Alyssa died knowing she had failed.
Chapter 15
Lisle felt every one of her eighty-plus years after spending hours in conference with the other druids. That day had been long enough with the journey to Eirlioc and back, but too many urgent matters had come up to allow her time to sleep.
Sheng and Aaron reported about their trip to Meditar and their lack of success in obtaining the Cup of Cultus. Munro shared what he’d learned from Flùranach in Danastai. Rory appeared more annoyed than pleased to learn that Flùranach was well and had no desire to return to the Druid Hall. Then came Lisle’s turn to report about questioning the Watchers in Caledonia, but at least her report was short: there was no evidence pointing toward Griogair’s innocence. Poor Douglas looked distraught at the news, and Munro’s mouth pressed into a grim line.
The group discussed the events until the sun hung high in the sky and Lisle felt ready to drop from exhaustion. They went round and round but didn’t arrive at any solutions. Queen Grenna seemed unlikely to relent and hand over the Cup. Aaron described her refusal as “laced with cult-like fervour.” To the sea fae, the Cup was a holy artefact entrusted to them by someone they revered as a goddess.
“Gentlemen,” Lisle finally said. “We will not find answers today, and I’m about to collapse. I suggest we pick this up once we’ve had a chance to rest.”
Munro ran his hands over his face as though trying to scrub himself awake. “Agreed,” he said and stood.
Everyone except Rory followed his example and got to their feet. “You can’t tell me we’re going to give up,” he said. “Would Grenna at least let us make a copy?”
“Good luck with that,” Sheng said. “We were allowed to peer into the vault, but even from a distance, I know I’ve never seen comparable work. Munro might be able to figure some out, but copying the runes would be beyond my skill.”
Aaron nodded his agreement. “Mate, it would take months, if not years, of study. I’m not against the idea. The Cup is a fascinating piece, but you need to be patient.”
“So we leave Huck and Demi wherever the hell they are for
months if not years
while we dick about? Bloody hell,” Rory said.
Munro flinched but stood firm. “Nobody is talking about leaving them anywhere. We don’t even know if the Cup has anything to do with The Way, or if The Way has anything to do with Huck and Demi’s disappearance.”
“Big damned coincidence if it doesn’t,” Rory said. “You think they just happened to vanish next to an enormous ancient druid artefact?”
After a pause, Munro said, “No, I don’t. Which is why we’re investigating The Way and trying to get Ewain’s help. Maybe now is the time to renegotiate with him. We aren’t a hundred percent certain why he needed the Cup to begin with. Maybe it holds sentimental value to him. Queen Grenna told us Juno created the piece. When Ewain and I were in the shadow realm, he told me she was the only one he’d been close to at the end.”
“Or maybe we need to bleeding
make
Grenna give it to us. Who is she to deny us what we want?” Rory’s words hung in the air, and no one responded for a moment.
Munro glared at Rory. “We are not going to threaten the queens when they don’t do as we say. We are civilised, for fuck’s sake. We negotiate, not demand.”
“Oh, right. I forgot you make the rules for the rest of us, Your Majesty,” Rory sneered and stood, giving Munro a dramatic bow.
“That’s out of order,” Douglas said.
Aaron chimed in, “Too right.”
“Don’t you see?” Rory said. “He’s turned you two against me. We were mates, or have you forgotten? I tell you this much: if him or his needed the Cup, we’d have it already.”
“Enough bickering like children,” Lisle said and rubbed her aching eyes. “I’m going to bed.”
She headed toward the door and heard the other druids follow. Munro trotted to her side. “Sorry,” he said. “He’s been goading me for days. I should know better than to take his bait.”
“You should,” Lisle said, but she didn’t mean the reprimand unkindly.
“Did you see Maiya and Jago?” he asked.
“I did.” She paused, waiting for the others to head up the staircase ahead of them. She wanted to talk to him about this privately. Once they were alone, she told him about her discovery. “I saw their bond clearly.” She removed the flute that hung around her neck and held the piece out to Munro.
He frowned thoughtfully. “Keep it,” he said. “The crown works better in some ways, probably because I crafted it with my own flows in mind. The flute is spirit-made.”
She nodded and hung the artefact around her neck. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m honoured you would entrust such a remarkable piece to me. And I do understand what you mean. I crafted a talisman out of a piece of bone, and nothing responds to my blood magic as readily.”
“You use the flute better than anyone else who’s tried, which shouldn’t surprise me. I suppose spirit and blood must be kindred talents.”
“Or we haven’t yet unlocked all its secrets,” she replied with a tired smile.
The pair ascended the wide staircase. As they walked, she told him what she’d experienced with the children and Jago’s assertion that Maiya could sense both her and Demi because they shared Jago’s blood.
“Fascinating,” he said. “Now tell me why you didn’t want to bring up your visit to the nursery in front of the others. You’re clearly disturbed by what you learned. What aren’t you saying?”
She sighed. “You cannot delve into my blood because I am a druid. Even though Maiya and Jago both seem to understand how, they are able to penetrate each other’s flows only because they are both half fae and half druid. The only person whose blood can be read to find Demi is Jago.”
“You think we could track Demi using Jago’s blood?”
“Not
we
. Maiya. She is the sole astral druid, and she is deeply connected with my grandson. Who else can read his DNA? I’m willing for you to try, but I am not confident anyone other than your daughter could do what is necessary.”
“No,” he said. “I will not under any circumstances take my infant daughter to the human realm. We don’t have a clear idea what we’re dealing with. Something or someone is preventing Demi from coming home. Whatever is stopping her, I can’t expose my daughter to it. I’m sorry.”
