“Yeah, it’s lit up like a Griswold Christmas.”
He frowns and raises a palm. “Detect Magic.” After a long moment, his frown increases. “I’ve got nothin’. Yeah, Bear, ye better see what ye can find. Fi’s shield has never let us down before.”
“On it.” Bruin dematerializes, and I step back from the door until he gets back. “Anything?”
“Ye could say that.”
“What? What’s behind the door?”
“A bomb. It seems armed and ready to blow up anyone stupid enough to barge in.”
“I’ll take a look,” Nikon says. “Hang tight.”
Before I have time to argue, he’s gone.
Chapter Eighteen
“Yep. It’s a bomb all right,” Nikon says when he rematerializes with us two minutes later. “Does anyone have any experience with such things?”
“Always cut the red wire,” Calum says. “Or is it the blue wire?”
“Do f-bombs count?” Emmet asks. “If so, Dillan’s definitely your man.”
“Fuck off,” Dillan snaps and rolls his eyes.
“Dude, you just proved my point.”
Sarah steps forward. “Would ye like me to take a look at it? I might sense what spells they used to arm it.”
Nikon looks at Da for the answer.
“No.” Da purses his lips. “I think it’s best if we simply portal to the other side and leave it alone. We can send someone down to disarm it later, but for now, let sleeping bombs sleep.”
Sloan nods and holds out his hand. Nikon does the same.
Before we go, Nikon raises a hand, and a flashing red neon sign that says “Bomb. Do not open,” appears in front of the door.
“Good thinking.” Emmet smiles. “Wish I’d thought of that one.”
Once we’re all safely on the other side of the door, we continue down to the main cavern.
The space down here is less hole-in-the-ground, and more secret hideaway with the comforts of civilized living: tables and chairs, cots with blankets and pillows, they even have a little kitchenette counter with appliances hooked up to a witch disc.
My mouth falls open. “A prana-powered generator? Really? Does that seem sacrilegious to anyone else?”
Nikon seems equally offended by the setup. “So they steal the ultimate fae power and use it to make tea? What’s the end game here? Are they magical preppers or something?”
“That’s a good question.” I stare at the massive hole in the wall where the dragons came through and can only imagine how terrifying that was for the witches.
Here they are, thinking they’re snug in their hideout with bombs on the tunnels to take care of intruders and a cup of chamomile in their hands when a dragon family invades and chomps them up.
Sorry, not sorry. Sucks to be you.
Da and Aiden right an overturned table and gather some paperwork and maps off the dirt and blood-soaked floor. “We don’t know why they stole the prana water or what they intended to do with it,” Da says. “Once we have the motive, the answers might fall into place.”
I scan the space, but it’s obvious there aren’t nine casks of prana power lying around. “The witch disc proves we’re in the right place, so where are the casks?”
“I guess we spread out and do things the old-fashioned way. We investigate.”
“But be careful of witch traps and bombs,” I add.
Everyone spreads out and starts looking around. Aiden and I end up going through some of the notes he picked up off the floor. “It’s all encoded,” Aiden says. “Anyone know how to read witch cipher?”
He and I flip through the pages, looking, but come up empty-handed. “Hey, how’s the housing issue going? Dillan mentioned your landlord is selling. Have you and Kinu found anything promising?”
Aiden shakes his head. “Being a cop gives me a unique knowledge of the areas in the city. Anything we’ve found to rent in our budget is either too small, not in the school district Kinu wants for the kids, or I know of some unsavory element in the area that I want nowhere near my family.”
“That sucks. How long have you got?”
“He gave us sixty days’ notice, so the countdown is on.”
I squeeze his arm. “Everything works out the way it’s meant to, right?”
“Right.”
“So, as soon as we get this prana problem worked out, I’ll help with the search. I’m sure the perfect answer will present itself.”
“I hope so. If not, the basement at home is going to get very crowded.”
“Meh, we can handle it. S’all good.”
Aiden snorts. “You say that now.”
We search a while longer before I get frustrated. “Does anyone have anything that tells us what they were doing down here? Anyone?”
