An Immortal Descent (33 page)

Cate shook her head. “I don’t know. Either she has a Tuatha Dé ancestor or she was used as bait to lure the rest of us here.”

Dread seeped like mist through my skin. Since leaving London, I had imagined Nora in the oak grove. Now I didn’t know what to think, nor where to look next if Deri had hidden her somewhere else.

“Do you think that’s the witch’s plan?” Marin asked. “To trick us into breaking the curse?”

“The thought has crossed my mind,” Cate confessed.

Sean folded his arms over his chest. “If that’s the case, then why go in at all?”

Cate sighed. “Because we’ve no other choice.”

Justine twined a copper curl around one finger. “Most of us came to Ireland for the sole purpose to get Nora away from the wretch.” With a sympathetic glance to James, she released the curl, and it returned to its usual shape. “But truth be told, we’ve no idea if she’s even in there. What if the druids are mistaken? Or we’re the ones responsible for releasing evil from Wexford? Once we’ve breached her prison, there’ll be no turning back.”

Cate shook her head. “Her prison was breached the day Roddy Byrne went inside. Carmen learned of our existence at that moment and somehow figured a means of escape.”

Ailish bobbed her head in agreement. “Cailleach be thinking the same, milady.”

“In the last battle,” Cate continued, “the bulk of Carmen’s strength resided in her children, Darkness, Evil and Death. Only after they fell were the Tuatha Dé able to defeat her. But this past fall, she released a daughter into the mortal world who will one day be the equal to her late brothers. I ask you, how many more can we risk?”

“None,” Marin said without pause.

Julian grunted his assent. Sean remained silent, arms crossed over his chest in brooding defiance.

Tom nodded toward the stone entrance. “Which is why we must attack before she can breed again and grow even stronger.”

“Exactly,” Cate confirmed. “Carmen must be defeated unto death this time. Just standing in her shadow has put us at odds with each other. Her poison cannot move beyond this grove.”

Henry stirred behind me, tucking my head beneath his chin and tightening his hold around my waist. Julian considered us for a brief moment, his expression blank, before turning his attention to the dolmen.

“Miss O’Bearra,” Henry asked. “Do you know what we should expect once we enter the witch’s lair?”

“No, milord. Only immortal ever been inside be King Bres, and he’ll have naught to do with humans anymore.” She shuffled her feet. “Most o’ the Tuatha Dé don’t care if’n we live or die. They left our world long ago with no thought to be looking back.”

Henry inhaled and his chest expanded against my back. “Did the goddess say anything else?”

“That she did, milord.” Ailish spilled more berries into her mouth and swallowed them down. “If the witch escapes, Ireland will be destroyed.”

Cate clasped her hands together. “There’s something we already know, and it will only be a matter of time before her destruction spreads through the rest of the world.” She looked at Tom. “Are you ready?”

An odd excitement shined in his eyes. “Aye, I’m itching to be done with this.”

“Then we best see what’s waiting on the other side. Our one hope is that the curse has dampened her powers, or this shall be the shortest crusade in human history.”

Tom turned to James. “Mr. Roth, we’ll need you to watch the horses.”

James dipped his head in agreement. “I’m pleased to be of service.”

“If Nora was unable to pass through the dolmen, then Deri may be out here somewhere.” Tom glanced at the sword sheathed at James’s side. “Be ready for trouble and kill the wretch before she can touch you.”

James bowed once more, this time with the hint of a smile. “With pleasure, Master Faber.”

Tom unsheathed his sword. “Allow a minute in between crossing so we’ve time to clear the way.” Giving the lantern to Cate, he took her other hand.

Once they passed inside, Julian held his lantern aloft at the entrance. Henry released me to do the same, and the light flickered over the long expanse of stone that ended abruptly at an earthen wall. In silence, I watched my grandparents walk side-by-side. Tom’s head nearly brushed the uppermost stone, and his broadsword was kept at a sharp downward angle to keep the tip from scraping along the wall. The distance quickly disappeared beneath their feet, and my chest wrenched tighter with every step. When it seemed they could go no farther, an awful tearing sound rent the air, and they simply vanished from sight.

“Hoh!” Marin gasped, putting voice to my surprise.

