The Order of Brigid's Cross - The Wild Hunt (Book 1): The Wild Hunt (25 page)

“Irresistible!” Em moaned softly, her eyes closed in pure
ecstasy. She lifted the teaspoon to her mouth and licked off the remaining
cookie dough. “I have never tasted anything so delicious.”

“Yeah, Grandma makes sick cookies,” Jamal added.

“Sick?” Mrs. Gage asked
,
her face
tightened in disapproval. “Boy, my cookies never made
no one
sick.”

Jamal grinned. “No, Grandma, sick don’t mean that anymore,”
he explained.
“Sick means good.
Real
good.”

“Then why didn’t you say
good
?”
Mrs. Gage asked, shaking her wooden spoon in Jamal’s direction. “
Don’t make no
sense to change the meaning of a word what’s
been around for hundreds of years.” Shaking her head, she turned back to her
mixing bowl. “Don’t know what’s wrong with people today.”

Em winked at Jamal and moved closer to Mrs. Gage, peeking
over her shoulder into the bowl.
 
Mrs.
Gage looked back at Em and lifted her eyebrows. “Something you looking for?”
she asked.

Em nodded. “Yes, I wanted to see if you put any magic in
there,” she teased.

Mrs. Gage’s jaw dropped for a moment and her eyes widened in
surprise, but Em had already turned to smile at Jamal and didn’t see the shock
in the older woman’s face.
 
Mrs. Gage
took a quick recovery breath and pasted a smile on her face while she held her
trembling hands together to steady them. “I don’t need any magic for my
cookies,” she replied with a slightly shaky voice. “I’ve got skills.”

Jamal chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said. “Grandma got
skills.”

Em studied Mrs. Gage for a moment and placed her hand on the
woman’s shoulder. “Mrs. Gage, you look a little tired,” she said. “Do you need
to sit down?”

Shaking her head, Mrs. Gage turned back to the cookie dough.
“Oh, no, dear, but thank you for your concern,” she said. “I just want to get
these on cookie sheets and into the oven.”

“Jamal and I can do that,” Em said, glancing over to Jamal
and noting his agreement. “You’ve been through an awful lot today with
everything that’s gone on. It’s amazing that you are still standing on your
feet.”

Wrapping her arm around Mrs. Gage’s shoulders, Em gently
urged her away from the counter and back towards the living area.
 
She guided her to a small, overstuffed chair
and helped her sit down. “You sit down and I’ll make you a cup of tea,” she
said. “And just rest for a little bit.”

Once seated, Mrs. Gage was surprised at how tired she
actually felt. “Are you sure you can handle baking the cookies?” she asked.

“Of course I can,” she said with more confidence than she
felt. “And Jamal can show me how to put cookies on a sheet.”

It was Mrs. Gage’s turn to be suspicious. “You do know what
a cookie sheet is, don’t you?” she asked.

Em smiled and nodded nervously. “Of course I know what a
sheet is,” she replied. “I sleep on a bed, don’t I?”

Jamal laughed out loud, but when his grandmother shot him a
warning look, he covered his mouth with his hand and tried to muffle his mirth.

“What?” Em asked, looking from grandson to grandmother.

“Cookie sheets are thin, flat, baking pans,” Mrs. Gage said.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you to cook, child?”

“My mother died when I was a child,” Em replied softly.

Mrs. Gage grabbed the arms of the chair and started to stand
up but found her strength was spent.
 
She
slowly lowered herself back into the chair and stretched out her hands towards
Em.
 
“Come here, honey,” she insisted.

“I’m fine,” Em insisted, shaking her head and stepping back.
“It was a long time ago.”

“Don’t matter how long ago it was,” Mrs. Gage insisted.
“When you lose a member of your family, the pain never totally goes away.”

Shrugging, Em tried to brush it off and was surprised to
discover a tear sliding down her cheek.
 
She quickly whisked it away with her hand, but Mrs. Gage met her eyes
and shook her head. “Child, you come over to me right now or I promise you I
will chase you across this apartment.”

Hesitantly, Em moved towards her and allowed her hands to be
enfolded into a pair of fragile, soft ones. “I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Gage said, her
eyes filled with sympathy and understanding. “I know what it’s like to lose
someone you loved.”

Em took a deep, shaky breath. “I didn’t love her,” she
insisted, wiping away another tear. “She never loved me. She didn’t even
realize I was alive.”

Mrs. Gage shook her head. “I don’t know what happened when
you were a child,” she said, “but I do know you wanted your mother’s love. It’s
only human.”

“But you see, that’s where you have it wrong,” Em said,
gently pulling her hands away from the elderly woman. “I am anything but human.”

Ian, Sean and Pete surrounded the chair where Adrian was
breathing deeply and in a deep hypnotic trance.

“Well, he’s under,” Ian whispered to Sean and Pete. “Is
there anything specific you want me to find out?”

