Meghan never answered the well-dressed man. Instead, she turned worried eyes on Cade, and suddenly, it was as if my friend and her husband were the only two people in the room.
“That storm has been building up since yesterday, probably even before then,” she said quietly. “It could break any minute now. That lightning was evidence enough. And you know its fury will be aimed at Luathara.”
Cade pulled Meghan close, his eyes full of guilt. “I know, mohr faelorah,” he murmured, “but I have a duty to the people of Kellston, and a live faelah can tell me so much more than a dead one. Maybe this one will be the key to finding out where the others are coming from.”
“I don’t want you out on that road when the storm breaks,” she answered harshly.
“We still have a few hours before it becomes too dangerous,” Cade countered, with a wry grin.
“Please, m’lady,” the man in the stained clothes said. His eyes were watery, and his voice shook. “It bit my wee Kenna, and the healer says she can’t treat the wound until she knows what sort of poison the creature contains.” He lowered his eyes. “None of us is strong or fast enough to get close to it, and I fear if we kill it, it will turn to ash before we identify it.”
Meghan held her jaw tight for several long seconds as the fear she felt for her husband battled with the compassion she wished to show to this man and his sister or daughter.
Finally, she released a deep breath, and all her strength seemed to flee with it. “Fine,” she said in a tight voice.
“And, I’ll be going with him,” Devlin threw in, speaking up for the first time since entering the castle. “It will make our task shorter. We might be able to identify it faster, if I can just get a sample of its magic.” He turned his gaze toward the four men. “But, if you want me to hunt down its brethren, you’ll have to wait until after the storm passes.”
I tensed at Devlin’s words. I had never experienced an Otherworldly storm, but from the nice little preview it had given us, and from how Meghan and Cade had just been describing it, I had no doubt anyone caught outside when it finally spilled the brunt of its menace would be either fried by the lightning or rattled to death by the thunder.
Well, if Cade and Devlin were going, I didn’t see why Meghan and I had to stay behind. I had no desire to be out in the open, not with lightning powerful enough to light the sky like an atom bomb, but at least I wouldn’t be sitting on my hands, wondering when, or if, Devlin would be coming back.
Taking a breath, and gathering my courage, I stepped forward and said, “Why don’t we all go?”
“No,” both Devlin and Cade snapped in unison.
I blinked at them, then looked at Meghan. She gave me an exasperated look.
“What?” I said, crossing my arms and standing up straighter. “Is this a job we womenfolk can’t handle?”
Cade smiled. It was a nice smile without any hint of condescension. Smart man.
“I’m sure you could handle just about anything, Robyn, if your only option was to stand and fight. Meghan, too. I’ve seen her in action. But, you have a choice in this situation, and I feel it is best if you stay here. The faelah we’ve been dealing with in Eile of late have been unpredictable and much more tenacious than before the Morrigan’s destruction, and Devlin and I have had more experience handling them.”
He lifted his eyes and gave the four men a serious look. “How many more are there, besides the one you caught?”
The formally dressed man straightened and said, “It is hard to say. Some attack in small groups, and then, the next day there are several more. They have killed many chickens and geese, and have taken some goats and sheep as well.”
Cade looked at Devlin, then back at me. “You and Meghan will stay here.”
His words held a sharper edge to them, and his eyes were like hard emeralds. I had a feeling that no amount of arguing would sway him, and since he was much bigger than me, and had far more glamour, I wouldn’t be able to push past him, either.
The fiercely independent side of me really wanted to fight him about it, but then images of my final months living on the Central Coast flashed through my mind. Cade was right. I had not yet learned enough about the faelah to deal with them properly. I mean, I was good with my crossbow, but I had yet to be tested in battle, and running that test with this magical thunderstorm on the verge of spilling its fury was a really bad idea.
Meghan moved closer to me, squeezing my shoulder with one hand before stepping up to her husband. She leaned into him, tilting her head up, so her eyes locked with his. She didn’t kiss him, or even embrace him, but something told me they were sharing a secret conversation that only the two of them could hear.
