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“Ah,” Helena
said, “that is something of a problem. I can give you her home address, but we believe she has not been there for several weeks.”
I guess if she was the one who’d raised the Maniae against the council, then she would have been smart enough to get the hell out of Dodge.
“Is there any one place she favors? A town or a building? Does she have a close friend or relative who might know where she is?”
“No relatives that we know of, but the Frankston coven might be able to give you more information.”
Well, that was a lot of help. I forced a smile and said, “Thanks for letting me see the records. It was a help.”
She inclined her head, then hesitated, cocking her head slightly, as if listening to someone else. “There is one other place you might try.”
I paused in the act of turning around. “Where?”
Again she paused. “There is an old ritual site on Mount Macedon. Few people know of it these days, and even fewer would venture there, as the roadside is prone to slippage when it rains. But Selwin’s mother was high priestess when it was a functioning coven site, so she would know of it. If she felt the need to find somewhere safe, then that place would be it. There is much ancient magic there.”
“Did you also pass this information on to Hunter?”
Again with the small smile. “No, and we would ask that you don’t, either. The council has no need to know of our more sacred places.”
I nodded, even as I noted the use of we rather than I. She was in contact with someone else. “And the directions to find this site?”
“Will be here momentarily.” She paused, obviously listening to that other voice again. “Be wary when you enter the site. If Selwin has raised a Maniae, she may well have stepped from the path of light. There is no telling just what else she is capable of.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
“Also, it is very likely your dark defender will not be able to enter. Those who are not true flesh and blood may be summoned into that place via magic, but they may not otherwise enter from outside its boundaries.”
Unease slithered through me. I might have said many times that I was more than capable of looking after myself, but I’d learned very quickly that such was not the case when it came to the spirits and demons of hell.
And I had the sudden, gut-wrenching notion that, if Selwin had slipped from the path of light, I might just be facing those sort of creatures at the ritual site.
After all, she’d have to know that sooner or later the council would come after her, and she’d had plenty of time to prepare for that eventuality.
“Why would such a site be able to ban the entry of reapers and Aedh when a place as powerful as the Brindle cannot?”
“Because the Brindle is old, but it is not situated on an ancient site. There are places in this country that have been used for magic and ceremonies since long before European settlement arrived.”
Which really didn’t answer the question, but maybe she didn’t actually know.
She glanced past me. I turned and watched a gray-clad young woman approach. She offered me an envelope, curtsied, then left.
“Please read the contents here,” Helena commented. “We cannot risk the directions falling into the wrong hands.”
Meaning Hunter and her council, I suspected. I tore open the envelope, scanned the directions carefully, then folded the paper into the envelope again and handed it back to her.
“Again, thank you for your help.”
She nodded. “Just be careful, Risa. There are many things—and many people—in your life who are not what they seem.”
And on that rather ominous note, I turned and walked out. But as I left the room, instinct had me glancing to the left. Down the far end of the hall, her willowy figure almost lost to the shadows, was Kiandra.
“The ancient site will protect you when nothing else will.” Her voice, cool and distant, was whisper-quiet, but it floated down the hallway easily, as if there weren’t any distance separating us. “But human blood must not be shed there. Not in anger, not in vengeance, and not in hate or fear.”
I waited, but she said nothing else. She merely nodded my way once, then turned and disappeared through the closest doorway. Obviously, it had been Kiandra herself who’d given me all the extra information about the sacred ritual site.
For whatever reason, the Brindle witches were on my side.
