Band of Demons (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Two) (36 page)

“No,” he said. “Some died and one got away. Another psychic.”

“Zora,” Kate said. It wasn’t a question.

“She was called Carol then, but yes,” Kieran said.

“They didn’t hunt her?”

“For a day or two maybe, but they were too drunk on victory,” Kieran said. “They didn’t think it mattered.”

“Until we showed up here,” Kate said. “They killed her, didn’t they?”

“No,” Kieran said. “I did that.”

Kate stared at him. She stood up again, seeming to struggle with her own emotions.

“She was a good person,” Kate said finally.

“Yes,” Kieran said. “She was. I’m not trying to hide what I did, but I will tell you it wasn’t my idea. I knew where she was. I tracked her here years ago. But when Elyssa found her, she wanted to visit her personally. No matter what I had done, she would have died. And her death at my hands was decidedly less painful.”

“So that makes it okay?” Quinn asked. “You slit her throat.”

Kate was pacing the room again. Kieran felt the tension and knew that his fate—for the second or third time in 24 hours—hung in the balance.

“Why kill her?”

“Because she was there last time,” Kieran said. “She could have told you a lot about what was going on, including their
cennad
, their weaknesses, you name it.”

“She never told us anything,” Kate said. “When I first learned I was the Prince of Sanheim, she denied ever having heard of it.”

“I’m not surprised,” Kieran said. “Telling you might have been dangerous. Sometimes you have to figure things out for yourself.”

“She could have saved us some pain,” Kate said, thinking about what Quinn and she could have done if they had only understood earlier what was happening. Could they have saved Janus? She wasn’t sure.

“Or gotten you killed,” Kieran replied. “It’s a tough call.”

“Why did they put up with you?” Quinn asked. “I saw how you interacted with them. You were disrespectful. None of the other
moidin
were like that.”

“No,” Kieran said. “For better or worse, I’m unique in this story. I said Princes collect
moidin
and feed off their psychic energy. Feed is the right word. Over time, most lose sense of themselves. Eventually, their powers dry up entirely. And at that point…”

“They’re killed,” Kate said.

“At least in Elyssa or Sawyer’s service, yes,” Kieran replied. “I don’t know if every Prince has done the same. Maybe not.”

“But that’s not what happened to you?”

“No,” he responded. “I’m different. Maybe it was Grace, or something I’m missing. At any rate, my power hasn’t diminished.”

Quinn didn’t like the look in Kieran’s eyes. He said he didn’t know why he was special, but it felt like a lie. Quinn felt like they were missing something significant, but he was too tired—and in too much pain—to think it all through.

“The other reason I mention the
moidin
is this,” Kieran said. “I heard what you said when I was at the door. You wanted to kill Sawyer, Elyssa, myself—and them. The three of us are fair game, and I include myself. I’m a free agent here and have been since the beginning. But the others… if you could see them, you would almost feel bad for them. They just fell in with the wrong people. And they weren’t in on the Purcellville attack.”

“I saw them in Ashburn,” Kate said. “They were playing their roles to the tee. They deserve the same fate as their master.”

“Do they?” Kieran said. “These people may have joined willingly, but their minds are not their own. Sawyer could order them to jump off a bridge and they would do it in a heartbeat. When you fight Sawyer and Elyssa, you are going to have to kill a few—I get that. But if you defeat those two, you should stop there. Unless you enjoy killing innocent people.”

“They shouldn’t have joined up in the first place,” Kate said.

“Maybe not,” Kieran said. “But we all make mistakes, most of which don’t deserve the death penalty.”

“So why are you here, exactly?” Quinn asked.

Kieran paused and looked at the two of them. He waited a minute before taking a breath and said, “Because I want to join you. I want to be your first
moidin
.”

“No way,” Kate said.

“Not going to happen,” Quinn said at the exact same time.

Kieran burst out laughing.

“Gee, you really know how to make a bloke feel wanted,” he said.

“We don’t trust you,” they both said at the same time.

