Ann Gimpel (16 page)

“Where’s that?”

She held up her hands, palms outward. “Near the Utah-Colorado border, about halfway down Utah.”

Fionn’s brow crinkled in thought. “I can’t tell for certain without dredging out my maps, but if Rune means Ely, Nevada, he and Marta lived just about dead center between our two homes.” He nodded. “Sure, we can go to your house if you’d like.”

Remembering Travis’s interest in her library, she felt uncomfortable. “There’s something I should tell you.”

His gaze zeroed in on hers, suddenly wary. He crooked two fingers as if to say,
out with it, then.

“I, ah, I have books, too.”

A long, uneasy silence bounced back and forth between them. “That’s it?” he demanded. “You made a point of telling me you have books? So what?” He flung an expansive arm skyward. “I have books. Without them the knowledge of the world will truly die out.”

“I-I felt the same way,” she murmured, “which is why I kept all I could from Mom and Dad, even though it was forbidden.”

“Are you done?” He glanced at her empty bowl. When she nodded, he put it on the floor for Rune. Getting to his feet, he came to her, pulled her upright, and led her to some cushions. “Sit with me.

“People have been trying to outlaw books on-again, off-again ever since the fourteen hundreds, when Gutenberg invented the printing press. The thing I fail to understand is how the combination of the dark gods and the Lemurians managed to break the will of billions of people on this planet.”

“I wonder if there’s even a single billion left,” she muttered.

“Oh, I think there is.”

“How would you know?”

He draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “I know because I am not the only Celtic god left. We have ways of communicating with one another. And...”—his eyes glinted darkly—“we number far more than the dark gods. I am not so sure about the Lemurians. No one has ever been certain of their numbers.”

She thought about the hundreds she’d seen. “There were a lot of them in Taltos. It was odd, though. They all seemed to be hurrying somewhere. I wondered at the time what they were up to.”

“It could have been illusion. Maybe they wanted you to think there were lots of them. It’s possible that only the three you actually spoke to were real.”

Aislinn considered it and wished she’d paid closer attention. “I just don’t know. I suppose I might have been able to use my Mage senses to figure that out. Sorry. I was so nervous, it never occurred to me.” She thought of something and cocked her head to one side. “They must have been real, because they were still there when Rune merged his senses with mine.”

“Hmph. Not the answer I’d hoped for, but it’s good to know all the same. Come closer.” His arm tightened around her shoulders.

He was murmuring wordless endearments, breath warm against her neck, and caressing her shoulder with calloused fingers when something occurred to her. Drawing away slightly, she tilted her head up and gazed at him. “If there are more of you than them, why haven’t you gotten together with your buddies and blown the dark gods back to the hell they came from? I’m pretty sure the Bal’ta and other abominations would go away if that happened. Then we’d just have the Old Ones to contend with.”

“It seems like a long time to you since the dark gods came.”

He posed it as a statement, so she continued to study his face. Of course it was a long time. What was he, brain damaged?

He must have been inside her head, because the corners of his mouth twitched. “Lass, three years is nothing in real time. It is the blink of a cosmic eye. We were waiting to see if the human inhabitants of this planet could rescue themselves. Generally, we do not like to interfere.”

“Were you going to wait until we were all dead?” She bristled and pulled away from his embrace. “Shot to shit in that damned movable vortex? If you had some means to alter what was happening and didn’t use it…”

Fury ripped through her. She’d been fighting with everything she had, even though she knew it wouldn’t be enough. Earth, her Earth, was worth it. And what had he been doing all that time? Nothing! Fucking nothing, that’s what. “Damn you.” She drew back a hand to slap him, but he caught it midair.

“It’s my turn to apologize.” He laid her hand gently in her lap. “We kept thinking humans would mobilize. We really didn’t count on the Lemurians slaughtering so many. By the time we got worried, millions had walked into that damned vortex like sheep—”

“What exactly is it?” she interrupted, still furious. “Do you know?”

“It’s a gateway. They can open it wherever they want.”

“Yes, but where does it go?”

He shrugged. “To hell.” At the look in her eyes, he held up both hands. “Near as we can tell, it emits a highly specific radioactivity that scrambles human brains. It kills instantly. The cells just explode.”

“It sounds…unnatural.” She went cold inside.

“It is. Why do you think there are so many shades? The vortex interrupts their journey across the veil. Makes them forget what their spirits need to do once their bodies are no longer living.” Pain floated behind his eyes.

