“We don’t need them,” he said. “Besides, I’ve found that the more cryptic the deity or oracle or seer, the less they know and smarter they are trying to sound.”
That description didn’t sit well with her. “Even me?”
“Nope. You’re straight with us. You don’t always make sense, and you have weird ideas sometimes, but you’re upfront. Part of why so many of the pub’s patrons like ya.” Shar tucked her under his arm and steered her back toward the table.
She’d had more physical contact with the brothers, and Finn, in the last day than in the last two months. “You really mean it? What you said earlier?”
He stopped. “Yes. Every bit of it.”
Including the parts about hitting his brothers and frustration and little jealousies, she added silently. “Give me a kiss.”
He gave a little jerk and dropped his arm, twisting to look down on her. “What?”
“Give me a kiss. Dub keeps kissing me, and after I was shot, well, I did some comforting of Mell. Just a little kiss, and I’m not sure he remembers it. You’re the only brother I haven’t kissed. I’m not saying I know how well this will work. I mean, if I didn’t fear it would ultimately hurt all of you, I would have done some propositioning much earlier. The Egyptians are not really very shy about these things, and as a goddess, I have had sacrifices of many kinds. But I know it is not really the same here, in Ireland, so—”
Shar slid a hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her up, stooping to meet her halfway. His lips were firm, a little dry, and steady against her. He didn’t devour like Dub, but coaxed. He nibbled at her lower lip then ran the tip of his tongue along it before teasing her mouth open.
Her hands gripped the thick muscles at his shoulders and she pressed against him. He was so tall his groin didn’t hit the right spots, but that in itself was intriguing, different. Even with Dub, the height disparity was not so unmanageable. With Shar… he really was her giant.
He eased away but didn’t go far. Leaning over her, his hand in her hair, he supported her weight, and she let him. He surrounded her, held her, tied her to him with that kiss, and she didn’t mind. She looked into his lapis-eye, so similar to Dub’s, but different. This close, she could see flecks of silver in the inner ring of the iris. “Do you really think we can make this work?” Despite her earlier resolution, if any of the brothers were unsure or doubted their ability to share her, it was better to know this now. “I will not get between the three of you. Though I want all of you, and I want to make this work, I will take Finn up on his offer if I need to.” She wanted to make it clear her priority was still their happiness.
“Well now, where’s the fun in that. Maybe you’d like to be between the three of us.”
She slapped his shoulder. “Tease. Truth, please.”
“Truth. The truth can be a tricky, tricky thing.”
“So can you immortals.”
He grinned, teeth flashing then disappearing again as he sobered. “Truth is, I will do everything in my power to make this work. Wait. What offer?” His brow quirked.
Heat filled her cheeks and she squirmed. “Well, he didn’t come right out and say it, but…” She shrugged, the movement pressing her breasts to his upper abdomen. “I was getting lonely, and didn’t want to unbalance things with you three. Plus, well, he’s a good man.”
“You’re attracted to him.”
“Yes.”
“You care for him.”
“Yes.” She wasn’t even sure when it had happened, but at some point over the last two months she had come to care for him very much. “Just as I do the three of you.” Again, she felt the need to make that clear.
His head tipped back and he was silent. Then he straightened away from her. “He deserves some happiness as well.”
She reached up, digging her hand into the hair at the nape of his neck, matching his hold on her and messing his braid. She wanted to see it unbound and flowing around him, as her visions had shown her. “We can make this work, right?” Some questions were worth repeating.
“We will make this work.” This time the hesitation was gone from his voice.
Tension fell from her shoulders and the hollow sensation that had been haunting her filled with warmth, lifting her. She was still angry for the secrets, and for them keeping themselves from her for the last couple of months, but at that moment none of the anger mattered. She knew it would get resolved.
A howl sounded, muffled but drawing closer. It grew until the sound reverberated through the whole of the guardi’s headquarters.