Eventually, Meghan stepped away from Cade, her hands still grasping his arms just below the elbows. “You have two hours, or I’m coming after you,” she said sternly.
Cade blinked at her. “That barely gives us enough time to arrive and get a sense of what we’re dealing with.”
“Two hours,” she emphasized.
Cade opened his mouth, to argue I assumed, but then changed his mind, letting his shoulders droop in resignation.
“Very well,” he said. “We had better get going then.”
-Chapter Nine-
Send-Off
The four men, who had so boisterously interrupted our morning, shuffled toward the door. Meghan and I joined them, trailing behind at a comfortable distance. Fergus, the white wolfhound whom I hadn’t seen since meeting him the other day, bolted forward to keep up with his master.
Outside, the rain had tapered off to a steady drizzle, and in the distance those black clouds loomed even closer than before. Their color was so unnaturally dark, it made that deep, instinctual well of fear inside of me hiss in retaliation. Would two hours be enough time for Cade and Devlin to get to Kellston and back again? It had to be, because I did not want either of them outside when that boiling mass of terrible magic and violence broke loose.
Taking a deep breath to clear my head, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. We moved through the courtyard and out onto the road, approaching the wide valley that stretched before Luathara Castle. As we crossed the uneven field at a brisk pace, I tried not to grumble about what the soggy ground was doing to my shoes.
“Where are we going?” I hissed at Meghan, as my shoe sank halfway into a patch of mud.
“The stables,” she answered, waving her hand toward the large wood and stone building in the distance. “We’ll see them off from there.”
I squinted a little and tried to get a better view of the building. From what I could tell, it looked like the nicer stables I’d seen in Santa Ynez, a wealthy, equestrian-friendly community located about sixty miles south of San Luis Obispo. On one end of the structure, the roof had not yet been fully completed, but many heavy beams had been set in place, waiting for the workers to finish their job. When we came within a hundred feet of the stables, several enthusiastic neighs greeted our ears as the horses registered our approach. I breathed in deeply through my nose, and beneath the fresh, clean scent of rain, I picked up hints of hay and manure.
One of the horses, a tall, solid black stallion, stuck his head out from one of the stalls, his ears pricked forward in curiosity. His nostrils flared, and his black eyes flashed before he gave a more robust call of welcome. Thick, glossy ropes of horse hair fell like waves of satin against his muscular neck, and he tossed his proud head anxiously.
“Wow,” I breathed, truly impressed with the massive animal.
“That’s Speirling,” Meghan said with a grin, “Cade’s horse.”
As we piled into the open space of the stable, a man and a boy stepped from one of the stalls several spaces down carrying a bucket of oats and a rake. The man’s initial expression was one of surprise, but it soon faded as his eyes took us all in. The boy by his side, however, wasn’t so practiced at hiding his emotions. His big brown eyes held nothing but curiosity and wonder.
“The horses ha
ve been a bit restless this morning, Cade,” the man said by way of greeting. “The storm’s got them nervous.”
“Understandable,” Cade answered.
“You’re not thinking of riding today, are you?”
He gave each of us a measured look, then murmured to the boy to go fetch the horses that belonged to our visitors.
“I’m afraid I need to make a trip into Kellston,” Cade said. “These men have captured one of the faelah that’s been giving Luathara’s people trouble for the past several months.”
The man’s blue eyes widened and paled to silver. “I see,” was all he said.
The boy returned shortly, trailing four horses behind him. I didn’t know much about horses, but they looked twitchy, as if the slightest movement would send them bolting.
“Marcus, saddle up Speirling for Lord Cade,” the stable master instructed.
The boy bobbed his copper head and darted off to do his duty.
“Devlin will need a horse too, Cormac,” Cade added.
The dark haired man nodded and threw over his shoulder, “Morga is recovering from an injury and Lasair won’t let anyone but Meghan ride him, so you’ll have to make do with Adhair.”