Kieran faked a look of mock hurt before smiling again.

“Then you’re smart,” he said. “You shouldn’t.”

“Then why, exactly, would we let you join us?” Kate asked.

“For starters, I know everything there is to know about Sawyer and Elyssa,” Kieran responded. “I saw them fight—and defeat—a Prince of Sanheim last time and I’ve had 30 years to watch them since then. I know how they think, their strategies.”

“Apparently not well enough,” Kate said, thinking of Purcellville.

“I didn’t say I was fucking perfect,” Kieran replied. “I didn’t know he suspected me. In retrospect, it was a dumb mistake.”

“One that many people paid the price for,” Quinn added.

“Yes, but many more will if you don’t let me join you,” Kieran said. “If I switch allegiances, they’ll lose the power they gained from having me as a follower. I’m not saying it will cripple them—they are far too powerful for that—but it will wound them. And the two of you will be more powerful as a result. You win twice. You hurt your enemy and add to your own powers.”

Quinn found himself reluctantly considering the bargain. He didn’t want to accept, but if it gave them a fighting chance… he pushed the thought away. In the end, they just couldn’t trust him.

“If you add so much to their powers, why would they have killed you? Quinn asked.

“They would lose some power,” Kieran conceded, “but killing me would still tip the balance in their favor. If I were to join you, however, killing me would do them no good at all. They lose the benefit of my powers and they can’t get it back unless I voluntarily change sides.”

“Which you are more than capable of doing,” Kate said.

Kieran eyed her warily.

“I think you overestimate my capacity for betrayal,” he said.

“Do I?” she said. “You betrayed this C.K. and Grace, didn’t you?”

“They were already defeated.”

“Convenient,” she said. “And now here you are willing to betray your new master. How long, I wonder, before you betray us?”

Kate stared at him a long time. She tried to use what psychic abilities she had to probe his mind, but it was like a locked vault.

“The answer is no,” Kate said.

She didn’t need to check with Quinn. She knew he was tempted, but she also knew he felt the same.

Kieran nodded as if he expected this answer.

“There’s one reason you may want to change your mind,” he said.

“There’s nothing you can say that will persuade us,” Quinn said.

“Oh, I think you’re wrong about that,” Kieran said, and his smile was almost cocky. Kate wanted to hit him but she was worried that if she started, she wouldn’t stop.

“The power you would gain from me would help in one key area.”

“And what’s that?” she asked.

“It would heal Quinn,” Kieran said.

Silence reigned in the room. Kieran could almost hear the two of them trading thoughts.

“If I’m lying, you’ll know it the second I pledge myself to you,” Kieran said. “Then you could kill me and be done with it. But if I’m not lying, think about it. Quinn is still badly hurt. He’s healing, but not fast enough. I promise you: this is the only way to make him well again in time.”

“In time for what?”

“Halloween,” Kieran said. “The next attack.”

“How do you know it won’t come before then?” Kate asked.

“Because even Sawyer doesn’t have unlimited power,” Kieran said. “And you hurt his
moidin
the other night. The reason he didn’t bring them to Purcellville was because he didn’t want to risk them getting damaged any further. He wanted to kill you and assault Sanheim this year. But my guess is he’ll adjust his plan and just wait and attack you on Halloween. He can always wait another year for phase two.”

Kate’s mind reeled.

We don’t have to take him
, Quinn said in her mind.

He’s right—and you know it
, Kate said.

I’m getting better.

Not fast enough.

If we take him, he might betray us,
Quinn thought.

But if we don’t accept his help, we’re finished. I need you whole. This county needs you whole. If he can give us that, we have a fighting chance.

Kieran watched them in silence, waiting. He could tell when the decision was made. A small signal passed between the two. Kieran could almost hear the faint whispers of their thoughts.

“We accept,” Kate said.

“I thought you might,” he replied.

“But if you step out of line—even for a moment—we will not hesitate to kill you.”

Kieran didn’t need to consider it.

“Deal,” he responded.

