Emmet helps her off the forest floor and shrugs. “I don’t have an offensive power either. I’m a buffer.”
She giggles, slings her bag over her shoulder, and unzips the top. “I know all about you in the buff.”
He waggles his brow. “Not the same thing, but there is that too. The goddess said my powers are as they are meant, but I haven’t figured out what that means. She’s given me strengths in healing, communication, and backup support, but yeah, I get how you feel about wanting to contribute in a meaningful way to the group.”
“Exactly.”
The two of them stand smiling at each other for a lot longer than the situation calls for, so I figure it’s two’s company, four’s a crowd.
I step away, and Patty joins me on the retreat. “That’s magic in the making, isn’t it?”
“Seems so. I’ve never seen Emmet so consumed.”
“Sometimes love is a cool wave lapping against hot sand and sometimes it’s a strike of lightning raising the fine hairs tickling yer knackers.”
I bark a laugh. “That’s poetic, Patty.”
He winks. “I thought so.”
“What’s poetic?” Sloan strides over to join us with Dillan in tow.
“Patty was waxing philosophical while we awaited your return. So, Dillan. What do we know? Where are we headed?”
The dark witches, or at least some of them, have holed up in a hidden fortress beneath Carrigogunnel Castle. Built around 1450 CE, during the Williamite War, the limestone fortress sits on the bank of the Shannon River, near the village of Clarina.
“I’m not sure if they stayed here after they attacked us because they thought they wiped us out or because they don’t consider us a threat,” Dillan says, “but they don’t seem to be going anywhere.”
Sloan frowns. “Are there guards on the access points? What’s the lay of the land?”
Dillan turns to point. “On the east side is an adjoining house. Along the western side is a range of ruined buildings. The main gate is on the southern side with a smaller entrance to the west. There are guards on the ground and a lookout at the top of the tower.”
“How many are we talking?”
Dillan frowns. “I’d guess twenty, but I have no idea how big their hideout is below or how many more they have down there.”
“Did you see any sign of the silver casks they used to steal the prana?” I ask. “Anything that tells us that we’re in the right place before we storm the Bastille?”
Dillan rakes his fingers through his ebony hair and huffs. “No. Nothing is telling us we’re in the wrong place either. Does anyone have a sensitivity to fae prana? Could someone still sense it even if it’s contained in those casks?”
That’s a big no on that one.
Emmet pockets his stone and hands Dillan and Sloan theirs. “So, we’re outmanned by powerful dark witches, have no idea who or what lies below, don’t know if the prana is even here, and they know we’re coming. Does that sum the sitch up correctly?”
I smack him in the arm. “Well, it sounds terrible when you say it like that. Glass half-empty much?”
He rolls his eyes. “Fi, sista mine, your half-full glass is about to get smashed on the stone floor and ground to smithereens. This is a hard no-go.”
I frown. “Then we call Nikon and have him bring Da, Calum, and Aiden. Hell, I’m sure Garnet would come too.”
“It still won’t be enough.”
“Then what do you suggest we do? Let them go? Not try? Since when do we quit?”
“I’m not saying quit. I’m saying we need to come up with a stronger offensive plan. It would be nice to catch them by surprise. Throw something at them they’re not expecting.”
I shake out my arms, but it does nothing to help the tension in my shoulders. Having a building fall on you isn’t enjoyable at the time or in the aftermath of stiffening up. “They’re dark witches siphoning the power of the Fae Realm. What aren’t they expecting?”
We all stand there thinking for a moment when Sloan’s face breaks into a wide smile. “I have an idea. Hear me out before ye say no. It’s a three birds with one stone plan. The dragon queen gets her revenge. The young get an adventure and a snack. And it’s definitely an offensive the dark witches won’t see coming.”
Sloan goes on to explain his plan, and I’m not sure I’m hearing him right. “Use the dragons as an offensive force? What if the babies get hurt?”
Dillan snorts. “That’s like saying what if the mice hurt the herd of stampeding elephants barreling at them.”
