The knock on my door startled me. The building had limited access, and people needed to buzz me to let them in. I looked through the peephole and saw Oriel standing there. Rescinding my wards, I opened the door.
Whatever I might have expected, the way he was dressed stunned me. He wore a silver frock coat over black leggings and a Renaissance ruffled-front shirt with flared lacey cuffs. The only thing missing from his eighteenth-century costume was a tricorn hat.
“I fear I’m underdressed,” I said.
“Not at all. I like looking at your legs. Shall we go?”
I reset my wards, and he ushered me down the stairs.
“Is this the fashion when you were young?” I asked.
He grinned. “I’m still young. But I’ve never followed fashion—I prefer to set it. A friend of mine is a seamstress, and I asked her to make something special for tonight.”
“You only asked me out last night.”
“Magic.”
His car was the second surprise. It was a two-seater sports car that looked like a miniature mid-twentieth century Rolls Royce. Fire engine red.
“I never saw a Rolls sports car before,” I said as he opened the door for me to get in.
“One of a kind. You wouldn’t expect me to drive anything mundane, would you?”
No, but I did expect him to pretend to obey speed limits. He hit the freeway on-ramp doing ninety and accelerated from there. It was twelve miles to Killarney Village from my apartment, and we made it in five minutes. We passed a cop car, and I expected a reaction, but we might as well have been invisible.
“A glamour?”
“Of course.”
Once we arrived at the Village, he slowed down to a crawl, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The Village streets were windy and uneven, and I knew from experience that they randomly changed between my visits. Oriel pulled into the same underground parking lot Trevor had once used when he took me to the Village. The stairs, however, led us to a different place than I had gone before.
The restaurant entrance was a bowered pathway between a large rock and a huge tree. The end of the tunnel ended in a black wall. Taking my arm, Oriel stepped through, and I felt a veil, similar to that covering the entrance to Rosie’s. We found ourselves in a cozy little restaurant lit by candles on the table and magelights in sconces on the wood-paneled walls.
A short woman with skin that looked like bark escorted us to a balcony overlooking a pond surrounded by ancient oaks. A table with a white tablecloth was set with crystal dishes. Swans glided through the water, and golden fish swam beneath the surface. Although we seemed to be outside, it was comfortable. That was in stark contrast to the Westport weather. When we left my apartment, it had been raining and the temperature was in the forties.
Oriel poured golden-colored wine into our glasses and held his up for a toast. “To Erin—captivating, exotic, and mysterious,” he said.
I felt myself blush. “Flatterer.” I took a sip of the wine, and it tasted like sunshine on a spring morning. It never would have occurred to me to describe a taste like that before.
“Oh, I’ve barely gotten started. I want to feel you fall in love with me, for that is the finest feeling in the world.”
With a chuckle, I said, “I’m sure you’ve felt that many times.” He was so handsome that I was sure his conquests were legion.
“A number of women have been infatuated with me, lusted after me, yes. It’s not the same. Drowning in love is something I’ve experienced only once, long ago. When I met you, I realized it could happen again.”
Flustered, I searched for something to say. What came out was, “You don’t even know me.”
“I think I know your heart. If you let me, I think I can heal it.”
I shook my head. “No one has broken my heart.”
“You have been betrayed. Maybe not by a lover, but you discovered everything you once believed was a sham.” He took a sip of his wine, studying me over the rim of his glass.
He was making me uncomfortable. “Lizzy said you are cousins.”
“Do you know of Lizzy’s gift?”
“She’s a seer,” I replied, the light going on.
“Yes. My grandmother—her great-great grandmother—was a powerful seer. Half-Fae, half-witch. So, you see, we have Fae blood from both sides.”
“How old are you?”
Oriel chuckled and winked at me. “Not ancient. I was born in 1943, and graduated from the university in 1969.”
The year Shawna was turned. She was twenty-one then, so he was not much older than she was, but she would never age. Still, he was only in his mid-seventies. Lizzy had said the Fae considered him an adolescent.
“Old enough to be my grandfather,” I said, and struggled to hide a smile at his horrified expression.
“I am not a cradle robber.”
“So, you would date Lizzy?”
“That’s different. We’re related.”
“And you’ve known her since she was a baby,” I said, letting my smile manifest. “She’s older than I am.”
He opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times, searching for something to say.
Our waitress appeared and set plates in front of us. The food looked like sparkly mushrooms—sparkly green and red mushrooms, like Christmas candy. Following Oriel’s lead, I took a bite and discovered they were sweet, with a bit of fire, as though they had some kind of spicy pepper involved in their preparation.
The next course was a fairly normal salad with cabbage, carrots, and apples artistically arranged with a slightly sweet dressing. Following that was a salmon filet in a wonderful sauce. The flavors of everything were exotic, unlike anything I had ever tasted. That was followed with three small boneless birds stuffed with something and covered in a glaze. Each of them provided exactly three bites. Every dish was accompanied by a different wine. By the time herbal tea and some small cakes were served, I was definitely lit as brightly as the candles, lightheaded and giggly, and the room had taken on a bit of a glow, too.
