Part 11 (1/2)
”When?”
Joe shrugs. ”Pwil and I aren't exactly on speaking terms. He's been below for a very long time. I imagine he'll do it as soon as he thinks you're ready.”
”Me?”
”You and the other bandia. He won't set up a fight he doesn't think he can win.”
Braden grins at me from across the pub. He lifts a gla.s.s of dark beer toward me in a silent toast.
I turn back to Joe. ”Can you get me a meeting with Rush?”
He's silent for a long minute before he answers. ”I'll see. How about you? You okay?”
”I'm really not.”
Joe stubs the unlit cigarette in a small planter next to us. ”Then G.o.d help us all.”
TWENTY-ONE.
Everything is quiet back at Austin's. It's strange to move through the giant halls without seeing anyone. I hear a footstep behind and spin around, but there's nothing there. Nothing behind me, and no magic to grasp. Every little sound sets me on edge. It's one thing to be hunted by a bunch of demiG.o.ds when you're capable of taking them out in your own right. It's another to be powerless prey.
Mick took me to a library on the first day here when I got the grand tour, but I can't for the life of me remember where it is. I search through both wings on the main level, but I don't find it. I head upstairs, finding another drawing room, and two empty bedrooms. I'm nearing my own room, when I notice a light on under a large door across the hall. I knock, but no one answers.
I try the door, and it turns. I push the door open just wide enough to stick my head through. The bedroom is huge, at least twice the size of mine. A king size canopy rests against one wall, covered in brown drapes that match a plush duvet. An L-shaped leather couch and giant flat screen television sit off to the right. The limestone floor is covered with a large brown faux fur rug. At least I a.s.sume it's faux. It's too big to be real. A stone hall disappears through an arch in the opposite wall.
”Mikel?” Austin says from beyond the alcove. ”Is that you?”
”It's me.”
Austin comes through the archway in jeans and a thick cabled sweater, the wool dyed a deep, rich blue. ”Looking for me?”
”The library, actually.”
”In my bedroom?” He raises his eyebrows, and I'm all too aware of how this must look.
”Right.” I back out of the door and into the hall.
”Brianna.”
I poke my head back in. ”Yes?”
”I shouldn't have left you at the gateway. Liam could have- I'm sorry.” His brows furrow, but he doesn't look angry. At least not with me.
”It's no big deal.” I can't stop staring at the lines on his face. I'm not used to seeing any imperfections beyond his crooked smile. I'm sure that's all it is. It's a strange thing to see a G.o.d look so imperfect. So vulnerable. The little pang in my chest is just a natural reaction to seeing someone weakened.
He leans against the wall of the alcove, but doesn't move closer. ”I'm not as patient as I used to be.”
”You were never patient.” That's one thing that hasn't changed.
”Was I always so jealous?”
”I don't know. Are you jealous now?” Of what? I have nothing to be jealous of. No family. No friends. No Blake.
”Eternally.”
”Ha.”
”Ironic, I know. But some things survive even death. Especially emotions. They're tied to the soul. You humans can't ever seem to let them go.”
”Well, you did keep trying to get me to kill Blake until you finally succeeded.” I say the words matter-of-factly, without my usual venom.
”It's definitely worse. Now I want to do it myself.” He takes a breath and I realize that the lines in his face aren't the only thing that's changed. There's emotion behind his eyes, not jealousy exactly, but something sadder.
”Austin?”
He closes his eyes. ”I love the sound of my name on your lips.”
I let myself smile while he's not looking. Last night, when I tried to get Austin to kiss me, it had been nothing more than a twisted attempt at revenge. A way to forget the pain and inflict some of my own. But now I can't stop thinking of the way he felt over me, his teeth grazing my neck. I shudder and close my eyes, trying to block the image from my mind.
”What are you looking for?” Austin asks.
I focus on my reason for searching out the library. Research. ”What's the Gathering?”
”Did you see Liam?”
”Joe. And a giolla I've never seen before. He was with a guy I know from R.D.”
”One of the Sons? I never should have left you-”
”Chill. Just a guy from school who's spending his summer hiking through Europe.”
”Who just happens to be pa.s.sing through the Irish backcountry a week after the gateway opened? With a giolla?”
It does sound odd, but why not? Braden is an Irish name, it makes sense that he'd want to see the land of his ancestors. c.r.a.p. Braden is connected to Ireland. To all of this. ”If he's not a Son, what is he?”
”More trouble.”
”Killian killed the other demiG.o.d lines once he got his own power. And Blake would have tested Braden back in R.D. for the Killian gene. He's not a breeder.”
”The Seventh Daughters and the Sons of Killian are all that remain of the demiG.o.ds. But the G.o.ds weren't the only magical creatures to grace our homeland. Nor were they the only ones to suffer when the Milesians drove magic underground.”
”The giolla?”
He nods. ”The giolla have always aligned with power. They blend easily with humans since they can compel human emotions and create memories, but they prefer to surround themselves with magic. So they don't have to pretend.”
”You can use compulsion too.”
”Not like they can. The giolla can create thoughts and feelings from nothing at all, but they don't like to. I can only bring forward feelings that are already present. More of a magnification.”
That explains why Austin couldn't make me want him after I bonded with Blake. ”But Haley?” She had nearly drowned herself under Austin's power.