by M. D. Massey
“She’s not in the ‘fae who swore eternal enmity against Colin McCool’ camp?”
Finnegas chuckled. “No, not at all. She said something to the effect of, ‘those bloody cunts needed a good comeuppance.’ Or something like that.”
“Good old Maureen. Is she still hot?”
“You’ll be happy to know that her beauty is one hundred percent natural.”
I nodded as I struggled to pull myself upright. “I might need some help standing up. Hand me that sword, would you?”
He did, but not before eyeing it warily. I tossed it into the Bag.
“Sometimes I think you shit magical objects, kid.”
“Hey, they find me. I’m just lucky that way, I guess.”
He grabbed me under the arms and lifted me like a baby. I swung an arm around his neck, and we stumbled toward the portal.
“Finn, where’s Bells?”
Finnegas took me back to my hometown, back to where I’d first met him and where the whole sordid mess had begun. I spent a few weeks at Éire Imports, hiding out in the warehouse where Jesse and I had used to work and train, while Maureen and the old man nursed me back to health.
I was hiding out because, according to Finn and Maureen, half the fae wanted me dead. And the half who didn’t? They’d likely turn me in to the half who did.
Finnegas had filled me in on what had happened after I’d closed off the gateways to Underhill. Without a virtually unlimited pool of magic to draw on, the fae who relied on glamours and illusions to blend in were forced to go underground. A few, those who looked more or less human, were rumored to be getting by with makeup and prosthetics. The Hollywood version of illusory magic, so to speak.
Lives were turned upside down and economies were disrupted as entire communities of fae went into hiding, away from prying human eyes. Magic became scarce amongst the fae, a commodity to be pooled and hoarded rather than thrown about indiscriminately. This forced some of the fae to go back to their old ways, preying on humans to survive.
It was said that Maeve tried to crack down on it, on the fae who were getting out of line. But her power was limited now, and her subjects knew it. It wasn’t open rebellion, but it was close.
And if they blamed me for cutting the power off, they blamed her even more for giving me the means to do so.
As far as Belladonna was concerned, no one had seen her since the day faery magic had gone dark. I kept calling and texting her, but got no reply. Whether she’d been snagged by Maeve, or if she’d been sent somewhere on a deep cover assignment by the Circle, I had no idea. No one did. So, I sat around going nuts while I recovered from my ordeal, and busied myself studying magic with Finnegas.
Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I used magic to get into the local police impound yard, where I hotwired a car. I picked one with dark limo tint on the windows—a late model Impala that was inconspicuous except for the tint. I rolled it out of the impound yard, locked the gate up behind me, and headed for Austin.
I pulled up to Belladonna’s place at about one in the morning. I cased the place for a while, because I knew there’d be fae waiting for me. Finally, I decided that I didn’t care. I hopped out of the car and made a beeline for the door, gathering power and preparing to shift.
I was halfway to her door when a dark figure stepped onto the sidewalk in front of me. I almost belted him out of the way, before realizing who it was.
Crowley.
“There’s a fae death squad waiting for you to show up. You could take them, but more will come along shortly.”
He shrouded us in shadow, grabbing my arm and pulling me along beside him as he power-walked away from Belladonna’s building. He guided me back to the car I’d borrowed and got inside. I took one wistful look back at Belladonna’s apartment, then took his cue and got in the car with him.
“Crowley, where’s Bells? Did the fae take her? And how’s Sabine?”
“Just drive, before they see us. I’d rather avoid an incident if I could. I’m not exactly popular with the fae now, either.”
I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. When we were a few blocks away, he spoke.
“I went looking for Belladonna soon after we returned from Underhill, not long after I realized you weren’t coming back. As soon as Sabine felt that she was cut off from Underhill’s magic, she panicked, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“She’ll be in hiding. She’s an agoraphobe who hid behind that reverse glamour she always wore.” I felt bad for Sabine, but I had to know what happened to Belladonna. “She’ll be fine. Tell me what you know about Bells.”
“I searched her apartment, and it looked as though she’d packed for a trip and left. There were no signs of struggle, and nothing was out of place. But I did find this.” He held up a sealed envelope with my name on it.
I snagged it out of his hand and yanked the wheel, making a sharp right into a convenience store parking lot. I held the envelope up to my face; it smelled like Bells.
The note inside was short and sweet:
Colin,
I’m more than a little pissed that you left without telling me, but Luther explained why you did it. While you were gone, something happened and I had to use that ticket. I know I told you I wouldn’t, but my mother needs me. Call me when you get back, and I’ll explain everything.
-B
“Crowley, do you know when this was written?”
“I asked around her apartment building, and no one had seen her since about the time we headed to Underhill. Why, what does it say?”
“She went back home, to Spain. I don’t know the whole story, but I do know that her family has ties to the fae in Galicia. Shit, maybe something happened to her as a consequence of what I did.” I crumpled the note and held it to my chest.