“Sir, I might think you were trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me.”
He grinned. “I’m hoping to get you drunk enough that you take advantage of me. I’m not foolish enough to force myself on a battle mage, no matter how comely.”
As tipsy and contented as I was right then, and as handsome and sexy as Oriel was, I knew it wasn’t going to take much to convince me. Yes, he was a player, but by not being human, it somehow made a difference. I could see myself enjoying the game, and what might come afterward, so I settled in for some hardcore flirting.
Then the ley lines went crazy.
The earthquake feeling that I had experienced in Westport was real in Killarney Village. The restaurant shook, the balcony rolled, dishes and glasses crashed to the floor. Oriel’s eyes rolled up in his head, and he slid from his chair. I looked around and saw that almost all of the other patrons and the staff were affected the same way.
Although I felt the roiling chaos in the lines, It didn’t hit me the way it had before. Reaching out and touching the ley line magic didn’t make me feel sick or dizzy.
I jumped up and crouched down by Oriel, picking his head up and cradling it in my lap. Even though the corrupted magic wasn’t affecting me, I couldn’t figure out how using magic could make the situation better. Perhaps a spirit mage like Bailey could have walled off the area from the storm, but I didn’t have any ability to do that sort of thing. I thought of the Illuminati spells to block a mage’s magic, but I hadn’t ever tried to cast any of them.
Then I noticed that the ruby in my pendant was glowing, and I realized the Fae were right. The only reason I could figure for why I avoided the effects of the tainted ley magic was that the stone around my neck was protecting me.
It seemed as though the magical storm went on forever. In reality, it lasted only about five or ten minutes, but it left the restaurant in shambles. I managed to get Oriel on his feet, but he still needed my support. I started
to steer him toward the door, then stopped and stared straight into his face.
“We need to pay,” I said, hoping I was getting through to him.
“Take care of it tomorrow,” he mumbled like a drunk unable to focus.
“Fine.” I pulled power from the ley lines, which were still chaotic, then picked him up and carried him out.
When we got outside, the Village looked as though a major storm had blown through. Leaves and branches littered the street. I didn’t remember exactly what things had looked like before we entered the restaurant, but everything looked…disheveled was the only way I could describe it. A car had run into a tree. A woman sat with her back against a rock, looking dazed. A strange noise above me drew my attention. Several large fish with scales like jewels flopped on the tree branches. A pair of birds huddled together in a ditch, like children hiding from danger.
“How do I get you home?” I asked Oriel.
He roused himself enough to look around and tried to wrestle out of my arms. I set him down on his feet, but he staggered and almost fell. Grabbing him and picking him up again, I repeated my question.
“That way.” He waved his arm toward our right. I took off walking, glad that the magic was doing the heavy lifting. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to carry him while wearing heels.
Ordinarily, Killarney Village was like the City of the Illuminati, in that the temperature stayed in the low seventies year round. That night, it swung from almost icy cold to stifling hot and back to cold from one moment to the next. The path we followed changed directions even as we walked along it. Once, we had to detour around a large rock. On the other side of it, I saw an open door and realized the rock was someone’s house.
It took me about half an hour to find Oriel’s home, threading my way through the damage and disruption that had swept over the Village. Even he had trouble at times figuring out where we were so he could give me directions. But by the time we reached his place, he was able to walk, though he was still disoriented.
Oriel waved his hand, and a door appeared in a rock. We walked through it into a room that looked like the FBI had searched the place.
“Shit,” he said. “It’s going to take forever to clean this up.” He stumbled through another doorway and I followed.
He fell half on the bed and immediately passed out. I pulled his boots off and lifted his legs onto the bed, then managed to pull his coat off and arrange him in what looked like a more comfortable position. Helping drunken older men to bed was something I hadn’t done since leaving the Illuminati, but it felt a little too familiar.
However, none of the Illuminati who had bedded me were as heart-stoppingly gorgeous as Oriel in his human form. I stood over him and wondered what the end of our evening could have been.
I was left with the issue of how to get home. I literally had no idea where I was and suspected that the only person who would have been able to find me—Lizzy—was probably in the same shape as Oriel. Searching through his home, I did find another bedroom. I kicked off my shoes and lay my dress over the back of a chair, then crawled under covers that felt like the finest silk. I didn’t know how to turn off the light, but it went out by itself when my head hit the pillow.
Chapter 8
Someone softly entered the room where I was sleeping, and I came instantly awake. I didn’t move, not even my eyelids, but I did pull magic to me and cast a personal shield. Even in those few seconds, I felt that the bed I was in wasn’t familiar.
The person sat on the bed and touched my shield. I opened my eyes and saw Oriel watching me in the dim light. He was still in his human form, but his cat-slit pupils were open very wide.
“You’re safe here. There’s no need for a shield,” he said.
I let the shield dissolve and sat up. “I wasn’t awake. I’m not used to strange men in my bedroom.”
“I have a feeling you’re not used to any men in your bedroom.”
“You would be right. What time is it?”
“Morning. The lines seem to have settled down. How did we get home? And where is my car?” Oriel chuckled. “I don’t think I drove.”
