Brothers: Legacy of the Twice-Dead God (33 page)

“Not long on the niceties, are you?” said
Cahill. A small man in a gray waistcoat moved in swiftly, halting
the conversation for a moment. He quickly placed four glasses of
water and two fresh champagne flutes on the table from a tray and
collected the flutes of remnants, then disappeared. I passed a
glass of water to Peter and took one myself. Marcus and Cahill took
the champagne.

“We have been operating without information
for too long and we’re starved for it,” Kieran offered, taking a
sip of water. “Can you offer any information as to why everyone is
out for Seth’s head?”

“I can say that I was only looking for
information myself,” he said with a shrug. “Fifteen years ago,
people started dying. Not particularly alarming, mind you, as these
particular people were spread across the world and seemingly had no
relationship to one another, other than being potent. But Robert
knew them. He knew every one of them. And he started talking to
people and slowly people started disappearing instead of dying.
Then the dying sped up. It stopped five years ago. Right when
Robert said it would. He said it was because there was nobody left
to kill, but wouldn’t say why or how he knew.

“The Faery started acting up then,” Cahill
said. “Being right bastards, really. Winter ran amok in Ireland
claiming to look for a lost child in the northern hills. Summer
wanted a trade agreement re-negotiated with Europe with outrageous
tariffs on their side. Over in America there were all sorts of
nasty little battles over territory between the councils. Egos
flared everywhere. Clearer heads were noticing military build-ups
in several places, like along the Fae borderlands. And at every
misstep, each of us with any political power reach back in our
memory and recall Robert coming to us so long ago and asking, ‘Do
you remember…’ so and so? Then we wondered why Robert was
holed up in Savannah protecting his boy, the null.

“Now Robert was never particular big
politically, but he was useful in bargaining with the Faery in the
past. He steadfastly refused to help at all, saying that Seth and
Olivia needed him far more than any council needed a diplomat. He
and his lawyer started shutting down his connections and he walled
himself in. Then St. Croix happened and Robert and Olivia both
disappeared, leaving Seth behind somewhere. When the Fae bounty
hunters started showing up the American councils got very nervous
and began to finally ask questions. But it was too late by then.
Nobody around to ask. Except Seth.

“Who, as Deputy Harris was the very first to
find out, wasn’t a null after all,” Cahill finished, with a huge
smile at me. “If rumors are anywhere near true, that is.”

“No, he’s not a null,” Kieran said. “Far from
it.”

“Dad and I have known that for years,” said
Peter.

“Borland always has played close to the
vest,” muttered Cahill.

“To some,” muttered Peter in return. If
Cahill heard, he didn’t show it.

Kieran was quick to ask, “What are those
rumors, Felix? I was not, uh, conscious of the actual events, but I
am curious to hear how far the exaggerations have gone.”

Cahill barked out a laugh and said, “To hear
Harris tell it, you had two Lords of Houses in the bushes holding
him off while a dozen battle mages beat a path through the wards
for him to the front door. Then miracle of miracles, Seth pulls out
both the Day and the Night Swords and sweeps through the house,
killing twenty more mages and tossing magic around to boot. Out
walks a hulking blond Thor-like man carrying another prisoner.
Harris tried to stop you and you zapped him with, well, he’s
calling it a ‘null bomb’.” He smiled at me wryly. Mr. Cahill was
having difficulty judging my reactions without the help of my aura
and that was making him very uncomfortable. “They couldn’t reset
any wards for hours afterward. The ley lines didn’t flow right for
a day, they said. Harris swears he can defeat you, now that he
knows how this null magic works.”

Ethan got pulled into Cahill’s story and
turned to look directly at me. I wondered if my expression matched
his, then burst out laughing with him. Kieran just stretched out a
little more and looked on.

“I’m not sure which part they’re laughing
at,” he said to Cahill with a smile. “I’m not sure a
seventeen-year-old could even think about withholding the Day or
the Night Sword from the Queens after tonight, could you?” Oh, we
really lost it then. Even Marcus was grinning stupidly at us.
Kieran was playing this man like a fiddle. The man had to know he
was doing it, too, but Cahill couldn’t decide just how Kieran was
doing it.

