Chapter Six

My mouth fell open. “Shut up.”

Morven pointed at me. “You have the gift of the Aisling. You have the ability to control space and time. You can travel to the past.”

I spluttered. “But I’ve never done that before.”

“Which doesn’t make it impossible,” Morven said.

Finn bolted to standing. “This is insane. No one is traveling through time.”

Morven ignored him, drawing closer. “You can do this. I have seen Aislings sift time before.”

“But I’ll need training,” I insisted. “That will take forever.”

“Not if I assist you. Give you a magical boost, if you will.” His eyes sparkled, the runes on his cheeks bright red as his face flushed with excitement.

“Stop it,” Finn said in a firm voice. “Both of you. This is absurd.”

I paused, glancing over at Finn, and we locked gazes. He gave me a pointed stare, and I sighed.

“Finn’s right.” I stood up, dropping the device in my pocket with a long exhale, patting my pocket to ensure it was safe. “It’s absurd. Even if I could manage to get back in time, how would I get back?”

Morven smiled. “As I said, I have many spells that could aid you in this quest, but as an Aisling, you have the power. Don’t underestimate yourself.”

I rested my hand on my hip, drawing back. “I’m not underestimating myself. I just—”

“Where else would you find the essence of a goddess?” Morven stalked toward me. “In some sterile facility? Do you think your father would have a little vial lying around in his living room?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He might?”

My father had little more than a coffeemaker and some plates that were old in the Ford administration. Essence le Morrígan would not be something someone just keeps on a shelf.

Morven frowned. “Are you prepared to gamble the fate of the universe on that? How long do you have, Princess? How long before the sky rents open and all chaos is let loose upon the world?”

I waved my hands in front of me, my heart beating wildly against my rib cage. “Look, I didn’t ask for any of this!”

“And yet fate calls to you,” Morven said, hanging his head and folding his hands in his robes.

Finn grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the exit. “She’s not going.”

I wrenched my hand away, my voice rising in a panic. “Do you have a better idea?”

“There are other ways!” Finn cried. “We can take Teamhair. Force their leader to tell us how to destroy the device.”

“I doubt even the Fir Bolgs know where the Morrígan blood lies,” I said. “And in the meantime, if this thing goes off, or the universe explodes, we’re all done for.”

Eamonn cleared his throat. “The Morrígan is treacherous. Perhaps even the Fir Bolgs and the Americans cannot see how she’s interfering. We could search for a hundred years and never find the source.”

“Or we could at least try,” Finn said, his eyes widening, arms open wide. “We do not have to go on some insane mission through time. Through time?” he spluttered, shaking his head. “What if she ends up in another century? What if she doesn’t make it at all?”

Morven’s eyes turned jet black. “I can get her there.”

Finn paced the floor, his neck muscles wound tightly. “And let’s not even mention what would happen if she pops into a den of bloodthirsty Celts!”

I rounded on him. “Better Celts than a den of Fir Bolgs bearing sparkly M16s.”

He whirled, his face a bright shade of red. “I cannot believe you are entertaining this.”

I threw my hands in the air and let out a small, frustrated cry. “I can’t believe it, either, but I don’t see any other way. Maybe…maybe it can buy us some time.”

Finn flashed me an exhausted stare.

“No, hear me out,” I said. “If I go back to find the Morrígan’s blood, I have time. If Morven can get me close to Ireland, to that specific time and place, I can get what we need. Otherwise, a mission to a highly guarded, twenty-first-century facility? It would take weeks to plan. Months. Hell, we haven’t even managed to take Teamhair yet.”

“And whose fault is that?” Finn snapped.

I drew back, stunned as if he had slapped me.

His face fell, and he reached for me. “Elizabeth, I’m sorry.”

I waved him away, turning toward Morven. “Ok.”

Finn shoved his way in front of me. “Then I’m going with you.”

Morven shook his head. “It can only be Elizabeth. The magic won’t work for two people. She’s the catalyst.”

My heart stopped for a moment. Throughout all this, I had assumed Finn would travel with me and we would go on this quest together. Traveling back to the Bronze Age and facing down a magical bull on my own did seem pretty absurd, but our options remained limited. Who knows how long it would take us to find this secret ingredient for dismantling this Doomsday device? We couldn’t just ignore the fact it was on a timer and the universe was about to break apart. Time travel had its risks, but I was willing to take it, as long as it meant no one had to die trying to break into a secret lab. I had been a prisoner in one of those labs before, and I refused to go back.

I swallowed hard and stared down at the flagstones, shifting my feet. “It will be fine. I’ll go in, tranquilize the beast, get a sample. Get out.”

Morven wandered to a shelf and began pulling down strange canisters and bottles. “We’ll make sure you return right to this moment. We’ll have the device destroyed by sunrise tomorrow.”

Finn let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, I—”

I cupped his cheek and placed my thumb over his full lips. “I know.”

