Kate pointed to the map.
“If we tell him to meet us here, he’s going to know the plan,” she said.
“So we’ll make it someplace else,” Quinn said and looked over the map. He pointed to a spot. “Here. Let’s offer to meet him in Morven Park.”
“In theory, it’s a good site for them,” Kate nodded. “It’s near an equestrian center so it’s a nice open space. Nearest cemetery is a mile or two away, so even if he does believe that graveyards are connected to my power, he has no reason to think we have an advantage there.”
“Because we don’t,” Quinn said.
“Right,” Kieran said. “But that’s where you come in. You’ll take the field alone.”
“That worked so well last time,” Quinn said. “It’s a fight I can’t win.”
“Exactly, and he knows it,” Kieran replied.
“I love this plan,” Quinn said. “I’m excited to be a part of it.”
“Ghostbusters, right?” Kieran said, and smiled. “God, I love that movie.”
Quinn just grinned.
“Boys,” Kate said. “Let’s stay on track.”
“Okay,” Kieran said, and pointed at the map. “At the right moment, you will strategically withdraw. You need to draw them across this direction. Past Tuscarora High School and the middle school beyond that. When the time comes, you need to be right here.”
He tapped his finger on a patch of land near the Potomac River.
“If you can draw them there, we’ll be ready,” Kieran said.
Quinn nodded.
“Can you do it?” he asked Kate.
She smiled back at him.
“We’ll find out,” she said.
“But one thing,” Kieran said.
“Just one?” Kate asked.
“Your scream,” he said. “I said before Sawyer will be worried about your scream. You can try that trick again, but my guess is it won’t work. Sawyer will be ready for it. Don’t rely on it to save the day.”
Kate nodded.
“I’m worried about his flute,” she said.
“It’s not as foolproof as he thinks,” Kieran replied. “It won’t work on Quinn at all. I’m not even sure he knows if you have moidin, but even if he does, I don’t think they’ll be affected. They are ghosts, after all.”
“That makes us even on one count,” Quinn said. “What else do our guys have?”
Kate thought of the ghost who carved his initials into the woodwork.
“Let me worry about that, honey,” she said. “If the plan works, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“One final question: how do we kill Sawyer and Elyssa?” Quinn asked.
“Elyssa’s not a problem,” Kieran said. “She’s an animal. She may be a mythical creature, but she’s still real. Cut off her head. That ought to appeal to your particular talents.”
“And Sawyer?”
Kate smiled.
“I called in a favor for that one,” she said. “Remember the literature on faeries? Silver is their weakness.”
Kate disappeared into the bedroom and returned holding a gleaming sword. She handed it to Quinn.
He grasped the hilt and held it in his hand. It was heavier than he was used to, but not as heavy as he expected.
“This can’t be made of solid silver,” he said.
“It’s steel with silver inlays,” she said. “It turns out that silver is too soft for a sword, but this ought to do the trick nicely.”
She held out her hand to take it back.
“Hey,” Quinn said. “I thought this was mine.”
“You already have a sword,” she said. “I need one.”
“Do you even know how to use it?”
“I’m half of you, remember? You know how to fight—so do I.”
Quinn looked at her and wondered if he had seen her so sexy in his life. He handed the sword back to her.
“Where in the world did you find this kind of sword?” Quinn asked.
“Remember William Burns, the GM engineer turned sword maker?” Kate asked. “I contacted him as soon as we read the story about Aillen. And I paid him a lot of money. I wanted to surprise you.”
“Kate gave me a different errand,” Kieran said.
He went to the corner of the room and dug into a large bag. Quinn should have noticed it before, but he had been distracted.
When Kieran brought it to him, Quinn’s eyes widened. Even Kate looked surprised.
“Wow, when you said you’d look into buying a shield, I didn’t realize how well you’d come through,” Kate said.
Kieran placed it gently on the table. It was one of the most beautiful objects Quinn had ever seen. It was a steel shield, but like the sword, had a silver inlay. On the front was the image of a man dressed in an ancient tunic and holding a spear. Quinn knew who it was immediately.
“It’s Fionn, leader of the Fianna,” he said.
“Yes,” Kieran said. “I thought it was fitting.”
“Is this what he used to defeat Aillen?” Quinn asked.
“A replica,” Kieran said. “It was a magic shield, dipped in silver to deflect faerie magic. When Aillen came to burn Tara, he used his fire on Fionn—but failed. Fionn threw his spear, hit Aillen in the shoulder…”
“And destroyed him,” Kate finished.
For the first time in days, Quinn felt hopeful.
“Where did you get this?” Quinn asked.
“Kate has her resources,” Kieran replied. “I have mine.”
Quinn was too transfixed by the shield to care much about his answer. But Kate watched Kieran carefully.
“Thank you,” Quinn said. He reached his hand out to Kieran, who grasped it. “I mean it. You’ve been a tremendous help to us.”
Kieran looked surprised for a second, even slightly alarmed.
“You deserve to win this fight,” he said. “It’s been a… pleasure knowing you both. If people like you two had become the Prince a long time ago, things would have been different.”