“I might be able to help you there, Fiona.” The dragon queen slithers through the hole in the wall and arches up like a cobra about to strike.
“Holy fuck,” Aidan whispers behind me.
Yep. The queen dragon is piss-your-pants scary at the best of times. A casual chat in her lair—scary. Commenting on your latest Elvis dance moves—scary. And yep, leading her young on a witch-chomping mission of revenge—very, very, scary.
“Young Chua found something in the tunnel that accesses the waterway. I think you’ll find it of interest. Come.”
The queen arches in a turn and slips back into the tunnel like the fifty-foot deadly serpent she is.
“Does anyone else need a moment to make their trembling twigs work?” Dillan shakes out his legs.
Yeah, I’m pretty unsteady too, and I’m used to her. “I didn’t know her eyes glowed like that.”
Patty casts me a surprised look. “How’d ye think she sees when she’s tunnelin’ in the earth?
“Night vision?”
“Well, the ocular glow is her night vision.”
“Good point.”
Sloan pulls out a moonstone, rubs his thumb over the surface, and the smooth, white gemstone glows brightly enough to lead our way. He steps into the queen’s tunnel, and we file in behind him.
“Which one is Chua?” I ask.
Patty frowns at me. “She’s a little green drake. You know, the one who likes to lick yer ankles.”
“Oh, right.” I have no clue which one he means, but what kind of a mother of dragons can’t remember her twenty-three dragon babies by their names and species types?
Fake it ’til you make it.
I pat Dart’s back as he shuffles along beside me. I get at least one point for knowing a dragon’s name.
This is Dartamont. Yay me!
The tunnel we’re exploring is long and flat, and by my estimation of the queen’s comment about it accessing the River Shannon, takes us under the grounds of the property toward the river.
The tunnel itself is dark although there are torches mounted on the walls at regular intervals. Sarah lights them as we go, so even without Sloan’s magical moonstone, we’ll be able to find our way back to the main cavern.
The flames burst to light behind the power of her magic and cast a warm glow to mark our way. They also smell heavily of sulfur and lime. I’m not sure the light to stink ratio makes it worth being able to see, but I keep my opinion on that to myself.
“Soooo,” Emmet says, “is it horribly dark, damp, and creepy down here, or is it just me?”
I shake my head. “Not just you. If ghosts haunted the catacombs of old castles, this would be prime spook territory.”
Emmet scowls at me. “Aren’t you a breath of fresh air today? First, the half-eaten witches comment, and now you’re conjuring up images of dark hauntings.”
“You were the one who said it was horribly creepy.”
“Kids, stop it,” Da says.
Emmet makes a face at me. “Fix your eyes. You’re freaking me out.”
I shrug, but he’s not wrong. My comments aren’t usually so macabre, and my eyes are totes creepy.
I step to the side of the tunnel for a second, recite Sloan’s spel
l to restore the glamor of normalcy, and rejoin the flow of footsteps.
“Da? Are we there yet?” Dillan says.
It’s a question we’ve heard a million times from him, and the Cumhaills in the crowd giggle. Dillan was our impatient child growing up. He was also the one with violent motion sickness, so it was understandable he wanted out of the car before the puking started. Truth was, we all wanted out of the vehicle before that.
“Yer in luck, Dillan. We are.” Da steps into a chamber at the end of the tunnel, and we follow him inside. “I believe the queen is right. I think we now know what the witches are up to.”
Since I stopped to fix my Marilyn Manson eyes, I’m at the back of the bus. When I finally stand shoulder to shoulder with the others, I’m not happy about what we’re looking at.
Not one bit.
“This is bad, right?”
Dora dips her chin. “Yes, girlfriend. This is very bad.”
In front of us, a huge section of the stone and dirt of the riverbank is gone. The current of water flows by, held back by an invisible forcefield. Two silver casks of prana are hooked up to the field and seem to be pumping prana through tubes connected through a witch disc. The maze of the Hecate’s Wheel on the witch disc glows as it emits a steady buzzing hum.