“There is legend that suggests the Quiver
contains a Bolt made of the stuff of the Night Sword that can cause
similar results,” said Cahill, thoughtfully.

“Really?” said Kieran, watching us try to
collect ourselves. “The Quiver? Is that another missing weapon,
then? I’ve been away for some time and have not kept up with lore.
What else is missing that the Queens are searching for?”

“No idea,” said Cahill. “But that was quite a
mysterious seeking spell they wrought out there tonight. It was
almost as if they didn’t want anyone to know what they were looking
for.”

“Yes, I got that impression, too,” Kieran
said, thoughtfully. “Seth, Felix has suggested that you might have
an elven crossbow and quiver in your possession. Do you?”

I was still flushed and grinning from our
laughing fits and barely in control. Patting my thighs and butt and
tugging the front of my shirt then looking down the front, I said
to Kieran, “No, sir, I don’t believe I have anything on me of elven
make. Oh, wait, these clothes probably are and they are quite nice
and comfortable. Will we be keeping them?”

“I had not considered the question, but if
not, I’m sure we can get something similar at home,” said Kieran,
playfully condescending. I knew he didn’t mean it—he was still
playing to Cahill’s expectations.

“So where have you been, Ehran?” asked
Cahill. It was an expected question, but the first time it was
asked. I sobered up some to hear Kieran’s explanation. He’d told me
nothing about his time “away,” so I was interested, too.

“Oh, not such an interesting story,” Kieran
started, “The day my mother died, my father and I got into a
terrible argument and I left home, convinced of a great many
things, among them that my father was responsible for her death. I
wandered the Hinterlands for several years, lost and drifting
deeper into despair. Till I met someone who taught me the error of
my beliefs. Then he taught me a great deal more. When he was done,
I came home to find Seth, my little brother.” He shrugged. “Not
much to it, really.”

“Who is this magnificent teacher that showed
you to hide your aura so well,” asked Cahill.

“We have yet to discern the cause of that
exactly,” said Kieran. “It is nothing that I was taught or that I
have taught Seth at this point. Indeed, I have had time to teach
very little at this point, as they’ve been apprenticed to me less
than a week. This is the reason I am not allowing Seth to fight. He
is quite capable and willing, but I would not endanger him
needlessly. We are here only to find my father.”

“That… seems unlikely, Ehran,” Cahill said,
cocking his head to the left. “How did you manage an invitation
here? Everyone identifies him as Seth McClure and yet the Challenge
returned to me unbroken. Three of the four of you are so invisible
to everyone that you may as well be statues and you claim to have
no clue as to why. You were arrested by the US government and were
broken out of jail by your untrained little brother. Much was left
out of your tale.”

Kieran laughed. “Of course, Felix, as with
any story many details were left out to lighten the tone and get to
the melody so that the listener enjoys rather than sleeps. We never
received an invitation. MacNamara escorted us through the gate this
afternoon. I was introduced to him when I was younger than Seth at
a banquet of some sort. I don’t recall the precise circumstances,
being a surly teenager at the time. And as for being arrested, I
can assure you that I have never been arrested by any law
enforcement agency of any government of any realm, human or
otherwise. The concept of a jailbreak is ludicrous.”

Kieran stood up abruptly, not angry but
assured, confident. His aura crackled hotly with power. I hadn’t
felt him building it. He must have been soaking it in for hours.
“However, this does in no way diminish Seth’s accomplishments on
that day. With the help of one person, a journeyman and by no means
a battle mage, this seventeen-year-old man, untrained and with few
tools—tools that he had never used before—broke two very powerful
wards, fought and defeated no less than three powerful combat
mages, possibly more, then fought and embarrassed one of the most
powerful combat magicians in the human world.”

“Don’t forget about the surgery,” said Ethan,
casually.

“Thank you, Ethan,” answered Kieran. “After
all of that, he spent over six hours in trance to heal the damage
that Harris and his team caused with his drugs. As payment for his
actions, he spent three days in a coma. Would you like to know what
he wanted from me when he awoke? What he demanded for that life,
Felix?”

Cahill swallowed and nodded. His face was
white, the blood had drained away. I was pretty sure Kieran had
flashed his aura at him, like he had me the day we met.