“Do you think it’s too late?” The anger drained out of her, replaced by fear.

“I hope not.” He set his jaw resolutely. “The silver lining in this cloud is all those humans who discovered they carried magic within them. Were it not for the Harmonic Convergence and all those synchronized Surges, that never would have happened.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“The Convergence, and the Surges that followed it, distorted the energies binding this world with others parallel to it. Those energies created the possibility of magic here on Earth, not just for the gods, but for everyone.”

“So everyone who threw their lives away had magic?” she asked, aghast.

“Not all, but many. Just not enough magic to satisfy the Lemurians. They’re up to something. I’ll be damned if I know what it is, though.”

“Mother,” she murmured. “If anyone was magical, it was Mother.” She thought about Tara Lenear’s wild hair and dead eyes once the madness took hold. Sorrow tore through her like a riptide, tears so close to the surface that it took all her will to keep from collapsing into helpless sobs.

His mage light fluttered close. He studied her face. “You,
mo croi
, my heart, would have found your magic even without the Surges.” She opened her mouth, aching to talk about her mother—to tell Fionn about her—but he shook his head. “Not tonight. We need sleep. I want to be out of here as close to dawn as we can.”

Chapter Fifteen

T
hey’d initiated the jump from underground, even though it meant they couldn’t go as far. Fionn had insisted, saying, “If that dark hellion waylays us the second our heads pop out, we’ll burn a lot of energy that could be spent traveling.”

“Where are we?” She looked at terrain a little more arid than what they’d left, but nothing like the innards of Nevada.

“Does it matter?” He gave her a crooked grin. “You take the next jump.”

It felt good to be away from the forest around Fionn’s. Though it was ridiculous, she’d nearly talked herself into D’Chel living nearby.
There are lots of reasons I saw him twice that don’t include him living there,
she lectured herself.
For all I know, he has his own private hell on one of the border worlds.

“Doona be making that mistake.” The Irish lilt was back in force. “The dark gods can go anywhere. Quickly, too. It was coincidence he found us. Once found, though, he saw us as easy pickings and decided to stay.” Fionn winked at her. “Delectable morsel that ye are, lass. What man could resist?”

“Bah!” She tapped into magic as she talked. “And ye’ll be turning this lassie’s puir head with all that balderdash.”

He made a sour face.

“If you don’t like having Irish tossed back at you,” she said, “then don’t use it in the first place. There. Ready when you are.”

Rune came to her side. Bella lit on her shoulder. Fionn put an arm around her. “Lead out.”

She pictured one of the many places she knew in northern Nevada, gratified when her magic worked and they came out within spitting distance of her planned location. Squinting, she looked at the sun. “This may do it for today.” She checked around them for traces of dark magic, blowing out a relieved breath when she didn’t find any. “Let’s figure out a place to camp.”

“I can take us farther. Remember, there are two of us now.” Fionn walked to where Rune and Bella had begun hunting rodents in a sagebrush thicket. He clucked, and the wolf loped to his side. Fionn shut his eyes. “Send me an image of where you lived with Marta. Thanks! Good hunting. I will tell you and Bella when we’re ready to leave.”

He returned to where Aislinn sprawled in the dirt, drinking from her water bottle. She turned her gaze upward. “Fine by me if we can get all the way to Rune and Marta’s today.” She smiled to herself. It was actually much more than fine. It was incredible that they could cover so much distance in such a short time. Made things much easier. She recalled the time it had taken her to get from her home to Mount Shasta. Of course, it was farther, and she’d stopped off in that other world, but still… Maybe pairing up with someone could work to her advantage.
Yeah, I’ve spent so much time avoiding entanglements, it never occurred to me that having someone else around could actually be helpful.

“You’re only just now coming to appreciate that?” Fionn was on his knees, facing away from her and bent over his maps.

“Awk. Damn it! What? Do you just live inside my head?” She crawled over to him and studied the map he had laid out.

“No, lass. I merely visit there occasionally. It’s fair interesting, though. Maybe I should spend more time—”

She slugged him in the thigh, but he just laughed. “Ye canna hurt me, lassie.”

“Stop that, too.”

“Why does it bother you?” He looked at her. Curiosity shone from the depths of his eyes.

She swallowed hard.
May as well tell him. If I do, maybe he’ll quit.
“Because it reminds me so much of Mother, it hurts.”