A tendril of musty air hissed from the dolmen like a snake’s tongue. I recoiled, bumping my head against Henry’s chest.

He ran a gentle hand along my arm. “Steady there.”

Lightning tore through the sky. Thunder rumbled close behind, when more lightning flashed, this time ripping the clouds open. In a heartbeat, the rain turned to a deluge that poured through the trees to pound the earth below. Those crossing pushed under the overhang of the uppermost stone of the dolmen. James stayed outside to be nearer the horses, shoulders low and rain rushing from the curled brim of his tricorn hat.

Ailish threw a worried look at the woods. “Poor Deidre, birthing a babe on her own.”

“She’ll be fine,” I said, “so long as she doesn’t blow a tree down on her cottage or cause a flood.” Or inadvertently strike one of us with lightning, as I assumed either killing or maiming a goddess born would only return the same to her.

“Aye,” Ailish agreed, her face pinched with concern. “The pain must have stolen her wits.”

Henry placed a hand on the center of my back. “It’s time to go.”

I took his lantern and threaded the fingers of my free hand through his. “You’ll come next?” I asked Ailish. Either I was already too cold to feel an additional chill from her nearness, or had grown too accustomed to it to notice anymore.

She nodded but didn’t meet my eyes. Her small shoulders drooped under the weight of an unspoken burden.

I wanted to say more, to explain that somehow everything would be all right. No matter what Cailleach might have asked of her, we would find a way through it.

Henry moved deeper into the dolmen, and I matched his stride, shifting my focus to the task at hand. He carried the spear, leaving his broadsword sheathed on his back. Lantern light danced in dizzying patterns on the stone walls beside us. At the end, our shadows curved up the earthen wall, over layers of rich soil and partially exposed rocks.

My fingers tensed around Henry’s. Never before had I left the mortal world while still attached to my body. A mere step away, I closed my eyes and pushed forward, half expecting a face full of dirt when a sudden tugging took hold of my sternum. It yanked me forward as a tearing sound reverberated from heel to crown.

In an instant, the ground fell away, and my stomach flew up as we dropped into thin air. My startled scream turned to a grunt a second later when my feet hit the ground. The lantern fell from my grasp to the sound of breaking glass, and I stumbled sideways, only to be caught by Henry’s firm grip.

He pulled me to him. “I’ve got you,” he whispered. The spear’s shaft pressed into my waist.

A rush of cool air hissed over me, the musty scent making my nerves cringe. It lasted only a moment before fading to deadly stillness. I blinked several times, trying to get my bearings, but there was nothing to see. Blackness surrounded us. Muffled voices seemed to echo from every direction, male and female.

Henry strengthened his hold on my hand. “We need to move before Ailish drops on our heads.”

Brigid’s fire ran to my fingertips. Nothing changed with the first step or even the second. On the third, a faint light penetrated the darkness, and I realized we were in a stone tunnel of sorts, as though someone had burrowed straight into the hillside. The voices grew more distinct, and shapes appeared, two lone figures ahead of us.

Henry must have seen them as well, for he quickened his pace and another half dozen steps brought us behind Cate and Tom. Somehow Cate had managed to keep hold of her lantern, which she now held aloft. Tom stood at her side, his broadsword at a slightly higher angle. We edged closer, and the sides of the tunnel curved outward at what looked to be the beginning of a cavern.

“Where are we?” I whispered.

Cate tilted her head up, though only darkness could be seen beyond the small circle of lantern light. “Between our two worlds.” Her hushed voice skimmed the stone that surrounded us on all sides.

A soft hiss passed over me, I assumed from another crossing.

Henry placed a protective hand on my shoulder. “It would appear that no one is home.”

Creases formed around Cate’s narrowed eyes. “I’m not so sure about that.” She continued to study the darkness but said no more.

Silent as a ghost, Ailish drew alongside me. She didn’t speak a word, just inhaled a slow, deep breath through her nose. Releasing it, she repeated the action, this time holding it for several seconds.

“What is it, Miss O’Bearra,” Cate asked.

Ailish exhaled, and her cold breath brushed my cheek. “I smell death, milady.”

