The Morrigan's Curse

by Dianne K. Salerni

  Jax grimaced. It all came back to him keeping his plan a secret, just like Tegan had pointed out to him. Not that she was around to give me advice at the time. “I messed up,” he confessed. “It’s my fault they knew you were scrying for Addie and even that you were still alive.”

  Evangeline squeezed his arm. “I messed up too, Jax. But I’m not beaten yet.”

  Jax whispered quickly, not knowing how much more time they’d have. “About Addie—she doesn’t look like she’s been tortured. I’m sorry to say it, but she seems buddy-buddy with ol’ Bran.”

  “I see that.” Evangeline glanced over her shoulder, looking for her sister. “I don’t know what he’s teaching her, but I’ve seen her do something she shouldn’t have been able to do. And what she said about the Eighth Day Spell . . .” Evangeline didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t have to. The fear was evident in her eyes.

  Addie wanted the spell broken, just like the Llyrs did, just like Wylit had.

  Just like her father.

  Griffyn grabbed Evangeline’s arm. “This way, handmaiden. We’re leaving.”

  As quickly as that, the Kin vacated their hideout. They’d been there all of ten minutes by Jax’s counting, but a week had passed in the Normal world. When the homeowners reappeared on Thursday, it would look like their house had been wrecked in a split second by invisible poltergeists.

  Jax was pushed through the back door toward the same car, which had returned from wherever they’d stashed it for a week. Before he got in, Stink came running from behind the house. Jax held an arm out for him. But Condor intercepted the brownie midleap and held him up by the scruff of the neck.

  “What are you doing?” Jax demanded.

  Condor shook Stink and looked him over while Jax watched anxiously. “Checking for messages.” Since Jax had been with them, these Kin had tried to kick Stink or chase him off, but when they did, he simply vanished and reappeared somewhere else. This time Condor didn’t bother trying to hurt the brownie and tossed him back to Jax.

  Jax caught him. Stink twisted around in Jax’s arms and bared his teeth at the Kin. “Yeah, he’s a jerk,” Jax agreed. And not very observant. Condor might have suspected Stink was carrying a message, but he hadn’t spotted it. The brownie was still wearing a rubber band on his right front limb, but a different color one. It was a return signal from Riley.

  Things weren’t going the way he hoped either, but Jax was to stick to instructions and be prepared to improvise as needed.

  Yeah, no problem, Jax thought, getting into the car. ’Cause making stuff up as I go along is pretty much all I ever do.

  30

  WITH THE MOON HIDDEN behind clouds, the mountainside was very dark. Since, by Bran’s command, they were deliberately heading into Transitioner territory and certain ambush, the Kin drove without headlights to avoid being seen as long as possible. It made Jax nervous. The Sword of Nuadu’s supposed to protect my life, but will it prevent broken bones if this car plummets off a cliff?

  After about forty-five minutes, the vehicles came to a stop. Condor walked up the road, waving the drivers to steer their cars off the asphalt and into the woods. Jax watched out the window as his car bumped over uneven ground and between the trees as far as it could go. Then they all got out. “We’re walking from here,” Condor announced.

  Walking? Was he kidding? Jax had no idea how much farther it was to Bedivere’s mansion, but it was down the mountain. Last week’s torrential rains had left the slope a slick and swampy mess. Jax’s clothes hadn’t had the chance to dry, and now the trees dribbled cold water on his head. He grumbled, hanging on to trees and rocks and trying not to let his sneakers get sucked off in the mud. Stink avoided the situation by popping out of sight and reappearing every fifty feet or so.

  Evangeline slipped on a particularly muddy incline, but grabbed a sapling tree to save herself. Quick as a snake, the Arawen girl gave her a shove while she was off balance, and Evangeline’s feet went out from under her. She slid down the hill on her behind, while Griffyn laughed nastily. “What is wrong with you?” Jax snarled at the two Kin, hurrying after his liege.

  It was a long drop, but Evangeline managed to stop her fall about twenty feet down. Jax braced himself and pulled her upright.

  Addie made her way down to them. “Are you hurt?” she called.

  “Just my dignity, but I think that was the point.” Evangeline glanced uphill. “Does she really love that big, ugly lout?”

