AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I know you believe that,’ she said, a note of urgency in her voice, ‘but trust me on this. Blaise St Clair is only just beneath the surface of John Ford. You never know if or when he’ll emerge. If he does you’re not safe. You can’t trust that man, believe me.’
‘Romy! Celeste! Are you listening?’
We both spun round to see that Hector was talking to the others. Celeste gave me a quick hug and we walked over to where they were all gathered around the dining room table.
‘How did Sirius take it?’ Aunt Iliana asked nervously.
‘He wasn’t there,’ Hector admitted. ‘Emrick said he was only back on the island for an hour, but he couldn’t settle. He’s out there searching. It’s a waste of time because he’ll never find her without help, that much is obvious.’
‘Killian should be in Whitby by now,’ Harley said hopefully. ‘Maybe he’s got Sweeney with him, and if he has they might be able to track Trinity.’
Sweeney—who Keely had explained allowed us to call him by that name because they’d all struggled with his real name, Suibhne, when they met him in Ballydraiocht—was a leprechaun. Even thinking about that made my head explode.
Apparently he’d played the harp at my sister’s wedding. I doubted I’d be showing any of my friends Harley’s wedding photos.
‘It’s all maybes and mights, isn’t it?’ Sky said dolefully. ‘I feel so helpless.’
‘We can’t think like that,’ Star told her. ‘We’ll find Trinity, and we’ll find whoever did that to Zephyr, and then we’ll make sure they never harm another witch again.’
‘Fighting talk,’ Jethro said, ‘but how exactly are you going to do that?’
‘I don’t understand why the Guardians can’t find her.’ Sky’s tone sounded almost accusing as she looked at Hector. ‘I thought you lot knew everything.’
‘Guardians can’t track fae magic,’ Hector said. ‘It’s a different kind of magic to witches’ magic entirely.’
‘But so is yours!’
‘It is.’ Hector sighed. ‘I wish I knew how to explain it. Let’s just say Guardians have their own strengths, drawn from the earth. Witches’ power is genetic and since they’re human, but with a witch gene, and since Guardians are human or, occasionally, witches, we’re all connected.’ He shook his head. ‘The fae are different entirely. They came from old gods, and where those gods originated is not known. But whatever runs through their blood isn’t connected to ours. Our best chance is the O’Briens and Sweeney. If anyone can find them it will be them.’
‘Aye, if they choose to help us,’ Castor said darkly.
‘What do you mean by that?’ Harley demanded. ‘Why wouldn’t they? They’re good people.’
‘They’re fae though,’ Sky said nervously.
‘They’re more than that,’ Harley reminded her. ‘They’re Tuatha Dé Danann. They’re the gods that Hector was just talking about! The fae are descended from them.’
‘Aye,’ Castor said, ‘and therefore the fae carry the blood of the Tuatha Dé Danaan inside them. They might have devolved into lower life forms, but inside they’re related, connected. The O’Briens’ first loyalty is always going to be to the fae, no matter what. And the Pendragons are fae, there’s no getting away from it.’
‘That’s not true!’ Harley said angrily. ‘The Pendragons might be fae but they’re outside decent fae society. They’re rebels, revolutionaries. Nothing but trouble! You can’t trust one of them and the O’Briens have nothing to do with them.’
‘Do you mind?’ Keely snapped. ‘That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.’
‘And that’s my husband Castor’s slandering,’ Harley snapped back.
They glared at each other, and my heart sank. With Keely involved with Lowen and Harley married to Killian, might my sisters end up on opposite sides of a war? The way things were going, who knew?
‘This isn’t helping anyone,’ Lowen said. ‘Hector, you need to get Blaise or John or whoever he is to the island and get him settled and in place before Sirius gets back—if he goes back there. He might come straight back here.’
‘Oh, I do hope so,’ Aunt Iliana said anxiously. ‘He needs to be with his family at a time like this.’
Harley gave Keely an angry look and turned away from her. ‘I’ll come with you, Hector,’ she said. ‘I want to see Mum anyway. I haven’t seen her since I got back from our honeymoon.’
‘Oh, and I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear all the details of that,’ Keely muttered. ‘Not like we’ve got anything more important going on, is there?’
‘Stop it!’ I couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘If you two can’t even stay civil what chance have the rest of us got? You’re twins! You’ve always been on each other’s side, no matter what. You can’t let this break you apart. Whatever’s coming—and heaven forbid but it might well be a war—it’s not even started yet, and you’re already fighting between yourselves. How are you going to get through it when your families are on opposite sides? And if you two can’t stick together, what chance have the fae and witch communities got?’
‘Romy’s absolutely right,’ Lowen said, glaring at the twins. ‘We’re supposed to be bringing our people together, not taking sides and tearing lumps out of each other. The O’Briens can be trusted, I’m sure of that. They want peace as much as any of us. As for the Pendragons—well, I may be one, but that doesn’t mean that everything Harley said isn’t true. They can’t be trusted. Let’s face it, when I’ve had my magic restored and I’m Wulfram Pendragon again, you might not be able to trust me either.
