Chimes At Midnight (The Grimoire Chronicles Book 3)

by Phaedra Weldon

  It was that seed that Scylla latched onto. That strand of dislike the Queen had for the upstart that Scylla planned to farm to his advantage. "I most humbly agree, Morgana. And it's because of her that I have come."

  "Pray you did, for she sends you."

  "No, I asked to see you."

  "Aye? For what purpose?"

  He knew the risks he was taking, asking Morgana for help. Yet he'd obediently given her everything she'd ever wanted and she had done the same. "I have been tasked by the upstart to bring her a Goblin. She gave me this body and threatens to destroy it if I don't bring it to her by midnight in the Earthen Realm."

  "Oh…and why doest this transgression of ill will wish a Goblin?"

  "I don't know, Morgana. There's something about him. Something powerful."

  "Is he Daoine Sidhe?"

  "I'm not sure," he didn't hesitate. Lying to the Spring Queen would be pointless. Omitting would be better and not as easily detected. "I believe he is. Though I've not seen him use the Wild Magic yet."

  Morgana put her finger to her lip, her perfectly pink nail tapping it. "Known parent?"

  Scylla shook his head. "My favor though, Morgana, is to know if there is a way to prevent this upstart from taking my new body?"

  Her concerned expression became one of pleasure. "Thou enjoys this physical form."

  "Yes."

  "There is such a thing, but the spell is naught easy to endure and can be troublesome."

  Scylla peered into her eyes, hoping she would look into his and see his desperation.

  "Prince…why didst she procure such bargains and power over such a fine mind?"

  Truth time. "She said she could give me the name of the one who burned the Cairn. The one who murdered my sister."

  Morgana's eyes widened and she nodded once. "Powerful knowledge this upstart has come by. Yet shameful to such use. Names of revenge should be given freely. Forgiveness in this manner is impossible."

  Scylla hesitated, unsure of what she meant.

  Then, without warning, the Queen pressed her hand flat against his chest. Her action wasn't filled with power, but the power behind it was. He felt the air leave his lungs as her hand drove into his flesh, and he looked down to see only her wrist sticking out of his chest.

  Fire ignited his insides as agony pulled at him. He no longer had control of himself as he twisted and writhed beneath her. He felt the cool grass on the back of his neck and watched as the cherry tree above them turned brown and then black as the leaves died away until the tree itself was a dead husk of dried bark.

  Scylla couldn't remember when the pain ended, only that it did. And when he finally opened his eyes, the cherry tree was in bloom and the skies were blue with bright white clouds. Morgana lay beside him on the green, green grass and stroked his hair.

  He felt heavy. Like he'd never felt before. Weighted down and anchored. When he touched his chest, he felt something on his skin, a raised pattern, but he was too weak to lift his head and see as sweat beaded on his forehead. "What…what did you do to me?"

  "Ask and given, Prince. Now the upstart has no recourse over you and no power. Such a name will be given as this Queen will see it so."

  He breathed heavily. "What…what does that mean? What did you do?"

  "Together is your being with the heart of this shell. Made one are they and cannot be sundered without magic most divine. Your powers may yet still bleed into the Earthen Realm, but such acts create a sickness here." She touched his stomach. "Powers more will come as your being grows comfortable."

  He dissected the words and felt a drowning dismay. "You…you pressed me to this body!"

  "Aye…such fear. Sleep is thine right, Prince. Sleep with no distress as the mend continues and your being becomes bright again. Upon rising, eat of the fruit and drink of the wine and the match is complete."

  He didn't want to be permanently locked into a body! That wasn't what he wanted! But he was too exhausted to protest and closed his eyes as the Queen stroked his hair with her pink nails and sang softy beside him.

  Thirteen

  OUT THE BACK DOOR

  DAGS

  If there is one thing I know, it's Mike. Once he gets a bug up his ass, he's like a dog with a new bone. It's his and he won't let go of it. Sam had set down the edict that no one was to leave the shop. They were closed for the day, and I'd helped them shutter up the wards so tight a gnat couldn't find its way in.