“Pizza,” Kieran said, sitting back down.
“These two ‘children’ have shown more loyalty, bravery, and
improvisational skill in one week than most of the people in this
room will in their lives. We are here only to find our family. Of
all the rumors that abound about us, that is the one truth. We want
to find Olivia and Robert McClure. Thus far, all we’ve found is
innuendo, accusations, and violence. All in an amazingly short
period of time.”

The entire room was quiet and everyone, to a
man, was watching us. Everyone heard the last of Kieran’s
conversation with Cahill. He publicly admitted that Peter and I had
broken him out of Harris’ safe house and of our quest to find my
parents. I wasn’t sure the former was such a great idea, but it was
a done deal now. I really wished he’d stop singing out praises to
me, though. Most of the credit for all that went to the Stone and
the Swords, not me. If this kept up, somebody was gonna come
gunnin’ for me just to show me up for my reputation. A reputation I
haven’t really earned.

Cahill paused a moment, watching Kieran and
letting his color return. Kieran’s expression didn’t change and if
Cahill could see his aura, he’d see the sincerity there and not the
slightest bit of anger or aggravation. Strength of character and
power by the shipload, but nothing malicious at all. I would offer
to build him a battery later tonight. He certainly held enough
power to fill at least one right now and it helped me reduce some
stress.

“I believe you, Ehran,” Cahill said, finally.
“I have several reasons not to, but I do. I would love to know how
you talked MacNamara into letting you in and treating you like a
Faery Prince, but I suspect you will evade the question once
again.”

He exhaled loudly, beating out a random
rhythm with both hands on the armrests of his chair in
consideration. His aura was in minor turmoil. He shot a quick look
at Marcus, who was leaning forward watching him, elbows on knees.
“All right,” he said, relaxing somewhat and leaning forward toward
Kieran. “I will help where I can. All I know now is that your
father believed that St. Croix was involved in Olivia’s
disappearance. I was in New Orleans when Robert confronted him
about it. I had business elsewhere, but I did get to see Robert
toss Harris through a wall before I left. You can imagine my
amusement to see Seth do something similar this evening. Rumor has
it that Robert went into the Shadowlands or is hiding with the
other people who disappeared. But with Seth now in the open, the
idea that Robert is hiding is questionable.”

“Do you know any of the people he asked about
who were killed?” asked Kieran.

“No, he never asked me directly,” said
Cahill. “I can find out, once we’re back.”

Peter reached in across Cahill and Kieran
holding out a business card to Marcus. “An Internet dead drop,” he
said as Marcus accepted the card without looking at it. He nodded
once, sliding the card into his inside jacket pocket.

“That would be appreciated, Felix, but it
looks as though someone has jumped his chain,” Kieran said,
standing and reaching out to shake Cahill’s hand. Cahill and Marcus
stood as well, seeing St. Croix stalking close with a small cadre
of his fellows scurrying after him. “Thank you for your time.”

When Cahill and Marcus were out of ear-shot,
Kieran looked at me and muttered, “I’m gonna have to get Harris to
teach me this ‘anti-null bomb’ magic he’s developed.” We were all
laughing loudly when grandfather stomped up.

“You gotta hug for your Granddaddy, Seth?”
the old man asked, gruffly, his Louisiana accent thick on his
tongue. Dark brown eyes peered out under bushy gray eyebrows on a
wrinkled face, suggesting a past corpulence his body no longer
supported. His arms were outstretched as if he expected me to get
up and hug him.

“Not when my Granddaddy sends me a registered
letter telling me he wants to kill me, no,” I said, letting the
chuckles die in my chest and not moving from my lounging position
on the couch. “By the way, my master says no.”

“Your master? You’re apprenticed?” he asked,
sitting in the chair between the couches. Anger rose in his aura,
blooming beside his anxiety. He had an afterimage that I couldn’t
quite see clearly though. “Robert shouldn’t have done that. Is that
where you’ve been hiding then? With this new master of yours?”

“Dad doesn’t know yet,” I snapped, sitting
up. His belligerence annoyed me, but I made myself calm down. “Mom
and Dad have been missing for some time now, as you are quite
aware.”