Chapter 18

18

I tore out of the castle. Now that I knew the truth, I couldn't stay here anymore. Every moment I spent with Lugh was another moment when I might stab him in the heart.

He caught my arm as I shoved my feet into my boots. "Moira, you have to explain what's going on. I realise it's an intense moment, finding your mate, but I honestly thought you already knew. All these times we've touched, I could feel it in my gut."

Tears stung my eyes. I kept my gaze on my boots. I couldn't look at him anymore. "Saoirse isn't the first druid I've met. There's another. Her name is Caer."

"I've heard of Caer," he said suspiciously, dropping my arm. "She tends to deal in prophecies that are a matter of life and death."

"Exactly." I tightened my laces and headed for the door. Then I stopped, twisting to give him one last look. He stood tall beside his harp, a piercing reminder that he was brutal and fierce but also soft, caring, and heartachingly perfect. I wanted to memorise his face. It would be the last time I ever saw it. Midnight blue hair, fierce black eyes, sharp curving horns, and cheekbones that could cut glass. Hands that were strong enough to pummel foes but soft enough to make me melt.

I closed my eyes. "Caer told me that I will one day kill my mate. I don't understand how it happened, but it turns out that's you. That's why I have to leave."

I was a warrior. I loved to fight. My blood sang when battle called. I'd always needed someone the same. I understood that now. I should have known from the moment I met Lugh that he would be my mate. We mirrored each other in a way that I could scarcely believe.

And that was why I had to leave.

With that, I pushed out the door and raced toward the castle gates. I wasn't sure if he would try to stop me when the shock of my words wore off, but I didn't want to stick around to find out. Instead, I clambered over the gates and dropped onto the ground on the other side. The guards shouted at me, but they didn't hold me back. They weren't there to keep us from leaving. They were there to keep enemies out.

And now I was one.

The city spread out before me, but the glittering lights had faded as the moon stalked toward the horizon. It was the middle of the night. Most places were shut tight until morning. No trains ran this late, which meant I was kind of stuck. For now, I'd have to find a pub and crash for the night, until I could leave the next morning.

Time to go home. My heart squeezed. When I'd left London, I'd ached to stay, and now the very opposite was true. I didn't want to go back.

A few pubs on a street just off the High Street had their lights still blazing through the windows. I picked one called A Knight's End and pushed inside. A little bell clanged as I sauntered over to the bar, dropped onto the stool, and sunk my elbows onto the sleek wood.

"Rough night?" the bartender asked through a beard that could rival the thickest brush. His sandy hair matched, thick and hanging down to his shoulders. He wore a black t-shirt with a reaper illustration, and he had a tattoo on his arm of some sort of Celtic symbol.

"You have no idea," I muttered. How could I explain to a human that I'd found my mate and that I could never see him again? Because of a prophecy. From a druid. Who had originally come from the magical land called Faerie. He probably wouldn't serve me a drink.

"What's your poison?" he asked, flipping a shot glass in his beefy hands.

"Give me a shot of your best whiskey." I twisted on my seat to see the vacancy sign flashing just outside the window. "You have some open rooms?"

"Sure." He poured the drink and slid the glass toward me. "Three hundred quid a night."

I made a face.

He let out a low chuckle. "Sorry. Prime real estate right here. Views of the castle, a one-minute walk to the Royal Mile. Tourists love it here. Plus, we have a special deal with Mary King's Close. Guests here enjoy free entry, and we do private tours every day at noon. Though tomorrow's already booked up."

Ah, Mary King's Close, the most famous close in all of Edinburgh. Once, it had been part of the Royal Mile, a bustling main street for businesses and homes. Over the years, the close had been built on top of, again and again until it was buried beneath the city. The area had been sealed shut. No sunlight, no fresh air, and no escape for plague victims. A lot of people had died in that close, and what humans didn't know now was that over half of them had been due to hungry vampires.

"So you charge extra for being near a veritable graveyard." I downed the shot and winced as fire burned my throat.

He shrugged. "Tourists are convinced supernatural shit is going down in there, especially after all those weirdos came out of the closet. You know some of them live in the castle on the hill? All this time, I thought the place was shut to visitors because the military was doing super secret training in there, but it turns out a fae king bought the damn place. Can you believe it?"

I swallowed hard. I was not yet ready to be reminded of the mate I'd left behind. "I heard the fae help keep the vampires in line."

He grunted. "They're all the same to me. Vampires, fae, werewolves. Did you know there are also magicians out there?"