Sloan shrugs. “I understand yer protective of them, but it’s unlikely the dragonborn will suffer any damage.”
Patty doesn’t look any more pleased with the idea than I am, but he sighs and shrugs. “I’ll speak with Her Grand Benevolence about it. We’ll see what she says.”
Sarah looks at us like we’ve gone mad. “Yer serious? Dragons?”
I flash her a goofy grin. “Surprise.”
Chapter Seventeen
When the sky is dark, and the moon hits its zenith, the earth trembles beneath our feet. The flat ground beyond the forested area at the Carrigogunnel Castle opens, and a spiraling beast emerges into the air before crashing onto the grass beside a massive round hole. The first to emerge is the queen herself, then Dart, then twenty-two other dragonets.
The menacing beauty of them never ceases to amaze me.
Yes, I know most of the young by sight and a few of them by name, but they aren’t pets, they aren’t domesticated, and they certainly aren’t obedient enough to consider them under our influence.
They are dragons—a brood of mythological beasts.
“Now, that’s a sight we’ll not soon forget.” Da slings a heavy arm over my shoulder, his gaze locked on the queen getting her excited troop in order. “I’m damned proud ye made that happen, Fi. Ye’ll look back on this in later years and realize it mattered.”
“Or that I’m responsible for Europe being devoured by twenty-three fire-breathing, people-crunching, water-hoarding monsters.”
“Och, ye don’t believe that.”
Don’t I? I study them and consider that. “No, maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I’m not afraid of it.”
“Well, no. That’s a fear that lies in the back of every parent’s mind. Will my children do harm or do right by people? Will they take the values and lessons I’ve taught them and embrace them as their own? I worried worse still because I knew ye didn’t have yer mam’s softer side to mold ye.”
I lean into his shoulder, and he presses his lips to my temple. “I think we fared pretty well.”
I watch the queen fuss over her young, and despite the sad echo in my heart where Mam used to be, I’m content. “As much as I wish I had Mam as long as Aiden and Brenny did, or longer, maybe if I had, I wouldn’t be the me I am.”
“And yer a treasure by any measure.”
“Right? I can slapshot into the corner of a net and take a punch like an MMA fighter, and yeah, I’m not girlie, and I don’t give a flying fig about makeup, but maybe that was part of getting me here. And I love ‘here,’ Da. I know you worried, and you never wanted me tied to a life I didn’t choose, but I did choose it, and it suits me.”
“I won’t argue that.”
I hug him around his ribs and kiss his jaw. “You did good, Da. We all think so.”
“It’s easy when yer kids are perfect.”
He meets my gaze and manages to keep from bursting out laughing for two whole seconds. “Perhaps perfect is a stretch. I have, however, loved every minute of it.”
“Okay, everyone.” Patty hops up on a stump and waves us in. “I think we’re ready.”
Da and I break apart, but he clamps the back of my shoulder as we walk and join the others.
Patty waits until we’re all in position and continues. “The queen will lead the young in from below while we take out the guards and stop anyone from fleein’ into the night. I expect more than one will have the ability to portal,
but the main objective is to reclaim the casks of prana.”
I nod. “That’s Mother Nature’s primary concern. We’ll track down the roaches that slip through the cracks later.”
Patty lifts his chin. “Anythin’ else you want to add, Fi?”
“Nope. That’s about it. Thanks for coming. Be safe. And if for some reason a cask is damaged or leaking, the prana water glows pink with magic. Steer clear of it, and we’ll regroup once we secure the site.”
I look at Da and Sloan. “Anything else?”
Everyone shakes their heads, and Patty jumps down.
“May the luck of the Irish be with us all,” Aiden says.
“May the Force be with you,” Dillan adds.
“May the odds be ever in your favor,” Calum chimes in.
“May the bird of paradise fly up your nose,” Emmet tacks on.
I love my brothers. “May we get this done without becoming dragon kibble or witch fodder.”
Da nods. “That one fer sure.”
The lookout station at the top of the five-story tower is the first to go. Nikon and Sloan flash up there with two of Sarah’s nappy sacks and are back before I have a chance to worry.