  Addie shrugged. “He belonged to Ysabel, and Bran stole him from her and gave him to you.”

  “She can have him back anytime,” Evangeline muttered.

  A few of the Aerons also slipped on the hill, but to Jax’s disappointment, the Llyrs and Ysabel acted like gravity dared not interfere with them. Griffyn grabbed Evangeline’s arm as he passed and hauled her along with him, keeping them both on their feet.

  Addie watched, and Jax saw hatred flicker across her face. “You want her freed from him, don’t you?” Jax whispered.

  “Of course I do,” Addie snapped.

  “Then—” Well, why not just ask her? “Are you on our side or theirs?”

  Her pale eyebrows shot up. “Who says there’s only two sides?”

  Fair enough. He hadn’t thought about it that way. “Another question. Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” Addie frowned, like she’d surprised herself with such a prompt answer.

  Jax pointed at the brownie crouched on a branch above his head. “That’s Stink,” he said. “If I send him to you at any point, will you follow him?”

  “We’re forbidden to leave by brownie tunnels,” Addie reminded him.

  “No.” Jax made sure his voice was low. “Evangeline has to obey Griffyn, and I have to obey Evangeline. But you’re not compelled to obey either one of them. Right?” Addie was Evangeline’s sister, not her vassal.

  Addie smirked. He’d nailed it.

  “Well?” he asked. If worse came to worst, at least one of them could escape.

  “I’ll think about it.” Then she deliberately moved away from him, so he couldn’t question her anymore.

  The slope leveled off at another paved road. Now Jax could see the river—and Bedivere’s mansion on the opposite hill—but the town in the valley was unrecognizable. The Lehigh had overflowed, especially in the curve of the river, where it looked like a shallow lake full of buildings. The town was dark, although there should have been leftover light from the seven-day timeline. Jax could only assume there’d been no electricity in the town on Wednesday to leave any image of light.

  A rustle of leaves and the cracking of a branch made Jax whirl around. A band of tattooed Kin emerged from the woods, herding a bunch of children before them. When Jax recognized the pint-sized toddler being carried by a young boy, he realized who these kids were.

  “What are they doing here?” Addie gasped. Of course, she recognized them, too.

  “Shields,” Madoc said, brushing mud from his sleeve. “Transitioners are notoriously reluctant to fire on children. Besides, some of them have useful talents.”

  Addie’s mouth fell open. She looked both horrified and guilty.

  “Where’s the boy with the talent for barriers?” Bran demanded.

  “Gawan Ratis!” someone called.

  The boy holding the toddler was pushed forward. He stared up at the Llyr leader with frightened eyes. “Give the baby to someone else,” Bran said. “You’ll need both hands free.”

  Addie jumped forward, but the baby twisted away from her, crying and reaching for Jax instead. Jax gulped. He wasn’t used to babies, but he grabbed the little girl under the armpits and lifted her. She quieted at once, wrapping her arms around Jax’s neck. By luck or instinct, she avoided touching the Sword.

  Addie seemed embarrassed. “Brigit is hard to handle. And she’s never liked me.”

  Jax glanced at Evangeline, who chewed on her lip and stared back at Jax. At the Carroway house, this baby had held up her arms invitingly to both
of them. Brigit likes you and your liege lady, her mother, the oracle, had said to Jax. I take great stock in that.

  What did it mean, if the child of an oracle liked Jax and Evangeline, but not Addie?

  Bran pointed across the river. “Our goal is to take the Bedivere house, no matter the cost.”

  “Our people hold the bridge south of town,” said one of the Aeron men. “We can cross there and approach through the cover of the forest.”

  “Adelina,” Bran prompted. “What do you see in the forest?”

  Addie hesitated before answering, “Pockets of blankness where magic is suppressed. They’re waiting for us. If we go in that way, we could have our talents cut off from us.” Jax stared at her. That would be Sloane’s uncles, the Bors men, with their talent for magic suppression, but how did Addie see them? Evangeline seemed perplexed too.

  Condor flicked open a cigarette lighter, producing a flame. “Fire will drive them off.”

  “The forest is too wet to burn,” Madoc said.

  “It’ll burn for Aerons,” Condor said with a smile, causing a ripple of malevolent chuckles from the shadowy figures in the woods.