“Och aye.” He pulled her into his arms. “Irish English is more comfortable for me, but I will try to honor your wishes.”

Wanting to change the subject, she wriggled free and jabbed a finger at the map. “Show me where we are.”

“Here.” He pointed. “According to Rune, we are going there.” Fionn tapped at a spot not far from the Utah-Nevada line.

She gauged the distance. “Shouldn’t take long.”

“No, not long. What do you think we’ll find?”

She turned her palms upward. “Don’t know. Depending on how voluminous Marta’s notes are, though—assuming they’re still there—we might spend a couple of days sifting through them.”

“I thought the same.” He rolled back onto his heels and then proceeded to fold the maps and stuff them into the pocket of an old khaki field jacket. Patched pants made of the same fabric, battered leather boots, and a faded sweatshirt blazoned with
Go Bears
hung off his tall, well-muscled frame. Fionn extended a hand and helped her to her feet.

“I should have shopped for you while I was at that fishing lodge. This”—she fingered a hole in his jacket—“isn’t long for this world.”

He shouldered a North Face backpack. It looked newer than his clothes. “Get your things,” he suggested and then whistled. Rune came at a run. Bella dive-bombed Fionn, spreading her wings at the last possible moment.

Aislinn laughed. “What’s that? Her version of chicken?”

Bella cawed at her, sounding annoyed.

Fionn eyed his bird. “Looks like she has your number, sweetheart.”

Another displeased avian sound burst from the raven. “I am not a chicken.”

“Oh, so that’s it!” Aislinn dissolved in laughter.

Fionn joined her.

Aislinn had been correct that the jump wouldn’t take long. Between Fionn’s magic, which was stronger than hers, and the relatively short distance, they stood in front of a dilapidated yellow and blue Victorian before Rune even had a chance to merge with her.

“Great!” Aislinn bounded forward, hit something invisible that tossed her backward through the air, and landed on her ass.

“Hmph. Answers one question,” Fionn muttered. “Wards are still intact.”

“No shit.” Taking his proffered hand, Aislinn pulled herself upright and dusted dirt off her pants. She looked reproachfully at Rune. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

“You moved so quickly, I did not have a chance.”

“Can you disable them?” she asked the wolf.

“No, but they’ll let me in.” As if to demonstrate, he sashayed up to the front door and placed a paw to the right of it. The heavy, ornate oak slab swung inward. Rune disappeared inside.

“Good for him. Less good for us.” Aislinn took off her pack, dropped it in the dirt, and sat on it. She sent her Mage senses spinning outward to try to figure out how to dismantle the warding. When she sensed the complexity of Marta’s work, she groaned. “This will take days,” she muttered.

“Maybe not.” Fionn returned from walking around the house. “The back is far less complicated. I say we attack it from there.” He pulled her to her feet for a second time. “What is it about you and sitting in the dirt. Do you like it down there? Get your pack.”

They worked together. He illuminated the working so it was visible, while she clipped a large enough hole in the weave to let them through. “Well,” she said as the last piece fell, making a hissing noise, “that wasn’t so bad.”

“I wouldn’t be too cocky, lass. Marta may have other surprises for us. I know I would.” He eyed Bella. The raven was perched in a large cottonwood tree, preening her glossy black feathers. “You stay there. I’m not sure we have a safe path yet. Or that we need you inside at all.”

“Yes, I do not care for inside.” With a squawk, the raven went back to grooming herself, apparently still annoyed about Aislinn’s chicken analogy.

They crept forward. Spooked by Fionn’s pronouncement, Aislinn kept her Mage senses alert and fanned about her. They’d no sooner cleared the warding surrounding the house, when a muted buzzing that grew louder by the moment broke the late afternoon’s silence.

“Bees,” Fionn hissed.

“No,” Aislinn corrected, seeing them, “wasps.” She slapped a ward around herself. For a time, all she could see was wasp bodies trying to get to her, stingers embedded in her ward. Suddenly, they fell away en masse. “What the hell?” she muttered and cautiously withdrew her protective spell. She tried to avoid stepping on the wasps, but there were so many it was impossible. Small bodies squished under her boots.

“I killed them.” Fionn’s voice was harsh. Angry welts covered his face and neck. “Let’s tackle the house.”

“How many stung you?”

Glancing at her, he shook his head, looking annoyed. “Oh, not more than a couple dozen. You were damned quick with your warding. Nice work.” Grudging admiration rang beneath his words.

