Emerald Isle (29 page)

Aedon’s back. Aedon, her friend, her ally.

Her betrayer.

What had he come here to do? What was his purpose for attacking Anastasia?

More importantly, whose invisible hands had plunged the blade into Anastasia’s heart? That large heart that once beat with love and compassion for all who knew her.

Now still.

Guilt poured through Birdie. Her granddaughter had tried to warn her, tried to tell her that there was a malicious force following her. If only Birdie had insisted they perform the graveyard spell. If only she had never brought her here at all.

As John reached her, Birdie gasped at the sight of the mangled girl, her grandchild. The sweet young girl she had raised, cared for, taught.

The lump burst forth, not in the form of tears, but in a ball of anger that shook Birdie’s core.

Birdie pumped her fist to the sky, wailed to the gods. “I trusted in you.”

Why hadn’t they protected her?

Then again, why hadn’t she?

Ivy was shaking, crying.

Ethan jumped out of the car, yelled, “Bloody hell! What happened?”

He whipped his coat off and was about to drape it over the body of her deceased granddaughter, when Birdie
intervened. She slapped the coat away and said, “No. You don’t touch her. You don’t go near her!”

She was fueled by rage, her thoughts a jumble of images, conversations, memories.

How had it come down to this? All that she had devoted to the council, to her heritage, to her people.

How could they have betrayed her?

How could they hurt this precious child? Anastasia didn’t deserve this. All she wanted was to bring her mother home, and to please Birdie.

Anastasia had trusted Birdie, and she had failed the girl.

Ethan squeaked, “You think I had something to do with this?” He snapped his head back and forth, looking at all of them. “No, you can’t believe that. I never left the car.”

John told Ivy to open the door to the backseat. She did, and he gently laid Anastasia’s body inside. He covered her with his coat. Then he spun around and punched Ethan in the face.

“You better tell me everything you know, pal, or the next slug will come from my Glock.”

Ethan was doubled over, clutching his right eye. “I swear on my life, I’ve no idea what is happening.”

“So you didn’t see the head honcho come around the bend?” John growled.

“Who? You mean that tosser Aedon? He’s here?”

Ethan seemed genuinely perplexed. Birdie stepped forward and rested a hand on John’s shoulder. “There’s one way to know for sure.”

Birdie had seen Lolly pack deadly nightshade for Anastasia. She reached into the girl’s pocket, kissed her
forehead gently. When she emerged, she held the labeled vial out for Ethan. “One taste, and you’ll be forced to tell the truth.”

“Or I’ll be dead. Isn’t that stuff poisonous?” Ethan asked nervously. “How do I know you aren’t the bad guys?”

John flashed his gun. “I will be if you don’t do what she asks.”

Ethan reluctantly opened his mouth, and Birdie placed a drop of the herb onto his tongue.

She waited a moment, then asked, “Did you know Aedon was after my granddaughter?”

Ethan’s eyes were as big as the moon. “Aedon did this?”

Birdie said, “He’s telling the truth. Everyone get in the car.”

John cuffed Ethan to the passenger-seat door handle. “I’m driving, asshole.”

Ivy sniffled. She crawled into the first backseat, put her arm over to where Anastasia’s body lay. “Are we going to the hospital?”

John shot Birdie an uneasy glance.

Birdie said, “It’s too late for that. We’re going to the castle.”

She looked out the window at the ancient mound, hoping upon hope that for what she was about to do, she would be forgiven.

It was eleven p.m. when they arrived back at the castle. Come midnight, it would all be over.

One way or another.

“All right,” Birdie said with much more conviction than she actually felt, “does everyone know what they are supposed to do?”

Ivy nodded despondently.

John said, “Ten four.”

Ethan said, “Aye.”

John leaned in to whisper in Birdie’s ear. “You sure about this guy?”

Birdie said, “Not unequivocally.” She glanced at Ethan. “But we’ll need him.”

John nodded.

