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“Probably not,” he agreed, earning another dry snort from the orderly.
“You never know.” There was a loud scream from one of the locked cells on the floor above them, resulting in a chorus of muffled hoots and cackles. “Your guy has kept his head down and he does what he’s told, but aside from his lawyers, you’re his first visitors.”
A hard buzz and a click from the door in the corner announced Julian’s arrival. Nelson didn’t recognize Julian at first. His long, flowing hair was gone. It had been shaved close and was the most immediate and obvious difference, but Nelson was more shocked by how happy Julian was to see them.
“Hey! Thank you so much for coming,” he said, sounding completely sincere as he quickly shuffled to them in bright orange scrubs and plastic sandals. His complexion was sallow and he looked tired, but he appeared alert. Despite his hands and feet being chained, Julian easily lowered onto the bench across from Nox and smiled as his chains were secured to the table by another orderly.
“You don’t look like you’re feeling well, Julian,” Nox noted as he leaned back and surveyed him.
“I caught a chest cold and it’s making my asthma act up. But aside from that, I’m doing as good as can be expected,” Julian said with a shrug. “Thanks to lots of court-ordered therapy and a combination of psychotropic drugs,” he added.
“That’s good…” Nox replied hesitantly, earning an emphatic nod from Julian.
“It’s helped me see things clearly and I’m doing my best to make things right now,” he said to Nox, then grimaced at Nelson. “Not that I’ll ever undo all the damage I’ve done.”
“Talking to us is a good start,” Nox said encouragingly. “There’s still a lot we don’t understand.”
“I want to help!” Julian said. “I know I’ll never see the outside of a prison. I don’t want to after what I did to Elsa and those girls. I deserve this—and worse—and I owe them and my dad and you the truth.”
Nelson went around to the bench on Nox’s right and sat. “That’s good, Julian.” He took out his notepad, prepared to copy. “Did it start with Elsa? Was she the reason you went into this or did you choose her because she was most convenient?”
“It was always her,” Julian said and his voice wavered as he studied his hands. “I loved her—for years—but no matter what I did, she never saw me as anything but just sweet old Julian.”
“You thought the Tuath Dé would impress her?” Nox guessed, making Julian nod.
“She loved magick. I thought she’d take me seriously if I was a real druid and part of a practicing coven, not just some loser who worked at his dad’s occult shop,” he explained and Nox nodded slowly.
“What did she say? I assume you tried to recruit her before you resorted to kidnapping.”
Julian answered with a faint nod, his lip wobbling as he stared at the table between him and Nox. “I told her about them and that I would be one of the Tuatha Dé Danann when the Dagda returned.”
To Nox’s credit, he didn’t bat an eye and looked completely absorbed. “Is that what you all believe, that the Dagda will return?”
“They do, but I don’t anymore,” Julian said quickly. He rubbed his eye like he was groggy, reminding Nelson of a child who was overly tired and cranky. “It all seemed possible before, though, and the MacCrorys had all those old books and Ma knew things!”
Nelson raised a brow at Nox, then narrowed his eyes at Julian to see if he started to squirm and show signs of deception. “She was involved?”
He nodded quickly. “She’s in charge down there.”
“Colin wasn’t?” Nox verified, earning a sarcastic snort from Julian.
“Colin and Brian were practically animals. I don’t even know if they can read, but she knows those old books inside and out.”
“What old books?” Nelson asked as he pictured the inside of the trailer in New Castle. He hadn’t seen a single book when they were in there the day before. He thought back to the morning he’d snuck in by himself and recalled the big beast of a Rottweiler snoring on the couch. Then, Nelson saw books hidden amongst the trash and dirty dishes on the coffee table and there was an opened book on the kitchen table. “He took them.”
“Can you give us a list of any you can remember?” Nox asked Julian, earning a slight frown.
“I’ll try. Most were just old recipe books and journals that belonged to past MacCrorys.”
Nox made a thoughtful sound. “Odd that Ma would get possession of those and have seniority there if she married into the clan.”
“She didn’t marry into it,” Julian said with a suggestive look at Nox and Nelson. “She told me she was born on that property. They all were. There had been an old cabin there for close to a hundred years but it burned down when Ma was a little girl and she said her daddy had brought that trailer for them to live in. She said that all the MacCrorys were born there.”
“Really? That’s… How did you find them?” Nox asked, sounding truly perplexed.
That was the question Nelson had come to have answered and was most dreading. He knew that if Julian started talking about the MacCrorys and the Tuath Dé, Clancy’s name was bound to come out if he was involved. Nelson’s heart was in his throat, he was so worried about Nox as Julian cursed the MacCrorys under his breath.
“Boy, do I wish I had picked anything else. I was doing research and heard rumors of an old coven down in New Castle and that they were somehow connected to the Tuath Dé.”