He shook his head. “But there are thousands of Ulstermen guarding that bull. You know the story. You know its players. It’s too risky.”

“Yes, it’s risky.” I gave him a small kiss. “But I can do this.”

We locked eyes for a moment, and I sank into the steadiness of his gaze. When I fell asleep last night, the way had been clear. Now, darker forces had taken root in this dimension, threatening to throw us all into chaos. I longed to cling to Finn, to tear at his clothes and bury my face into his chest so as to breathe in his strength, his clarity. But time was slipping away, and I had to find the calm in myself to endure whatever lay ahead.

I dug my hand in my pocket and brought out the device, passing it on to Finn.

“Guard it.” I nodded toward Morven and Eamonn, busily uncorking potions and rifling through tomes. “And guard them.”

Finn gave me a solemn stare. Behind us, Morven darted around the room, stuffing supplies in a rucksack. With a sudden blur of movement, he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him, crushing me against his chest.

“Come back to me,” he whispered into my hair.

“I will,” I replied.

“And don’t take stupid chances. Take your time to make a plan. Don’t rush in. You always—”

I drew away, raised my finger, and placed it against his lips. “Stop.”

His face fell, and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I’m doing it again.”

“Trust me,” I said. “I’ll be back before you know it. In the blink of an eye.”

Morven cleared his throat, and I turned away. The Druid passed a stuffed rucksack to me, and I readjusted my spear as I shoved the straps over my shoulders.

“There’s some food and water in there. Some matches just in case,” Morven said. “I made you a dart for the bull. Just stick it into its haunches and a sleeping draught will take instant effect. There’s also a knife and several vials for storing the sample.”

I adjusted the rucksack and looked up at the Druid. “Are you forgetting something?”

He stared at me blankly.

“The time travel?”

Morven laughed and clutched his chest. “Oh, yes. Quite.” He wandered deep into the shadows of his shop, and several loud crashes and bangs echoed through the chamber. Finn glanced at me warily, taking my hand.

“I wish I could go with you,” he said. “I hate everything about this.”

I squeezed his fingers and lifted them up to my mouth. “I’ll be quick. I promise. You’ll barely know I’m gone.”

He let out a long exhale, his face falling. “There was something I wanted to tell you, and it’s never been a good time, so I might as well just ask you now.”

“Ask me what?”

Finn opened his mouth to say something, but Morven burst out the back end of the shop, covered in dust.

“Sorry about that.” He edged in front of Finn and placed something small and cool in my hand.

When I opened my hand, I peered at the tiny figurine lying there. Someone had once carved it to be an animal, but it was so worn away as to be indeterminate.

“It’s a bull, made from the horn of the Donn Cúailnge itself,” Morven said. “I have tethered it to bring you back home to this spot when you’re ready.”

“So…what?” I said. “I just click my heels three times and say, ‘there’s no place like home?’”

“In essence, yes,” he replied. “But you must focus your mind on this particular moment. Not a second earlier or before.”

“Like right now?”

“No…now.”

I laughed, a little louder than appropriate, clutching onto the little bull, my other hand resting on Finn’s arm. He frowned, his hair half hiding his face and his shoulders tense. In the corner, Eamonn held a large book in his hands, and he gave me a nervous glance and nodded before lowering his head again.

Morven had begun drawing a large circle on the floor in chalk, whispering an incantation beneath his breath. On four points of the circle he drew a series of runes, each more intricate than the last, until finally, he stood back and assessed his work.

“The bull will take you to its time,” he said, gesturing to me to step inside the circle. “And it will help you return here, to this moment. Just don’t lose that little thing, or you will be on your own. Hold on to it tight.”

I gulped, my throat closing up and my chest heavy as I stared at the runes now glowing slightly.

“Are you ready?” Morven said.

I stood on the edge of the circle, sensing the electric pulse of Morven’s Druid magic in the air. It settled deep in my abdomen, pulling my Aisling powers forward. I squeezed Finn’s hand and, whirling around, planted a deep kiss on his mouth. He clutched the back of my neck, his breath hitching in his throat as I deepened the press of my lips onto his. I broke free and stepped backward into the circle, my gaze never leaving his.

“I’m ready,” I said, the roar of a great wind cutting off my words. Shards of blue light seared across my vision. The wind turned to a howl, and I realized that the howl was a million voices all channeled into one. The darkness threaded together, turning into a tunnel, the screaming growing louder as I fell into its depths. I thrust my shoulders up to try to shield myself from the terrible noise, but my limbs sank with unbearable heaviness. The blue light burned brighter, and I fell faster, screaming, joining the cacophony of wails surrounding me. A tremendous pressure threatened to crush my lungs, and the air bored down on me like a vise. I gasped, seeking some escape from the wave of pain thrusting at me from all sides. A roar of static filled my ears, and then finally, darkness overcame me.