  In fact, it was so tight in the shop I was starting to feel a bit stir crazy myself and wanted to go out. Medbh had been strangely silent after giving me her assessment of what could happen. I'd told everyone else, and Sam had been a bit put out that the head of the former Faerie Queen hadn't told her personally.

  Grey had been pretty forthcoming with filling me in on the Wild Hunt. All the nobles and hunters in the Realm of the Queen would be called together to hunt a specified target. During the years she served as Hunt beast, Grey had never been on a Wild Hunt. She hunted with the Queen often, but always within the realm to stay off the monsters that lingered outside the walls of the Alfheim kingdoms. The Harpies were a particularly bad problem in the north, where the Obsidian Palace sat.

  I knew all too well how bad a Harpy's attack could be, having felt their talons rake down my back once. And once was enough. The resulting damage had put me in the hospital, and a staph infection kept me there.

  The day passed with no interruptions, except for the delivery guy bringing the Chinese food everyone agreed on. Sam had cooked breakfast and then helped Ivan with lunch, but after cleaning up two rounds of pots, pans and dishes, food in little take-out boxes was preferable.

  Crwys and Levi showed up around nine, letting us know more about the missing tourist. Nothing panned out as his car was still in the hotel's valet parking. He'd disappeared without a trace. They hadn't spotted him on surveillance anywhere in the Quarter either, so Sam dismissed it as random.

  I was sad the guy disappeared, leaving behind a new wife with no explanation of where he'd gone.

  "We're also getting help on the case of the charred corpses, the ones Ripp’n Jack created," Crwys said as he pinned me to my chair with his odd amber and red gaze. "A Detective King?"

  Oh crap? "She's coming here?"

  "She'll be here the day after tomorrow. She's specifically asked us to grab Mike Ross and hold him for extradition to Savannah, Georgia. Prescott's not that happy to hear this, since she's not sure who Mike Ross is and why he's wanted." He looked at Sam. "This is getting way overcomplicated. I need to talk to Mike."

  "Not if you're gonna arrest him." Sam had her hands on her hips.

  "I'm not, but we need to talk strategy about what to do."

  Sam nodded. "Dags, will you go get him? He went upstairs to lie down over an hour ago."

  Hrm. That's right. He missed Chinese. And Mike Ross never met a wonton he didn't like.

  I ran upstairs to check the bedroom. The bed was still mussed up, as was the couch, but there was no sign of Mike. I ran back down and looked out the back to make sure Sam's Jeep was still there, as well as my SUV.

  They were both there, as was Kyle's Prius.

  "You okay?" Kyle said as I closed the door and turned around.

  I jumped. Dude was very quiet. "Yeah…no. Mike's not upstairs, but the cars aren't gone."

  "Is mine there?" And Kyle opened to the door to look.

  "I think so."

  Kyle stepped back in. "Where's Ivan's truck?"

  "Does he park in the back?"

  "Yeah." Kyle stepped fully outside and I followed.

  Some magic alarm must have rung ‘cause Sam was right there in seconds. "What're you two doing?"

  Kyle pointed to an empty spot. "Where's Ivan?"

  "He asked to head to the store. Needed a few parts for the camera in front."

  Kyle and I looked at each other, but it was me that spoke, "You let Ivan leave when you told us to stay?"

  "Ivan's not on anyone's hit list, as far as I know. A
nd his magic senses different. No one would know he was a Witch unless they looked really hard."

  "Sam, Mike's not here."

  Her eyes widened before she spun on her heels and held out her arms to the building. There was a slight flash and distortion before she turned back to us. "He's not here. Lady Darksome! You don't think he went with Ivan, do you?"

  I nodded. "I do. I know Mike. And he missed Chinese food."

  Sam pulled a cell from her pocket, thumbed a few numbers, and put it to her ear. After a few seconds, she pulled it away. "Ivan's phone's going straight to voicemail."

  "Ivan's always answering his phone. That thing's his lifeline between the Physical World and his Cyber one," Kyle said. "Sam, I'm not liking this."

  "You don't think he convinced Ivan to take him to a Cairn, do you?" Sam looked at me.

  "I don't know if he convinced him, but I wouldn't put it past him to jump in the back and then spring it on Ivan at the right time. Dude's a one-man army and he really doesn't need a gun."

