
His voice dropped a little, probably so that Lola wouldn’t hear from the corner. “Our parents were not good people.” That sad look was back, and it broke my heart. Butch was this gentle giant of a man. The sadness in his eyes hinted at a past that hadn’t been happy. “Our dad was in and out of prison most of his life, and our mom was addicted to many things, one of them being him. She could never seem to push aside those demons. Not even for her children.”
His large fingers flipped the stone bird over and over, and he traced the etched feathers like he needed something tactile to hold onto while he spoke. He didn’t seem to want or need my words, so I sat silently, waiting for him to continue.
“When I was eighteen, I moved out and took Lola with me. By then, our dad was back in jail and our mom, well, I don’t think she actually realized we were gone. Not for some time at least.”
An involuntary gasp slipped out, but I quickly shut my mouth, not wanting to disrupt his story.
“My mom died of an overdose and my dad in a prison fight. They died alone. But that was how they chose to live their lives too.” He said with a sad shrug.
He stopped flipping the carving and was just staring at it now, eyes unseeing. But then he looked up at me, and there was that familiar spark of brightness that always surrounded Butch.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, noting that Lola was still preoccupied with Theo, laughing at something he’d said. Probably something idiotic. It made me smile, seeing how resilient humans can be.
Butch nodded, his own eyes noting where I was looking, and he smiled too. “It’s nice to see her happy. She doesn’t laugh much. That little turd over there is good for her.”
I laughed at his description of Theo, but a little sting of guilt over some of the not so nice thoughts I’d had about Lola came up and slapped me across the face. Seriously, when will I learn not to judge others? Butch must have sensed the direction of my thoughts because he chuckled a low rough sound that was full of mirth.
“Oh, you’re not the only one that’s wanted to give Lola a nice little love tap. She has a wa
y of setting people on edge.” He released a hefty sigh and picked his glass of water back up.
“I wanted to tell you all that, Annie-girl, because I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?” My brows furrowed in confusion. “For what?”
Butch’s finger traced over his jaw again, and I saw a faint scar that I hadn’t noticed before. “We’ve all had some really tough stuff happen in our pasts. Some more recently than others. But for whatever reason, you’ve brought us all together, bringing all of our lives colliding together like I think they were always meant to. Family is a funny thing. Before all of this, it was just me and Lols, but now, I have a feeling we’ll all be better off for knowing one another.”
Butch offered me another one of those golden smiles and stood, patting my head with his huge palm as he left me to consider his words.
Chapter 14
Morning came much too quickly. I wondered if I’d ever feel like I was caught up on sleep or if I would have a permanent sleep deficit. Maybe I’d be tired for the rest of my life. God, I hoped not. The first chance I got, I was going to take a nap. For an entire day. Maybe two.
After some discussion the night before, it had been decided that we would split up in order to get to the lia fáil as quickly as possible. Munro and I were heading to the wishing stairs in Blarney while Mari, Butch, Theo and Lola were going to Poulnabrone. Estell was opting out of our adventure, insisting that she’d just slow us down, and Ryan had taken off almost as soon as our conversation had finished. He’d wanted to go visit an old friend to see if he could find out anything about Roark.
The plan was to meet up at Roark’s after we made it back from our respective road trips. Munro and I were headed south while the others were going west. I had no idea where Ryan had taken off to. He’d been kind of cagey about the whole thing.