“We walked.”
He blinked at me. “I walked?” With a snort, he said, “I don’t think so.”
“I walked. We got here. I didn’t think the roads were safe, and I’m not entirely comfortable driving around here at the best of times.”
He nodded, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair away from my cheek. Sliding his hand around my neck, he pulled my face to his and kissed me, softly but deeply. His other hand slid down my side and over my hip, sending a shudder through me.
Pulling back, he gazed into my face. “It was a pleasant surprise to wake up in my own bed, even if I was alone.”
“I enjoyed my dinner, and your company. And this.” I lifted the pendant from where it hung against my chest. “When the ley lines blew up, I felt the chaos, but it didn’t affect me. I could even draw magic from them without feeling sick. There’s something in this stone that filters the magic.” I looked up into his face. “Have any of the Fae tried wearing one?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Roisin has one. We’ll have to ask her if she was wearing it.”
Half-hoping he would follow the kiss with another one, and half-fearful of what would happen if he did, I waited. I was wearing my bra and pantyhose, but I still felt vulnerable.
He pulled my face to his again, but kissed me on the end of my nose instead of my mouth. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
I shrugged, my eyes following him as he stood.
“Get dressed. We have things to do.”
I put on my dress and pulled a brush through my hair, then tied it back. I grabbed my coat, and out of habit, checked that my dagger was in its sheath. I saw Oriel get the Hunter’s dagger I had given him and fasten its sheath to his belt.
“One has to wonder what would happen if the Knights or someone else attacked us while we were incapacitated,” he said as he ushered me out the door.
“That occurred to me. If someone is disrupting the lines on purpose, you have to wonder why.”
“If?” He stopped and waited for me to continue.
“Have you thought about how much power it would take to screw with a ley line?” I asked. “I think you at least have to consider if it’s either a natural phenomenon, or a by-product of something else going on.”
Oriel seemed to think about that for a moment, then said, “We need to speak with Roisin.”
The temperature outside had stabilized, and we saw several people out cleaning up, using magic for the most part rather than shovels and brooms. There wasn’t too much apparent destruction, but we did see a giant old tree split in half, and several of the rock houses similar to Oriel’s were obviously damaged.
When we arrived at Bob and Roisin’s house, they invited us in and Lizzy guided us to the back, where a terrace overlooked a small pond. Exotic birds I didn’t recognize flitted about.
“We were just getting ready to have brunch,” Lizzy said. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”
The five of us sat and had crepes with thick, sweet cream and fresh fruit. When we finished, Roisin asked, “How did you fare last night?”
I held up the pendant and told her about my experience.
“Interesting,” she said when I finished. “No, I wasn’t wearing the stone I have.” She pointedly looked at Oriel. “No one crafted a piece of jewelry for me to wear.”
To my astonishment, he blushed.
“The ruby was in the room with me when the corruption came through the lines,” Roisin continued, “and the effects were far less than the other times.” She got a faraway look in her eyes for a few moments, then said, “I wonder if it could be used as a focus to cast a ward.”
“I wouldn’t know how to do that,” I said.
She gave me a startled look, then said, “Ask Sam to show you. I’m sure he knows how. It would be interesting to see if a filtering ward could be cast
at Rosie’s, and if the ward would stay in place once the stone is removed.”
“Do you have any idea how the stones are created?” I asked.
Roisin shook her head. “No, nor do we understand why they were created, or why the ley lines are being corrupted.”
“But you think the Knights know,” I said.
“Yes,” Bob said, “and that is why the Fae think the Knights have something to do with it.”
Up until then, Lizzy had been quiet through all of our discussion. “Erin, one thing we do know is that the lines in Ireland were upset less than a minute before it hit Westport. This is happening all over the world.”
I looked at the pendant. “I always thought it took a special kind of magic to create an artifact.”
“That is correct. The major artifacts are usually created by what you call a spirit mage,” Roisin said, “but any strong mage can create an artifact. It does take a talent for casting mage spells, and some have theorized that those mages who can do so have Fae blood in their lineage. But I know for a fact that a ley line mage created at least two major artifacts about eight hundred years ago. The Sword of Lightning and the Staff of Storms were created by a ley line mage named Horatio Stormbringer. Both artifacts are held by the Fae, but Horatio was a human mage. I never detected any Fae blood in him or in his magic.”
“Well, if I’m going to have Sam test this thing, I should get going,” I said.
“I’ll drive you home,” Oriel said.
We took our leave and walked to where he left his car. Everything looked normal in the underground parking garage, but on our way out of the Village, we had to detour around a couple of places. Once, where a tree had fallen across the road, and in another place where the road itself had cracked.
As soon as we left the Village, Oriel turned on the radio. The news reported large earthquakes in Seattle, Italy, Turkey, and Japan. The Seattle quake was felt in Westport.
I had Oriel take me to my place so I could shower and change clothes. After we entered my apartment and I reset my wards, he reached for me and pulled me into his arms.
Well of Magic: An Urban Fantasy (Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill Book 4) Page 6
