“I’ll ask.” He typed out the text. In another moment, he said, “Ten minutes. I’ll give her another ten minutes, then I’m telling Viktor to go in. Things aren’t going the way we want them to and, color me superstitious, but the last thing I want is for Angel to get herself in trouble.”
We waited, anxious, staring at Yutani’s laptop. Five minutes later and Herne let out a long breath. “She’s out and returning to the car. Viktor says she doesn’t look in a hurry, so maybe she got away with it.” A moment later and he visibly relaxed. “They’re on their way back. Angel told Viktor that Nalcops didn’t seem on to her at all.”
“Now that that’s over, what do you want me to look up?” Yutani asked.
“Right,” Herne said. “See what you can find on the stone. Specifically, how can we destroy the Cailleach? Or rather, how can we trap her again?” He glanced at the clock. “Have we heard from Rafé since this morning? He should be on the road with them now.”
“He wouldn’t be able to text us,” I said. “They have a moratorium on outside contacts. I think they keep a sharp eye on the recruits.”
“True, but we also have the trace on him. Yutani, pull him up and see where he’s at.” Herne leaned over his shoulder.
Yutani’s fingers flew across the keyboard, but then he straightened, looking confused. “I know the storm didn’t knock out everything but…” He paused, then again, focused on entering something. I held my breath. Something felt off.
“What’s going on?” Herne asked.
“The trace appears to be off-line. Maybe the storm took out satellite communications or maybe something’s malfunctioning with my program. Let me debug it and see if I can find out why it’s not showing him.”
“Oh hell. When Angel gets back here, don’t mention this to her until we know what’s going on.” I turned to the Cailleach stone. “Meanwhile, where should I put this? We can’t just leave it sitting around.”
“Leave it here, in my room,” Herne said, the expression on his face far from reassuring.
“Hey.” I tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, walk with me while Yutani works on the program.”
I led him back to my room and pulled him down on the bed, leaning in to give him a gentle kiss. “I know you’re worried, but what’s going on? You seem really upset. I know Angus fucked up, but I don’t think he meant to put everyone in jeopardy, I can’t believe that of him.”
Herne stiffened, then—letting out a long breath—relaxed.
“I know he didn’t, but damn it, he was such a fool. Such an incredible fool. He knows the power of the ancient ones. He knows what forces exist in this world. He was selfish, not wanting to accept what destiny had in store for him.” Herne groaned, lying flat across my bed.
“Couldn’t the Cailleach have gotten loose over there as well? Otherwise, why have someone watching her at all? This could have happened anywhere.”
He shook his head, drawing one arm across his eyes. “This did not happen under Murray’s watch. He was true to his calling. True to his word. He didn’t shirk his duties.”
“Angus didn’t ask to have his life disrupted. He built a life over here with Fiona. He didn’t want to give that up.” I didn’t like playing devil’s advocate, but it seemed like Herne was being incredibly harsh on the man.
“Angus was trained in his duty from the time he was a bairn. He knew that one day he would take his father’s place, and he understood all that entailed. He can’t lie to me and tell me he didn’t believe the story was real.” Herne shot up, grunting. “The man was hoping that nothing would happen. That’s a far cry from believing that nothing would go wrong. He might as well have just crossed his fingers.”
I brought my feet up on the bed, wrapping my arms around my knees. “So, you’ve never made any mistakes when your father told you to do something? You’ve never made any mistakes that accidentally hurt somebody or had far-reaching repercussions?”
Glaring at me, Herne crossed his arms and pressed his lips together, staring at the floor. But after a moment, he sighed again, dropping his arms to his sides.
“I’ll admit, I have. More than once. But damn it, nothing quite like this. Why couldn’t Angus have just accepted the charge in his care and done what he was told to do?”