  “Send your clansmen to burn as much of the forest as they can,” Bran directed. “You, Condor, will stay with me. I’ll lead a small group in a different direction while the Transitioners are forced to fight the fire on the mountainside.”

  The Aerons raised their voices in whooping war cries. Tattooed men and women snatched up kids and carried them off or dragged them by the hand. A few of the children went voluntarily, shouting in glee. Jax didn’t know if they’d been brainwashed into cooperating, or if they had no understanding of the situation.

  He hoped Tegan would catch this development through her scrying and warn the Transitioner forces. Jax knew she wouldn’t see everything. The exhausting nature of the spell would force her to choose wisely who she looked for and when. But she’d had seven days to rest—seven days Jax had skipped over—and there would be people lending her strength. Please, Tegan, see the children!

  Madoc’s mind was also on scrying spells. “My lord, I suggest we leave the Transitioner here. Tie him to a tree, if necessary. Our enemies can spy on our movements through him, and, frankly, I don’t trust him with that Sword.”

  “The Sword of Nuadu must come with us. Leaving it behind is not an option,” Bran said. “If you wish to carry it, Madoc, by all means, go ahead.” Madoc shrunk backward, knowing he couldn’t take the Sword from Jax. “As for spies,” Bran continued, “Adelina . . . .”

  Addie glanced guiltily at her sister, then raised her hands like a preacher at a pulpit and closed her eyes. Evangeline stirred, her brow furrowed, and Griffyn put out an arm to prevent her from interfering.

  White wisps gathered in the air. The tendrils thickened, wrapping cold, clammy arms around the group. Jax turned, watching, as the mist grew into a massive, impenetrable blanket of fog. Within seconds, the river and the opposite bank disappeared. Jax could barely see Kel and Condor and the boy, Gawan, standing ten feet away. Evangeline appeared stunned. Jax had never seen her cast a spell this way—without symbols and incantations. Her repair of the Eighth Day Spell had required the magical artifact Excalibur, the mummy of Niviane of the Lake, and a long impassioned speech. Not to mention a kiss.

  Addie looked up at Bran as if seeking approval, and he nodded. “Let them spy on us now, if they can.”

  Jax would never have admitted it to anyone, but marching down a winding road in the middle of the night, through thick fog, in damp clothes and squelchy shoes, was made a little more tolerable by carrying a small child. It didn’t make sense, because his arms got tired, but Brigit’s warm embrace around his neck and the sound of her soft thumb-sucking in his ear made him feel a little stronger, a little braver. There wasn’t much else about the situation to cheer him. Addie was walking double time to match pace with Bran. Evangeline’s eyes were glued with suspicion to her sister’s back. Even Stink seemed nervous, darting ahead of Jax and then waiting for him to catch up before taking off again.

  At first, Jax didn’t pay attention when Brigit lifted her head off his shoulder. It was only when she didn’t put it down again that he noticed her staring in the direction of the river. Then she pulled her thumb out of her mouth and pointed. Jax slowed his pace. The fog was as dense as pea soup, but a clear patch had appeared over a formation of rocks in the middle of the river. At the same moment, the moon slipped out from behind the clouds to illuminate that spot.

  “What the heck is that woman doing?” Jax blurted out before he thought better of it. But really, she couldn’t be part of the Transitioner defense, could she? A lone woman standing on rocks in the river? Washing clothes by hand?

  Everyone stopped, and Jax was surprised by their reaction. Griffyn’s eyes bugged out of his head. Ysabel nearly tripped over Jax, getting between Griffyn and the river. “Don’t look!” she snapped at him, grabbing him by an arm and making him turn around.

  “Jax, don’t you look either!” Evangeline cried.

  “Let him,” said Condor, his eyes steadfastly averted from the river. “He’s the only one of us who’s immune. He’s protected by the Sword.”

  “Unless both Emrys girls are killed and the Sword no longer has a target. Then he’s as vulnerable as the rest of us,” Madoc corrected. “And if that happens, we’ll never know it. We’ll just be gone. It was madness to bring them both here! One good sharp-shooter could annihilate our entire race!”