“Once we get to the bottom of Marta’s protections, I can heal those.”

“Thanks. I may take you up on that.” He hesitated fractionally and then favored her with a wanton grin. “I am perfectly capable of healing myself, lass, but I far prefer the feel of your magic against my skin than my own.”

“You’re thinking about sex?” she demanded. “Now? We have to figure out a way in—” Realizing what she’d just said, she laughed.

“Yes,” he chuckled. “I am all about finding ways into things. Especially you. Careful now.” They made their way to the front of the house and up the steps, stopping a couple of paces from the door. “Rune,” Fionn called to the wolf, “open the door for us.”

“Smart,” Aislinn murmured. “He’ll have a way both in and out that won’t hurt him.”

“Maybe.”

The door swung inward soundlessly, as if someone had just oiled the hinges. Fionn held up a hand. “Let me go first.”

She pushed outward with her Mage senses.

“Stop that!” Fionn’s voice was sharp. “The wolf may have a way through the wards, but you could blow it to smithereens with magic.”

“Sorry. Hadn’t thought about a self-destruct aspect.” She hastily pulled every shred of her power back inside herself and then tried to make herself close to invisible, even quieting her breathing.

Fionn crept forward. At the last moment, he dropped to his knees and leaned back. The swoosh of metal grated, harsh against her ears. Blades sprang from the upper doorsill, crisscrossing in the middle. They would have sliced Fionn in half if he’d stepped over the lintel.

“How did you know?” she cried.

“Sensed it. Marta left the lower portion open. Maybe she thought someone might force Rune to bring them here.”

A low whine sounded from just inside the house. “I did not know. I am grateful you were not injured,” Rune said. “Sorry—”

“Hush.” Fionn ducked under the crossed blades. “Your bond mate loved you very much. No need to apologize for that. Aislinn, come on.”

She looked at the half doorway, took off her pack, kicked it through, and followed Fionn inside. Straightening, she looked around. In contrast to the rundown appearance of the outside, the interior was spotless. Not so much as a speck of dust lay on anything. Furnished with antiques to match the age of the home, it looked as if she’d stumbled into a nineteenth century museum. The low hum of magic reached her ears.
Must be why the house is still clean.
“What did Marta do for a living?” she asked Rune.

“She was a doctor. And she kept on doctoring until close to the end. People still got sick after the dark ones came.” Rune’s voice resonated with pride.

Aislinn ruffled his fur. “Wonderful news,” she murmured. Then she thought about her Healer magic. Perhaps she didn’t really need anything as prosaic as penicillin anymore, but she’d look through whatever Marta had just the same. “Do you suppose there are medicines left here?”

“We don’t really need them, but it seems likely,” Fionn said. “No one else would have been able to storm the fortress. By Brigid’s tits, we barely got in.”

Aislinn giggled. “Goddess, eh? Is she a friend of yours? And does she have nice tits?”

“Yes to all three.”

“On a more serious note, do you think we’ve hit the last of Marta’s little surprises to trap the unwary?”

He cocked his head to one side. Strands of blond hair swung across his eyes. “Not sure. We won’t know until we’re through searching the rooms.”

“I can show you where her study was,” Rune offered, “and where she saw patients.”

“Let’s save the study for last,” Fionn said. “If there are more wards, that’s where I would have placed them.”

They started with the kitchen. Aislinn pulled open cupboards and drawers. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed excitedly. “There’s food here. Real food. Flour and sugar. Where the fuck would she have gotten those? And rice and noodles.” A broad smile split her face. “We might stay here until it’s gone. I don’t have anything nearly this sumptuous at my house.” She looked at Fionn. “Neither do you.”

“We could take some of it with us,” Fionn suggested.

“You don’t understand.” She stopped in the center of the kitchen and turned to face him, hands on her hips. “I’ve been hungry for most of the last three years. Besides, I’ve never had much luck transporting food. Though it might work if it wasn’t in cans.”

“Och aye, and I do understand.” He met her gaze. “But you’re not alone anymore.”

So that means I don’t get to make my own decisions…

“Yes.” His voice was even. “It means that and other things as well.”

She pounded a fist on the stone counter. “Damn it.” Her voice rose to a shriek. She tried to modulate it, but it was too late. “Stay out of my head.” She barreled out of the kitchen and right into something that felt like a thousand watt fence. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was feeling like all her cells had fried.