Chapter Six

Evening sun cast soft shadows on the wall, and I sat up, running my hands through my crazy bed hair. Throwing on some clothes, I raced down to the dining room, hoping to find Finn. He said he was going to give me answers, and after the dream, I had more questions than ever.

Turning into the dining hall, I spied Grainne chatting animatedly with Regina.

Regina flashed me the stink eye, but a wide smile stretched across Grainne’s face.

“Hello, there, Sleeping Beauty!” she said.

I smiled at her, ignoring Regina. “Is Finn in his office?”

Regina and Grainne exchanged a glance.

“Sorry, but Finn left for Ireland early this morning,” Grainne said.

My mouth gaped open. “I’m sorry, what?”

Grainne blanched. “Yes, em, he had a, em, meeting of sorts.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “I bet he did.”

“Is there something—?”

“No, I just. I mean, he promised me…”

Grainne and Regina stared at me blankly.

I swallowed hard, straightening my shoulders. “He promised he would tell me who you were, what all this Trinity stuff is really about.”

Grainne gave me a sympathetic look, but Regina huffed and leaned back in her chair.

“That’s a foolish promise for him to make,” she said.

“Why?” I barked back. “I gave him information to save the world, and he said—”

“Finn would say anything to stop Thornton.” Regina stood up, fists clenched. “And I would have put you in the clink the minute you stepped foot in here.”

I stalked over to the table. “Do you have a problem with me?”

Regina narrowed her eyes. “I would say the daughter of Niamh O’Neill is a very big problem, indeed.”

A helpless rage bubbled up inside me. “What does my mother have to do with any of this?”

Grainne stood up and pressed my arm. “Let’s just cool down a bit. No need to get hot about anything. Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and—”

“I don’t want a cup of tea!” I threw my hands in the air. “I want to talk to Finn.”

Grainne frowned and, glancing sideways at Regina, led me out of the dining room. “I’m sorry Finn isn’t here, but if he made a promise to you, he’ll fulfill it. He’s that kind of man, you can be sure of it.”

I blew the hair of out my eyes, my face flushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just frustrated.”

“I can understand that, Elizabeth.” Grainne looked over her shoulder toward the dining room, and then leaned in to me. “Too many secrets around here if you ask me.”

“How do you know Moiré and Dr. Forrester? Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on? Why does Finn want to know what’s in Arranmore?” The questions tumbled from my lips before I could stop myself.

Grainne sighed. “Elizabeth, I’m sorry. If I could tell you, I would.” She stared up at me in earnest, tears glistening in her eyes. “Moiré was a friend. A true friend.” She squeezed my hand. “Why don’t we have some breakfast, and I can show you around a bit. We have lovely thirteenth century glosses in the library if you would like to see them.”

I smiled faintly, and Grainne patted my shoulder. “I’m sure Finn will be back tonight. Don’t you worry about it.”

But Finn didn’t come back that night, or the next day, or the day after that. I spent most of my time in the library, trying to distract myself with translating some of the manuscripts Grainne had shown me. But all I could see was Finn’s stupid lying face, how he’d tricked me into telling him about Arranmore. Every time I opened a new manuscript, all the words blurred together on the faded parchment, rendering my efforts pointless. I ducked out of the library and made my way back to my room to get some sleep.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Regina and Máirtín by the stairs, talking in intimate tones in a corner by the staircase. He leaned in for a kiss, and the dreamy look in Regina’s wide brown eyes worsened my already dark mood.

Slamming the door behind me, I flopped on my bed and let the pull of sleep take me under. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, my safest course of action seemed to just stay put—or at least that’s what I thought.

I dreamed.

My mother walked beside me through a deep valley surrounded by green hills, the wind pressing against the grass like hands across velvet. The sun shone on her long hair, spiraling behind her, and her white dress whipped against her long legs. The world was in high-definition, every detail so crisp and clear, and I could smell the sweet scent of earth, taste the wind as it pressed against my face. She laughed and grabbed my hands, her fingers slender and cool against the heat of the warm sun.

I interlaced them with mine, thinking for a moment how strange that she appeared so happy after our last exchange in the library. But I went along with her in that way you let a dream take over. Growing up without a parent, there’s a kind of phantom pain that never quite goes away, and I would have walked a million miles just to be near her.