Then, we divide into two teams.
Sloan takes me, Patty, Emmet, and Calum to the small entrance on the west side of the castle. Nikon takes Dillan, Aiden, Da, Sarah, and Dora to the ruined buildings and will come in from the east.
Since we’ll enter at different times from different points, there’s no need to coordinate signals.
Emmet is disappointed about that. Since his highly acclaimed Cotton Eye Joe success, he’s been dreaming up new ideas and keeping them heavily under wraps.
I’m scared even to imagine.
Sloan and Calum are our stealth team, and between Sloan’s skill portaling and Calum’s deadly accuracy with his arrows, we’ve eliminated four guards and are ready to head inside within ten minutes.
“Okay, buddy.” I release Bruin. “Go tell the queen it’s time.” My bear circles us once and heads out. I call my armor forward, and we’re good to go.
“Does anyone feel like maybe this is going a little too smoothly?” Emmet asks.
I throw him a look and groan. “Did you need to say that out loud? Geez. Don’t jinx us.”
“Like me saying that would—” Emmet gets knocked back on his ass as a blue blur pushes in beside me.
“You were saying?”
Emmet blinks up from the ground and frowns. “Manners matter, little dude.”
I ignore Emmet’s annoyance and pat Dart’s head. “What are you doing here, buddy?”
Sloan frowns. “Yer supposed to be with yer mam.”
Dart rubs his head against my shoulder and the purr he lets out is so cute it melts me.
“She is his mam,” Patty says.
I sigh. “Right. I am, aren’t I?”
He nods again, stomps his feet, and flaps his little wings. One day, likely not that far into the future, those wings are going to be massive and capable of carrying him farther than a hop over his siblings. One day soon he’ll streak across the night sky.
Not yet. For now, they’re two cute appendages with little dewclaws that stand only a foot or two off his back.
“Okay, you can come with me, but you have to be careful, and you have to listen. I don’t want you hurt.”
He shakes his head, draws in a deep breath, and blows a thin stream of fire into the air.
“Well, that doesn’t stand out in the darkness, does it?” Sloan snaps and glares at me. “Can we try not to give away our position while there are still hostile witches around?”
“It’s fine. We got the sentries. No one saw—”
A fireball hits the tree inches above our heads and explodes into a shower of magic energy.
Oh, shit. “Okay, so maybe someone saw it.”
An incoming barrage scatters our group like pigeons in the park.
“Where are they?” I shout, crouched behind a rock.
“I need a higher vantage point,” Calum says. “Sloan. Poof me up the tower.”
Sloan crouch-runs a few steps and dive-rolls as the ground at his feet explodes. He grabs Calum’s ankle, and they disappear.
Patty curses and joins me behind my rock. “How good is yer brother with that bow?”
“He’s a sure shot and has an Eternalfull Quiver.”
Patty nods. “Can’t ask fer more than that, can we?”
I roll to my knees to peer over the rock, and my hair singes as another bolt of magic fire nearly takes my head off. “She’s still there.”
“Apparently.”
“Emmet! You good?”
“Skittles and ponies.”
“Glad to hear it.” Dart grunts and my smile fades. He’s in the open and exposed. “Buddy, get down. There are bad people—”
A bolt of magic hits Dart in the side, and he lets out a pitiful bellow. My hold on my dark side bursts beyond my grip.
My eyes sting as they burn through the glamor to keep them normal. With violent fury in my heart, I search the darkness. Suddenly the black void is black no longer.
The ruined site flips into night-vision, and I see them. Three women, evil and hidden in the ruins around me. I see their malignant auras flaring against the backdrop of night.
It’s like a heat signature. Only instead of them being orange-red from giving off thermal energy, they’re a toxic olive green with clawing swipes of purple. I stare up to the tower and see the aura of Calum standing at the open window up top. His aura is tropical blue. I look down at Patty beside me. His is a swirly green. Emmet’s is the same as Calum’s.
“Fiona, get down.” Sloan poofs in beside me, but before he can poof me out, I swipe away his touch.