Ethan said, “Would you please uncuff me now? I’ll do as you ask, believe me.” He shot a disgusted glance at the behemoth stone structure. “I want nothing more to do with the O’Conor name after tonight.”

John unlocked the handcuffs and said something in Ethan’s ear that Birdie couldn’t hear. Ethan rolled his eyes, and John shut the car door.

Birdie paused, took a long look at the car that held the broken body of her oldest granddaughter. She allowed a single, fat tear to slide slowly down her cheek. Then she locked up her grief, wiped her cheek, and said, “Let’s do this.”

The Guardian, the Mage, and the Warrior approached the castle. John tried to open the front door, but it was locked. He was about to ring the bell, when Birdie stopped him.

“They mustn’t know we’re back. Not yet. There may be questions about Aedon, and we’ve no time for inquiries. We don’t know how deep this goes; it may involve the entire council.”

Luckily, Ethan was privy to a private road that led to the grounds. They hadn’t needed permission to open that gate. As an O’Conor and Tallulah’s grandson, he held a key to the separate entrance.

John looked at the imposing door, stepped back, and said, “How do you break into a fortress?”

Ivy snapped her fingers. “Through the roof.” She tugged on John’s arm. “Follow me.”

As they crept along the side of the building, hugging the stone wall, Ivy explained that her class had toured the castle once. It had been a very informative tour, and, being the inquisitive girl she was, she had asked many questions.

“You see those towers?” She pointed to four massive stone structures that stood to the rear of the castle. “They all connect on the roof, and to the second floor via tunnels,
so sentries could pass from one part of the castle to another. The guards would work foot patrol up top, monitoring for invasions. If an enemy attacked, they could quickly move to whatever section needed protecting by scaling the towers.”

Birdie was impressed.

Ivy licked her lips, looked at Birdie. “There’s, like, a hundred steps to the top, at least. You up for that?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Ivy smiled. They each took a tower and agreed to meet in the middle of the roof.

As Birdie climbed the stone tube, the letter she had found in Anastasia’s pocket ran through her mind.

The letter written in her daughter’s hand.

It had read:

My Darling,

I hope this note finds you in time. I know that they have called you on a mission and that you are coming to the castle. I fear for your safety. As sure as the sun shines and the moon glows, I feel it in my bones that there is a conspiracy underfoot. I don’t know who is behind it or why, though I suspect that my upcoming hearing, and the man I slew, may have something to do with it.

I still don’t know who he was, or why he intended to harm you. All I know is that there is just one within these walls whom I trust. One whom you will need, who will believe.

Trust no one else. The name of our ally is

And that was all. As if she had been interrupted before she could finish writing.

Whom was her daughter referring to?

Birdie glanced up. She was halfway to the top. She picked up speed, pulling herself through the length of the tower one narrow step at a time.

Finally, she saw the opening. She crawled out of the tower and scanned the roof. Ivy and John were frantically searching for a passageway.

John said, “I can’t find a way in.”

Ivy looked confused herself. “It’s here, I know it is.”

A large, angry bird landed near the girl, and she shooed it away with her foot.

The bird hopped back and pecked at Ivy.

Birdie rested for just a moment. “What time is it?”

“Ten after eleven,” John said.

The bird flew to the tip of the tower Birdie had just emerged from, and swooped down. It squawked near Ivy, pecking the ground around her feet.

“Shoo!” the girl said.

As it flew past her once more, Birdie realized she recognized the bird.

“Ivy, hold still a moment.”

The young Warrior flicked her eyes to Birdie.

Birdie stepped toward the winged creature. “I think I know this bird.”

She recalled a bird her granddaughter had befriended over the summer. It was a predatory bird, very large, very smart, Anastasia had told her. There was a picture in the paper of the bird after its owner had died. The old man who ran the junkyard.

This looked like that same creature. Birdie peered at the bird, who seemed to be encouraging her to say something.

