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I looked at the barrier again. It was as big as it was going to get. “Lugh, go.”
As he jumped through, Cynwrig bent and sent another wave of soil crashing toward the Annwfyn. Then he spun and dove through the gap. As I stepped through after him, the wind howled a warning, and I looked around to see an Annwfyn that had obviously escaped Cynwrig’s second wave launch at me from some distance away.
Lugh grabbed my arm and yanked me back while Cynwrig lunged for the knife in the ground, pulling it free. The barrier began to close but again, it wasn’t fast enough. Cynwrig raised the knife and, as the Annwfyn came through the shrinking gap, plunged the blade into the fucker’s head. The blow was hard enough that the point came out between its eyes.
The Annwfyn was dead before it hit the ground.
The barrier closed over the top of its body, slicing it in two, leaving its top half on our side, the bottom on the other.
The remaining two Annwfyn hit the barrier harder than Lugh and I had, and rebounded even further. They scrambled up quickly and relaunched, their screams muted by the barrier but not their anger and frustration. It burned around us, as fierce as the hunger in their eyes.
“Well,” Lugh said heavily, “I guess we know now why the barrier remains in place. Awbrey’s Key must have locked the gate open.”
“He was probably vaporized right alongside everyone else,” Cynwrig said. “It would have meant there was no one alive to close the thing.”
I glanced at him. “Couldn’t the Myrkálfar have done that?”
He wiped the knife blade clean and then handed it to me hilt first. “We were never asked and, given the deadness of the soil outside the mine, it’s likely we wouldn’t have succeeded. Besides, given how quickly the Annwfyn reacted to the slight bit of noise that gate made, any attempt at closure would have been too dangerous.”
I sheathed my knife and studied the Annwfyn still tearing at the barrier. “Given how effective this barrier has proven to be, why haven’t they been employed around all the dark gates?”
“It would be impractical, given the number of gates and the time and energy it takes to maintain them,” Cynwrig replied.
“And I’m betting there’d also be few witches—or mages—willing to dedicate their entire lives to that maintenance,” Lugh added, “because that’s basically what it would take.”
I nodded. It did make sense, though I couldn’t help but wonder if these barriers were used in areas considered of “national importance,” such as the Queen’s various residences and Westminster. “Well, aside from uncovering what happened, we also learned something else—the Annwfyn are not affected by the sun. Or at least, these ones aren’t.”
“Fuck,” Lugh said. “That didn’t even occur to me.”
“It’s not all that surprising when you think about it,” Cynwrig said. “Annwfyn is a reflection of our world—one that exists alongside but on a different plane—so it’s logical there would be different races with very different capabilities and tolerances. But you’re wrong in saying they are not affected—look closer.”
“I’d rather not,” I said, but nevertheless did.
And saw the fiery red rings beginning to dot their dark skins. They reminded me a little of the bright glow that appeared on the edge of burning paper, and they spread just as quickly, racing up their arms and across their faces.
The note of their screams changed from rage to surprise to pain. They turned and ran. One became ash before he hit the deeper swathe of trees along the ridge, but I had no idea what happened to the other.
I personally hoped theyallbecame nothing more than tiny bits of soot.
I pushed to my feet, shifted my backpack to a more comfortable position, then followed Lugh through the trees. I had no idea where the car was in relation to our current position, but Lugh tugged his maps and compass out of his pack and had us back at the car a few hours later.
By this time, I was starving, and the evening’s shadows were once again drawing close. While he did a U-turn and headed back down the road, I dragged out my phone and, once I had a signal, called Sgott.
“Hey, lass,” he said, gravelly tones relieved. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”
“Sorry, we didn’t have any reception where we were. I take it you’ve found Riayn’s body?”
“No,” he growled. “We did not.”
“Meaning someone has definitely removed it?”
“A question I’m endeavoring to answer as we speak.”
“Well, she could hardly have walked out, given the knife restrictions.”
“Death ends the knife restrictions,” he commented.
“Death by necessity also ends life. That’s hardly a good way to get out of them.”