I scooted close to him. “Maybe he didn’t want to live the rest of his life chained to a stone in Scotland? Maybe he loves it here so much it would break his heart to move? Maybe part of him truly didn’t believe the stone was important. If you’ve never seen a tiger strike, it looks just like a big kitten. Maybe Angus doesn’t really believe in the magic of the past? Sure, he’s one of the magic-born, but they’re just like everybody else in so many ways. And Angus lives in a world filled with science and technology.”
“And with gods and magic. Just because science has a good grasp on how the cosmos works doesn’t mean that it knows how magic works. Just because you have more computing power in your cell phone than the Pentagon used to have in an entire building doesn’t mean that your spells don’t work. You can’t just ignore the past when it’s still alive and thriving in the present.” Herne pulled me to him and wrapped his arm around my waist as I straddled his lap.
“I know you’re trying to help, but you aren’t. Angus and I will be all right. It’s just going to take some time. He could have gotten both you and Yutani killed today. He could have gotten himself killed today. He knows that the Cailleach has possession of Fiona and I think he’s been afraid of that all along. He just wanted us to come over here and reassure him that he was wrong.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder and he kissed me, then, slow and tender, his lips warm against mine, growing deeper with every passing moment. He stroked my face, touching my lips with his fingers, caressing my cheek.
“I wish we had time to make love, but right now, we have to make certain Angel’s all right, and we have to figure out what happened to Rafé. Everything will be all right, love. I’ll talk to Angus and we’ll get past this.”
“Good, because I’d hate to see you break up your friendship over this. It’s going to be bad enough if we have to destroy Fiona.” I stopped, not wanting to hear Herne’s answer.
He stared at me for a moment, then kissed me again. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said. “We can’t know for sure, yet. The only thing to do is keep hoping. Fiona’s a lovely woman. I’d hate to think we’ve lost her for good.” He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Come on, let’s get back to work. It’s nearly time for dinner. Once Angel and Viktor get back, we’ll order room service and see what we can figure out.”
Clinging to the hope that we’d be able to save Fiona, I followed Herne back to his room. Sometimes, it just didn’t pay to get up in the morning.
CHAPTER NINE
A ngel and Viktor returned shortly and once again, we gathered in Herne’s room. Talia called for room service and they sent up three large pizzas, all homemade and smelling absolutely mouthwatering. They also sent up several sides—mozzarella sticks, tomato soup, and breadsticks. It was a carb-fest but a delightful one.
Angel was looking a little like Bambi-in-the-headlights. She shivered as she joined me on the bed, sitting cross-legged.
“I think I need to leave the investigations up to you guys. I was terrified the entire time. I don’t know how you do it, because I felt so awkward and worried that I was sure I was giving myself away.” She paused as Herne passed her a mug of the soup. “Thank you. I need something hot. The storm is giving me a headache. It’s as though I can hear someone shouting through it and don’t know how to tune it out.”
“We’ll teach you to ward off intrusions as soon as we get back to Seattle,” Talia said. “We should have thought of it earlier, but honestly, I guess we just assumed you knew how.”
Angel shook her head. “Mama never knew how. I know, because she’d get a splitting headache after some of the readings she gave. I think she just thought it was part of having the gift of sight.
” She took a long sip of the soup, letting out a contented sigh as she closed her eyes.
“Do you feel up to discussing what went on in Nalcops’s office?” Herne asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She paused to bite into a slice of pizza. After swallowing, she said, “First, it didn’t look like any doctor’s office that I’ve seen. Of course, I didn’t go into the back rooms. I asked him if he was taking on new patients when he opened the door, and all I got was a curt ‘No,’ but before he could shut the door, I begged him for a reference to a doctor who was. He let me in, though I felt like he was watching me every minute.”
“He’s Fae, if I remember right.” Yutani asked.
“Right. I wonder if he was drugged, as well, to make him comply with their demands.” She shook her head. “Why would a doctor hurt his patients, otherwise?”
“I suspect we’re dealing with a WYSIWYG situation here.” Yutani crossed his legs, staring at the computer.
“ ‘WYSIWYG’?” Angel asked.