  "Are you insinuating he'd hurt Ivan?" Now her voice rose.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. I honestly couldn't answer that. I would say no. But Mike had been compromised by something evil, and I just…I just wasn't sure anymore.

  She pointed at me. "Does that book of yours have a homing spell?"

  "Uh…I don't know? I can look in the index, but wouldn't we just need to check a Cairn? Does he know where they are? Or does Ivan?"

  "Ivan knows the one on Arden's land," Kyle said.

  Sam looked at Kyle. "She still mad about us using it before?"

  Kyle made a face. "It's hard to tell with Aunt Arden. I think she was flattered, and pissed off. But my cousin seems to think it's okay."

  "Screw her if she can't handle it." Sam ran back into the shop and we followed her. She went to the herbal station by the door to the main store and pointed. "Make something that'll make my magic invisible."

  I looked at Kyle. He blinked at me. Crwys and Levi stepped up. "What's going on?" Crwys asked.

  "Ivan and Mike are missing." She held up a hand up that meant, don't argue with me, I know this is bad. "I think Mike might have convinced Ivan to take him to the Cairn so he could talk to his daughter."

  "Go to Alfheim?" Crwys ran his fingers through his hair. "Sam, we've got to get him back."

  "I know. That's why I need a spell to hide my power, so I can get to the Cairn and into Alfheim without Brendi knowing."

  "No."

  She arched a brow at him. Even I gave him a strange look. "Excuse me?"

  "Sam, you can't go after him. Not if they're after you."

  "And you are in no position to stop me." She pointed at him. "You have a cop coming in from Savannah and a captain who is going to demand information about this Mike Ross. That's gonna get back to me and that woman hates me. I'll worry about getting Mike and Ivan back. You worry about how to stall Prescott, King and anyone else who wants to punish Mike for something he didn't do."

  Crwys looked like he was going to argue, until Levi grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Let's go. We need to figure out what to tell the captain before this King gets here. We still have a few surveillance tapes to go through and then we can…I don't know…make up something. Or, I could always bite her and change her mind."

  Sam and Crwys both pointed at the man and said, "No," in unison.

  Levi let go of Crwys and held out his hands. "It's just a suggestion."

  "Crwys, you and Levi go. We'll figure this out." Sam turned back to the shelves of herbs.

  I watched Crwys for a few seconds before he and Levi filed out of the shop through the back door. The way he looked at Sam was a lot like the way I looked at Illiana. I wasn't sure, but I was slowly coming to the conclusion that the detective had a thing for Sam.

  And he wanted more.

  Whether or not Sam saw this was anyone's guess. She was always so focused she might actually know and decide her life was too messy for any romantic entanglements. Either way, I didn't say anything. Crwys gave me a look before he shut the door. I think he was still pissed I had this book inside of me, and I was very sure he and I were going to have words about it.

  Just not right now.

  Kyle joined her at the shelf. "Sam, I don't know of anything that would hide your power."

  "No herb or spell or anything?"

  He shook his head. "Nothing strong enough, at least. Anything I do would be like covering you in a window sheer and hoping no one notices your silhouette in the window."

  I nodded. An apt metaphor.

  That's when I felt the book flutter and I put my hands to my chest. Sam caught my movement and faced me. "Does it have a suggestion?"

  "I…I think so. It wants to show you something." I kept my hands on my chest. "But I'm not going to let it unless you let me come with you."

  "Absolutely not."

  I kept my hands on my chest. "Then you don't get the spell."

  Kyle laughed. "I agree with him. You can't find the two of them on your own, and given the power I've seen and the fact Mike is his friend, the whole reason this is happening, I think you don't have a choice."

  "Whose side are you on?" Sam glared at him.

  "The side of right." Kyle beamed. "And the side that I think won't get you killed. You two get the spell to mask you, and I'll call my cousin to make sure the gate's open so we can drive to the Cairn." He looked at her and tilted his head to the side.

  After a few tense seconds she said, "Fine."

  He patted her shoulder and went to the office. She nodded to me and I held my arms out and released the book. It moved just outside my chest and presented itself to me, not facing her. The pages flipped back and forth and finally landed on a very simple spell. Something I could do with a single word.

