54. Declan

Chapter 54

Declan

T he door clicked shut, and I looked around.

A tall woman with silky black hair trailing down to her waist stood glaring at a parchment in her hand. Despite the tinkling of the bells, she hadn’t seemed to notice me.

And then she looked up.

Our eyes met.

I had forgotten about my eyes and their swirling magic.

She knew me.

I saw it in her gaze, the recognition, the flash of anger and hatred.

Before I could think, a wall of air blasted me into the back of the heavy wooden door.

I lost my footing and landed on my rear.

Dazed, I looked up at the woman. Venom and hatred glared back.

Then she vanished, and the crinkled parchment she held drifted to the floor.

I climbed to my feet and stared at where the woman had stood a moment before. I threw up a shield of air in case she returned, then took a couple of tentative steps forward, scanning the area.

My head swam a moment before settling.

The door squealed as it flew open, and two uniformed Constables entered with swords drawn. “Are you alright, sir? We heard the crash and thought you might be in trouble.”

I released my shield and turned to the men. “I’m fine. The shop is empty. The woman got away.”

“How?” The men glanced at each other. “We have the place surrounded. There’s nowhere for her to go.”

“Officers, would you get the High Sheriff, please. We will explain everything once he arrives,” Atikus, stepping into the shop, answered before I could say a word.

I kneeled and retrieved the parchment Irina dropped as she vanished. I held it up and turned to say something, but Atikus silenced me with a mental note. “Not until we’re alone.”

The moment the door closed behind the Constables, I stepped forward and handed the flyer to Atikus. “I’m not sure if this is relevant to finding her, but she was reading this when I walked in. I caught her crumpling it up. She looked angry . . . well, angrier than her usual pissedoffness.”

“Pissedoffness?” Atikus harrumphed, then skimmed the flyer. “The Order again. Seems like they are in the middle of everything these days. When we see the Sheriff, I will ask him to assign some men to sniff around.”

He rolled up the flyer and shoved it into his robe. “Now, tell me what happened.”

I recounted the brief encounter with the woman I presumed was Irina. When I described her hair and eyes, Atikus nodded. “That’s her. She used her magic to change her appearance back to how she looked before. If I understand the mechanics, that is akin to Illusion, and not a true transformation. She should still be inhabiting Larinda’s body, which means the physical limitations of an old woman still work to our advantage.”

“Maybe. She’s a magically enhanced old woman. She tossed me back like I was nothing.”

“Her magic is powerful, but she caught you by surprise. In a fight you knew was coming, I doubt she could do that without you having time to shield yourself.” He smoothed his beard as he thought. “Using magic takes a physical and mental toll. That is its price. Larinda’s constitution is robust, but she is still ancient. Without the magic of Rea Utu to restore her health, her body will fail.”

“You’re already planning our confrontation, aren’t you?”

Atikus nodded. “We will need to get this right when the time comes. If we can keep her contained and throwing her magic around long enough, she will wear her body out. It should be like watching a flame flutter and go out. We should then be able to banish her without her power resisting us.”

“We just have to survive her attacks long enough while keeping her contained somehow. Sounds easy enough.” I tried not to roll my eyes again. And failed.

“This was never going to be easy, but that is the best idea I have at the moment. You are welcome to come up with a better plan.”

“Oh, no. I’m a Ranger, not a tactician. I’ll be the hammer; you be the brains.”

Atikus laughed. “Finally, you recognize my mental prowess and your . . . well . . . other abilities.”

“Thanks a lot, I think.” I smirked. “Let’s go see the Sheriff.”

We made it a dozen paces out of the candle shop before a uniformed officer approached with a message from Sheriff Cribbs asking us to join him at the Palace. There were developments, and the Queen wanted us to be part of his briefing. After a short walk, we passed through the golden doors of the audience chamber and were greeted by Jess, Keelan, Cribbs, and Marks, who were all seated around the Council table.

Heavily armed guards stood everywhere.

One towered quietly along the wall behind the throne, ten paces from the next.

Four additional guards stood near the Council table, two on either side of Jess’s chair.

Keelan noticed my eyes widen as I scanned the room.

“There was an incident here at the Palace. Security has increased,” he said without explanation. His eyes were hard, and his mouth was set in a grim line.

Jess stood and greeted us, then motioned to empty seats.

“Sheriff, we should hear from Declan and Atikus. You can brief everyone on the Oliver situation after,” Jess said.