Quinn wondered if that was right.
“Absolute power corrupts,” he replied. “So maybe not.”
“If we win, we’ll get a chance to find out,” Kate said.
“Okay,” Kieran said, looking uncomfortable.
He stepped back.
“So that’s the plan,” he said. “It’s solid. I’m going to go out and catch a movie.”
“You’re going out?” Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, there’s still a good chance that the three of us are going to die tomorrow,” he said. “I could use a break. And I thought the two of you might… you know… want to spend the night… relaxing.”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen you be diplomatic,” Kate said.
“Well, ‘shag like bunnies’ seemed crass,” Kieran replied and smiled.
Kate looked at Quinn.
“We could use some time alone,” she said.
Kieran stepped toward the door.
“No problem,” he said. “I won’t be back ‘til late.”
“Thank you,” Quinn said again.
“You may be the nicest homicidal ghost I’ve ever met,” Kieran said.
With that, he headed out the door. The smile only left his face when the door closed behind him.
*****
When the door was shut, Kate walked over to Quinn and put her arms around his neck. She kissed him long and slow.
“I missed this,” he said.
“Me too,” she replied. “I’m just glad you’re finally all right. When I saw you in the hospital…”
“It’s okay,” Quinn said.
“I wanted to gut Sawyer then and there,” she finished.
“I thought you were going to say something a little more romantic, but that’s fine too,” Quinn replied.
He leaned in and kissed her again. For the first time in weeks, they wanted to forget about their enemies, Purcellville and everything else that had gone wrong.
Quinn reach
ed down to pull off her shirt but was stopped by a knock at the door.
“What now?” he said.
Kate crossed to the door, opened it and let Tim Anderson in.
“I was waiting for the other guy to leave,” Tim explained.
Kate nodded as if this was expected.
“You don’t trust him,” Kate said.
“Do you?” Tim said.
“Not much,” Kate replied.
“Where have you been?” Quinn asked.
“Do you even need to ask?” Tim said. “You’ve missed one of the biggest stories in Loudoun County’s history.”
“Purcellville,” Kate said.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve had every reporter committed there. Josh and Bill have taken some amazing photos. Ethan keeps asking where Kate is.”
“Thank you for covering for me,” she said.
“Well, for once I think we’ve found something more important than reporting the news.”
“How much trouble are you in for the other night?” Quinn asked. “You tipped police off to the wrong location.”
Tim frowned and shrugged.
“My role was strictly off the record,” he said. “It’s Brown who has taken the heat for that and he knows it wasn’t my fault. I warned him the information may not be reliable. The bigger question is how they are explaining Purcellville. Brown is out for blood, wants me to tell him what I know.”
“How much have you said?”
“Very little,” he replied. “He blames the Prince of Sanheim though. That much is clear. Views him as some kind of serial arsonist now.”
“So people saw him attacking the town?” Kate asked.
“Enough of them,” Tim said. “There are wild stories of course and people believe them. The official reason—a cascading natural gas explosion—doesn’t even remotely make sense. In this county, people believe in the bogeyman. I don’t think they’ll get over this latest atrocity for a long time. As for how much Brown understands, I don’t know. He must know he’s not dealing with anything human, at least on some level. But if he does, he won’t admit it.”
Kate wondered if she had made a mistake in not telling Tim where Sawyer and Elyssa were holed up. She knew that if she had, the police would have raided it in a heartbeat. But she thought Sawyer would have been ready for that. His flute would have put the cops to sleep—and then they would have been slaughtered by Elyssa’s pack.
At least that’s what she told herself. Maybe it would have turned out differently. What she secretly worried about was that she didn’t want the police to find Sawyer—because she wanted to make him pay herself.
No, you did the right thing, Quinn thought.
Tim watched the look that passed between them.
“How can I help you?” Tim asked. “Whatever I can do to assist, I want to do it. The past few days have been… rough.”
Kate walked to the dining room table and showed him the map. She briefly went through their plan.
“What can I do?” Tim asked.
“You need to convince Brown to put a roadblock on Route 15 here,” she said, gesturing to the map, “and at the bypass here.”
“Those are major arteries,” Tim said. “I’m not sure he can even do that. And that’s assuming he listens to me anymore.”
“Find a way,” Kate said. “I want to minimize civilian casualties. Also, if we lose, he’s going to need officers near Leesburg.”
“I thought you said police wouldn’t be able to stop them,” Tim said.
“They might be able to slow them down,” Kate replied. “If they see anything unusual—anything coming their way—I want them to evacuate Leesburg as fast as they can.”
“There won’t be enough time,” Tim replied.
“Maybe not, but Sawyer won’t have a lot of time either,” Kate said. “At the very least, we should keep them busy for most of the evening. His powers only last until midnight tomorrow. We might be able to at least minimize the damage, make sure we don’t see Purcellville all over again.”
“Okay,” he sighed and nodded. “I’ll try.”
The three of them looked at each other.
“Thank you,” Quinn said after a pause. “It’s been great working with you.”