Chapter Twenty

The Spoils of War

My whole body turned rigid with fear. “What do you mean?”

Ailish wrinkled her nose. “The scent be thicker than porridge. Straight ahead ’bout twenty paces.”

Cate and Tom exchanged worried looks. Neither spoke, though I could well ascertain their thoughts, as they no doubt mirrored my own.
Is it Nora?

Tom turned to us. “It could be a trap. Be ready for anything.”

Henry unsheathed his sword. Cate pushed the cloak back from her arms while I summoned more power to my fingertips. Ailish rubbed her hands together, I assumed from a rush of Cailleach’s power.

We moved in a small bubble of light, Tom and Henry fanned to the shadowy edges, Cate at point with Ailish and me just behind her. Our footsteps echoed over the stone, until it sounded as though small bands were approaching from every direction.

My heart pounded a frantic beat.
Please don’t let it be Nora... Please don’t let her be in here.
With all my might I wished my dearest friend to be entirely human.

Ailish inhaled another long breath. “Nearly there,” she murmured.

The furthest reach of our light fell on the dark outline of a hulking shape, near my height, yet at least three times wider. A few more steps, and the lines grew more distinct, transforming into what appeared to be an imposing stone throne. Its grayness matched the ground so perfectly, it looked to have been carved from a gigantic boulder that had fallen into the room.

One last stride separated us from the throne when Cate lifted the lantern a little higher. Dread pressed against my chest, and for half a heartbeat my breath stopped under the intense weight. Then I gasped as my feet stuttered to a stop.

“Oh, dear Lord...” I said and crossed myself for the second time that night.

A woman sat unnaturally upright in the throne. Raven black hair fell loose to her waist, framing the pale husk that remained of her face and neck. She stared unseeing through shrunken eyes. Bloodless lips and perfect white teeth rimmed a silent scream.

“It can’t be,” Cate breathed.

Edging forward, Ailish stepped onto the throne’s dais and put her nose an inch from the corpse. “Been dead two days past.”

The men pushed closer, and I moved alongside Ailish. “More like two years,” Henry said. “She looks mummified.”

“Me nose doesn’t lie, and it’s saying she’s been dead two days.”

Lifting her skirts with one hand, Cate stepped beside me onto the throne’s dais. She studied the woman for a moment before brushing a gloved finger along her shriveled cheek. “It’s possible, though I thought the skill long lost to the mortal world.” She looked at Tom. “What do you think?”

“That you’ve hit the truth of it from what I see.”

The truth of what?
I peered at the corpse, eyes narrowed in search for a clue as to their meaning.

Claret silk draped the woman’s slender body in a loose-fitting gown that joined at the shoulders, leaving her withered arms and neck bare. A dark blossom stained the cloth beneath her sternum where something protruded at an upward angle.

Good gracious!

“Murdered...” Ailish whispered.

Tom grasped the knife’s handle and gentled it free, seemingly indifferent as the corpse slumped forward. Turning the blade from side to side, he ran a finger along its back. Gaelic letters were etched into the metal, and I squinted to make out the words—
Brigid Burdach.

“That’s my knife!” I sputtered indignantly.

“So it would appear.” Cate managed an even tone, though I assumed her surprise rivaled my own.

Tom flicked his eyes to the woman. “Whoever stole it knew what they were about, as no mortal blade could have killed her.”

Henry pointed the spear tip at the corpse. “Do you mean to say that this is the witch Carmen?”

“I believe so.” Cate picked up a lock of black hair. “Deri must have favored the father in her coloring.” She released it, letting it fall back into place.

With such a gruesome distraction, I would have missed the next hiss from the tunnel if it didn’t make my nape creep each time it opened.

“Who do you think stole the knife?” Henry asked.

My mind raced over the many faces from the
Sea Witch
. In truth, most of the men had appeared capable of murder, and I looked to Ailish for help. “Did any of the crew carry Tuatha Dé blood?”

Ailish stared at the witch, her face screwed to a knot with thought. “Me nose didn’t say so, but there weren’t much to smell over the scent o’ the captain’s cargo. Could have been any one o’ them I suppose.”

Cate traced a gloved finger around the gash in Carmen’s chest. “It wasn’t the crew.”