Bat jerked away from Shar as urgency filled her and sprinted through the shelves, toward the front of the library.
“Just get the damned med kit,” a voice shouted from the hall. It sounded like Mell…
They were back. And at least one was injured. Her heart pounded. What had happened? Hadn’t she told Dub to ensure everyone made it back in one piece?
Killer barreled through the library doors just as Shar caught up with her. Ailis and the others were on their feet. Oisin twisted to avoid her pup then made for the now open door.
Her pup sniffed at her, snorted, and spun to face the doors, taking up the guard position that had come to him so naturally.
“It’s fine for now.” That was Finn, his voice slightly muffled with distance. “Just get those bags and the rest to a warded room so we can ensure any spells or glamours are stripped. And take the sluagh to a holding room. We’ll bring Bat to him.” A pause. “Offer him water or something, and don’t grab like that. He’s not a prisoner.”
A red-gold head of hair appeared in the doorway. “Bat, Shar, could you come with us for a moment?” His gaze cut to Oisin, who had paused a few feet from the doors. “We’ll need you in the ward rooms. Did you have any luck tracking the cauldron?” He shifted and his injured shoulder came into view. Blood, mostly dried, smeared down his left arm and soaked into his t-shirt.
“No, but I have an idea.” Oisin returned to his seat and his scribbles. “I’ll be down in a few moments. Let me finish here.”
Finn gave a curt nod then looked over his shoulder.
“What happened?” Bat asked, pushing at Killer, who refused to move. “Killer, you idiot, move. Finn is not going to hurt me.”
Finn returned his attention to her. “Someone made their move. They didn’t win.” He stepped back into the hallway and out of her sight.
“Huh.” She didn’t like the look of that injury. Or, she didn’t like that he was injured. Why wasn’t it cleaned up? Why was he just walking around dripping blood? She placed the ball of her foot against her pup’s hindquarter and shoved. Killer twisted around to give her an admonishing look.
Dub was the next to appear. He took in the tableau with a sharp glance then gave a piercing whistle. Killer bounded over to him, tail waving in a quick beat.
Bat frowned. “You are a fickle beast,” she told her pup, who twisted, panted, and let out another resounding bark before returning his attention to Dub.
“Finally. What, you were going to let your captain bleed out?” Mell’s voice floated into the room from somewhere.
“What is going on?” she asked again.
“As Finn said, we won.”
Bat jabbed a finger toward him. “That is not an answer. And you are being deliberately cryptic. Cease.”
“I am being cryptic, as you said, because we haven’t yet figured out exactly who it is watching us, or how.” Dub pushed the door open farther and gestured for her to come to him. “Now, there is someone who needs to see you.”
Bat threw up her hands, much as she’d seen Ailis do, and stomped to her grumpy not-man, Shar right behind her.
“Don’t worry about us! We’ll just be here, doing… something until you return,” Ailis called out.
Bat and Dub snorted in unison, which startled a laugh from the goddess. The raven let out a caw but stayed where she was with the men of ba, Ailis, and Oisin.
They were down the stairs and
threading through a maze of hallways and rooms by the time she’d had enough of the silence. She understood wanting to ensure they were not being spied upon, but surely Dub could tell her something? She did not like being kept in the dark.
“What—”
“We’re here.” Dub halted before a plain white door, the same as all the others in this hall. There weren’t even any markings to tell which room was which. How did he know they were where they needed to be?
Then she spied the thin panel of lights just above the door. These showed yellow. The door next to them indicated red, while the rest were green. Hmmmm…
“Is this like the traffic lights? Red is stop, green is go and orange is speed up?”
“Orange is not speed up. You’ve been talking to Ailis too much.” Dub frowned, but there was no real ire behind it.
Bat shrugged. “She answers my questions.”
“Stop pouting, storeen. I’ll give you answers in just a moment.”