  The book closed and retreated back to where it rested.

  I staggered a bit as the light show dimmed down and gripped the edge of the herb shelf.

  "Well?" Sam said as she reached out to steady me.

  "It's a combination of words. It won't make us invisible, but it will diminish us."

  "Diminish?"

  "Yeah. We'll still have power because our bodies generate power. But nothing can pick up anything else about it. We'll blend right in."

  "Good. Let's do it."

  I took a deep breath and said, "Seheru igisum." Sumerian for diminish gift.

  Something filled my ears with cotton a few seconds before they popped and I blinked a few times. I looked at Sam and my jaw dropped.

  Gone was her blue-black hair and electric blue eyes. It was now gray and her eyes brown. Her ivory skin was ashen and her red lips were pale pink.

  Her eyes widened at me and I sort of figured I'd changed physically as well. “Wow…you look…”

  “Yeah. Don’t look in the mirror yourself. Now…I have this feeling if you use your magic too much, then taru will happen.”

  “Taru?”

  “It’s the word to remove the power, or restore the Goddess’s gift.”

  “And then we’ll do what?”

  I gave her a skeptical face. “Shine like blink’n beacons. You got a plan?”

  “Give me five minutes.”

  Fourteen

  A GYPSY CAiRN

  DAGS

  Kyle drove us out to what he called the back entrance to Gypsy Gardens. I didn't know if that was an amusement park or some kind of local landmark until we turned down a dirt road. He explained, as we bumped up and down along the rutted path, that this was his aunt's property, her summer estate, as she called it.

  Whatever it was—it reeked of power. I could feel it brushing against my skin and it wanted to tear away the spell I'd woven over me. I had no idea if Sam felt the same, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. The land itself had power, and it had…something else.

  I stared out the window at the thick, lush greenery, thinking now and then that I was seeing something watching us. A dark shadow there. A swift movement here. In fact, I was about
to comment on animals on the land, wondering if this was also a wildlife preserve, when Kyle turned a bend and the landscape changed.

  To the left of the road was a copse of cypress, maybe an inch or two taller than me. They were planted close together, and from what I could tell, in a circle. Was that a ritual space? I had no illusions that Kyle's aunt was a Witch, I was just wondering what kind. Powerful came to mind, on a level very different than Samantha.

  He drove around another bend that went right. A cabin appeared, invisible from the road until you drove up to it. The two-wheel dug path continued past the cabin and into the woods to the left, but Kyle parked the Prius next to a green truck. Kyle got out, quickly followed by Sam, and the two ran into the cabin. I followed a step behind and stopped at the door. The inside decor was clean and very nice. It was a cabin I could live in with no problems.

  Kyle picked a tablet up off the coffee table. "They were here." He looked at me. "Ivan never travels without it."

  "So…" I stepped inside. "Did he go with Mike?"

  "I'm thinking Mike couldn't activate the Cairn," Sam said. "And Ivan, being good at puzzles, figured out how and it took both of them."

  That didn't sound good. "So they're both in Alfheim."

  Kyle held up a phone. "Yeah…and Ivan's unarmed. I'm betting he had no intention of going in. Just gonna let Mike in and hang out here."

  Sam didn't say anything, but the expression on her face said it all. She was worried, and angry, and about to explode. She marched past me out the door. I followed with Kyle behind me. I wasn't surprised when we headed for the cypress circle.

  "Is that a sacred space?" I asked.

  Kyle answered, "It is and was, until a Cairn was erected in the center. Now it's more like a gigantic telephone to the realm of Alfheim."

  "Your aunt made a connection between the two?"

  "Arden was having a lot of problems with someone, or something, poaching animals on her land. Siphoning her power. She discovered a Cairn had been built in that spot long before the family bought this land…somewhere in the early 1900s. The stones had been discarded, but the actual gate was still open. Made sense it was there in the circle since Witches put their Circles in places of power. So about a year ago, the coven designated this place a Cairn and built the appropriate wards. The poaching stopped and the seals she placed on it prevent the Faeries from coming through on their own. They have to ask permission now."