"Sorcerers," I corrected.

"Yeah, sorcerer magicians." His grin widened. "A friend of mine bought this pretty cool drug off a magician the other day. It's called sapphire blue or something. And lemme tell you, that thing was pooooooootent."

My head jerked up. "Oh yeah? You got a name for this guy?"

The bartender jerked his head back and forth. "Nah. I just know he deals out of Mary King's Close but not at this time of night. You'd have to catch him during the day. But it's hard to get to him. Other than the tours, that place is shut to the public. I don't know how he manages."

Right. Of course he did. My mind ran a hundred miles an hour. If I could talk to the sorcerer, maybe I could find out which fae he'd sold drugs to, and then we could get a lead on who took Saoirse. I needed to get out of this town, for Lugh's sake, but I could check things out tomorrow before I got on the train.

"I've got some weed, though, if you'd like that instead?"

"No, thanks. I think I'll take another shot, and then head up to bed."

"You got it," he replied, pouring the drink before I could start babbling about fae mates and kings and evil prophecies. He didn't seem too keen on supernaturals, and I needed a room. Best to keep mum about the whole thing. Like Lugh preferred to do. Lugh. My mate.

Argh! I couldn't think about anything without my mind circling right back to his silky hair and perfect biceps.

I downed the shot and decided I should probably call it a night. Two whiskeys and my head already buzzed. The bartender tossed me a set of keys and instructed me to head to the third floor, first room on the right.

As I pushed up the stairs, the door to the pub opened, and a wave of cold air rushed inside. The little bell clanged, and the murmur of voices drowned it out. Huh. Guessed I wasn't the only living thing out there wandering the streets in need of a drink at two in the morning. The place was called A Knight's End, after all.

But something stopped me from finishing the trek up the stairs.

I wasn't entirely sure what set off the alarm bells. Something about the way the air moved as the new arrivals whispered through the bar. No. It wasn't that at all. It was the way they smelled. Lavender, iron, and dead leaves.

My heart dropped. It was the crew from the night of the attack in Mag Mell.

Gripping the banister, I eased into a crouch to see into the pub, but my view was blocked by the half-shut door.

"Yeah, can we have a round of bourbon? Here's a little extra for you to find something interesting in your stock room back there. We have some business to attend to out here. Trade secrets and the lot."

"Yeah, all right." The bartender's voice sounded pleasantly surprised. They must have passed him a tidy sum to make him vanish. At least they hadn't decided to kill him for his trouble. A moment later, footsteps thudded on the hardwood, and a door slammed shut.

"Ugh, humans." The female's voice dripped with disdain. The leader. The one who had the magic sword. "I'm so sick of having to pretend to care about them. Can't talk about supernatural stuff in their presence. It's time this world had a change."

"Nemain will make certain that our lives are for the better once she returns from the underworld," a quiet male voice replied. "Patience, Fiona."

I frowned. Nemain would change the world all right. She would make sure the humans of the world were her slaves, and she'd destroy every other supernatural race. I couldn't believe that there were other fae out there who wanted the same thing.

"It's been weeks," Fiona whined. "We've got the cauldron. Why won't it work?"

So we'd been right. The Cauldron Tossers had gotten their hands on the magical item, but they had no idea how to use it. That was a good sign, though their next words sent a chill down my spine.

"It won't work because we don't have his spear," the quiet male continued. "The prophecy girl said we needed to get it. I asked her again today, and she confirmed."

Prophecy girl. Saoirse. My heart flipped over. She was okay. She was still alive. And they were making her do prophecies for them just like we'd feared.

And we were back to that damn spear again.

"No matter," the male sniffed. "According to my source, Lugh is alone tonight, unguarded. His spear has been hidden away, which means he cannot use it against us. His little goblin is busy with another task. We'll take him tonight."

Wait. I leaned forward and the bannister creaked beneath me.

"I don't understand," Fiona said. "I thought we needed his spear."

"The prophecy made it clear we need something potent, which Lugh's spear is. But if his spear is potent, he will be, too. That weapon and him…they're attached somehow. We will sacrifice the king in order to get Nemain back."

My heart roared as the enemy's words echoed in my mind. I'd left Lugh alone back at the castle, and Uisnech was off feasting on...whatever hobgoblins feasted upon. The guards were in place at the gates, but would they be able to stop this attack?

"Ooh, sacrifice the king," another voice said, cackling. "I love the sound of that. Let's hit him while he's asleep. He'll never see us coming."