“How do you know?” I asked, mesmerized by the movement as she completed the slow circle and then followed a line along the knife’s upward path.

Her finger came to rest atop Carmen’s heart. “Because I know who’s responsible. Do you agree, Tiarnach?”

“Aye,” Tom confirmed, “I thought the same the moment I saw the blade.”

The same what?
I looked between the two of them, frustrated by their uncanny ability to communicate with so few words.

Henry propped the spear against the throne and leaned forward for a closer look. “Tell us what you’re thinking.”

Cate withdrew her hand from Carmen. “That we’ve been played for fools—”

A scream sounded in the tunnel. I whipped around just as two gigantic torches flamed to life, one on either side of the throne. Their green light stung my eyes, and I jerked back, a cry of alarm stuck in my throat. Ailish squeaked her surprise and bumped into me in an equally hasty retreat. A spasm jolted my spine, and Cate grabbed hold of my arm to keep me upright when I stumbled from the dais. Regaining my balance, I found Henry and Tom standing in front of us, swords drawn and their eyes fixed on the tunnel.

Footsteps echoed and Sean appeared, his face contorted with rage. “Watch out—” His warning cut short as he stumbled forward and sprawled on the cavern floor with a dense thud that made me wince. Marin appeared next, her expression no less pained than my brother’s. She moved in a slow shuffle, Julian directly behind her. His hat was gone, and a brown lock skimmed his cheek, having come lose from its binding.

Havoc ran through me as I grappled to make sense of the scene. My eyes flew over each of them—Sean on the floor, Marin with her head tilted back, Julian grasping a fistful of her hair like a tether.

Gracious heaven! What is happening?

Sean struggled to his feet. Blood dripped from his forehead into his left eye. He wobbled and shifted to a wider stance to keep his balance. Instinct took over, and I made to go to him when Cate grabbed my elbow. “Wait,” she whispered.

I settled back on my heels, worry thrumming my ribs like a washboard. Eerie green light flickered across our faces and stone surroundings, lending an unearthly quality to an already surreal situation.

Tom adjusted the grip on his broadsword. “What’s the meaning of this, my lord?”

Julian’s upper lip curled to a sneer. “Ask her ladyship,” he said, tipping his head toward Cate. “She nearly had me figured out twice before we entered the dolmen. If not for Deidre Byrne filling the air with Cailleach’s power, she’d have certainly discovered the truth.” He stepped farther into the cavern, yanking Marin along with him. She yelped in pain, but made no attempt to escape.

Sean swayed toward him. “Let her go, Stroud. She’s done nothing to you.”

“Oh, but she’s plenty to do for me,” Julian chided him. “Marin’s safety is collateral for your good behavior.” He turned a cold stare at us. “That goes for everyone here. Come near me, and she’ll pay for your foolishness.”

The man spoke boldly, considering he carried no obvious weapon. Tom and Henry must have thought something similar for they started a curved path that would leave him hemmed in on both sides.

Julian released an exasperated breath. “Now, I told you not to do that.” His mouth thinned, and a second later Marin whimpered and started to writhe in pain. A thin trail of blood ran from one side of her nose. It crested her lips, and continued to her chin, where several crimson drops fell to the ground.

Ailish squeaked beside me. Tom and Henry halted their course.

An animal cry burst from my brother. Lunging forward, he grabbed Julian’s arm to wrest him away from Marin. Panic howled in my chest.
No!

Sean jerked violently, and I choked on a scream when he froze in mid-motion.

My heart thumped once. Twice. Nothing changed. “Brother...” My voice emerged in a whispered plea as I blinked at his statue-still body and outstretched arms.

Julian snorted in disgust and yanked his woolen sleeve from Sean’s stony grasp.

“What did you do to him?” I cried. A burst of fire rushed to my fingertips, and I made to move again when Cate’s grip tightened on my elbow.

“Don’t, Selah,” she said softly, “or Sean will be dead before you reach him.”

I glowered at the man, my sight rimmed with red amidst the green torchlight. Only one person would die tonight, and that was Julian, the very moment I got my hands on him.

He patted my brother’s cheek. “You can thank my mother for that trick.” With an arrogant smile, he stepped around Sean, closing the distance between us to ten generous paces.

