| |
––––––––
I FOUND AN EMPTY BEDROOM and crashed, sleeping soundly for the first time since being sent to the goblin dungeon. Everyone else was already up and were preparing for our battle when I rose. Pru was in the conjuring room crafting potions. She might not be as powerful as some witches, but she’d proven to be adept at creating useful spells that she could throw at her foes.
Emelia looked drawn and was quiet when I joined her, Harley, Asha and Leroy in the living room. Irindal and Tomlin were absent, but they would be in the house somewhere. At that thought, a mug of coffee appeared on the coffee table along with a plate of food. I carried them over to the dining table where I could eat without disturbing the others. They were discussing the plan and were refining their parts as best they could.
Sitting back when I was done, my plate, utensils and empty mug vanished. Brill had become reunited with her true mistress, but Tomlin had stepped in to take her place. All brownies lived to serve even if none of us were his masters or mistresses. He was happy to help during our time of need. “Thanks, Tomlin,” I murmured. He appeared on the table in front of me, wringing his hands in distress. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing, master,” he replied, but his long nose drooped almost to his chest with unhappiness.
“You can tell me what’s on your mind,” I told him. “If you need my help with something, just say the word.”
He looked up at me, then dropped his head again. “I’ve never been without someone to serve,” he told me with quiet dignity. “Now that my master has passed away, I am alone and bereft.”
“Gorm asked me to retrieve a friend of his from the goblin dungeon,” I reminded him.
“You mean Norg?” he asked in recollection, eyes suddenly turning bright.
“Yeah. He’s somewhere in the Seelie realm and he might need someone to take care of him. Maybe you should visit him and see if he wants to become your new master.”
“Thank you, master!” he said as if I’d given him a precious gift. I’d been tempted to ask him if he wanted to serve my team and me, but brownies belonged in their own realm. Their power was greatly reduced here. He would be better off returning to his homeland. “Once you’ve prevailed against the gorgon, I’ll lock up this house and I’ll reinstall the barrier around it so no one can find it,” he told me.
Hopefully, when Sheridan Harwood was dead, we wouldn’t need to take refuge here again. “It sounds like a plan,” I replied.
He disappeared and Irindal fluttered over to perch on my shoulder. “That was a very selfless thing you just did, half-blood,” she said in her slightly high-pitched voice.
“What’s that, darlin’?”
“You could have bound him to your service, but you instead gave him his freedom to leave this dismal realm.”
“I had no right to claim his service,” I said. “Everyone should be free to make their own choices.”
We both turned to look at Asha. She sat on the couch next to Harley, darting glances at the young hunter. She knew her time here was limited and she was cementing him in her memory as best she could. “Not everyone has a choice,” the pixie said sadly. “Some of us are forced to do horrible things and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The dryad heard her and looked at us before climbing to her feet and heading for the door. Harley sent an anguished look after her, but he didn’t follow her. She probably wanted to commune with the trees. The spells on the building blocked her ability to hear them. I was sure a large part of her wanted to flee, but I knew she wouldn’t run. No one could avoid their fate for long.
Harley was cleaning his assault rifle and Glock. The rest of his weapons were stuffed inside his backpack. Two more backpacks rested on the floor next to the couch. One was Asha’s and the other was mine. I crossed to mine, picked it up and found my belt, my Colt and my favorite knives inside. “Rudy grabbed our gear after the werelion attacked us,” the kid explained. “He didn’t want to leave them behind for Sheridan’s goons to steal.”
“How did he grab them with a spell that blocked his ability to teleport on the house?” I asked.
“Leprechauns don’t exactly teleport items to them,” Emelia replied. “It is a different ability altogether.”
I shook my head, baffled by magic I’d never be able to understand. “I’m just glad he hasn’t retrieved anything that can help him escape from the cell you created.”
“He won’t be able to use any of his abilities while he’s in that room,” she reassured me. “The blood magic prevents it.”
“Did the warlocks use a similar spell in the institute Asha was taken to?” I asked.
“It would seem so. None of us were able to utilize any of our magical or supernatural skills.” Irindal had been able to dredge up some pixie dust that had apparently boosted Pru’s potions, but that had been the extent of it.
“We can assume that her mansion in Rosethorn will also be guarded in the same way,” I mused.
“I have faith that your foster daughter will come up with a solution,” she said.
Ari had said she would consult Greta’s Grimoire while my team was resting. She was going to search for a way to break through the enchantments that would be placed around the Master Archivist’s house and around the gorgon as well. We all needed to be able to use our talents in order to defeat her lackeys. We also needed to prevent her from making a run for it. The ancient book Ari had become the owner of housed thousands of enchantments. If a spell existed that could help us, the tome would know of it.
Cleaning my weapons methodically, I sharpened my knives and machete, then double checked my store of ammo. I had enough magazines for my Colt to take down a small army. Harley and Asha carried a large supply of ammo as well. Emelia was more comfortable using her sword than a gun.
Pru eventually joined us, looking alert. It didn’t take much out of her to create the potions and the dragonfly brooch would have boosted her power anyway. Her purse clanked with glass vials when she set it down on the floor. Asha had slipped inside a while ago and was trying not to let her sadness and dread show on her face.
Leroy zoomed through the wall, returning from one of his frequent patrols. “There’s nothing to report,” he said. It was handy having a ghost who could search for enemies a full mile from our temporary base.
“I hope Ari can come up with some spells that will help us,” Harley muttered and checked his watch again. We only had a couple of hours left before we intended to crash the meeting Quin was going to have with Harwood.
Right on cue, the spare cell phone rang. I reached out and picked it up, putting it on speaker phone. “Tell me you have good news,” I said.
“I have good news,” Quin replied. “The grimoire came up with a few solutions to our problems. Ari has everything she needs to dispel the enchantments on the mansion and on the gorgon. I’ve organized to meet with the Master Archivist at one pm. We’ll expect your arrival fifteen minutes later.”
“We’ll be there,” I replied and we both hung up.
“I knew Ari would come through for us,” Leroy said with a grin. His clothes darkened slightly with his anticipation of our coming battles. He was already on the verge of turning into a poltergeist.
“Here,” Emelia said and took the silver ring off. “You should wear this,” she added and tossed it to me.
“Thanks, darlin’,” I replied and slipped the ring onto my finger. It adjusted to fit me and my connection to Leroy settled back into place.
His eyes widened and he turned to me. “Holy crap! You’re even stronger now, boss honky!”
“I don’t feel any different,” I said with a shrug.
“Unlocking your Unseelie side must have changed something,” he mused, eyeing me closely. “I can feel you’re not evil, so that’s a plus.”
“That’s good to know,” I said wryly, then checked my watch out of reflex. My fae abilities allowed me to know what time it was wherever I was. The countdown was on for what I hoped would be our final fight with our enemies.