“I wasn’t pouting. I was poking. And it was not about this.” Okay, maybe she was pouting a little. But not much. She just didn’t like that her life had been so disturbed. Though, it did break the ice in regards her relationships with the men. That was a silver lining to the cloud.
And where— “Where did Mell go? And Finn?”
Dub sighed, his hand hovering over the door. “Ya can’t hold yer questions for a moment, can ya?” The words were exasperated, but the tone was teasing and his frown was now gone.
“I’ve been holding my questions very well, thank you very much.”
Killer interjected a yipping growl of agreement.
“See, even Killer agrees.”
Shar, wearing a wide grin, slipped his hand to the nape of her neck. “Give him a break, a stor.”
Her eyes went wide. “I don’t want to break him.”
“That’s not what—”
“Enough.” Dub flicked his fingers around, the door clicked, and he pushed it open.
Killer sniffed, growled, sniffed again, then wagged his tail, nosing the door open all the way. Dub waved for her to enter.
Well, since I have his mightiness’s permission…
“Keep pushing, goddess, and I am sure you will like what you get,” Dub murmured as she slipped past him.
She stuck her tongue out and his eyes darkened.
“Stop teasing each other and get in here,” Mell said.
Bat jumped away from Dub and focused on the room’s other occupants. Finn, who had a clean bandage if not a clean shirt, Mell, and…
“Faolan? What are you doing here?” The sluagh—and she still wasn’t quite sure what those were except another type of fae—sat at the table beside Mell, head bowed.
He looked up at her voice. “Goddess. I saved it for ya.”
Then his arms moved, shadows—where there should be none—shifted, and gnarled brown hands held her harp out to her. She took it, stroked her hand over the leather of the case. She slipped the instrument out and looked it over for any damage that may have been inflicted during the scuffle. It gave a soft strum of recognition as she ran a finger along one of the strings, and she sealed it up once more, satisfied it had survived well enough, and placed it carefully on the table.
“He was hanging around the pub, even after I kicked everyone out,” Mell said.
“I was late, and I hadn’t got my pint, now had I? Ya know I need my pint.”
Bat nodded. It was true. Faolan was very good about coming in just as dusk fell, and having just the one pint. She tried to make a point of playing at least one song while he was there.
“Apparently, the intruders first came down the flue, and Faolan followed them—”
“Their shadows are not near as good as mine, goddess.”
“—and got to the harp as they were arguing about who would be trying to pick it up, hiding it from them. They came back after we arrived and he showed himself to us. The pub is a little…”
“Did the bar break?” she asked.
Mell shook his head.
“Oh. Okay. I know how much Dub hates replacing that.”
Dub’s brows rose, and Finn grinned. “Though usually, he only hates replacing it because he’s the one who breaks it,” the guardi teased.
Bat beamed, happy that Finn had followed her lead in teasing Dub. It would be fun to gang up on the eldest brother. It was not nearly the same as when Mell joined in, Dub was nearly immune to his younger brother’s jabs.
She returned her attention to the harp. “Why are we here, in this room? Do we think they managed to do something to it that I did not detect?”
“No,” Finn answered her. “We already checked it over. There are no glamours, wards, spells or curses laid on it. We just haven’t finished checking everything else Dub insisted we bring back. The attackers would have had much more time to work with the things left in the pub, and we need to be sure no traps were laid upon them.”
“Who are they? Where are they? Did they get away? Oh, and I talked to Seth, but he really wasn’t very helpful. Just warned me that Balor could be a ruthless bastard and to avoid his gaze, which I am sure you all knew already.”
“They are in warded holding cells, the level below this. They are secure. So, no, they did not get away.” Finn turned to Faolan. “We need to speak with the goddess alone now, but know that your assistance was greatly appreciated.”
Faolan peeked at Bat then ducked his head again, much as Ari tended to do. “Will the pub be open again?”
“Not until we get the window fixed, and maybe longer,” Dub quickly answered, cutting off whatever explanation or reassurance Bat would have offered.