“Mom,” I whispered. “What you said in the library, about someone finding me…”

She circled around and placed a finger on my lips, her intense stare stopping me short. Then she laughed and pulled me a little harder up the hill. I hesitated, but she tugged at me, and I half stumbled over the rocks.

“Come on, Elizabeth!” She chastened me, still laughing, but with a steely glint in her eye.

“Hey, wait!” I called, and she snatched my hand with a sharp tug.

“It’s over here, Elizabeth. Hurry up!”

We crested the hill. A large wooden door stood alone against the sky.

I looked at my mother, the wind whipping through her hair, her wide green eyes sparkling.

“What is this?” I said.

She pointed to a brass knob glimmering in the brilliant sunlight. “Open the door.”

“What’s on the other side?”

Mother stood there, staring blankly at me. A cloud passed over the sun, and a shadow stretched across her face, sharpening her features. Her eyes turned black for a brief moment, and then the cloud passed, a warm smile returning to her face.

Anxiety gripped my stomach. Something wasn’t right. My eyes traced the rolling hills, finally resting on the door suspended in air.

“What is this place?” I glanced back at my mother, entranced by the way the light shone through her porcelain skin, the way she licked her lips in childish anticipation.

“Open it,” she repeated.

“Where does it lead?” I backed away a few steps, the grass soft beneath my feet.

“Just do as I say, Elizabeth!” My mother’s eyes had gone wild, and I was afraid she might start crying again.

“Why can’t you open it? Is it locked?”

“Elizabeth! Please! You must open it!” She grabbed my hand and placed it on the doorknob, cold and hard in my palm.

I turned to her. “I…don’t know…”

Her other hand stroked my arm. “Darling girl. Don’t you see? This is the door of my prison. Open it, and you will free me.”

“A prison? So you’re alive? What about the car accident? Is this really a dream? What about—”

Niamh placed a hand on my arm and raised her fingers to stroke my cheek. “Oh, little one, I’ll explain it all to you, I promise. But you must open this door. I’m running out of time.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

She smiled at me, and my whole body relaxed into her hand as she cupped my cheek. She backed away from me as I turned the knob.

“Yes, Elizabeth,” she said. “That’s it.”

I pushed the door open. On the other side of the threshold the marble halls and columns of Trinity’s front entryway gleamed from the city lights seeping through the stained glass windows flanking the doorway.

“Trinity? Why…?” I turned to face my mother, but she was gone.

I gripped the doorknob, doubled over, my fingers trembling. Where my mother had stood just moments before loomed Edward Thornton, a wide grin plastered on his masklike face.

The color drained from the dream, and with every footstep he took, the long grass shriveled and turned brown. Great, grasping black roots erupted from the ground and intertwined around the door as if to lock it in place in the threatening sky. Thunder murmured in the distance, and dead leaves swirled along the breeze, plastering against my face, blinding me.

“Oh, that was just too easy!” His laughter rained down on me like acid. He folded his hands near his chin, batting his eyelashes and raising his voice in a mock falsetto. “Oh, little one! Free me!” He wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Oh, my dear, I’m afraid Mummy can’t protect you now.” He clapped his hands together, and his howling laughter joined with the thunder echoing across the hills. “I’m coming for you!”

“No!” I screamed, and my eyes shot open.

A sick ache burned in my stomach. I barreled out of my room, racing down the hallway and running right into Grainne. She wore black training gear, her sword strapped to her waist.

She gripped me by the shoulder. “Elizabeth! What is it? Are you all right?”

“No, I-I don’t know. Thornton…he came to me in my dream, but it was my mother, and—”

“Slow down now. What is it about your dream?”

“Thornton made me open a door. A door that led here!”

“A door? What are you talking about?”

I grabbed the Irishwoman’s wrists, steadying my breath. “Grainne! Listen to me! He’s coming.”

An ear-splitting scream echoed through the walls of Trinity. Grainne and I shared a panicked glance, and we raced to the foyer.

Máirtín and Regina stood back to back, weapons raised. A pack of snarling dogs growled behind them. Their pelts of mangy black fur blended with the shadows, and tufts of green hair stuck up from their heads. Neon yellow eyes glowed in the dim light. Two small horns projected from their skulls, jaws flashing rows of gnashing teeth.

The giant doors of Trinity stood wide open, autumn leaves swirling through the threshold and cascading across the marble floor as more creatures filled the entryway like roaches. Three feet tall with large black eyes and razor-sharp teeth, their gray, slimy skin reeked of rotted flesh, and the claws at the end of their fingertips promised swift decapitation.