Judging by the small grin on the stable master’s face, I could only guess that Adhair was either a handful or an old nag. When the boy returned with the horse Cormac had asked for, I was surprised to learn that he was neither. The stallion wasn’t as spirited or athletic as Speirling, but by the way he looked at Cormac, and then the rest of us, I could tell he didn’t have a single mean bone in his body. He angled his head and with one huge brown eye, regarded us with nothing short of pure and absolute adoration. He stretched his neck out and pulled back his lips, revealing slightly crooked teeth, before nudging Cormac with his nose and leaving drool all over his coat. The stable master grumbled and tried to push the horse away, but that only encouraged him. Adhair stuck out his tongue and licked the man right on the face.
“Hopeless as a war horse, this one,” he grumbled, his face cracking with a grin.
The horse was an unusual color. He sported a coat of deep, marbled bronze and gold, too dark to be considered Palomino, complete with a flaxen mane and tail. His feet were covered in a fine dusting of hair in the same pale shade. Where Speirling was strong and lean, Adhair was stout and powerful. As I continued to study him, the horse turned his head to the side, revealing a long, jagged scar that traced down his cheek, leaving him blind in one eye.
Instantly, my heart clenched.
“What happened to him?” Devlin asked in a soft voice.
“Hunting accident,” Cormac offered, patting the horse affectionately on the cheek.
I wanted to ask more, but my thoughts were cut short when another blinding flash of lightning lit up the sky. Everyone present started in alarm, the horses picking up their feet and pressing their ears flat against their skulls. The concussive force of thunder followed several seconds after. I didn’t count that time, but the seconds between the lightning flash and the clap of thunder had been shorter than before. The storm was moving closer.
“Are we ready to ride?” Cade asked, his voice taking on the strained tenor of a warrior making ready for battle.
The four men from Kellston quickly mounted their waiting horses, their faces grim but clearly eager to get moving. I could tell Cade was as well. He turned toward Meghan and drew her close.
“I won’t be long,” he promised, kissing her forehead and giving her a lingering hug.
Meghan leaned into him, molding her body to his, then pulled his face down for a long, delicate kiss, before stepping away.
Devlin walked up to me, his eyes hooded and his mouth quirked up in the corner.
I crossed my arms and lifted an eyebrow as I appraised him. On the outside, I was exuding ‘tough girl’ as hard as I could, but internally, my stomach was tying itself in knots. I really had no idea how dangerous this storm was, but from what I’d already seen, it wouldn’t be pretty when it reached its breaking point. Even though it was still a ways off, and despite Cade’s and Devlin’s promise to return before the storm spilled out its wrath, I was a nervous wreck. I had just recovered from Mikael’s botched sacrifice, and I had so much yet to learn about Eile. This was too much to ask so soon after that. I was tempted to rub my hand over the scar on my chest above my heart, a nervous tick I had developed since moving to my new home. I needed more time to learn who I was before the Otherworld decided to dump its dark magic all over me again. And, I wanted more time with Devlin. Apparently, to my vexation, life wasn’t fair.
Drawing in a breath that wasn’t nearly as steady as I would have liked it to be, I met Devlin’s eyes, and in a joking manner asked, “Well, do I get a farewell, also?”
We hadn’t been a couple long enough to warrant such a dramatic parting as Cade’s and Meghan’s, but Devlin surprised me by reaching out a hand and placing it on my cheek. His thumb rubbed the skin beneath my eye and I shivered. I wondered if I’d ever get tired of such endearments from him.
“I’ll see you soon, mohr caelihn,” he said, then bent down and kissed me.
I reached up and curled my fingers in his thick hair, giving him back the same passion he was feeding to me. This is not a goodbye kiss, I chided myself. But my mind still swirled with uncertainty and a small amount of fear.