He knelt on one knee. In some ways, it was a grotesque mockery of Quinn’s proposal, but Kate pushed that out of her mind. Kieran bowed his head.

“I pledge myself to your service,” he said. “By the ancient laws, the old gods, and Sanheim himself, I will serve you until your enemies are destroyed or I die.”

The change was immediate. Kate felt a charge run through her and gasped, much like the first time she and Quinn had made love. This time, she knew what that electrical current was—it felt like power.

She looked at Quinn in the chair. He looked ten times better than just 30 seconds earlier. Color returned to his skin. The dark circles under his eyes faded.

He watched his skin where it was still scarred and saw it become suddenly whole again. Areas that had been in pain only moments earlier felt better.

He wasn’t completely recovered, he knew that. But he also knew that within a couple of days, he would be.

Kieran looked up from the floor.

“What happens next?” he asked.

A part of him wondered if they would kill him. In some ways, that would be the smart move. They had what they wanted now.

“Now,” Kate said. “We get ready for battle.” 

Chapter 32

October 30, 2007

For the first time in a long while, Elyssa was afraid. It wasn’t a feeling she had missed.

She approached the door cautiously and knocked. Sawyer had blocked her from his mind again. She should be used to it by now, but it never failed to hurt her. Years ago, she had assumed he would eventually forgive her, given time and distractions. Instead, his anger—toward himself, her and everyone else—had only grown stronger.

He opened the door and glared at her.

“What do you want?” he muttered.

At least he wasn’t shouting or throwing things. His room was still a disaster area—he hadn’t allowed the
moidin
to clean up and he certainly wasn’t going to take the initiative—but at least he hadn’t destroyed everything in it.

Elyssa had pulled out all the stops and knew she looked good. Her dress accented her amazing body perfectly. It never seemed to work on Sawyer—not like it did on the rest of the male population—but it didn’t hurt to try. She smiled seductively at him and walked in.

“We need to talk, my love,” she said. “The
moidin
are getting restless.”

“Let them,” Sawyer replied. “They can rot for all I care. They failed me.”

Elyssa couldn’t help but notice he said “me.” It was a bug Kate had put in her ear. She noted how Quinn always said “we” and “us” when talking about being the Prince of Sanheim. For Sawyer, it was never that way. Although once upon a time, he had been different. Even in the dark days after Anne’s death, he had been kinder, gentler. Or was she fooling herself? It was so hard to remember.

“That’s not a helpful attitude,” she said. “We need to focus on the mission.”

“Don’t tell me what I bloody need to focus on,” Sawyer said. “They let him go! I gave them a simple task to keep him here, and they let him escape. And now the situation is worse—much worse—as a result of their ineptitude.”

When Sawyer had returned from their raid on Purcellville, he had been ecstatic. Elyssa didn’t fully understand why. She had no qualms about the mission itself, but she didn’t see what they had accomplished. A bunch of people died and so what? It didn’t hurt Quinn or Kate, it only made them angry. That might be useful in some circumstances, but not here.

Still, she had reveled in his joy. He seemed unbeatable in that moment and she had a feeling that their ultimate goal could be reached.

And then it all fell apart.

Sawyer had rushed immediately to Kieran’s room, intending to confront and kill him. Elyssa had wanted the job herself. When she realized his betrayal, it had been all she could do not to turn into one of her animals and tear him apart. Maybe she was taking it personally. Certainly, she had thought the other night meant something. Not that he had forgiven her—no man would apparently ever forgive Elyssa Parker—but they had at least achieved some level of understanding.

But it was a lie. Kieran had been helping Quinn and Kate. She couldn’t fathom why, and didn’t truly care. What she wanted was Kieran’s head on a silver platter.

When Sawyer opened the door to find an empty room, he went berserk. He killed Karen and Edward—two of her favorites—almost immediately. The other
moidin
hid in terror.

He sent out search parties. Elyssa organized a pack that spread out across the area, searching for his scent anywhere. They had even set up a guard outside Quinn and Kate’s home, hoping to catch him just as he got there.