“Don’t get emotional on me now, Quinn,” Tim replied. “You’re still my crime reporter—and a local hero to boot for what you did in Ashburn. I expect you at work on November 1.”
“Unless I’m dead, I’ll be there,” Quinn said.
Tim turned to leave and stopped at the door.
“One more thing,” he said, looking at Kate. “You showed me something terrifying the other day when you turned into… him. But you said something that has stuck with me. You said you worried you were like him, that you had become Lord Halloween.
“I knew Lord Halloween better than most—I studied him for years and came closer to dying at his hand than anyone, save the two of you. Kate, you are not like him. Not at all.”
Kate’s eyes filled with tears.
“Do you think he would have worried about ‘civilian casualties’? Or, indeed, anything other than himself? You feel guilt about murdering him. I understand. Killing someone changes you. But it doesn’t make you a monster. Try and hold on to that.”
Kate moved toward Tim and hugged him. He looked supremely uncomfortable.
“Thank you,” she said when she pulled away. “For everything.”
“I expect to see you at work too, Kate,” he said. “Make good use of your day off tomorrow.”
“We will,” Kate said.
Tim left, closing the door behind him. Kate wiped the tears out of her eyes and smiled at Quinn.
“Now,” she said, “Where were we?”
*****
Quinn didn’t wait. He rushed toward her and pushed her gently against the wall. Reaching down, he pulled off her shirt and kissed her while his hands unclasped her bra. She let it fall to the floor.
The current that ran between them heated up as he worked his way down, kissing her face, neck, and then going even lower. He gently pulled off her skirt.
When he kissed her again, she tugged at his button-down shirt, slowly taking it off. Once it was free, she grabbed his hand and led him back to the bedroom. She lay down on the bed and watched as he took off the rest of his clothes and lay next to her. She kissed him passionately.
“I love you,” she said. “More than anything in the world.”
Quinn smiled. But as she lay there, he suddenly had an image not of the beautiful woman beside him, but the hollow-eyed spirit they had taken to calling the woman in white. For just a moment, he was sure she had changed. But when he blinked, the image was gone. She was Kate again, with her long legs, blonde hair and amazing eyes.
“What is it?” she asked him, the concern evident in her voice.
“I…”
He didn’t want to tell her and forced his mind to keep that part shut. He didn’t want to ruin their evening. But it worried him. He didn’t know what it meant, but it felt like a premonition of death.
“Nothing,” he said. “I love you too. When this is over…”
“I’ll be your wife,” she said. “And you’ll be my husband.”
“To have and to hold,” he said, trying to shake off the image. “For richer or poorer.”
“What was that part about holding?” she asked. “And having?”
*****
Kieran waited in the cemetery. He hated being here. He hated everything about himself. He didn’t know what Sanheim wanted, but he figured he wouldn’t like it. He had grown to like Kate and Quinn, and yet here he was, skulking around behind their backs. How many people had he betrayed? Kate’s accusation still gnawed at him because of its unassailable truth.
A well-dressed man slowly walked up to him.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show,” Kieran said.
“You know me better than that,” Sanheim replied.
“Their plan might actually work,
” Kieran said. “We may really pull this off.”
“I never doubted it for a moment,” Sanheim said.
“Liar,” Kieran replied. “You probably have back-up plans and schemes within schemes. It’s what you do.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I’m really very nice.”
Kieran rolled his eyes.
“I thought you couldn’t appear in the mortal realm,” Kieran said. “We’ve always talked in dreams before.”
“What day is it?”
“October 30,” Kieran said.
“Check your watch.”
Kieran looked down.
“I see,” he said. “It’s past midnight. It’s Halloween.”
“The one day of the year that I may enter this world,” Sanheim said.
“So why don’t you do your own dirty work, then?” he asked.
“As long as there are two Princes of Sanheim, I am forbidden to interfere,” he replied.
“Says who?”
“There are rules,” Sanheim said.
“Sometime you’ll have to tell me how the rules get enforced,” Kieran said.
“I really don’t,” he replied.
“I’m envisioning a committee of people somewhere taking photos of you interfering and fining you money,” Kieran said.
“It’s a good deal more serious than that,” Sanheim said.
“Fair enough,” Kieran said. “I have a question, though.”
“Ask away.”
“Do you know what ‘You are the last’ means?” he asked.
“Who mentioned that to you?” Sanheim said sharply.
“Kate,” Kieran replied. “She said Zora mentioned it.”
“Meddlesome woman,” Sanheim said. “I’m glad you killed her.”
“That makes one of us. But you didn’t tell me what it means.”
“It’s not important,” Sanheim said.
His tone was angry and Kieran knew enough to drop it. But he also knew that Sanheim was lying.
“Sorry I brought it up,” he said. “So why am I here?”
“A gift,” Sanheim said more cheerfully. “You were kind enough to give one to Quinn.”
“That was from you,” Kieran said. “I found it right where you left it. Do I even want to know how it ended up there?”
“Probably not.”
Band of Demons (The Sanheim Chronicles Book 2) Page 35