Devlin pulled away from me much sooner than I’d liked and swiftly climbed onto Adhair’s back. The huge horse swung his head around, his ears pricked forward, and stretched his nose toward Devlin’s leg. His mouth softened once again, his upper lip pushing forward. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Adhair was trying to lick him, but he just wasn’t flexible enough to reach. And that thought helped wash away some of my anxiety. I snorted in spite of myself. What a goofball.
Meghan and I moved to stand at the entrance of the half-completed stables to watch the men ride off down the road, toward Kellston. The black clouds of the brewing storm crowded the entire horizon, but I tried to ignore their ominous presence. An impossible task, but I never backed down from a challenge. For a few minutes, I felt like some lovelorn heroine in a historical romance novel, watching her knight in shining armor ride off into the distance to fight for her honor. I gave myself an internal snort. I was no fine, well-bred lady of the court, and Devlin was not a knight, but the image was enough to calm my nerves, for now.
-Chapter Ten-
Interim
“Stupid men and their primitive need to fight scary monsters to impress us,” Meghan said, with wry humor.
Drawing on as much haughty sarcasm as I could muster, I released a heavy sigh and added, “Seriously. Don’t they know we modern girls prefer slaying our own monsters? I mean, it’s nice that they are totally willing to do it for us, but come on. We’re no pushovers, you and I.”
Meghan raised both her eyebrows and looked at me. For about three seconds, she fought against the laughter she so clearly held at bay. By the time Cormac returned from checking on the spooked horses, the two of us were bent over, laughing like two middle school girls who had had too much sugar for breakfast.
It wasn’t that our remarks were all that funny. They weren’t. It was more of a self-preservation technique. We could either laugh and flood our senses with endorphins, or think about Cade and Devlin dealing with a swarm of faelah as a magically-enhanced super storm grew closer and closer to releasing its fury. Pointless laughter was clearly the better choice.
Eventually, we both ran out of steam. I felt better, having let my nerves melt away, and Meghan looked less grim as well. We could survive the next two hours, so long as we didn’t think too much about Cade and Devlin.
“So, what shall we do until they return?” I asked. “Back to the task of taming the Room of Chaos?”
Meghan made a face at me, then said, “Would you like to meet Lasair while we’re out here?”
There was a spark of pride in my friend’s tone, so I smiled and nodded.
“What was it that the stable mas
ter was saying about him? That he will only let you near him?”
Meghan huffed out a breath of slight exasperation. “Cormac likes to exaggerate a little, but Lasair is picky.”
Meghan’s horse was located in one of the far stalls, the one closest to the end of the building. Meghan told me his name meant ‘fire’, and I could see it fit him well. The beautiful, bright chestnut stallion greeted Meghan with familiar cheer, but eyed me with what I could only describe as cautious curiosity. After a few moments, however, he nudged me with his nose and lipped at my shirt.
“See, he likes you,” she said with a smile.
We spent a good half hour brushing out Lasair’s mane and coat, Meghan even adding a few braids to his tail before we decided to head back to the castle.
“Most of these horses are our mares,” she said, gesturing to the occupied stalls as we strolled along. “A few of them are expecting foals later this spring.”
There were ten stalls in all, three of them for Speirling, Lasair and Adhair, the rest for the mares. Each horse was a different color, and each of them greeted us in their own way. One, a pale dove grey color, poked her head over the stall and followed us with darker grey eyes.
“That one’s Realta,” Meghan whispered, with a smile.
Like Adhair, she exuded kindness, but there was a fierce intelligence to her eyes that told me she would not put up with any foolishness.
We passed two more stalls in relative peace, but as we approached the one on the far end, both Meghan and I jumped as a thumping sound snapped us to attention. A sharp whinny, followed by a flurry of snorts and a small cloud of dust gave me pause. I turned an incredulous look on my friend. Meghan only pressed her lips together.
“That would be Spiora. She’s a bit spirited.”
At that moment, a pair of dark hind legs shot out over the top of the stable gate, followed by a low, agitated rumble. Whoa! That was one athletic horse.
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