“I see them. It’s the eyes. I can see their evil.” Sloan looks freaked. I can’t help that. “Heal Dart. I got this.”
Leaving Sloan behind, I call Insect Plague and throw my hand out at the two women crouched behind a mossy wall. Connecting with the beetles and bugs deep in the soil and the flying ants and horse flies, bees, and midges in the area, I call them to do my bidding.
“You shouldn’t have struck my baby dragon,” I say, my voice not my own. “That will be your last mistake.”
As screams ring out, I kneel and connect with the stone beneath the last woman’s feet. It’s the work of a moment to open the ground up and have her swallowed. I let her fall into the caverns below to become a dragon snack.
When that’s taken care of, I scan the area and ensure no one is hiding in the shadows. With my fingers pinched beneath my tongue, I let out a shrill whistle. “Okay, people, topside is clear. Let’s move into the tunnels and see how the dragons are doing.”
After wandering the endless tunnels of Gobekli Tepe, descending to the lower levels beneath Carrigogunnel Castle is a matter of a moment. Our group reunites with the others at the entrance Dillan detected with his gift. Earlier, we introduced everyone to the dragons so they’d know the difference between friend and foe. I’m still worried that if they’re in a feeding frenzy, they might chomp one of us by mistake.
“I can’t promise it won’t happen, Fi.” Patty jogs to keep up. “Only that I don’t think it’ll happen. The kids are maturing rapidly. They’re smart.”
I run a hand over Dart’s scaly shoulder and pat him. “Too smart for their good sometimes. I don’t want you to step into the line of fire again, dude. Thank goodness Sloan was able to heal you.”
Dart gives me a sappy gaze, then rubs his cheek against Sloan and purrs.
“Looks like you soothed the green monster of jealousy at the same time you healed his owies.”
Sloan chuckles and runs his palm over the bony framework of Dart’s wing. “I’m glad we were able to build a new foundation. Make love not war, right Dart?”
Dart snorts and a puff of smoke escapes his nostrils.
“Besides,” he says, “I understand the pull of yer magnetism. I explained to him that none of us can expect to
be the only one in yer heart. Yer heart is far too big for that.”
I smile and rub a hand over Bruin’s furry rump. “True story. My heart is big enough to accommodate everyone—”
“Och, gross, is that all blood?” Sarah scrunches up her face, staring at a wide path of dark soil ahead.
I follow her pointed finger and yikes, gross is right. “My guess is yes. It might be best not to look too closely at things. The kids are messy eaters.”
Bruin was right when he said Sarah seems a little timid. Aside from her determination to help us catch the witches and bring them to justice, she doesn’t have much of a stomach for the fighting aspect of bringing bad guys down.
Not a lot of white witches on the execution trail.
“The good news is there don’t seem to be any half-digested women lying around.”
Emmet snorts and squeezes Sarah’s wrist. “That’s our silver lining girl. Careful, Fi. If you keep shining on us like that, we’ll be stuck with our heads in the clouds.”
I chuckle and resume playing the part of the raid party cheerleader. “If you want to hang back for a little Sarah, no one would blame you.”
She shakes her head. “No. I’m good. I want to help secure the prana so I can tell my coven the loss of our sisters wasn’t for nothin’.”
“It absolutely wasn’t for nothin’,” Sloan says. “We’ll recover the prana and save lives. We’ll return it to The Source, and the goddess will be pleased. Many of the women captured for their crimes instead of being killed are alive because of yer wee nappy sacks.”
Emmet nods. “They’ll face the judgment of the goddess and perhaps, in some small way, that will give purpose to the tragedy of their loss.”
We come to the end of a torchlit corridor, and I stop at a closed door. My shield awakens and starts to burn. Stretching out my senses, I probe our surroundings for trouble on the horizon. When nothing definite comes back to me, I call in backup. “Bruin, you’re on recon, big guy. I’m getting a full-on warning not to proceed.”
“Yer shield?” Sloan asks.
A Witch’s Revenge (Chronicles of an Urban Druid Book 4) Page 18
