Edge of Magic (Tara Knightley Series Book 1) Page 11

  “My father’s,” he said reluctantly.

  “Ah.” I gave him a shrewd glance. “You and your pops have got problems, then.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “If you really respected him, you wouldn’t have joined and then left his brother’s monastery so casually.”

  “How do you know it was casual? How do you know it wasn’t a painful, heart-wrenching decision?”

  I snorted. “By the way you just said that, for one. But men aren’t allowed to join a Druidic order until they’re twenty-three. I’ve known you since you were that age, and I’m fairly sure there was never a span of more than a couple of months that I didn’t see you. In fact, you must have done your time at the monastery pretty recently, because until last year you were contracted with Katerina. She wouldn’t have let you take a leave of absence long enough to become a Druid. So, you joined an order within the past year, and you couldn’t have stayed long. Your uncle had to recommend you, which meant he put his reputation on the line to get you in. Then you left. And you seem pretty unapologetic about it.”

  He shrugged, and I knew I’d guessed correctly. Or close enough, at least.

  “So, you don’t like Dad, and you’re ready to go to battle for Mom’s Fae clan,” I mused. I was silent for several seconds. “You just wanted the Druidic magic.”

  He pulled his lips in between his teeth and bit down, refusing to confirm or deny.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I know I’m right. Oh! And this all explains why you took your mother’s last name instead of your father’s, too.”

  He shot me an irritated look, which made me laugh again.

  “What I don’t understand is how you’re still able to use Druidic magic,” I said. “I know the Druids have the ability to strip humans and Fae of their magic. I assume they wouldn’t allow a deserter to leave with their Druidic gifts intact.”

  Ray made a low grumble at the back of his throat.

  Before he could respond—if he’d intended to—I continued as something else occurred to me. “Ah, but wait a second. You used your magic freely in front of the three of us and Darren Baumgartner.” I peered up at him. “Which means you’re not afraid of someone tattling to the order about you. You believe you’re safe from persecution. Why? How?”

  “I don’t have to tell you,” he said, his tone mild.

  “No, you don’t. But I’ll probably guess it anyway, sooner or later.” I crossed my arms and then lifted one had to tap thoughtfully on my bottom lip. “It’s got something to do with avenging your mother’s clan. All of what you’re doing leads back to that.”

  By his silence, I figured I’d once again come close to the truth. The curiosity was making me agitated. I was so focused on trying to work out what Ray wasn’t telling me, I nearly missed seeing the person who’d turned onto our block up ahead. I squinted, straining to confirm whether that ponytail belonged to someone I knew, as I suspected. When she turned to speak to the guy she was walking with, I got a good enough view of her face in profile.

  “That’s Stephanie,” I muttered under my breath.

  “What?” Ray asked.

  “Nothing, I just see someone I know.”

  Stephanie Shanahan was the halfling I’d been searching for when I set out to try to find a cure for my mother and sister after the Cataclysm. She was the one I’d gone to San Francisco to try to track down. I’d eventually gotten to meet with her, but she was no help because I didn’t have enough to offer her to be worth her time. She hadn’t been cruel about it, but it had crushed me.

  Back then, she’d been mid-level in Shaw’s organization. In the years since, she’d moved up to become one of his top lieutenants and, it was rumored, had aims to become Shaw’s right hand. The guy who’d occupied the position previously, Benjamin, had been exposed as a traitor, and he’d disappeared nearly a year ago. I had no doubt he was dead. Shaw was taking his sweet time choosing a replacement, enjoying the competition among his top people for the coveted spot.

  Certainty zinged through me. Stephanie was hot on the hunt for the big prize because bringing it in might just be enough to raise her to the position she wanted. And someone like Stephanie would have real information about where to look. She’d know how to stay ahead of the rest of the hunters.

  I tugged my beanie down to make sure it covered my hair and walked more swiftly, trying to catch up with Stephanie and whoever she was talking to. Ray kept pace with me.

  “Did you want to talk to her?” he asked.

