Part 23 (1/2)
Barrons slants him a cold look that shuts Ryodan up. I'd sacrifice my eyeteeth to perfect that look. Then again maybe that's precisely what's required: long, inhumanly sharp ones like theirs to pull it off.
”I doona ken why you permitted the woman to come. We doona risk ours in battle.” Cian's brogue is so thick it's hard to follow.
”Tell that to Colleen,” Christopher says grimly. ”She's inside.”
Drustan gives him an incredulous look. ”You let her come tonight? And she's already inside? How?”
”We need all the information we can get if we hope to rescue Christian from the Hag. These women know the Seelie nearly as well as we do, the Unseelie even better. Colleen joined up with the new sidhe-seers a week ago, to infiltrate the abbey and search their archives.”
”The new group? How?” I demand. ”She's not a sidhe-seer.”
”And you allowed this?” Cian explodes.
”Keep it down. They're going to hear us,” I warn.
”Honey, they opened the front gate,” Fade says. ”They know we're here. Trap. Remember.”
Christian's father snorts. ”Try stopping her.”
”Is she?” I press.
”What?” he snaps.
”A sidhe-seer.”
”She has other ... skills.”
”Why the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l are those Unseelie following you, la.s.s?” Drustan demands. ”At first I thought they were drawn to all of us for some reason, but the moment Barrons moves away from you, they're on you like midges. Is there something about you we should know?”
Seven male heads turn my way again.
”She said they're ghosts of the Unseelie she's killed,” Dageus says.
”Not a ghost of truth in that one,” Ryodan says dryly.
”Oh, just shut up, all of you,” I say, exasperated, moving closer to Barrons again, reclaiming a little personal s.p.a.ce.
We continue walking in silence toward the abbey.
”So, do we have a plan?” I say again after a few moments.
”Walk up to the front door and go inside,” Barrons replies.
”That's not a plan. That's a suicide mission.”
”We're a little hard to kill,” Fade says.
”Some more than others,” I say pointedly. ”I'm not so sure the Keltar get back up quite as easily as-” I bite that one off myself when all four Keltar shoot me looks of death.
Clearly, I impugned their virility, when all I was trying to do is remind my team that the other team doesn't have the same Get Out of Death Free card.
”Why did you bring her again?” Dageus says.
”Because once she gets with the plan, she's as useful as the rest of us,” Barrons says.
”It'd help if I knew what the b.l.o.o.d.y plan was,” I grumble.
”Besides, we can use her Unseelie as body s.h.i.+elds,” he adds.
Well darn, that was one I hadn't thought of.
The front door, which was once slats of wood reinforced by steel, now looms black as polished obsidian, covered with ancient runes I've seen before.
Below the abbey, in the chamber that houses Cruce.
It swings silently open.
I move forward and pause on the threshold, looking in to get the lay of the land before I inadvertently plant a foot on a mine.
Seven men march past me, boots echoing on the stone floor.
I hurry to catch up. Well, I mostly hurry. I linger a moment, absorbing the raw fearlessness of their stride, the determination to never quit that squares their shoulders, and it fortifies my resolve. I will match the bar these men set so high. They all have their inner demons. And they manage them.
I will, too.
The entry hall is large and rectangular, with a ceiling that soars to open roof rafters. On three walls, fireplaces that could serve as small bedrooms blast more heat into the already warm room.
The sofas are faded and worn, dotted with handmade pillows and crocheted throws, the floors warmed by century-old rugs, the walls hung with antique tapestries. Chairs perch near tables that hold open books and perspiring gla.s.ses of iced drinks.
The room is empty.
”Where the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l is everyone?” Dageus growls.
”Quiet. Someone's coming,” Barrons says.
Several seconds pa.s.s before I hear the sound of people approaching. I envy his preternatural senses, rue that my monster has no such benefits.
I offer benefits with which you could retire from this paltry planet and rule galaxies. You refuse them. Embrace your destiny and we will destroy the prince before we leave this world. It will be our parting gift.
Right. As if either Sinsar Dubh would leave my planet intact. Criminy, I can't even think about it without it stirring. I mutter Poe beneath my breath and watch as four women enter the room. I'm relieved to see they're ours. I sat at a table with these women not so long ago.
Leading the group is Josie, a skinny dark-eyed girl with platinum hair and goth makeup, followed by Shauna, a pet.i.te brunette with hazel eyes and a quick smile, and the twins, Clare and Sorcha MacSweeney. They are the women Kat brought to our clandestine meeting in a pub, after Rowena instructed a group of them to ambush me and try to take my spear. They failed. I accidentally killed a sidhe-seer in the process. Moira. I never forget the names of humans I've slain. I catch myself reaching protectively for my spear but stop, unwilling to invite more of the Book's unwanted commentary so near another copy of itself plus so many vulnerable humans.
”Why have you brought Unseelie inside our walls, Mac?” Shauna says grimly.
I sigh. ”I didn't. They, I-” s.h.i.+t, how do I explain this one? I blurt, ”I was trying to do a spell and it backfired and they've been stuck to me like glue ever since.” I practically roll my own eyes. It's the weakest lie I've ever heard myself tell.
Dageus gives me a look.
Ryodan laughs.