Chapter 19

19

I paced the warped floor in the pub's rented room. My hands clenched and then unclenched. Shaking my head, I tried to solve a puzzle that didn't seem to have an answer. These fae were going after Lugh. I needed to warn him, but...I couldn't risk being in his presence. What if I killed him?

Get a grip , I mentally shouted at myself. It wasn't like my arm would move in independence of my body. There might be a prophecy that I would kill him, but it wasn't like it would just come out of nowhere.

Right?

With a frustrated sigh, I punched a number into my cell. Lugh's number. Even if I couldn't go to him, I could warn him about what was coming his way. His phone rang and rang and rang. Swearing, I tried Uisnech next. If I couldn't warn Lugh himself, the hobgoblin was second best. He was out doing his feasting thing, but I was certain he would go back to the castle if it meant protecting Lugh.

But he didn't pick up his phone, either.

My mouth went dry as I tried to ignore what that meant. Best case scenario, Lugh was just asleep and Uisnech was still out on the town.

But my life didn't really work in best case scenarios.

I paced one more time and then nodded to myself. I was a warrior. Enough with the phone calls. Time to use my blade.

Patting my sword, I jogged down the stairs. If I couldn't warn Lugh, then I'd just have to fight the tossers here. Sure, making a war in a human establishment would bring unwanted attention onto the fae, but I didn't have any other choice. They had to be stopped before they attacked the castle.

"Where are they?" I barked when I flew into the pub like a frantic wraith. The bartender was back behind the wooden shelf again, collecting half a dozen discarded glasses, some three-quarters full. He was whistling to himself, but the sound cut off sharply when I thundered toward him.

He gave me a startled look. "Where is who ?"

"The people who were in here earlier," I snapped. "The ones who gave you a tip to make yourself scarce."

"Oh." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Were you eavesdropping? "

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Now where are they?"

I didn't want to scare the shit out of a human, but I would if I had to. My hand twitched by my sword. Right now, it was hidden beneath my coat. But if I had to show ‘ole Stabby to get him to talk, then so be it.

I'd done far worse things in my life than threaten a human.

"I don't know." He shrugged as if a sword-wielding fae wasn't standing right before him, ready to hurl her pointy knife at whoever crossed her next. "I poked out my head a few minutes ago to see if they wanted another drink, and they were gone."

"Bollocks!" I stormed toward the door, my coat flapping behind me.

"So, uh, you still want that room?" he called after me. "If not, I need the keys back!"

I answered by slamming the door in his face. Who has time for good manners when you have a realm to save from psychopaths?

Now where had those Cauldron Tossers gone? I whipped my head back and forth, glaring down one end of the street to the next. Nothing. Not even a dark silhouette melting into distant shadows. The fae could have gone anywhere in this city, and by the time I found them, they'd already have Lugh. If they didn't already.

I had only one choice. Well, I had two, but one was never going to happen. I could either forget about all this and go back home, liked I'd planned to originally. Or I could return to the castle and warn Lugh.

The castle twinkled in the distance. Clenching my hands, I went back.

L ugh was nowhere to be found inside the palace, and Uisnech was just as scarce. The guardhouse at the gate had been empty, which was a pretty ominous development, and I had no idea which rooms the twins lived in. So I found myself pounding on the only other fae's door I knew well enough to disturb in the middle of the night.

Imogen cracked open her door about a centimetre, her pink hair a curtain around her face. Sleepy eyes peered out at me. "Moira? Why are you knocking on my door at...?" She glanced behind her. " Three AM?! "

"I need your help," I hissed, all too aware of the many ears around the castle, not that anyone else would be awake right now. "There's been a plot against the king."

That woke her up.

Eyes suddenly alert, she flicked her gaze around the hallway behind me as if the plotters would appear there at any moment. "Plot against the king? How do you know? What's happening? "

"Can I come in?" I asked impatiently. "I really don't want to discuss this out here."

Even though there were few safe places to speak inside the castle, the rooms were at least warded enough that my voice wouldn't carry down the hallway. If our enemies were lurking right outside the door, sure, they'd hear every word. But if they decided to lurk outside this door, I'd show them my bloody blade.

Imogen opened the door wider, and I rushed inside. Her room was slightly larger than mine had been, with a similar bed, desk, and bedside table. But everything else had been transformed by pink. She had a fuzzy pink rug spread across the hardwood. Her bedspread was covered in pink flowers. Even her table lamp had been garnished with a pink shade.

"It has to do with my power," she said, chagrined. "I'm highly-attuned to colour. It communicates with me. Pink is the only thing that shuts it up."

" Pink shuts it up?" I asked, whirling to take in the very bright display of colour.

She nodded sagely. "You would think brown or black, right? But black is probably the loudest, and brown is one of those that kind of seeps into your skin."

"I..." In any other circumstance, I would want to sit down and quiz her on this very unique skill of hers. But I didn't really have time for that. "Interesting. Now listen to me. There's been a plot against the king, and someone has taken him. A lot of someones, actually."

"Does this have something to do with the attack earlier tonight?"