“Are you going after her?”
To tell the truth, I was torn. I had made a promise to Hemi, to return his body to his homeland and family. I still hadn’t followed through on that promise. His shrouded body remained in a magical suspended animation back at the warehouse, courtesy of the Dagda. How? I had no idea. But I owed my friend a responsibility, and I needed to see it through.
Bells was a big girl, and I knew she could handle herself. If she was in a pickle, she’d find a way to get herself out again. I just needed to have faith in her. At least, that’s what I told myself.
I shook my head. “She made it pretty clear that she didn’t want me getting involved in her family business. But she didn’t say anything about you.”
“You trust me to look into this?”
“Crowley, it seems crazy for me to say this—but right now, you’re one of the few people I trust.”
“Consider it done, then. I’ll call you when I hit the ground in Spain, and keep you posted on what I find.”
“Thanks, Crowley. And when you find her, send her my love.”
“Make no mistake, I’m going to try to steal her back from you.”
“I know.” I laughed. “That’s one of the reasons why I trust you to find out what’s happened to her.”
“You’re a strange man, Colin McCool.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
It took weeks for me to fully recuperate from the time I’d spent starving to death in that cavern. Crowley eventually found Bells—safe and sound, in fact. I also got Hemi back to his family, fulfilling my promise to him and then some.
Did I mention that Hemi’s mom nearly killed me?
Meh, those are stories for another time.
Bells and Crowley were still in Spain wrapping up a few loose ends when I got an unexpected visit from an old acquaintance. I was up late, sipping tea and reading in the corner of the warehouse that I’d converted into my living quarters. I’d been reading a lot, trying to stay off social media because Crowley kept posting pics of him and Bells and it was pissing me off. My best frenemy was trying to make time with my girlfriend, while I was stuck in Texas and they were half a world away in Spain.
I had to admit, when Sal showed up at the front door of Éire Imports late one night, it was almost a welcome distraction.
Almost.
“Sal, how’d you find me?”
“It wasn’t hard, druid. It’s just that Maureen and the old man have this town locked up tighter than a nun’s cunt. I played hell tryin’ to get to you, let me tell you. Can I come in?”
“Naw, the place is warded nine ways to Sunday. You’d fry like a pigeon on a high-power line. You alone?”
He held his left hand up with two fingers extended, and placed his right over his heart. “Scout’s honor, I swear. I owe you for saving Little Sal’s life. This red cap remembers his debts.”
“Fair enough. Give me a sec, Sal.” I went back inside and grabbed a bottle of Irish whiskey and a couple of coffee mugs. I hadn’t had many visitors lately, so I wanted to make the most of it—even if it was Sal.
We sat on the concrete steps in front of the office, sipping whiskey in the cool night air, making small talk for a while. Finally, I got tired of waiting and asked him point blank what was up.
“Well, druid, you gotta understand that I’m going against Maeve’s wishes by coming here. So, youse didn’t hear this from me, alright?”
“My lips are sealed, Sal. Besides, I doubt I’ll be speaking with Maeve anytime soon. Talk.”
He swirled his whiskey around in his mug, staring at it for a moment before downing it all. “It’s the fae, Colin. They’ve been disappearing.”
“What do you mean, disappearing? Like heading back to the old country? Have they found a way to go back to Underhill?”
He took a long swig straight out of the bottle and shook his head. “Nope. And trust me, if they did, there’d be fae lining up for miles to make that trip. Naw, I mean fae are getting disappeared. Capisci?”
“How many? And for how long?”
He took another long drink, forcing it down with a grimace and a shrug. “I dunno—weeks, maybe. It took a while for us to start noticing, what with everyone being forced underground.” He flashed me a grim smile. “Kind of hard for a fae to get by these days, you know.”
“I’m not going to apologize for that, Sal.”
The little fae held up both hands, with the neck of the whiskey bottle suspended between two of his fat little fingers. “I’m not asking you to. All I’m asking is that you look into it, is all. Maeve… well, she’s not quite up to keeping us safe these days. And some of these missing fae were heavy hitters. Even without a connection to Underhill, they could hold their own. It’s got our people nervous, some of us enough to forgive the past… indiscretions of a certain druid. That is, if he were so inclined to step in and help.”
I rubbed a hand across my three-day stubble and nodded. “I’m sick of hiding out here anyway.” I grabbed the bottle from him and took a pull off it, savoring the burn as the whiskey went down.
“Does that mean you’ll look into it?”
I handed the bottle back to him. “Sure, Sal, count me in. And tell everyone…”
“Yeah, druid? Whaddya want me to tell them?”
I flashed a grim smile. “Tell them the Junkyard Druid is back.”
This concludes the first tetralogy in the Colin McCool series, but Colin’s adventures will continue in Book 5, Druid Justice! Please leave a review for this book on Amazon or Goodreads, and be sure to sign up for my newsletter at http://MDMassey.com. Thanks for your support!
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