The little green drake dragon that comes over to greet Patty and me is all prance and smiles. She’s about the size of a Malamute, so a little smaller than Dart and without the horns and wings. “Did you find this all by yourself, sweet girl?” I scrub her cheek. “Great job.”
Dart moves to get in between us and I hold up my finger. “Don’t be like that. You’re the oldest of the litter. You have to show the others how to behave and get along like my oldest brother did for us.”
I wave Aiden over to join us.
He and I might be the farthest apart in age, but with the red hair and blue eyes, we look the most alike. “Aiden, this is Dart. He needs to learn how to be a good oldest brother.”
Aiden arches a brow like I might be going soft in the head, but he humors me. “Fiona’s right. Being the oldest is a very important job…”
As he takes Dart under his wing, I join Da, Sloan, and the others staring at the wall of swirling river water held back by the invisible field.
“Not to gain another point on Emmet’s macabre musings scale, but are we all in agreement that if something disturbs the spell holding back the river that this tunnel will flood and we’ll all drown?”
“That’s my take on it,” Calum says.
“Me too.” Dillan nods.
Da frowns at the pink swirls. “Okay, first thing. Madam Queen, I think it would be safer if ye take yer young either topside or back to yer lair now. If this goes poorly, I don’t want any harm to come to the little ones.”
The queen bows her head, the broad, scarlet scales shimmering in the light of torchlight and fae energy. “Agreed. They’ve had enough fun for one night. I don’t want them over-stimulated.”
She emits a squelching noise and heads back into the tunnel followed by Chua and, after a moment of hesitation, Dart.
I wave as they go, urging Dart to continue with his family. “Don’t worry. I’ll visit you before I go home. I’ll see you soon, buddy.”
When they’re gone, Da turns to Nikon. “I’d appreciate it if ye took my kids and Patty topside as well. Sloan, Dora, Sarah, and I have the combined knowledge and power to take care of things here. If they don’t object to stayin’, we’ll have all the hands we need.”
I snort. “Nice try, oul man. You don’t get to vote me off the island when this is yet another grand adventure I dragged you all into.”
Da frowns. “I have the tactical skills here, Dora has both druid and wizarding skills as well as knowledge from the ages, Sarah is a witch and will understand the workings of what’s been done better than the rest, and Sloan is not only smart but can portal us out in a flash if things go badly. What skillset makes it necessary for ye to stay down here?”
I make a face at him. “Geez, Da, talk about undermining my self-esteem. What about Fianna shield early warning, or quick wit, or charm and winning smile? If those don’t fly, how about…there’s no freaking way in hell I’m leaving.”
Da scowls. “Yer determination used to be cute. Now it’s a constant pain in my arse.”
“You’re welcome.”
“It’s sweet ye think that was a compliment.” With a huff, he nods at Nikon. “If ye wouldn’t mind takin’ the others to safety.”
Dillan holds up his hand. ”Aiden and I want to check out the main cavern again before we go. We’ll gather the papers from the table, and I’ll do another sweep with my hood up.”
Da growls and glares up at the rock ceiling. “Sweet mercies, will any of my kids do what they’re told and step out of harm’s way?”
I chuckle because as annoyed with us as Da sometimes gets, there’s never any doubt that he loves us like crazy. “Calum and Emmet are going, aren’t you boys?”
Calum nods. “Yeah. We’ll check on the prisoners.”
“Can we grab a few more of your nappy sacks, Sarah?”
Sarah hands over her bag. “Help yerselves.”
Emmet accepts the little bundles of oblivion and hesitates. “Are you okay with staying? Da’s accustomed to all of us jumping into the cray-cray of life, but you get to take a pass if you’re not comfortable with it.”
“I’m fine. Off ye go. We’ll wrap things up here and be breathin’ fresh air before ye know it.”
I give the girl credit. She talks a good game. Too bad Da taught us how to read lies and evasions. Busted.
Sweet Emmet lets her have her moment though. “Yeah, you will.” He lifts his gaze and smiles. “Good luck.”