Atikus took the lead, bringing everyone up to speed on our actions at the two candle shops. I remained silent until he cocked a bushy brow, his not-so-subtle indication for me to help to fill in details. As we concluded, Atikus withdrew the flyer from his robe and handed it to Cribbs.

“This is all we have to go on at the moment. We are not even sure it is connected to anything,” Atikus said.

Cribbs glanced at the parchment and handed it to Jess.

“These are all over town, Majesty. Nothing unusual there,” Marks said, leaning over the table before settling back into his seat.

Jess set the flyer down and turned to Cribbs. “If there is nothing else there, Sheriff, it is your turn.”

“We received a bird from the constabulary in Oliver. Unfortunately, the scrolls are tiny, so our information is limited. I’ll just read it to you.”

Another murder. Witness saw large brown bear maul victim. Witness watched bear don mask and change into man following killing. Man wore brown robes. – FL

Cribbs tossed the scroll onto the table. “Majesty, without speaking with my officer or the witness, I have no way of affirming the veracity of the claim. This could be a drunk who saw nothing, or something far more troublesome.”

“He’s right. The message doesn’t give us enough to go on,” Keelan said, clearly in his element discussing a criminal investigation.

“We have—” I started.

Keelan cut me off. “What we do have is a pattern. First, the Order shows up trying to strong-arm the Queen. Then murders begin, but only one in each city or town, each committed by an animal.

“Has anyone here ever heard of such a wave of murderous beasts within such a brief window?”

I watched as everyone considered his words.

“Then the Queen is attacked by a horse who shifted into a man after he was killed—a man wearing brown robes,” he continued. “Now, another animal attack, this time with a witness who saw the live assailant shift back into his human form and walk away from the scene—again, wearing brown robes.

“Your Majesty,” he said, turning to Jess. “We cannot act on supposition, but it should guide the next steps in our investigation.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Go on. What are you proposing?”

He looked toward Cribbs. “I need to go back to Oliver to interview this witness and the officers, confirm whether or not the story is credible. While I’m there, Atikus and the Sheriff should continue working toward locating Irina.”

Jess leaned back and crossed her arms.

“It’s a three- or four-day ride. By the time you get there, do the interviews, and get back, who knows where Irina will be or what she’ll have been up to.” Cribbs mirrored his Queen, crossing his arms.

I leaned forward and cleared my throat. “I can help with that. Using my magic, I’ll take Keelan to Oliver, then bring him back. Your four days will be a blink if we Travel, and Atikus and I can coordinate using Telepathy. Now that we both have that ability, we can conduct a two-way conversation.”

“I like it,” Atikus said. “Jess—I mean, Your Majesty, do you think your Mages would be willing to help? I could use some extra minds thinking this through.”

“Chancellor, summon Mage Ernest to the Palace,” she said to Marks before turning back to me. “Ernest is sharp and a good man. You will like him. He can get whoever you need involved.” She leaned forward and placed her palms on the table as if to rise. “Are we agreed? Anything else?”

Everyone looked around at each other, but no one spoke.

“Fine.” She stood and turned, then looked back at me. “Ranger Rea, please keep Keelan out of trouble.”

I shot Keelan a startled glance.

Keelan returned a lopsided, boyish grin.

Jess rolled her eyes and strode out.

I gripped Keelan’s arm. “You may be a little dizzy when we get there. It’ll pass in ten or fifteen minutes. Now, picture the area just outside the inn’s front door in your mind—as detailed as you can.”

Keelan nodded and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked at me.

And then he threw up all over my trousers.

“Aw, really? You couldn’t hold on for just a minute?” I groaned. “Are those chunks of apple? Ugh.”

“Sorry, but if you’d just stand still—” And he threw up again.

I walked my pale brother to the front of the inn and sat him on the ground.

“As big as you are, I thought you might be able to handle that better. Just sit there until the nausea passes. I’m going to find somewhere to clean up.”

Keelan didn’t look up. He just raised a hand in acknowledgement and let his head loll forward. I disappeared into the inn, returning several minutes later with somewhat cleaner trousers and a serving boy named Liam in tow.

“Lieutenant?” Liam said from behind me. “Didn’t you just leave us?”

Liam kneeled down and helped Keelan drink some water from the mug he’d brought out.

“It’s a long story,” I said. “We need to see your Sheriff, or whatever you call the head Constable in the town.”

“That would be Chief Kerr. He’s a few streets over. When the Lieutenant is back on his feet, I’ll take you there. It’s right on my way to the market.”

