When I looked his way, though, Zach wasn’t watching us. He squinted, and I tilted my head.
“Move,” Zach said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the crowd.
“What?” I asked as Bryn ducked into a doorway with us.
“The girl from the Conclave, Poppy, was at a jewelry stand.”
“Christ. You’re sure?” Bryn asked.
Zach just looked at him. Zach was a sheriff’s deputy. Even though he worked in a small town, his powers of observation had been honed with training and practice. I thought maybe playing football had helped too. He was used to noting the location of an entire field of guys with a quick glance.
“Let’s get off the street,” Bryn said.
“What if they found our hotel? Mercutio’s asleep in the van. I should get him,” I said.
“He’ll be too conspicuous,” Bryn said.
I chewed my lip.
“He’s right,” Zach said, waving us into a men’s clothing shop. Bryn pretended to shop while Zach stood at the window, watching.
I paced until Bryn told me not to. “Sweetheart, try not to draw attention to yourself,” he said.
I folded my arms across my chest as he moved to the corner of the shop. I followed him, and he said, “Pick something out for me to buy. I need to think about what sort of distraction I can create,” Bryn said. His Irish accent had thickened since we’d gotten to Dublin.
I flipped through racks absently and made my way to Zach’s side.
“How are you?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Zach?” I waited.
He didn’t turn his head, but when he realized I would wait there until he responded, he said in a low voice, “Other than the knife in my heart, I’m right as rain.”
I winced. “I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to tell you I got engaged. It happened all of a sudden, and I—”
“The only thing I’m trying to care about right now is keeping us alive. Leave me alone so I can concentrate.”
I nodded, though he wasn’t even looking at me. I should’ve walked away, but I couldn’t make myself do it. We’d be traveling together for a while and into a dangerous place. We couldn’t afford to be distracted by personal stuff. For that reason, and for my peace of mind, I really wanted to clear the air.
“You and I will get through this,” I said. “I know you don’t think we can be friends, but we can. We’ve known each other since the days of wearing party hats at birthday parties. I’m not fixin’ to give up on us as friends. Not ever.”
Zach’s denim-colored eyes turned to me. “If you let me in, I’ll wreck your engagement.”
I took a step back. “No one can do that.”
“I know you’re not ready to let me go,” he said.
I blinked, surprised by the sudden appearance of Zach’s smile, which I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
“Is that right?” Bryn asked.
I jumped and turned. “Oh, hello. I was just telling Zach that we can be friends.”
“She was also telling me she’ll never give up on having a relationship with me. Not ever. So I guess we’re going to be a threesome on this side of the ocean and the other. Forever,” Zach said, still smirking as he locked eyes with Bryn.
“As long as she’s sharing my bed and not yours, I suppose I’ll be able to tolerate it better than you will.” Bryn’s voice was dead cool, his gaze steely.
Zach looked back at the street, the corners of his mouth still curved up, but there was a tightness to his expression, and the set of his shoulders told the real story. He’d have liked to knock Bryn’s head off his shoulders.
“Got a plan?” I asked, taking Bryn’s hand and walking him away from Zach.
“Not completely. The Conclave operatives are well trained. Diversionary tactics will have to be good to fool them. I think I’m going to ask for some assistance.”
He put up a finger to have me wait. He made some calls, often speaking Gaelic. When he finished, he said, “I hope it’s not a mistake to involve the friends I have here. I won’t ask them to come out right now. They’re too likely to be spotted by the operatives. But tonight I’ve asked them to cast some spells, to fill the air with magic that will hopefully make it harder for the Conclave operatives to track us. I’ll cloak us as best I can as soon as we put some distance between us and them.”
I looked up at the sound of rain striking the window. Bryn frowned and muttered, “Hell.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Kato uses wind magic, and this storm is gusting. Lundqvist is weather magic, so storms will add to his power. Clouds and city lights will make it more challenging for me to see and draw power from the heavens tonight. Assuming that it’s still Van Noten’s original team that’s tracking us, a rainstorm with brisk winds is the last thing we want.”
“Well, we’ll cut through a park and I’ll put my toes in the dirt. I’m earth magic, and you can draw power from me. Plus, I’ve got a gun. You know what a good shot I am. And Zach’s got his amulet and a gun. There are three of them and three of us. To my mind, it’s an even match.”
“We’ve got company,” Zach said.
Poppy pulled the door open and flounced in. She wore a tight black sweater with a cartoon skull on it, and she’d paired it with a black-and-fuchsia tutu skirt of layered lace that hit her midthigh and made her an extra couple feet wide. Her blond curls bobbed around her face, tighter and frizzier after having been rained on.
“Hello, loves. Fancy meeting you here,” she said cheerfully.
“C’mon over here, darlin’,” Zach said. “Lemme bend your ear.”
Her smile widened, causing a deep dimple in each cheek. “I like it right here near the door, so no one can slip out. But you can bring that big buff body to me.”