  “No,” I whispered.

  I was practically salivating at the prospect of catching a snippet of conversation, a word, anything, that give me a clue about where to look for the prize. I knew Stephanie wouldn’t be so stupid as to let important information slip out in public, but I couldn’t seem to squash the hope that tried to rise up in my chest.

  “Hey,” I said to Ray out of the side of my mouth. “Any chance you’d tell me, uh, what you promised to tell me, now instead of after we deliver the sword? You know, the target of the big bounty?”

  “I will if you’ll reengage on our previous agreement,” he said.

  “Huh?” I asked distractedly, my eyes on Stephanie.

  “Before, when you said you’d help me look for the object that was stolen from my family. Then you got mad and took it back.”

  “Oh, yeah. Okay, I’ll reinstate that agreement with the terms we discussed, if you tell me right now what the prize is.”

  “Deal. It’s the skull of the first Dullahan king.”

  A cold shiver slipped down my spine as I whipped my gaze up to his face. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Does that mean something to you? I’m not exactly sure what it is.”

  “I’ve heard of it, but only in the context of stories,” I said. “There’s a legend that says that skull allows its owner to command the Dullahan as their own personal army.”

  Ray frowned. “The Dullahan aren’t real, though.”

  The Dullahan, or Bone Warriors, were spectral riders who could detach their own heads and carry them under their arms as they rode into battle, where they would hurl their skulls at their enemies. If you were touched by one, you were doomed to join them. The stories said they grew their army by taking humans or Fae living in the Earthly realm. It was one of the tales Fae parents used to keep their children close to home. The lesson was that straying out of Faerie made you vulnerable, and if the Dullahan found you, they’d turn you into a Bone Warrior and you’d ride with them for eternity. That was how the legend went, anyway.

  My mouth pinched as if not wanting to let out the words I was thinking. “Yeah, I know stories of the Dullahan have always been used to keep Fae kids from getting too adventurous, but . . . why would Shaw want the skull so badly if the Dullahan were only a legend?” I shook my head, my stomach knotting uneasily at the thought that the skeletal riders could be real. “He’s only interested in things that are legit. I don’t see him coveting something this much if it weren’t real.”

  “Well, I don’t believe it,” Ray said, but his voice held a trace of doubt and his expression had darkened.

  I didn’t blame him for wanting to deny the Bone Warriors’ existence. The Dullahan weren’t just creepy. They were terrifying, real or not.

  My gaze was still glued to the back of Stephanie’s head, and when she said a few final words to her companion and then veered right to cross the street, I inhaled sharply. I was suddenly sure she was headed to a nearby doorway, and I had to know where she was going.

  I whirled to face Judah and Blake, who stopped short in surprise.

  “I need to take a quick detour,” I said, speaking rapidly and keeping my eyes on Stephanie’s retreating figure. I spared a quick look at Judah. “Continue on to McStaggers, and I’ll meet you there. Wait outside. Don’t do anything. Don’t let Ray take the sword.”

  Ray had turned and retraced his steps when he’d realized I’d stopped walking, and he looked at me, bewildered.
>
  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  I’d already turned to go after Stephanie.

  “I’ll be fast,” I called over my shoulder.

  Then I was off, first calmly crossing the street and then springing into a run. I was probably drawing attention, but I didn’t care. There was a doorway at the end of the block Stephanie was heading down, and I felt certain that was where she was going. If I could get the right viewing angle when she drew the sigils to take her through the doorway, I might be able to decipher her destination. And that might give me a starting point in the hunt for the skull of the Dullahan king. It was a snowball’s chance in hell, but I couldn’t let it slip by.

  I sprinted down a dark alley parallel to the road Stephanie had taken. The doorway I believed she was heading toward was situated at the edge of an open-air market area, which would be deserted at this time of night. I made a quick turn to veer into the vacant vendor stands and booths, using them as cover. The doorway was to my right, marked by an arched trellis covered with flowering vines.