But for reasons she couldn’t explain, the trap had failed. Somehow Kieran had passed through their net and succeeded in joining Kate and Quinn.

When Kieran pledged himself to their cause, they felt it immediately, like being thrown suddenly into cold water. They felt weaker. Worse, everyone felt it, not just them.

Elyssa didn’t think other
moidin
would defect. She suspected they were too far gone for that to happen. But it was now at least a possibility—and that was unacceptable.

“You can blame them all you want,” Elyssa said. “But it was our fault, not theirs. We should have seen it coming.”

Sawyer rounded on her with an ugly expression on his face. Not so many years ago, she had thought him the most handsome man in the world, with his finely muscled chest and gorgeous blue eyes. He might look the same, but he
felt
like a different man to her now.

“Don’t you think I know that?” he said. “I should have guessed he would betray us at the first opportunity. I let myself…”

Elyssa understood. She let herself think the same thing—that when Kieran pledged himself to them, he had let the past go. But they—of all people—should have known that the past was always with them, like a band of demons at their heels.

“We will find him,” Sawyer said. “And I’ve changed my mind. I’ll let you kill him. Somehow I think whatever you dream up will be even worse than what I can think of.”

“Thank you,” Elyssa said. It might have been the first nice thing he had said to her in several years. “In the meantime…”

“What?” he barked. “In the meantime, what?”

 “We’re just sitting here, waiting for Halloween,” Elyssa said. “Shouldn’t we attack again? Maybe assault their apartment?”

“We don’t have enough power left for that,” he said dismissively. “Besides, my love, how do you plan to deal with that frightful scream of hers? Do you think if you ask her nicely, she just won’t do it?”

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Oh, do tell,” Sawyer said. “The great Elyssa Parker has a plan, does she?”

She slapped him then. She’d wanted to hit him for days. Instead of hitting her back, he just stared at her. To her, that made it even worse.

“Get out,” he said.

“Goddamn it, Sawyer, will you snap out of it?” Elyssa said, letting her hurt and anger to the fore for the first time in months. “You’re sulking like a school child. You need to focus on the task at hand or everything we’ve done for years will be lost.”

“I know what we need to do,” he said. “I know exactly what we need to do. Do you think I’m just biding my time up here?”

“How would I know? You don’t let me in your head anymore.”

“Because you don’t deserve to be there,” he responded.

“Fine. Then what’s your great plan? Why don’t we move already?”

To Elyssa, it seemed like last month all over again. Faced with real opposition, Sawyer was suddenly unsure of himself.

“The scream is what matters,” Sawyer said. “She may have some other abilities—but that’s her ace in the hole. We have to take that away from her.”

“How would you suggest doing that?”

“Do you really want to know?” he asked.

For the first time in days, he opened his mind to her. She felt happiness at first—and then she saw his plan.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Perfectly.”

“That’s… that’s madness, Sawyer,” Elyssa said. “I won’t do it to them. They follow us. Willingly.”

“And they would willingly die if we asked them,” he said. “This is better than that, surely.”

“I won’t do it.”

Sawyer grabbed her by the arm and stared into her face.

“You’ll do what I tell you,” he said. “Just like you always have. But don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to follow suit. You stood up to the banshee when the others fled.”

“But it’s insanity,” she said.

“It’s necessity,” Sawyer responded. “‘If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out.’”

“Then why don’t you go first?” she asked.

“Please,” he responded. “I don’t need to. If the
moidin
are immune, they can keep her busy enough that she won’t be screaming—except when we want her to.”

“Please, Sawyer,” she said.

She put her hands on his face.

“Don’t do this,” she said. “You loved me once, I know it. Don’t do this.”

“It’s the only way,” he said. “There will be other
moidin
, you know.”

She kissed him then—a last, desperate act. But Sawyer didn’t kiss her back. It felt like kissing a corpse.

She pulled away.