“Far liath!” Grainne hissed beside me, unsheathing her sword.

“What?”

“Gray men!”

They swiveled their heads toward us, bounding up the stairs, their razor teeth gleaming. I stumbled back in terror.

Grainne cursed, her sword cutting fast through the air. Black blood sprayed against the marble tile, the stairs littered with their writhing figures.

“Elizabeth, the door!” She screamed, sending her sword through the distended belly of one of the creatures.

I stared in horror at the melee below. “I can’t—!”

“Yes you can!” She hacked into another gray man. “Do it!”

Gritting my teeth, I squeezed around Grainne, dodging a gray man and sliding down the banister. I hit the hard marble floor with a lurch, and one of those wild-eyed punk-rock dogs snarled and sunk its teeth into my boot. With a cry of rage, I swung my other leg around and smashed my foot into its nose.

Regina’s gun ricocheted through the hall and I heard the smack, smack of Máirtín’s staff as he dispatched the filthy creatures. An arrow whistled past my ear.

Seamus.

A devil dog leaped for my throat, and I rolled across the floor behind a pillar. Ten paces more. One quick dash. The brass handle glistened in the moonlight streaming through the door.

Gray flesh slammed into me.

“Oof!”

The breath smacked out of me as I hit the floor, my head cracking against the marble. Dirty, slimy fingers grabbed onto my arms, my throat, my legs. My scream drowned in a tangle of crawling limbs dragging me toward the threshold where Edward Thornton stood.

Thwack.

The gray released my arm and dropped to the floor, an arrow protruding from its skull. Wheeling around, I throat-punched another one, my fist grinding into its sticky, veiny skin.

Seamus grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me into a hallway. “Retreat! There are too many of them!” He loosed another arrow into the foyer.

Carolan stood in the hall in his nightgown, his white eyes darting around wildly. A loud screech tore through the mansion, and my heart stopped. A baste slinked around the corner, its muscles rippling as it lifted its massive head to strike.

“Carolan!” I cried. “Watch out!”

Without even thinking, I raced toward the old man, trying to get between him and the snake creature. My fingers brushed against his robes, but a gray tackled me to the floor. Its long slimy fingers snatched my hair back, and its foul breath stung my nostrils.

The baste reeled back.

“No!” I screamed.

The monster struck Carolan right in the chest. Once. Twice.

He dropped to the floor with a groan.

Grainne flew through the air, her face twisted in fury. She cut off its black darting head, and a stream of black ocher flew across her face. Slamming to the ground, its body shriveled. An explosion of ash clouded the hallway, the shadows of charging grays and devil dogs growing larger in the wave of smoke.

“Get to the antechamber!” She shouted as Máirtín and Regina dashed around the corner.

Shoving my shoulder beneath Carolan’s body, I dragged him to his feet. My heart sank as I registered the punctures in his long robe, the blood already staining it black.

Seamus cursed beneath his breath. “Give him here.” Placing his bow in his other hand, he heaved Carolan over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

A herd of dogs reared their heads around the corner, yellow eyes flashing, ropes of saliva falling from their snapping jaws.

“Run!” Seamus cried.

We bolted down the corridor and stumbled into the stone antechamber. Regina dashed forward, drawing a thin branch from her pocket. She drew a series of lines on the wall and they began to glow, and for a brief second I registered them as the ancient Druidic language of Ogham. The lines melted into the wall, and a dark hole opened up like burning film on an old projector.

Gray men and snarling dogs charged into the room. Máirtín’s staff whirled around the small space, dashing a pack of grays against the stone floor. Grainne sliced through two of the dogs in quick succession, black blood pouring from their necks. A whimper escaped them, and they collapsed. The sound of scampering footsteps and barking echoed down the hall.

Grainne ran through one last gray man and called back to us. “Seamus! Regina! Take Carolan and Elizabeth! Get them to Galway!”

Seamus disappeared with Carolan in his arms, but Regina hesitated. “I won’t leave you!”

Máirtín raced over to her and drew her in his arms for a passionate kiss. “We’ll be right behind you! Now go! Go!” He grabbed Regina and me roughly and pushed us through the portal.

The last thing I saw was the flash of Grainne’s sword as a sea of grays pounced on her back and Máirtín’s staff gleaming as he stumbled, a dog at his throat. Then the darkness swallowed me, and they were gone.