Had that really been tonight? I shook my head. So much had happened since then, it felt like days.

"Yeah, it was the same fae," I said quickly. "And I need your help. There was no one at the guardhouse when I came in, and I have no idea where Warin, Boudica, or the other warriors live."

She blinked at me, and then smiled. "You want me to find them for you."

"Or you could just tell me where they are." Before I could finish my sentence, my phone trilled. Sucking in a sharp breath, I slammed it against my ear without looking at the caller name.

"Hey, Moira." Kyle's easy voice slid over the line. Damn. My shoulders slumped. For a second there, I'd thought it was Lugh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Imogen slip over to the door. I twisted toward her, and she pointed at the hallway and mouthed something about the warriors. She was going to go find them for me. I gave her a thumbs up and returned to my call.

"So I ran those faces through CCTV, and I got a few hits," he said.

Hope bloomed in my chest. "Are you serious? My god, Kyle. You're a lifesaver. "

"Don't get too excited," he cut in. "We've got three faces, yeah? Well, I got their identities, but there are five known residences on file."

My hope got quickly squashed by the big bug known as reality. "Five."

While I couldn't deny Kyle had done great work and had finally dropped some leads on top of my head, five locations was four too many. The enemy wanted to murder Lugh. Tonight. And no telling what they would do with Saoirse now that they no longer needed her prophecies.

"Right," I grumbled. "Let's here them, then."

"Okay, the first location I think you can probably wipe off the board. It's the castle there on top of the hill."

"Makes sense. Some of them used to live here."

"The four others are all located throughout the city." The rustle of paper came over the line. "We've also got one in Bathgate, one in Leith, and one in Oxgangs. You have a pen and paper or should I text over the full addresses?"

"That was four." I furrowed my brows. "You said there were five."

"Oh, the fifth is another dead end like the castle. And that one doesn't even make sense. Mary King's Close. That place isn't even open to the public, is it?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Only for tours. Listen, Kyle. Can you just give me the address of the Mary King's Close one?"

The line was silent, other than the distant clacking of keys. "No, sorry. That's all it says. Mary King's Close. You really think that's the one?"

"Oh yeah. I'm certain of it." In fact, I would have bet a million quid on it. The bartender had mentioned humans being wary of supernatural activity in the close, and his friend had bought sorcerer drugs there as well. The pub even had a connection to the close, where those fae had turned up for drinks. They must be hiding out there. And they'd taken Saoirse and Lugh there, too.

Just as I hung up the call with Kyle, Imogen scurried back into the room, wringing her hands. "You get some kind of lead or something?"

"Yeah." I glanced behind her. "Where are the twins and the rest of the team? I know where they've taken the king."

"Oh good." She clapped her hands. "Are you going after him?"

"Yes, I am," I said, deciding it in an instant. I might be prophesied to kill him one day, but it wasn't going to be tonight. "But I need help from the rest of the team."

"They're grabbing their weapons and getting dressed. They said to tell you to get Lugh's spear and tell me where you want them to go. They'll meet you there."

I frowned. "Why do they want me to get the spear?"

She shrugged. "Something about his power. How if you get it in the same room as him, then he'll be able to fight everyone off. I think he has some way of using it against lots of enemies at once. That's why it has five points instead of one like a normal spear. I'd go get it myself, but that thing freaks me out."

I thought back to what Lugh had told me about his spear—that it was a part of him, that the magic he could wield with it was terrifyingly fierce. About draining the blood from veins. If he was somehow trapped and we couldn't get to him, the spear might be the only thing that could get him out.

"Where should I tell them to meet you?" Imogen asked, cutting through my thoughts.

"Lugh is somewhere inside of Mary King's Close. The enemies have been hiding out in one of the buildings there, and that's where they'll have taken Lugh and Saoirse."

At least, I hoped they still had Saoirse. The alternative was too much to consider.

Imogen nodded. "I'll tell them to meet you at the entrance of the close. They've all been there before, on tours and things, so they'll know where to go. You go get the spear."

"Are you sure I shouldn't—"

"Listen, I've got this," she said. "I'll make sure they know where to go."

Without wasting any more time, I jogged out of the room and headed for the palace. It was so quiet inside. It didn't feel right without Lugh's presence echoing off the walls. Now that I knew the truth about our bond, I didn't understand how I hadn't seen it sooner. From day one, I'd felt his magic. I'd felt it pulse from his skin.

Shaking my head, I pressed the button beneath the shelf and watched the door swing inward. I darted down the hidden tunnel and came to a stop before the enclosed spear. My fingers twitched as I unlocked the case and pulled the spear into my hands.

My blood sang as I held it. Breath got caught in my throat. Everything inside of me felt weak, and I could practically feel Lugh's heartbeat in my palms. A tear slipped down my cheek, and I clenched the spear to my chest.

At least he was alive. The spear pulsed with his life-force, it rumbled with the strength of his soul. He probably couldn't feel me or hear me or sense me at all, but I felt the urge to speak to him all the same.

"I will get you out of this," I whispered fiercely. "And if they've harmed you, I will make them pay."