“Why can’t you at least let me in?” she asked. “Maybe if I understood, I could help more. Why do you have to leave me here alone?”

He stared at her coldly, like she was some kind of insect.

“That’s not the right question,” Sawyer said. “The real question is why I ever let you in at all.”

She didn’t gasp, didn’t cry out, didn’t respond in any way. Instead, she turned and left the room.

When she was downstairs, she smiled to the
moidin
, whispered words of encouragement, told them everything was all right. She couldn’t mention the plan Sawyer had in mind.

Only when she was in her room did she curl up on her bed and sob.

*****

Kate leaned on a cannon while she surveyed the field before her. In the bright sunlight, it looked like a peaceful place. But in her mind’s eye, she could see the history of what happened here. The emotional trauma of one day had permanently scarred the landscape. It wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but she could feel it like a tremor in the earth.

“Yes,” she said, “This will do nicely.”

“You want to explain why?” her companion said, and Kate was momentarily startled.

She had forgotten Kieran was with her, even though it was her idea. She had hoped to use the time to pry more information from him about Elyssa and Sawyer. Instead, he’d pestered her with pointless questions, his own anxiety showing through in every one.

“Not particularly,” she replied.

Kieran shrugged.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” he said, sounding a bit like a petulant child. “But I’m not taking the blame when your plan goes to hell.”

Kate frowned at him.

“It’s not that I don’t want to share my plan, it’s just that I don’t trust you,” she said.

“You’ve made that very clear,” he replied. “Why did you bring me out here?”

“Because I want to know more about Elyssa, for one,” she said.

“Okay, let’s cut a deal,” he replied. “You answer at least my basic questions about what you’re planning, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Kate could push it, she knew as much. He had already promised to deliver everything he knew. But she was going to have to share her plan sooner or later—and it wouldn’t hurt to have his feedback.

“Fine, but you first,” Kate said. “What is Elyssa, exactly?”

“She’s a Phooka,” Kieran replied. “It’s an old Celtic legend.”

“Isn’t everything?” Kate asked.

Kieran chuckled.

“It’s a spirit of nature that can assume any animal shape. When you first met her, she was Sawyer’s horse. But she can be any animal.”

“She can’t turn into a person?”

“No, or she doesn’t think she can, so she can’t,” Kieran said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s like anything in life—we are bound by the limitations we place upon ourselves,” Kieran said. “If she believed she could turn into people, she probably could, but it’s not the way she defines a Phooka, so she can’t.”

“So what was she the other night?”

“Oh, Elyssa started getting fancy about 30 or 40 years ago, or so I understand,” Kieran said. “She likes to become mythical creatures now. Finds it more interesting than being, say, a cheetah.”

“And she controls the
moidin
? She turns them into creatures?”

“Pretty much,” he said. “It’s funny, I’ve read a lot about the Princes of Sanheim, and it’s always about the guy. But the woman is usually the one who controls the
moidin
and that makes her more important in my view. She defines what they are.”

“They can use her ability?” Kate said.

“To a point,” Kieran said. “They can’t turn into anything they want. Elyssa calls the tune and they dance to it. She tells them what to turn into.”

“So they were all dobhar-chus?”

“Yes, if that’s what Elyssa wants,” he said.

“How do I kill them?”

“Quinn already found that out,” Kieran said. “They’re still just animals. They’re vicious, mythical creatures that never walked the earth—same as the Headless Horseman was never a real Hessian soldier. But they’re not unbeatable. What makes them especially challenging, however, is that they’re linked together.”

“Elyssa controls them?”

“Yes,” he said. “They can act autonomously, but she’s their leader.”

 “So why is she a Phooka?” Kate asked.

Kieran shrugged.

“The man’s
cennad
is always based on his worst fears,” Kieran replied. “Sawyer once told me the story of Aillen terrified him as a child. I assume Quinn felt the same way about the Headless Horseman. But with the woman, it’s not the same worst-fear type of scenario. It seems to be based as much on your personality as on anything else.”