Marin whimpered and stole a terrified glance at her husband, who now appeared to be grasping at the air behind them. Tom and Henry remained in place, tracking Julian’s every move like two predators awaiting the opportunity to strike.

“My dear Lord Stroud,” Cate said, every bit the well-bred lady even in a cavern. “Let me be the first to commend you for killing Carmen, though it seems something you should have shared while we were still at the inn.”

An indignant breath burst from me, and I gaped at Cate, sure she must be mistaken. “Julian didn’t kill her.”

“I assure you, he did.”

“How could one man kill Carmen?” And not even a warrior at that, but a man with the gift of agriculture. I thrust a finger at him as if to prove my point. “How could
he
have killed her?”

His smooth laugh echoed through the cavern. “I would think that obvious, especially for someone so adept at healing. But if you require further explanation, suffice it to say I stole your knife while you were napping on the
Sea Witch
and stuck it in Carmen’s heart.”

The muscles jumped in my neck as I whipped my gaze from the witch to Julian. Despite the overwhelming evidence, my brain refused to accept his admission.

“When did you kill her?” Henry asked.

Julian appeared bored by his question. “Two days ago, while Miss Rose, Mr. Roth and I were scouring the countryside for Selah.”

My hand flew to my mouth.
James and Justine...
I hadn’t felt the cavern open again since the other three arrived.

“Where are they now?” Tom’s voice rumbled.

“Safe for the time being, though I fear Miss Rose won’t be joining us.” Julian rubbed his chin. “She didn’t fancy the branch in her mouth any more than the one holding her to a tree. And I daresay Mr. Roth will never forgive himself for being taken unaware a second time.”

A mounting pressure began to throb in my temples. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? Why the elaborate pretense?”

Releasing my arm, Cate moved beside me. “Because he needed us here to break the curse.”

“What does it matter, now the witch is dead?”

Julian fixed me with a dark stare. “Oh, it matters a great deal, Selah.”

He caressed my name, gentle as a lover, and in direct disparity with the man who had already struck first and second blood tonight.
Volatile and violent.
It sickened me to think this could be another desperate attempt to win my favor.

“Please, Julian, you need to stop this before it goes any further.” The whole scene felt like a big ruse, and any moment my brother would move and Marin would be free.

“That’s not Julian,” Cate said in a soft voice.

“Of course it is.” I raked the man from head to toe.
Dark brown hair, elegant features, trim build...
without doubt he was the man I’d met in Cate’s drawing room nearly three weeks ago.

“I assure you, it’s not him,” she persisted. “Lord Stroud is dead.”

My knees wobbled, and I clutched at my skirts to keep steady.
Impossible...
unless the man had an identical twin.

Henry slid Cate a sideways look. “If that were the case, he’d have been called out for an imposter the moment he came to London.”

“He may look and speak the same as Lord Stroud, but I assure you, it’s not him.”

A memory nibbled at my brain of black hair and altered features.
An aberration of himself, as though one image had been laid over another...
At the time, I thought him on the verge of death and his soul disintegrating.

Cate spoke to Julian, yet in the third person. “Lord Stroud arrived in town last spring after his father died. Was that really him or had you already claimed the spoils of death?”

Julian cocked a brow at her. “I should have known you’d be familiar with the old ways. The gentle fop you met was the real Lord Stroud until I gathered his soul this past September.” His mouth curled to a grin. “I believe the minor changes greatly improved his personality. Don’t you agree, my lady?”

A tremor passed through my legs.
Dead for three months...
How could I have not known? It seemed inconceivable regardless that I had never met the real Lord Stroud.

“And where is his lordship now?” Cate asked, ignoring his question.

Julian waved his free hand to indicate distance. “A shallow grave somewhere between London and his estate in the south. We were traveling together to his home to use Brigid’s altar when I slit his throat.”

I gasped, drawing Julian’s attention.
Not Julian,
my mind screamed.
An imposter.

“You didn’t miss much, love. His lordship was a fair-faced bore, more concerned with plants than anything else.” His gaze dipped to my lips. “Strawberries, I’ll admit, have their benefit, and I’ve dreamt of tasting them on you again.”