Keelan looked up, focus slowly returning to his eyes. “Thank you. I should be all right in a minute.”

It took another twenty minutes for Keelan to stand without wobbling, then another ten to reach the Constabulary, but we made it. We thanked Liam and entered the building.

“Ah, Keelan, come in.” Chief Kerr rose from behind a heavy wooden desk in the back of the one-room space to greet us. Four other desks faced the door from various points in the room. Two were occupied by green-uniformed officers.

We settled into a pair of simple wooden chairs opposite the Chief’s desk and were handed mugs of steaming tea.

“Chief, this is my brother, Declan. When we get into what we have to tell you, you’ll understand why he’s here. Would it be possible for us to have some privacy as we talk?”

Kerr quirked a brow, but before he could ask his officers to leave, I held up a hand. “No need to send your men out, Chief. I’ll silence the room so only the three of us can hear our conversation. There, done.”

Kerr’s eyes widened. “How—”

He looked up at one of his men working at a desk across the room. “Edward. Hey, Edward!”

The man didn’t flinch, just kept scribbling on a parchment.

“No one’s Gifts are working. They haven’t for a bit. How did you do that?”

Keelan leaned forward and whispered, despite my magic barrier guarding our words, “There’s a lot going on, and we’re neck deep in it. We can’t talk about parts of the investigation, but what brought us here may be the key to securing the new Queen’s throne from danger.”

The lawman leaned back and whistled. “The Queen? Really?”

Keelan nodded, then launched into his prepared explanation detailing what we knew about the attacks in the other cities and the one on the Queen. He left out the whole Irina-has-returned side of the investigation.

“And now you want to know more about the bird we sent, about that last killing?”

Keelan nodded again. “That’s right. As crazy as it sounds, your witness’s story fills in a lot of holes for us.”

“Crazy is right, but explain something to me. Why would the Order and their Priests do something like this? Most of the people have come to love the Priests. Those who don’t at least respect the work they’re doing. Why go after the Queen—or any of these people, for that matter?”

“We’re hoping your witness, or someone in town who knew the victim, can help us with that. We might also want to talk again with anyone who knew your first victim, Hershel.”

“That’s right. Town was torn up over his death, now one of his best friends gets killed. It’s just too much.”

Keelan’s eyes narrowed. “One of his best friends? The victims knew each other?”

“That’s right.” Kerr nodded. “You think there’s a connection?”

“I don’t know, but it’s another piece, and there’s been too many pieces showing up for them not to paint a picture at some point.”

“All right, where do you want to start?”

Keelan thought a moment. “Right here. I’d like to talk with your officers who dealt with the latest killing first. Then we can move on to witnesses and acquaintances.”

Kerr gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Solid plan. I’m starting to see why you’re Melucia’s famous top cop now.”

“Not sure I deserve all that.” Keelan shrugged. “I’m just trying to protect people best I can. Who should we start with?”

Kerr pointed to several uniformed men. “Take your pick.”

The Constables were friendly and helpful, offering detailed accounts of their investigations and interviews, all of which resulted in more questions than answers. Keelan thanked them, and we moved on to a witness list the Chief provided us, complete with locations and directions.

“Wait,” Keelan said as he read through the list. “Liam? Is that the same Liam who works at the inn?”

“And the same Liam who’s Hershel’s son. That’s right,” Kerr confirmed.

“Huh,” was all Keelan said.

Kerr offered to accompany us as we left the constabulary, but Keelan waved him off, and we made our way to the first name on the list.

Four hours later, Keelan and I were down to the last name: Liam.

As we strode toward the inn, Keelan turned toward me. “Did you sense anything from those people we just talked to?”

I cocked a brow. “Sense anything? What do you mean?”

“You know, feel anything strange? Get a tingling sensation, say, between your shoulder blades?”

“Are you feeling woozy again? That’s the strangest thing I’ve heard all day—and we’re arse deep in strange already.”

Keelan grunted a chuckle. “I’m talking about sensing truth, like I could do before the Gifts vanished. You remember my bees? How they’d sting just below my neck? You teased me for years about calling it that. That only happened when somebody was hiding something or lying.”

“Oh, that?” I paused and thought through the conversations we’d just completed. “No, nothing jumps out. That one guy, the butcher, wasn’t very talkative, but I didn’t get any tingly magic alarm or anything. I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed a hive attacking me.”