Another sigh escaped Lisle’s lips. “I know,” she said, patting his arm as they approached the door to her suite. “This is why I didn’t bring this up in front of the others. I had to ask for the same reason you must say no. We do what is necessary to protect our families.”
“I
am
sorry,” he repeated. “Give me time to mull this over. There may be something we haven’t thought of yet.” He smiled. “Get some rest. You look tired.”
“I will,” Lisle said. “Thank you.” They said goodbye, and she went inside. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the back wall of her living room. On the wall hung Leocort’s painting, the one she’d admired in his quarters.
Her gaze travelled over the canvas, and she couldn’t shake the shock. What was he thinking? Her righteous indignation filled her with energy. She whirled around and stalked into the empty corridor. Storming through the Hall with determined steps, she made her way through the public areas and down into the Mistwatcher’s keep. She didn’t hesitate outside his rooms the way she had before. Stepping into his private quarters, she called him, unable to keep the anger out of her voice.
A moment later, she heard the quick shuffle of movement in the next room. When he emerged, nude except for a sheer day robe, she assumed he’d been sleeping. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “How dare you?” she spat.
“What?” He looked at her blankly, as though his mind was still fogged with sleep. “Lisle? What’s wrong?”
“That painting! How could you?”
He knitted his brow in confusion. “You said you liked it. I thought you might enjoy having it. If I have offended, I do apologise. I’ll have it removed after dusk.”
“You thought I would
enjoy
having it?” she spluttered.
He ran a hand over his face and blinked hard. “I’m sorry, I’m still not awake. What have I done to upset you?” He looked concerned and bewildered.
“You know how I feel about you. Don’t pretend you don’t. Did you not think? Did it not occur to you that maybe I don’t want to be reminded of you every moment when I’m in my suite? My home?”
He flinched as though she’d slapped him. “You have my deepest apology. I didn’t realise thinking of me caused you so much pain.”
Her weariness from a long, hard day returned with a vengeance. On a different day, with a clear head, she might not have said anything. But this was one more heartbreak than she could take. “I am not young and beautiful. I will never be those things again. But I do have feelings, needs, and passions like any young woman might. You can reject me and overlook me, but don’t treat me like I’m nothing.”
His blue-tinged skin paled. “Lisle, I don’t understand.”
She’d never been a violent woman, but she never wanted to slap someone so much in her life. “I never expected you to return my love, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you throw it back in my face.”
“Lisle, I never—”
Spinning on her heel, she rushed out the door before he could declare that he never meant to hurt her. She was too tired for this, too heartbroken over her granddaughter. Munro had been right to refuse to endanger Maiya, but Lisle had allowed herself to harbour a hope that perhaps she’d found the key to Demi’s return. This thing with Leocort was a silly distraction. But one thing she understood with all her years of experience was that the human heart couldn’t choose who it loved any more than decide an appropriate time to be broken.
Back in her suite, she went to her bedroom, careful not to look at the painting on the wall. She had half a mind to rip the thing down, but she was far too tired. Undressing for bed, she picked up the bone healing talisman Maiya had played with the previous night. Lisle slipped the thong back over her neck. The inscribed runes couldn’t ease her pain. Her body, as aged as it was, maintained perfect health. Still, she found some comfort in the familiar feel of the smooth bone against her skin. She wrapped her fingers around the artefact and whispered a prayer for her granddaughter. Who she was praying to, she wasn’t certain. Maybe Juno, the blood druid of old, would hear her from wherever fae spirits went and answer her plea.
∞
For what felt like days, Huck had darted back and forth, mapping out the warren where he and Demi had been held captive. Several times he’d nearly been caught, but his method saved him by revealing the fastest path to their cave.
Why had it taken so long for him to think of this? He couldn’t stop berating himself, even though he knew the answer. The truth was they had only recently stopped expecting someone to find and rescue them. Up until now, he hadn’t wanted to risk constantly antagonising these violent creatures. A few beatings had taught him the folly of taking too many chances. But after the savage blows Demi received in the last attack, Huck wouldn’t keep waiting around.
Many of the tunnels proved to loop around on themselves, so he started marking both sides of an entrance. How many times had he and Demi travelled in circles when they were searching for way out? He couldn’t understand how creatures as seemingly mindless as the ones holding them navigated the paths with apparent ease, never becoming lost or disoriented.
Finally, he found a ray of light and could smell fresh air. The scent lifted his spirits, and hope sprang in his chest. He forced himself to move slowly and not rush toward the sunlight. Getting caught at this late stage might prove disastrous. He was tired and hungry. The creatures hadn’t fed him or Demi for a while. At least she’d occasionally stirred in recent hours, although she’d not stayed conscious for long.
When a trio of the shambling monsters came from outside carrying rabbits, Huck pushed himself into a dark side corridor as they took a tunnel opposite him. Terrified they were taking the food to the cave, he followed. He didn’t want to consider what they’d do if they discovered Demi alone.
At one of the looping tunnels he’d marked with an infinity symbol, he slipped into another and ran for all he was worth. He made it back only a few seconds before they turned toward him. They must have sensed movement, because they rushed in, shouting. When they saw Huck sitting next to Demi, slowly mopping her brow, they grumbled as though confused. The largest of the three looked cautiously around the cave but eventually got bored. He threw a dead rabbit on the ground halfway between him and Huck. The other two followed suit, and then the creatures left.
After a moment, Demi’s eyes opened. “Are they gone?” she asked, her voice thick and weak.
“Hey,” Huck said. “You’re awake.”
She tried to sit up, but winced. “I think something is broken. More than one something.”
“We need to get you out of here,” he said.
“I’d like that,” she said with a weak smile.
“I’ve found a way outside. I’ve been working on it since the latest attack.”