“ ‘What you see is what you get,’ ” Raven interjected. “Often used to reference editing software. Ulstair used enough tech jargon around me that I learned by osmosis.”
Yutani glanced at her, a faint smile on his face. “Right,” he said. “There are bad apples in every profession and, if you remember right, Nalcops was drummed out of TirNaNog for using questionable healing methods that left his patients maimed. He’s just a rotten person at heart.”
“Anyway,” Angel continued, “he let me in and told me to have a seat in the waiting room while he checked through his references. He asked me what was wrong so he could know what kind of doctor to recommend. I told him I needed an OB/GYN right away, so he came up with a couple names. I’d be interested to know if they actually know him and are somehow involved in the situation, or if they were just names he pulled off of Recced.com.”
Recced.com was an internet review site for personal service providers.
She held out a piece of paper with two names on them. They had been written on a prescription pad. Nalcops’s handwriting was oddly legible for a doctor’s, and extremely rigid. I wondered if it reflected his personality.
“What did he say?” Herne asked.
“Not much, just wrote the names down and handed them to me. I was hoping he’d have to leave the room so I could peek behind the other doors—there were three of them—but he didn’t. For a waiting room it had an extremely homey feel, not cozy but…like a parlor. It was also dusty, and I got the feeling he doesn’t use the room very often.”
“Did you see anything else?” Talia asked. “Any books…magazines…anything that might relate to the Tuathan Brotherhood?”
Angel thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I recall thinking there wasn’t anything remarkable about the place at all, except for how unremarkable it was. Very little personality to the room. The reception desk wasn’t the professional kind, but more of a slap-together table for execs who never actually do any work that requires drawers. There was a computer behind it on a side table, but it looked old.”
“I guess that’s a dead end, then.” Herne sighed and tossed his notebook on the table. “Everybody, eat your dinner. We’re getting nowhere fast with this.”
“But Rafé will pull through for us, what with infiltrating the group, right?” Angel asked, forcing a cheerful smile to her face.
I almost choked on my pizza and shot a warning glance at Herne. Under no circumstances did I want her worried about Rafé any more than she already was.
Herne’s eyes widened, but then gave an offhanded shrug and picked up a breadstick. “Sure, but that will take a little time. Meanwhile, I suppose I should call my father about the Cailleach and ask him what we can do to trap her in the stone again.”
“Did you find out what’s going on with Angus?” Angel asked.
“I suppose so, if you want to put it that way.” While Herne headed into the bathroom to call his father, we filled Angel and Viktor in on what had happened that morning.
“So Angus knew what the danger was but he still brought the stone here and decided that it wouldn’t do any harm? No wonder Herne is so upset,” Angel said after we finished telling her about the storm. “And you’re thinking Fiona’s in trouble because the Cailleach has her hooks in her?”
“Pretty much, though I hope I’m wrong.” I glanced over at Raven. “What do you think?”
“What I think is that Angus needs his backside horsewhipped. But you’re right, Ember. I hold out little hope for Fiona. And even less hope that both of them will emerge from this unscathed. The forces of nature are nothing to reckon with, especially the spirits of the storms. Borealis is dangerous as hell—the Force of the north wind. I wish I’d known what we were dealing with before I agreed to come. I thought it was a simple possession, but there’s nothing I can do in this situation.”
“What? You don’t relish a little vay-cay from your everyday routine?” Talia asked, laughing.
Raven winked at her. “Honey, my everyday routine is a whole lot safer than running around trying to clean up messes that humans and others get themselves into.”
“What about that case you had recently? That was no walk in the woods,” Angel said with a snort.
Raven grimaced. “Don’t remind me. On second thought, maybe a little vacation is good for the soul, after all.”
At that moment, Herne returned, looking even more dour. “Well, that was an unpleasant conversation. Cernunnos is pissed out of his mind at Angus.” He paused, his glance lighting on Angel. “But I do know what will stop the Cailleach. The only thing that will put her back in that stone is to shoot her with one of the Fiery Arrows.”