“Nice. Keep rubbing it in.” Keelan smirked. “I thought the same about that guy. Maybe we should pay him another visit before we leave. For now, just pay attention when we talk to Liam. I’ve got a feeling—”

“All right, I’ll keep an eye—or a neck—out for the bees,” I quipped, earning a brotherly punch in the arm.

A short time later, we sat at one of the round wooden tables in the common room of the inn. Liam stared across, fingers fidgeting.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I swear that’s what I saw. The bear reached down to the ground, grabbed a mask, put it on, and turned into a man, then walked away into the night. I was hiding behind the apothecary not twenty paces away.”

Keelan looked to me, then nudged me with his foot.

“Uh, okay. It does sound crazy, but I believe you’re telling us what you think you saw.”

“I saw it. It’s not what I think. Don’t you call me nuts, too. I deal with that enough around here already. The whole thing was supposed to be kept secret, but it’s all anybody’s talking about.” He put his head in his hands as if to cry.

“I know this is hard, but what you’re telling us is important,” Keelan tried to reassure him. “The bear put on a mask and turned into a man. What did that man look like?”

Liam looked up slowly, his lips pursed as he tried to remember. “It was dark, but I could see he wore robes. The moonlight reflected or shimmered off them as he walked away. I never saw his face, but he had short hair. I think it was brown or black.”

“Was he tall or short? What was his build like?”

“It was hard to tell. He was so big as the bear, then he shrunk down. I guess he was average height, maybe a little taller. His robes were flowy, so I couldn’t really tell anything about his body.”

Keelan watched him fidget, then asked, “Liam, what aren’t you telling us? I can see you’re holding something back.”

He looked up. “I’ve told you everything I know, everything I saw.”

“But not something you suspect?” Keelan guessed.

“How—?” His eyes widened, then he looked back to his hands.

Keelan decided to go in a different direction. “How well do you know the local Priest?”

Liam’s head snapped up. “Seth? Pretty well, I guess.”

I leaned forward and gave Keelan a meaningful look.

“What’s he like?”

Liam sat up straight and crossed his arms. “He’s a good man who helps people. What more do you want to know?”

“Easy.” Keelan raised a palm. “We’re not accusing him of anything, just trying to get to know the people in town. I’ve been an investigator for years, and you never know what tiny clue might help crack a case.”

Liam’s arms unfurled, and his hands dropped back to his lap, clutched tightly. A far-away look came over his eyes as he remembered and spoke. “Seth and I started seeing each other a few months after he came to town. He visits in the morning as we’re getting ready for the breakfast crowd. We have dinner a few times each week and take long walks around town. He’s even helped me with my market runs a few times. Like I said, he’s a wonderful man.”

“What can you tell us about his work with his faith?”

He beamed at this. “He helps more people than anyone I’ve ever known. He says it’s why the Spirits called him to the Order, to help those who can’t help themselves. Poor, lame, sick, old, it doesn’t matter to him. He does whatever they need, whatever he can.”

“How does he spread the word about his faith? Does he hold meetings in a Temple, or speak somewhere?” Keelan asked.

“Oh, yes, he holds meetings a couple times each week in the town square. There isn’t a Temple here, so he stands on the steps of the courtyard and folks gather around. Most folks make at least one of his meetings each week.”

“I assume you attend these meetings?”

Laim nodded. “I don’t miss many. I like seeing him talk, watching how the people react to his message of kindness and generosity.”

Keelan sat back in his chair and tapped his forefinger on the table as he thought.

I leaned in. “Liam, I’m not a Constable, just a Ranger. We take care of animals and trees mostly. Keelan and I haven’t seen each other in a while, and I thought traveling together might give us time to reconnect.”

He smiled tentatively, clearly unsure where I was headed. “That sounds . . . nice.”

“It has been, except for him throwing up on me, of course.” I smiled innocently. “But I’ve listened to most of his conversations today, and something you said tickled my neck. Can you go back to before you left on your walk that night, the one where you saw the bear? You said you saw the man who was killed lingering at a table, chatting with some other man. Could you hear anything? See anything?”

He scrunched his mouth in concentration. “I tried to listen in. They seemed so secretive. It made me curious, but they were whispering most of the time. It didn’t make any sense, but I think they said something like, ‘This has to end,’ like they were planning something. I’m sorry, I really couldn’t hear them.”

Silence lingered before Keelan leaned forward.

“I only have a couple more questions.”

Liam nodded.

“What does Seth wear? Does he have a uniform or some symbol of office? As a Priest, I mean.”

“He wears his robe,” he said.

“Long, brown, shimmers in the light?”