Zach nodded for Bryn to take over watching the window, and Zach walked to her. He bent forward and his blond curls nearly matched hers for color. When she cocked her head, though, I thought I spotted darker roots. Not her natural color then, which, of course, didn’t matter. Her magic was the only thing I should’ve cared about. I couldn’t help but notice the way she pressed her big boobs against Zach as he leaned in, talking to her. He was at least a foot taller, so they hit him around his six-pack. I scowled. When he put a hand on her back, I’d had enough. She was the enemy, after all.
“Um, what are you guys talking about?” I asked, giving her a little shove to widen the space between them.
“Nothing much,” Zach said. “I was just telling her I like her style.” Zach pulled Poppy against him and turned her like they were going to twirl right around the store doing a two-step.
My jaw dropped as they moved across the aisle. Then her smile disappeared, and she jerked her arm. When she couldn’t raise it, I darted over to have a better look. I hadn’t heard the click, but apparently he’d handcuffed her to a rack.
“You can’t be serious,” she snapped. “I may be blood-and-bones magic, but I can certainly cast a rudimentary spell to get myself out of a pair of human handcuffs.”
He grinned. “I really do you like your style, darlin’. Stay out of trouble. Tammy Jo, Lyons, let’s go.”
Poppy murmured a spell, and then her face scrunched. “What is this? What?”
“Move it,” Zach said, shoving me out the door.
She raised her free arm and started to cast. Bryn thrust me out the doorway, and the three of us ducked around the side of the building.
“Those weren’t regular handcuffs, huh?” I asked.
“Nah. Special issue,” he said, shrugging his brows.
Bryn led the way between buildings, casting a spell to cloak us, but it bent away from Zach, who’d taken out his amulet. After he’d learned that there was an underground of supernatural creatures and magic was real, he’d gone to train as a human champion. I di
dn’t know what the training had been like; he kept the details secret, whether by his choice or because the people who’d trained him told him to. One thing that I had become acquainted with was a gold amulet with a purple stone that defended him against magic.
Unfortunately, the amulet’s power was strong and aggressive. It gave me a headache to be near it, and when it was activated it could even burn my skin.
“You don’t have to bring that out yet,” I said, shielding my eyes from its bright reflection.
“Walk ahead of me if it’s too close,” Zach said.
I frowned, but did as he suggested. It seemed the distance between Zach and me was getting bigger in every way. I caught Bryn watching me out of the corner of his eye and decided that, maybe for the moment, some distance was for the best.
14
WHEN WE SLIPPED into the Duke pub on Duke Street, where the literary pub crawl would begin, Zach put the amulet away. Bryn had Guinness, Zach had a beer I’d never heard of, and I had a half a pint of hard cider.
Zach ignored us, his eyes trained on the window. Bryn cast glances out, but split his attention between me, the window, and the surroundings. When the back of his hand brushed mine, I laced our fingers together under the table.
“Thank you,” he whispered without looking at me.
I smiled and squeezed his hand. “Welcome,” I whispered back, stealing a glance at Zach, who seemed not to even know we were there anymore. It was an act, of course. I wished Edie were there to distract him. And to distract us and anyone else who might be in hearing distance.
“I wonder how Edie and Andre are doing,” I said.
“I’m sure they’re all right,” Bryn said absently. “Those are the pub crawl actors.” Bryn nodded to a pair of men in black bowler hats. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“I’ll wait here,” Zach said.
“Don’t forget that the window’s glass works both ways,” Bryn said to Zach. “You can see out. They can see in.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Zach said in a pancake-flat tone.
“Maybe we should all stay down here. If the Conclave members come up the stairs, we’ll be stuck,” I said.
“I’m thinking of Kismet,” Bryn said. “We haven’t seen her. She might be upstairs already. She likes that vantage point. Up above,” he said, glancing at the ceiling.
“She does like being up high, but that’s in trees,” I mused. “Can’t hurt to check if she’s there, though.”
Upstairs, the cozy room was already nearly full, and the two men in hats were greeting people and telling jokes. I smiled. “This would be lots of fun if we weren’t having to hide out from the Conclave and such,” I said.
Bryn nodded with a slight smile. “This is not exactly the Irish vacation I planned to show you.”
“Yeah, seems like something unexpected is always happening. I suppose we should expect it.”
He laughed softly. “I guess.”
Kismet wasn’t upstairs, but Bryn bought our tickets.
“I want one of those,” I whispered, pointing to a souvenir program. He raised his brows. “Yes,” I said emphatically. “On account of the fact that I’m a visitor in Ireland, and this might be the only tour I get to go on. Maybe we’ll get hung up in the Nev—you know where—and these guys in hats will have retired by the time we come back.”
Bryn frowned. “Let’s try not to think that way,” he said, but he bought me a booklet anyway. I couldn’t resist flipping through it as they ushered us downstairs to have a drink and be on our way.
I’d never been on a pub crawl before, let alone one about writers. I wasn’t sure why they called it a crawl. Maybe it was because some people had to crawl home after drinking in every pub along the way. I wasn’t fixing to get drunk. We needed to keep our wits about us.
At each stop, the actors did a skit and gave a little talk, sharing stories about famous Irish writers. Then we went inside for a pint of beer or cider. In my case, I stuck with half pints. Zach followed the group, but stayed back from us, his gaze constantly scanning. Bryn had a different style. I knew he was also vigilant, but he was subtle about it. Every few moments I’d feel a thread of his magic drift outward, searching for signs of other magic that might be closing around us.
