Jamie was the first to return. She had removed the jewelry from her hair and tied the silver locks back in a rough knot. Beneath the soft wool coat, she had rigged her guns and a pouch that bulged with contents. She drank two long glasses of water from the pitcher Diedre had purified just last night, then caught her breath and leaned back against the sink.
I poured her a third glassful and handed it to her. “You followed tracks?” I asked.
She shook her head. “When we reached the house, I heard a car, heavy engine, fast, just up the road. I reached through the back door, grabbed my guns and took off after it. I followed the exhaust as far as I could. They were heading north, without deviation.” She drank another half-glass and sighed with more than simple relief at quenching her thirst. A vexed look settled in her eyes. “The sentries didn’t warn me. They should have. You had phone reception in the forest. I should have, too.”
“Aurelius looked for the border alarms. After Spain, he learned,” I told her. “He cut them before they came in. One of Haul’s team let me know only a few minutes ago. Aurelius waited for us to leave. It was going to be a simple robbery. He wasn’t counting on finding Diedre here, or Tony.” I grimaced. “Tony was no hinderance. Diedre was a bonus.”
Jamie looked away from me, but not before I saw pain and guilt flare in her eyes. She pulled the coat and dress away from her chest. “I need a shower. Is the bedroom…?”
“It’s clear,” I told her, for Haul’s workforce had turned up and dealt with the bodies first. “How did you know there were bodies?”
“The smell.” She grimaced. “I can’t forget that smell.”
I hesitated. “This isn’t your fault,” I told her. “None of us was expecting Aurelius to attack directly like this. I was comfortably certain he didn’t know I was in Britain, let alone here in Carmarthen. I relaxed.”
Jamie’s crystalline gaze drilled into mine. “We all relaxed, and we shouldn’t have.” She paused. “Ben convinced me nothing would happen until Beltane.” Then she looked away, her jaw tight.
I threw it out there because I knew she needed the distraction. “I know where Aurelius is taking Diedre.”
Jamie’s lips parted. “You…do?” She sounded uncertain, as though she couldn’t quite trust herself to believe it.
I nodded. “I can explain it all to you now, but then you’ll have to hear it all over again when Magorian and Ketill get back. Or you can take your shower while knowing we have a course of action to follow.”
“An actual course of action?” She began to smile. “For a non-combat doctor, that’s pretty impressive, Michael.”
I tried to squash the glow of pleasure building in my chest. “I’ve been a combat-on-the-fringes doctor since I met Magorian. You must have noticed that things happen around him by now.”
“I don’t think it’s just Ben who makes things happen,” Jamie said softly. Her eyes shone. Then she tugged at her stained dress once more. “Shower,” she said firmly and put the glass on the counter.
“And food when you’re done,” I told her as she headed for the back stairs. I was a terrible cook – right down at the bottom of the list, just above Ketill, who couldn’t lift a plate without breaking it. But this morning, I’d outdo myself in the kitchen if that was what it took to contribute to the sorry mess we were facing.
•
I made sure that everything on the breakfast table could be picked up and packed. Toasted sandwiches with breakfast fillings – I’d eaten enough commercial burritos and breakfast sandwiches to know what to put in them.
Then I hurried through other preparations. By then it was nearly dawn and I could feel the tick of time in the back of my mind, forcing me to hurry. I stepped back into the house from the carport as the sun lifted over the horizon and found Magorian and Ketill standing at the kitchen table, wolfing down sandwiches.
Jamie was actually sitting at the table, but she ate enormously, too.
“Pack the rest of what you want to eat into a bag,” I told them. “There’s a thermos of coffee and a thermos of tea and cups in the bag on the table, and some fruit. Then grab your things and head out to the car.” I paused. “My car,” I added.
“Tony…” Ketill said around a big mouthful of toasted avocado, tomatoes and smashed falafel. At least I presumed that was what he said.
“Tony’s got a cut that could have taken stitches, but he’s better off with one of the fae taking care of him. I sent Tony and Euclides to the forest. Euclides can update Haul when he wakes, and Hauls’ lieutenants in the meantime. The forest people are fortifying, posting guards, warning the trees.”
Jamie nodded approval.
“I meant what I said,” I told them. “One more bite, then pack and move.”
They moved.
I pulled on my peacoat and headed for the carport to start the car and warm it. Only two minutes later the three of them scrambled into the car and arranged their gear. The weapons went into the boot. The food sat on their laps.
I got both the car and Google Maps going.
For the first short while, everyone ate in silence. Magorian poured tea and coffee and passed it back to Ketill and Jamie, poured a cup of tea for me and propped it in the cup holder, then drank at least half a liter of coffee himself, before sighing and wiping his lips.
“Jamie traced a car heading north. Is that the direction you ended up following?” I asked both him and Ketill, catching Ketill’s eyes in the mirror.
“Yep,” Ketill confirmed. “There were some on foot—disgraced soldiers, I’m figuring. Like Llew of Blaenpennal that Aurelius kicked to the ditch last time. We followed that trail for a while, but they split up.”
“When dawn approached,” Magorian added. “We presume.”
Ketill nodded. “And if they’re discards, we can circle back to them later. Diedre’s the priority. Tell me that’s where you’re driving us at a speed that’s making my breakfast come back.”
“I’m under the speed limit,” I said mildly, navigating another tight curve.
“A hundred on the M1 isn’t the same as a hundred on these dinky car tracks.” Ketill had been a professional driver when he was human—and in Los Angeles, too. “I’d rather you’d smash into one of those oaks whizzing by only three inches off the bumper after we’ve got Diedre back.”
I didn’t slow down. He was anxious, he was a father, and I had no intention of letting him down. “We’re heading for where Aurelius took her,” I confirmed.
Ketill scraped a hand over his black head once. Twice. “Good,” he said gruffly.
“Llyn Eiddwen,” Magorian intoned, for he could read the screen of my phone. “Aurelius has learned the spell must be cast at the headwaters, now.”
“But he hasn’t learned all the requirements,” I said grimly.
“No,” Magorian agreed. “It’s not Beltane.”
“He doesn’t know it’s supposed to be Beltane…” Jamie murmured, with a sigh. Her tone told me she’d overlooked this when berating herself for relaxing. She wouldn’t stop flailing herself for relaxing, but now she knew why it had gone wrong.
“Or that he has to burn the whole Book of Morcant,” Magorian added. “Jamie, that’s going to be your priority when we get there. If you see a way of stealing that book, take it. Without it, Aurelius is neutralized.”
“Got it,” Jamie said.
“Although he has figured out that the spell should probably be cast on one of the old Celtic feast days,” I pointed out. “It’s the equinox.”
“Not until nearly ten tonight,” Magorian murmured.
“He’s grasping at broad generalities” I agreed. “Probably because he’s getting his knowledge from people who haven’t been down the same research paths as you. It’s working in our favor.”
“Not while he’s thinking that cutting Diedre’s heart out will fix everything,” Ketill shot back, his voice tight and hard.
“Which is why I’m not slowing for oak trees,” I assured him and met his gaze in the mirror once more. Then I looked away quickly, for Ketill’s eyes were filled with very human tears.