“A fiery arrow? But you’re a great shot,” I said. “That shouldn’t be difficult.”
“You would think so, except for the fact that the Fiery Arrows I’m speaking about come from one place only: the goddess Brighid. She has to approve the use of them. My father will visit her and ask on our behalf. She was involved in trapping the Cailleach in the stone to begin with. Cernunnos said that when she does find out what Angus has done, she’s going to blow her stack. I’m just glad it’s not me going to be on the receiving end of her wrath, but you can be sure Angus will hear an earful.”
“Do you think she’ll give us one of her arrows?” Viktor asked.
“Cernunnos seems certain of it. The last thing the world needs is for the Cailleach to be loose again. Apparently, she’s even more unpleasant than we surmised, and she has little use for humankind, the Fae, the gods, or anybody else. She’s all about returning the world to a frozen wasteland. Given the emissions problems and global warming we’ve been suffering from, some of her energy might not be a bad thing, except that she’s an all-or-nothing kind of force.” He grimaced.
“All right, so while we wait on the arrow, I suppose we have to avoid Fiona.”
“Ding, right again! Thank you for playing.” Herne shook his head.
“Have we heard from Rafé?” Angel asked.
Herne cleared his throat. “You look worn out. Why don’t you go take a nap?”
Angel gave him a long look. “Herne, you know I’m an empath, right?”
He nodded. “Right. Why?”
“And you realize that even though you’re a god, I can read your energy?”
At that, he closed his eyes for a moment. “I suppose I forgot about that.”
“Well, I just reminded you. And let me add on top of that, you’re a horrendous liar, especially to me. What are you trying to hide from me? Is it about Rafé?” Angel leaned forward, hands on her hips.
“You might as well tell her,” I said. “We’re not going to be able to hide it, and Angel’s an adult.” I hated that she was going to find out Rafé’s trace had disappeared, but she had to find out sometime.
Herne grimaced. “Right. All right, you want the truth, here it is. Rafé disappeared off the tracking screen and we have no idea where he is. I was waiting for Yutani to see if we could pick up an
ything on him before mentioning it to you, but the cat’s out of the bag.”
Angel let out a soft cry, pressing her fingers to her lips. She gnawed on one knuckle before turning to Yutani. “Have you found any other signs of him?”
Yutani shook his head. “Not since he last checked in. The trace vanished from the screen and I haven’t been able to pick him up again.”
“What does that mean? What could cause it?” Angel asked.
“Several things. One could simply be that the implant stopped working. Or the signal is being blocked, and given the terrain around here, that’s not out of the question. I’d say that’s the best guess. However, there is the chance that they found out he was wired and forcibly removed the trace.”
“Wouldn’t it still show on the screen, though?” Talia asked.
Yutani nodded. “Yes, it would, and since it doesn’t, I’m thinking somehow it was either defective, or somebody destroyed it.”
“Destroyed it! Doesn’t that mean they’d have to hurt him?” Angel was halfway standing now.
“Not necessarily,” Yutani said. “They could have just taken it out of his arm, which would require a surgical cut but not more than a few centimeters.”
“But that would mean that they have him hostage. And that means when they find out what they want to know, they’ll probably kill him.”
I was surprised Angel wasn’t crying, but she straightened her shoulders, the same bleak expression on her face that she had the night she found out that Mama J. was dead.
She hadn’t cried then, either, not until all the arrangements were made and we were alone after the funeral. She had held it together for the undertaker and the funeral parlor and the aunts and uncles who had called but never bothered to come out for the ceremony. She had kept her head high for DJ and all of Mama J.’s customers from the diner, and the hundred or so homeless who showed up to pay their respects because of the soup kitchen. Angel had held it together until after Mama J. was buried, and then, when we got back to her apartment and I put DJ to bed, she had broken down and silently cried until she passed out.
The Silver Mist: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 6 Page 10