  I ducked behind the stall nearest to the doorway, waiting. A minute ticked past. She should have been there by then. After two minutes, I rose, looking around.

  My hands clenched in frustration. I’d guessed wrong. She hadn’t come this way.

  I let out a long string of curse words under my breath.

  I spun and took off at a fast jog toward McStaggers Tavern. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive. Discovering the target of Shaw’s bounty had made me stupid in my excitement. I silently reprimanded myself all the way back to the tavern.

  I was so caught up chewing myself out, I didn’t notice Judah and Blake until I was practically right in front of them. They were slouched against the wall next to the entrance to McStaggers, leaning into each other and gazing at passersby with glazed eyes.

  Judah spotted me. “It’s Rainbow,” he slurred, lifting an unsteady hand to point at me.

  I skidded to a halt. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”

  Then I realized Ray Artois was nowhere to be seen. I was on the verge of asking where he’d disappeared to when I noticed something that made every fiber of my body go hot with rage.

  Ray was gone, and so was Balisarde.

  Chapter 13

  “JUDAH!” I WAS crouched in front of him, trying to get him to snap out of his stupor. I didn’t smell alcohol on his breath, but he and Blake were acting drunk.

  I leaned in and sniffed again. No alcohol, but there was a faint muddy, herbal scent coming from both of them. It smelled like the Earthly side of the hedge. Had to be the lingering aroma of Druidic magic.

  Clenching my fists, I let out an extended string of every curse word that came to mind, liberally sprinkling Ray’s name among the insults.

  Judah reached out a hand and rested his palm on my cheek.

  “Aw, c’mon Rainbow,” he said. “It can’t be as bad as all that.”

  If anyone else had touched me that way at that moment, I would have batted his hand away. But Judah’s gray eyes were locked on mine. Even though he was under the influence of the magic, there was a growing heat behind his gaze that pulled me in, and I couldn’t look away.

  I blinked hard.

  “Ray did this to you, didn’t he?” I asked, grasping Judah’s hand and placing it back on his knee. “And he took the sword?”

  Blake let out a noisy sigh. “Yeah,” she said, answering for Judah.

  “Where did he go?” I asked.

  Judah poked his thumb over his shoulder at the entrance to McStaggers Tavern. “In there.”

  I rose and pushed out a long breath, puffing my cheeks. I knew Ray wouldn’t still be in there, but I was going to have to go in and ask some questions.

  “Okay,” I said. “Can I trust the two of you to stay right there for a few minutes?”

  Blake nodded, her dark-blue eyes wide.

  I looked at both of them sternly. “I’m serious. Don’t move until I come back.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Judah said with a little salute and a charming grin. I squashed the tiny smile that tried to play across my lips.

  “Okay.” I sidestepped toward the door to McStaggers, still watching Blake and Judah. “Do. Not. Move.”

  Blake gave me a thumbs-up, and Judah nodded solemnly.

  I reached for the heavy oak door’s metal handle, gave it a pull, and went inside.

  I paused for a moment to let my eyes adjust. The place was crowded, and the sudden noise of many loud conversations was almost overwhelming after the relative quiet of the streets outside, and especially the deserted marketplace where I’d tried to follow Stephanie.

  McStaggers was decorated in the style of the Old World, with heavy brass and leather candelabra fixtures hanging from the ceilings. Leather booths lined the walls, and the tables filling the center of the room had been pushed around haphazardly to form groupings. Servers maneuvered the floor, hoisting round trays laden with frosty mugs of Faerie brew. The bar at the back was lined with patrons sitting on carved wooden stools.

  The air in the tavern was thick with the yeasty smell of beer, the vinegar tang of the pickled vegetables that were a McStaggers specialty, and an undertone of body odor.

  I scanned the tables for faces I recognized. Killian wasn’t there. I didn’t see Ray either.

  Spotting a couple of round tables that had been moved together near the bar, where several of Shaw’s mid-level people had gathered, I maneuvered through the crowd toward them. One of them, a quarterling with Sylph blood as evidenced by her long eyelashes, was the first to see me. She elbowed the guy sitting next to her. As I approached, more of them saw me, and the conversation around the table died by the time I got to them.