  “Silence, Madoc,” Bran roared. But he didn’t strike his complaining vassal again, and Jax noticed he didn’t look at the woman in the river, either.

  But Jax did, now that he realized who it was. During the week he’d had to prepare for his role as the “inside man,” he and Billy had collaborated to dig up every bit of information they could find on the Morrigan over the internet. There were supposed to be three aspects to this force of nature—or deity—or whatever she was: the Girl of Crows, who manipulated events toward great battles; the Old Crone, who changed the fate of individuals; and the most dreaded of the three, the Washer Woman, who washed the bloodied clothes of fallen warriors before they fell.

  “Legends are unclear on whether seeing the Washer Woman means she’ll wash your clothes,” Billy had concluded from his research, “or if she’ll wash your clothes whether you see her or not. But all the legends agree it’s best not to look.”

  Jax couldn’t help himself. He had to make sure it wasn’t Lesley. But this was a heavy-set woman with speckled black and gray hair, wearing yoga pants and a cardigan. She bent awkwardly to rinse a white shirt in the water. Whose shirt? Jax glanced around, trying to place it.

  “Jax!” Evangeline pleaded, and for her sake, he sighed and turned his back on the river.

  “Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’ve seen the Morrigan before. This is like the fourth time.”

  “Me too,” Addie boasted. “I’ve seen all three incarnations of her now.”

  “You got me there,” Jax replied. “I’ve only seen two of them. You win—if you call it winning when you’ve been chosen by an evil goddess of destruction and chaos.”

  “Addie,” Evangeline gasped, as if suddenly understanding something. “What did the Old Crone say to you? What did she do?”

  Addie didn’t answer. Jax looked back once more, but fog had closed over the gap, hiding the Washer Woman from view.

  31

  THE ROAD BOTTOMED OUT in an industrial complex beside the river, where they had to slog through an inch of floodwater in the street. Jax saw Addie whirl around in response to nothing he could detect and peer up at the mountainside. He looked, too. The fog was too thick to see anything, but after a moment, he smelled smoke. Then they heard gunfire. The Aerons must have crossed the bridge south of town. The battle had begun.

  “Gawan.” Madoc’s voice sounded strained. “Do you know who these girls with us are?”

  “I know Addie,” the boy replied.

  “Addie is an Emrys,” Madoc said.
“She and her sister are the last of the Emrys family. Do you know what happens if they die?” Gawan nodded, his mouth hanging open. “Use your talent to shield all of us from bullets, but especially them.”

  “Shield the Emrys leader,” Bran corrected. “And the people with her. Adelina and I will be leaving you here.”

  “No! Where are you taking her?” Evangeline exclaimed. Of course, Bran didn’t bother to answer. Evangeline grabbed Addie by the shoulders. “Whatever you think about the eighth day, you’re wrong! Whatever he tells you, it’s a lie!”

  “Shut up,” Griffyn snapped at his handmaiden, pulling her away from her sister. “And do what you’re told.” Evangeline pressed her lips together, compelled to silence, but stared at Addie plaintively, conveying her message without words.

  “Take the railroad bridge to cross the river,” Bran instructed his son. He pointed a finger at Evangeline. “Put her to use, attacking Transitioners. That should invoke the Sword of Nuadu.”

  Evangeline’s eyes grew wide in horror. Jax guessed what she was thinking—that her oath to Griffyn might compel her to attack Riley, which would identify Riley as her enemy and also set Jax against him with the Sword. Jax wished he could reassure her, but he couldn’t tell her the plan. Not with her sworn to obey Griffyn.

  Bran walked away, and Addie turned to follow him. She didn’t seem surprised that he was separating her from the group, and that worried Jax as much as it did Evangeline. “Addie!” he called out. When she looked back, Jax mouthed, Remember, and jerked his head toward Stink.

  Addie gave a barely perceptible nod, then disappeared into the fog.

  Griffyn led Evangeline, Jax, Gawan, and the Mathonwys to the railroad tracks, which they followed onto a trestle bridge. Jax couldn’t see the river, thanks to the fog, but he heard it gurgling not far beneath his feet. I can’t believe I’m carrying a toddler into a flooded town and a war zone. But there was no safe place to leave Brigit, even if Griffyn allowed it.