“Who the hell did this to him,” Sean said, the teasing tone
gone from his voice, “and where he lives.”

Ian nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

“And more importantly,” Pete added, “what the next steps are
in their plan.”

“Aye, I think that’s where I’m going to go first,” he said.

He turned to Adrian. “Adrian, I want you to think back to
your first meeting about two weeks ago with the person who wanted to help you
with the gangs in Chicago,” Ian said. “Can you remember that night?”

Adrian nodded slowly.

“Good,” Ian said. “Do you know that person?
 
Have you met him before?”

Adrian nodded again.

“Good,” Ian replied. “Who is it?”

“Captain Douglas,” Adrian said softly. “It’s Captain
Douglas.”

“What the…,” Sean whispered harshly. “It can’t be Douglas,
he’s one of us. He’s one of the good guys.”

Pete put his hand on Sean’s arm. “Remember about glamour,”
he reminded Sean. “They could have used Captain Douglas’s face in order to
influence Adrian.”

Sean nodded. “Yeah man, you’re right,” he said with a deep
breath.
“Sorry, Ian.”

“No problem, Sean,” he replied. “And I think Pete has the
right of it. What better person to use than a trusted superior?”

Ian turned back to Adrian. “What did Captain Douglas say to
you?” he asked.

“He told me that he had a new weapon in the war against
drugs,” Adrian replied. “That it was an army of warriors that could tell good
folk from evil folk. That it could stop the bad guys and no one else would get
hurt.”

“And what did you think?”

“Well, at first, you know, I thought it was crazy because we
can’t let people get hurt, even if they’ve done bad things,” Adrian said. “But
the captain said he’d cleared it with a judge and the mayor.
 
They were all for it.
 
He said it would save lives, hundreds of
lives.
 
And all I had to do was work with
the group.”

“What’s the name of the group?” Ian asked.

“The Hunt,” Adrian answered. “He gave me this connection,
like this mind thing, and I could call on them to be at gang wars to stop
them.
 
To save kids from
being killed.”

“What dates did you give them?” Ian asked.

Adrian repeated the dates of the last two attacks and then
added one more.

“That’s two days from now,” Sean said, moving up and putting
his hand on Ian’s shoulder. “Find out when and where.”

“And where were the Hunt supposed to show up?” Ian asked.

Adrian supplied the parks that had hosted the last two
attacks and then he paused.

“Adrian, the next one,” Ian said.
“The one
that’s scheduled in the future.
 
Where is that going to be held?”

Adrian shook his head. “That’s a special one,” he said.
“It’s supposed to be a big surprise. The captain said he didn’t want me to tell
anyone about it.”

“But you already told the Hunt about it?” Ian asked.

“Yes, sir,” Adrian replied. “I’m their Summoner. I’m the only
one they listen to.”

“Well, then, you can tell me,” Ian said, “because I’m your
trusted friend.”

“Are you?” Adrian asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Aye,” Ian said. “I am.”

Adrian shook his head. “No, I can’t trust you,” he said.
“The captain told me not to trust anyone. This one is too special.
 
This one will show everyone how much power we
have.”

Sean stepped up and glanced at Ian, silently asking
permission to try. With a quick nod of his head, Ian stepped back and gave Sean
access.

“Hey, Skinny,” Sean said.

A smile grew on Adrian’s face. “Hey, Irish,” he replied.

“Hey, I got a problem, and I’m hoping you can help me,” Sean
said. “I know the captain is working on something big and he’s put you in
charge.”

“Yeah, Sean,” Adrian replied, his voice enthused. “He said
he trusted me to do it.”

“Well, I know he couldn’t have picked a better man for the
job,” Sean said.

“Hey, thanks man, that really means a lot coming from you,”
Adrian said.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Sean said. “You’re the Summoner and
everything, but I’m supposed to be, um, I’m supposed to be
your
…”

“Champion,” Ian whispered. “That’s a trusted friend.”

“Yeah, right, your champion,” Sean said. “Did the cap
mention that to you?”

Adrian shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”

“Well, damn,” Sean said. “
‘Cause
I
kind of forgot where I was supposed to be for this big deal
event,
and the cap is not going to be too happy about this.”

“You know about Grant Park?” Adrian asked.

Sean’s eyes widened when Adrian mentioned the most popular
park in the city’s downtown district. “Yeah, of course I know,” he lied. “Like
I said, the cap asked me to be your champion. You’re the guy in charge, and I
get the coffee and donuts.”

Adrian chuckled. “I’m surprised you’re not getting the beer
and pretzels, Irish.”

Sean nodded and tried to lighten his voice. “Well, yeah,
those are for the victory celebration afterwards.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be so cool,” Adrian replied. “All those
kids watching, seeing justice and honor before them. It’s going to make a
lasting impression.”

“Yeah, I know it will,” Sean agreed.
“Especially
for those kids.
 
Do you remember
how many kids?”