“You’ll be one of the first to know, I am sure,” she offered the sluagh with a smile.
Faolan flashed her a grin, revealing sharp teeth. They were not near as deadly as Ari’s. “I will watch for ya, goddess.”
She nodded and he rose, sweeping in his shadows toward the door.
“Faolan,” she called out. She didn’t care what Dub or Finn cautioned, what he had done deserved more than a nod. “Thank you.”
The sluagh ducked his head and slid out the door. No doubt someone would ensure he was escorted out.
Bat, the brothers, and Finn sat in silence.
“Oisin mentioned he may have a way to track the cauldron using the shard. Neither you nor the ba men had any luck?” Finn finally started.
“No.” Bat filled them all in on what had happened while they were gone, including the conversation with the Morrigan. In a split decision, she also told them what she knew of the blades, how they did not really kill but capture, and that the souls captured were used to keep something at bay. She ended with her frustration at not knowing exactly what that something was.
“Clever, really,” Finn mused. “They gave us weapons that would ‘kill’ all while feeding the protections and keeping their secret. Too many would have balked on making sacrifices.”
“You don’t want to know what is guarded?”
Finn gazed at her, his green eyes both stark and soft. “I really don’t understand you.” Then he shuddered. “No, I do not want to know. I have seen enough in my life that I wish I never knew, or could forget. Why add something else to it, and something that I may never have to deal with at that? The blades aren’t in use anymore, so from that I can assume the protections are steady.”
Bat braced herself for a vision that never came. Finn’s words were just the kind that would trigger a flash. But since there wasn’t one, she had to assume he was right, and she let it go.
“But this information does change things,” Finn said. “If Nuada’s blade works similarly, and was used to trap Balor, then it would explain how he would be able to resurrect himself. I had assumed he was attempting something similar to what happened with Oisin. But with Oisin, his wife sent him back from the Otherworld, and he accidentally locked himself out. He’s been working for centuries to get back to her.”
“Oh.”
Finn waved a hand. �
��Whole other story, for a different day. It only has bearing here because we know that Balor is not trying to return from the otherworld, as he never went there.”
“Seth did also mention he felt when Balor was gone, but he also felt that not all of him was gone.” Bat supplied. “If… if the Fomoiri are from Egypt, what if their souls follow the rules of our land? What if a portion of his ba was not taken by the sword, but lingered in an effigy? If the body was preserved and prepared well enough, that could have worked. Or that fragment of soul could have hidden away in something that represented him. The old pharaohs used this method many times. The ba, especially, is drawn to likenesses.”
“If there was a man of ba helping him at that time…”
Bat’s stomach clenched. She didn’t want to believe that one of the guardians of the vessel would have betrayed his fellows in such a way, but the possibility had to be considered, especially since someone—who had possession of Nuada’s blade—had made it through the glamours and wards surrounding the wood. That person would either need to be extremely familiar with the pathways of the soul, or they would have needed to be brought through.
“We can’t trust them, can we?” she whispered, her heart aching.
“I would say we can trust Ari, if only because we know he was with us when the attack occurred,” Shar offered.
“Doesn’t mean he was not involved somehow.” Dub shook his head. “People so often assume there is only one betrayer.”
“Chaos and evil are extremely sneaky,” Bat agreed, though it pained her to do so. “I will need to look into their hearts.” She sagged. It took so much from her to exercise that part of her power…
“It would be best, storeen.” Dub leaned toward her. “But we need to take care of a few things before that, first of which is ensuring we have a safe place for us to work.”
“Why can we not stay here?”
Finn and Mell exchanged a look. “I have no reason not to trust my fellow guardi,” Finn started. “But as you said, evil is insidious. Plus, this is not really a place to sleep. I would offer my home, but it has one bedroom, and is only a little larger than the room we are currently in.”
The Forgotten Trilogy Page 32