He sucked in a breath and nodded, then looked down.

Keelan waited.

“I . . . It can’t . . . He wouldn’t hurt anyone . I know Seth.”

Keelan tapped his finger on the table. Even I shifted in my seat before the silence was broken.

Liam whispered without raising his head. “I don’t know. I can’t believe Seth would do anything—would be that.”

“It might not be him, but we need to find out. No one in town will be safe until we do.” Keelan rose. “Thank you, Liam. I know this was difficult, but you’ve been very helpful.”

He shot to his feet. “What are you going to do? Please don’t hurt him.”

Keelan put up his palms again. “We’re just investigating. Hopefully, the facts rule him out, but we have to follow them, not decide what we want them to be.”

Liam’s head drooped again. “I know you’re right. This is all so terrible.”

I stepped forward. “It is, but we’re here to help.”

He nodded in thanks and gave me a weak smile.

“We need you to keep this conversation between us for now, okay. Whoever killed that man— and your father —wouldn’t take well to a witness walking around.”

Liam nodded and walked us to the door.

“We’ll check on you later tonight, all right?” Keelan said as we exited.

We stepped outside, and Keelan asked me to shield our conversation like I’d done in the constabulary.

I nodded once, then Keelan asked, “What do you think of his story?”

“Something was nagging at me about the victim’s conversation that night, but everything else lines up with what we already knew. I couldn’t feel anything false from Liam. He’s dating the Priest, but he didn’t rule out him being the bear-shifter-thing, whatever you call it.”

“Let’s go with bear for now. If we’re overheard somewhere, it’ll raise less suspicion in the community,” Keelan said. “I agree with you on him being honest. He didn’t want to make his suspicions real by talking about them but opened up when pressed. I believe him. Now we need a way to rule Seth out.”

“We could just ask him,” I said.

Keelan laughed, then looked up. “You’re not joking, are you?”

I shook my head. “No joke. Remember, I have your Truthreading Gift now. If we ask him and he lies, I’ll know. Bam! Bear trap.”

Keelan groaned. “Now he jokes.”

I laughed and gave my brother a playful shove. “You missed me. Admit it.”

Keelan chuckled and shook his head. “Let’s go bear hunting , little brother.”

We found Seth playing with a group of children at the edge of the market square. I had a hard time picturing the man as a menacing bear as he ran in circles with three-year-olds dangling from his legs and laughing hysterically.

After a moment, the Priest noticed us watching and forced the children to set him free so he could greet the newcomers.

“Hello, gentlemen. Were you hoping to be the hunter or the prey today?” Seth asked with a broad smile.

Keelan stiffened, but I laughed.

“He means with the children, dummy,” I whispered in Keelan’s mind.

Keelan shook off the odd sensation of having me inside his head and nodded toward the Priest. “Forgive us for interrupting, Seth. Looks like you had a real fight on your hands. This is my brother, Declan. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“Of course not. How can I help?”

Keelan motioned for us to step out of earshot of the children and the woman tending them. I nodded, indicating the silencing shield had been erected once more. Seth looked at Keelan.

“Have you ever heard of a man who could turn into an animal?” Keelan asked without preamble.

Seth rocked back and barked a laugh. When we continued glaring, he sobered. “You’re serious?”

Keelan waited, his eyes never leaving Seth’s.

“Only in children’s tales.”

“What about within your Order? Are there tales of men with this ability?”

Seth’s brow furrowed. “I’ve never heard of such. Where is this coming from, Keelan? Why are you asking me these questions? And what would the Order have to do with something so horrific?”

Keelan watched him a moment, then sighed. “I’m sorry, Seth. We’re following leads found at the scene of the mauling. Some are disturbing and make little sense, but they’re all we have.”

I spoke. “I think we have everything we need. Thank you for your time.”

Keelan gave me a questioning look, but I motioned for us to leave.

“We may have more questions later, if that’s all right,” Keelan said.

“Of course,” Seth said. “You don’t think the people here are in any danger, do you?”

“We think the bear fled after the attack and hope that’s the last we see of him,” Keelan answered.

We had made it around the block when I turned to Keelan. “He’s telling the truth. He had no idea what you were talking about when you mentioned a man turning into an animal. The shock on his face was real.”

“I could tell that without magic. He would’ve been the best liar I’d ever met otherwise.”

“What now? That really was the best lead we had.”

Keelan rubbed his chin. “I guess we let Liam know his man is innocent, then head back to Fontaine.”