“Yeah, the
cap told me over a thousand
grammar school kids are
going to be there,” Adrian replied. “Didn’t he
tell you?”

“He told me that you’d give me the details, because you were
lead on this one,” Sean said.

Pete rolled up next to Sean and handed him his tablet. “This
is not good,” he whispered.

Sean looked down at the screen, and his heart dropped. In
two days’ time, in Grant Park, a Children’s Music Festival was being held.
 
Children’s choirs from all over the city
would be participating at the Grant Park band shell.

Taking a deep, unsteady breath before he spoke again, Sean
tried to make his voice light. “So, do you want me to meet you at the band
shell?” he asked.

Adrian shook his head. “No, that’s too close to the action,”
he replied. “The cap said it would be better to just let the Hunt do their work
and then appear after they’re done, like the other times.”

Sean felt physically ill, picturing what the Hunt would do
to all of those children. “Why did the cap say we were doing this one?” he
asked. “These kids aren’t gang members.”

“Oh, he told me this was to help the mayor understand the
strength of our new program,” Adrian replied. “He said this will be like
nothing Chicago’s ever seen.”

“So, what happens if it rains?” Sean asked. “Can we cancel
the demonstration?”

Adrian shook his head. “No. Once the Hunt has been called,
they can’t be stopped.”

“We’ve got to call off this event,” Sean said. “We’ve got to
alert the mayor’s office and call the whole damn thing off.”

“Yeah, that will work,” Pete said. “You’ll be thrown into a
looney bin.”

“How about if we say there’s a terrorist threat?” Adrian
suggested.

Pete shook his head. “They’ll just call in more security,”
he said.

“More people to get killed,” Sean said. “We’ve just got to
stop this.”

Adrian dropped his head into his hands. “Oh, man, Sean, I am
so sorry,” he said. “It’s
all my
fault.”

Sean put his hand on his friend’s arm. “No, it’s not your
fault,” he said. “They used and manipulated you. You are as much a victim as
anyone else.”

“Yeah, but how do I keep from falling into their trap
again?” he asked. “I really believed I saw the captain.”

Ian walked over to the table and picked up a small, plastic,
spray bottle. “Actually, I was going to talk to Sean about this when he came
in.
 
It’s an herbal mixture that’s
sprayed into your eyes to reveal the truth behind any faery glamour.”

“Does it work?” Sean asked.

“Well, in theory,” Ian said. “We haven’t tested it yet.”

“I’ll try it,” Adrian offered. “I’d like to be able to
figure out who I’m really talking to.”

“How long does it last?” Pete asked.

Ian shook his head. “I’m not sure about that either,” he
said. “The old recipe I took it from suggested that travelers spray it in their
eyes before a journey so they wouldn’t be deceived.”

Sean shrugged. “Well, it’s probably good for at least a
couple of hours,” he said. “You should give it a shot.”

Ian walked over to them and sprayed the bottle.
 
A fine mist of spray filled the area.

“Hey,” Sean exclaimed, wiping the excess moisture off his
face. “I didn’t volunteer to try this stuff.”

“Sorry, the sprayer was more powerful than I thought,” he
said. “But, it’s only herbs, so it won’t hurt you.”

“In the meantime,” Pete interrupted, “we’ve got to figure
out how to either stop the Hunt or how to fight them.”

Ian nodded. “Aye, we’ll need to call a meeting and put
together a battle plan.”

Sean nodded. “Yeah, but before we do that,” he said, “
we
better get Adrian back to work so no one gets
suspicious.
 
So, Ian, he can’t walk
around with a helmet on his head.
 
What’s
he supposed to do?”

Ian picked up a small stainless steel bowl and a roll of
gauze. “I’m afraid, Adrian, that you had a bit of a run-in with your head and a
heavy object,” he said. “And the doctor told you to keep it bandaged for
several days to avoid infection.”

Ian removed the helmet, quickly placed the bowl on Adrian’s
head and started covering it with gauze.

“As soon as you’re done,” Sean said, “I’ll get him back to
Slainte to pick up his car.
 
Then I have
to run one quick errand and I’ll be back for the meeting. Give me an hour,
okay?”

Ian nodded as he tucked the last strand of gauze underneath
the others and applied some medical tape. “I’ll get everyone together,” he
said. “And Adrian, you need to act like nothing’s wrong.
 
If someone you don’t recognize starts up a
conversation, remember to play along.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” he said. “Do you need me at this
meeting?”

Sean shook his head. “No, because I really don’t know who I
can trust yet,” he said. “And I don’t want to risk your safety.”

“Dude, I caused this,” Adrian said. “My safety
ain’t
worth shit.”

“I already told you,” Sean said. “This wasn’t you, it was
them. You’re nothing but a victim, too.”

“Yeah, well I sure wish I felt that way,” Adrian said.

“Start thinking that way,” Sean replied. “That’s an order.”