When it’s only the five of us, Da exhales. “It’s like herdin’ jumpy cats most days, I tell ye.”
“Har-har. I can hear you.”
Da flicks his hand at me and points at the contraption we’re facing. “What do we see here?”
Dora leans in, studying the force field and the disc mounted against it. “I’m sure we’ve all come to the same conclusion. The witch disc is pumping raw prana into the flow of the river water.”
“Why?” Sloan says. “Exposure to raw, source power will poison people.”
Dora frowns. “It can also award ordinary people gifts and transform them into fae creatures and empowered folks.”
I stare at the magical energy disbursement and scowl. “You think after seeing what it did to their friends they’re tainting the water to create more empowered folks?”
“Actually,” Sarah holds up her finger. “That makes sense with two possibilities. There’s a sect of dark witches that believes hiding magic in the shadows is beneath us and the empowered should reap the benefits of the planet. If fae magic is outed, they wouldn’t have to restrain themselves.”
Da frowns. “They wouldn’t be the first to try to expose what goes on behind the faery glass of the hidden folk.”
“You said two possible explanations,” I prompt. “What’s the second?”
“That they know very well what will happen to people who drink and swim in the magic-tainted water and they’re looking to capitalize on it in some way. Maybe it’s not that different from what the Barghest did a few months ago when they tried to siphon the fae they kidnapped.”
I roll my eyes. “Why can’t everyone just play nice?”
“I’m with you, girlfriend,” Dora says.
Sloan sighs. “It’s a moot point at the moment why they tainted the water. The question is how do we reverse the polarity of the discs and have it siphon again instead of pumping the magic out into the river?”
Sarah shrugs. “That shouldn’t be too difficult. I mean, the discs themselves were created to draw magical energy. It stands to reason once we figure out how they work, we should be able to do just that.”
“Pitter-patter let’s get atter.” I gesture at the glowing faces of Hecate’s Wheel on the disc. “While you guys work on th
at, maybe a couple of us can reform the wall of this river and block it from tidal-waving in on us.”
Da nods. “Who’s doing what?”
Dora straightens. “Sarah and I can figure out the discs. Sloan, can you study the casks and figure out how to seal their magic flow so we can disconnect them?”
“I can try.”
Da smiles at me. “I guess that leaves you and me on landscaping, mo chroi.”
“Perfect. I’m getting good at Wall of Stone.”
It’s close to three in the morning when Sloan poofs the five of us out of the tunnel, and we join the others topside. I texted them at regular intervals so no one was panicked, but yeah no, that didn’t work. No signal. Eventually, Nikon started popping down for updates and to verify we’re all safe and accounted for. Even knowing that, they’re relieved when we’re done and have gotten out safely.
“Did Patty go back with the queen?” I ask.
Nikon nods. “I popped him to the lair once you said you were finishing up and all was well. I don’t think he’s used to these crazy druid hours. The poor guy was beat.”
I yawn and stretch out my tired and bruised muscles. “Same. Shower, massage, healing, and bed. Love you all, night-night.”
Nikon chuckles. “We waited here for that?”
I yawn again and smile. “Who are you kidding? You waited to make sure we didn’t get dead. We didn’t. Success. S’all good.”
“What about them?” Calum points at eight witches lying slumped in a pile unconscious on the ground.
I groan. “Damn. I forgot about them. Mother Nature? Goddess? Would you like to gather some more offenders and get an update on the night’s events?”
I wait, searching the starry night sky above, hope dimming with each passing moment.
“Well, crap.”
Sloan chuckles. “Did ye think the keeper of the earth’s nature is sittin’ by watchin’ and waitin’ for us to call her?”
Sort of. “All right, do we know of a magical prison or holding cell where we can drop them off until we finish this?”
“Aren’t we finished?” Emmet asks.
“Nope. We found two casks. If the witches are trying to pollute waterways, we have another seven casks to recover before this is over. And we still don’t know who’s behind it.”
A Witch’s Revenge (Chronicles of an Urban Druid Book 4) Page 19