The actors were sure funny. Pretty soon I was only half paying attention to the street, because I was laughing and watching their performance. Bryn, it turned out, already knew all about the writers they were mentioning, and he joined in with quick, funny comments when the actors asked the audience questions.
When we reached Trinity College, Bryn led me away from the group. They stood out front while we slipped into a quiet, dark square. There were grand old buildings, and I bet in daylight it was even more impressive to see.
“If I’d lived in Ireland in my teens and twenties, this is where I would’ve gone to school,” he said. “We visited here often when I spent summers in Dublin. And members of the W.U., including me, have left things in the square.”
My mouth dropped open. The W.U. was the Wizard’s Underground, a secret organization dedicated to stopping WAM from doing unethical things to its members.
Bryn led me to a bike rack. He glanced at the sky and then around before twisting one of the rungs on the rack. I felt dozens of tendrils of magic emerge. My eyes widened.
“Hello, there, Tammy, darlin’,” Kismet’s voice called. I turned as she emerged from the shadows with a book tucked under her arm.
“Hi! There you are,” I said. “I was starting to worry.”
“No need for that. I can take care of myself.”
“What have you got there?” I asked, nodding at her book. It wasn’t a little souvenir program like what I had, that was for sure. It was a hardcover that looked older than both of us put together.
“Oh, this is a little gift for Her selfish Highness.”
“Did you steal it?” I asked, frowning. It was pretty late, and I doubted my sister, the fae assassin, had a library card for a human school.
“No. Mind you, I could have.” She shrugged her brows. “No security’s good enough to keep me out, do I want to get in.”
I cocked my head and realized that when she said, “do I want to get in,” she meant “if I want to get in.” She had a funny way of talking sometimes.
“But,” she continued breezily, “I don’t steal from students. And I won’t take their valuables for her if there’s just one copy of something. I make sure I only get the double of something, and the lesser one. Don’t tell her, though. She thinks I only bring her the best.”
“I definitely won’t tell her. I don’t think she should be getting copies of rare books, even the lesser copies. Those belong to the school.”
“Aye, well, she wants what she wants. And usually gets what she wants. And remember, it’s you who insisted we go in there. I can’t come empty-handed.”
Bryn was walking along one of the buildings, running his hand over the brick wall.
“What are you doing, Bryn?” I asked.
“Looking for a mark we left,” he said softly. “Here.” He scraped off some loose cement between bricks, and I smelled his magic and tasted something sweet and strong.
“Sealed with whiskey cream,” he said with a smile when I licked my lips.
“Two things you can count on the Irish for . . . drunkenness and rebellion,” a voice said.
We spun as Kato stepped into the courtyard, a gun pointed at us. I jerked my head toward where Kismet had been, but she’d melted into the shadows. I bit my lip. Where was she?
“We heard the Wizard’s Underground had concealed magic on the grounds of Trinity College,” Kato continued.
“I stored magic here when I was a teenager training in magic,” Bryn said. “Nothing to do with an underground, if one exists.”
Gusts of wind blew around Kato, and I shivered. “Don’t po
int that gun at us,” I said. “It’s wet out. Your finger might slip.”
“It might,” he agreed. “On your knees, Lyons. I’m taking the girl.”
In a blink, Kismet came from behind him and put a dagger to his throat. “Hello, wizard,” she said in a soft voice that could barely be heard above the wind. “Drop your arms and your weapon, or I’ll drop your whole body.” Her eyes shone a tawny green in the darkness, with flecks of gold that glowed. She’d never looked more catlike than at that moment, all grace and deadly purpose.
“Who and what are you, girly?” Kato asked, lowering his arms as he tried to see her over his shoulder.
“Kis!” I said, spotting fuzzy curls bouncing up behind her.
“What have we here?” Poppy said with a giggle.
Bryn raised a hand at the same time Poppy did. He pushed me aside, and I felt a barrier of Bryn’s magic slide in front of us, but not before Bryn sucked in a sharp breath that told me he’d felt her blast of magic. Her assault spell had been meant for me. My head jerked to look at him, and he clutched his throat. I felt a slight burning in my own throat.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Zach rushed into the courtyard, his shirt open, amulet blazing. “Trouble’s coming down the street,” he called, but stopped when he saw Poppy and Kato. She whirled toward him, raising an arm.
“Don’t—” Zach warned, but she flung magic.
It bounced off the amulet and boomeranged back toward her. She was seized by a fit of coughing that brought her to her knees.
“Come on,” Zach said, waving for us to move.
Bryn and I jogged to Zach.
“Good night,” Kismet said, making a thin slice on Kato’s neck. He sucked in a breath, but no blood gushed. There were just a few small beads that welled on his skin.
A moment later his eyes rolled back, and his body crumpled to a heap at Kismet’s feet. Without missing a beat, she slid her dagger into a sheath on her small leather backpack and walked away from the fallen Kato.
“Is he—?”
She shook her head. “Just unconscious. A sedative poison on the knife. I introduced it with a nick from the blade.”
Casually Cursed Page 12