“Liberty?” she asked. That was the name of the bird Anastasia had told her about.

The—hawk?—shrieked, then flew back to where Ivy stood. It blinked up at the girl.

John rushed over to where the bird was pacing. He flattened onto his stomach and put his ear to what seemed like solid stone, knocking his knuckles around.

“Bingo.”

John struggled with the stone, trying to shift it this way and that. “There’s a seam. I need a screwdriver, a knife, something.”

Ivy tossed John a thick pocketknife. He flipped through at least thirty gadgets until he found the one he was looking for.

He traced an outline into the stone with a flat blade, while Ivy tried to loosen it.

They had their gateway.

John lifted the stone and shoved it aside. Ivy slipped through first. John stuck his head in the hole and said, “What do you see?”

Birdie leaned over the opening. Ivy took in her surroundings. “A lot of old crap.”

“That doesn’t help,” John said.

“There’s a painting of a woman with creepy eyes and a lot of armor.”

John said, “That’s near Stacy’s room.”

The girl wavered a bit at the mention of Anastasia’s given name.

Birdie rushed to say, “Ivy, remember your task. Follow the map. Stay strong, and this will work.”

It had to.

Ivy nodded and rushed off.

John slipped through the hole next, and Birdie followed, with his assistance.

“You know your way around without a map?” he asked, since Birdie had given hers to Ivy.

She nodded.

John called Ethan and said, “We’re in. Meet us in the Dining Hall in five minutes.”

It was twenty minutes after eleven.

John hurried down the hall while Birdie slipped into Anastasia’s room. She grabbed her granddaughter’s hairbrush, checked to make sure there were a few strands, pocketed it, then rushed out, smacking directly into Tallulah.

Tallulah said, “Back so soon?”

Birdie said, “Tabby, listen to me. I need you to take me to my daughter. It’s urgent.”

“No.”

“This isn’t a request!”

Tallulah blanched, surprised by Birdie’s fortitude. “You know I can’t do that yet. We must wait for Aedon to decide her fate. Once you find the cauldron, of course.”

“The cauldron is here, and Aedon will no longer decide anything.”

“Because you are a Mage? Please, Birdie, I didn’t object to that little display of yours for the good of the council—”

“Anastasia is dead!” Birdie shouted.

Tallulah stepped back, shocked. “What?”

Birdie moved forward, grabbed Tallulah by the shoulders, and said, “Take me to my daughter.”

Tabby’s eyes were wide, and she glanced over her shoulder in fear.

“No. That’s impossible. She called me not long ago.”

It was Birdie’s turn to look shocked. “What do you mean she called you? Anastasia? When?”

Tabby stammered. “I…I don’t know. I’ve been too busy fending off your ex-husband to check.”

“Where’s your phone?” Birdie gripped her old rival more firmly.

“It’s right here.”

Tabby pulled the phone from her pocket. Birdie hit a few buttons, and Anastasia’s and Aedon’s voices trickled through the airwaves.

They heard Aedon speak of a bomb strapped to the cauldron, of his intent for revenge for the murder of his son. The locket, the orders from another to retrieve it, and a horrible fight.

Birdie powered the phone off. “Tabby, as a mother and a grandmother, I appeal to you. Take me to my daughter.”

Tabby seemed stunned still. Although there was a nasty side to her temperament, Birdie knew the woman wasn’t evil. “I can’t believe it. Aedon really killed her?”

Birdie said, “Not exactly. I’ll explain on the way. We must get to the cauldron before midnight.”

Tallulah caught her meaning when Birdie flashed the hairbrush. “You think it will work?”

“It must.”

The two women rushed down the hall together as Birdie explained about the ghost, and the attack on Anastasia at the mound.

“I don’t know who he is or if he will return, but I’ve instructed the Warrior to work with my sisters on a binding spell.”

Tabby swallowed hard, nervously. “I think I may know who he is. I just don’t know how he escaped the castle.”