  I stopped next to the Sylph quarterling and addressed the table. “I’m not here to ask about Shaw’s big game, so you can all remove the rods from your asses and relax.”

  A few of them shifted in their seats, and several looked relieved.

  “Anybody seen Killian tonight?” I asked.

  Several responded in the negative.

  “Did you happen to see Ray Artois in the past few minutes?” I tried again. “Very tall, blond, with Elvish blood?”

  “Yeah,” the part-Sylph said. I couldn’t remember her name. Something that started with an L, I thought. Laura, maybe? “He was only in here for a minute.”

  I could tell by her expression that not only had she noticed Ray, she’d very much wished he’d stuck around.

  I nodded my gratitude. I wouldn’t have been completely surprised if they’d all refused to speak to me, just on the grounds that it could possibly piss off Shaw even if they weren’t giving me any hints about the big prize.

  “Did he talk to anyone?” I asked.

  “That guy in the booth.” She pointed toward the backmost, nearly enclosed corner table.

  I winced. I wasn’t sure who the guy was---I could only see a slice of one side of his face from where I stood, and he appeared to be talking to someone across from him—but the position of the table and the private nature of it strongly suggested he was there to take meetings. If that was the case, he was someone of importance or influence.

  I peered down at the Sylph. “Any idea who he is?”

  She shook her head. I suppressed a grumble. I wasn’t enthusiastic about approaching the back booth cold.

  “I appreciate your help,” I said to the Sylph.

  We never said “thank you” in Faerie because those words opened the way for binding oaths. But it was safe to express gratitude using other words.

  Squaring my shoulders, I made my way around Shaw’s people toward the booth. I stopped a respectful distance away but close enough so I could catch the guy’s eye. After a second or two, my presence drew his attention. His reddish-brown brows, which matched the thick thatch of wavy hair on his head, twitched up slightly. I could tell in just that split-second of eye contact that he was indeed a man of importance, or at least one who was used to giving commands. I’d observe
d that exact same glint of confidence and authority in the eyes of Grant Shaw and some of his high-ranking people for the past decade of my life.

  I lifted a hand in a gesture that silently asked permission to approach him. He spoke a few words to his companion, whom I still couldn’t see, and then nodded at me. Leaning back, he reached for a glass and sipped. He definitely wasn’t drinking beer. Water or clear soda, possibly.

  I had to side-step out of the way to allow the person he’d been talking to exit the booth. I drew back a little when I realized the Fae woman stepping out had the shimmering skin and too-round eyes of an Undine. The Undine kingdom was Unseelie-aligned, as was the Duergar kingdom in which I stood. But the Undine, who dwelled near the sea, were wild folk compared to the Duergar, who were considered to be one of the most modern and civilized of the Unseelie kingdoms.

  “What is your name, lass?” the man in the booth asked, making a graceful sweeping motion with one hand, inviting me in. His accent was distinctly Irish.

  I slid onto the leather seat. “Tara Knightley.”

  “Isaac O’Malley.” His hazel eyes took in my face and hair. “What’s your affiliation?”

  “I’m not sworn to any kingdom,” I said. “I live on the Earthly side of the hedge.”

  “Ah,” he said, as if my response made perfect sense to him.

  “And you?” I asked. It was proper etiquette to establish kingdom ties when first meeting someone in Faerie.

  “Salamander,” he replied.

  My lips parted in surprise. A Fae shifter and fire elemental. I’d never met a Salamander, but I’d heard they were temperamental. So far, this man seemed the picture of calm.

  “And what can I do for you, Tara Knightley of the Earthly realm?” he asked.

  “You spoke to a friend of mine earlier, Ray Artois,” I said. “Did he tell you where he was headed after he left?”

  “Aye, he did.”

  I arched a brow. “Willing to share that info?”

  He folded his hands on the table and leaned forward. “What would it be worth to you?”