Cate stood at the corner across from the Sidhe court. I stood just behind her and waited for the moon to rise. It was about five minutes before peak. She was pulling spell ingredients from her pocket, inventorying them for me as she did.
“Rosemary, broken branches to take away memory; lemon verbena for cleansing, lavender for drowsiness, a grain of salt for honesty, that should make the base spell.” She held the items in one hand and looked at me. “I need to you look away when I cast. I read that if someone is looking at the spell when it happens they will fall under its power.”
“Not a problem. I thought I’d get a bit closer and go when the twins drop off.” I could see the two Sidhe who were guarding the court last time. They were standing on alert, eyes scanning the street. “I don’t remember them being so alert last time.”
“Do you think something is up?” Cate was reading a scrap of paper, not looking at me. “Should I make the spell stronger?”
“No, let’s just stick to the plan. If something has got them on alert, it shouldn’t make a difference when they are asleep.”
She looked up at me and I couldn’t resist giving her a kiss before leaving. It started out as a friendly peck on the lips. And then it turned into something more. Her tongue slipped past my lips and probed my mouth. I started to draw back and Cate placed her hand on the back of my head, pulling me closer. My own tongue took control and the next thing I knew things were getting out of hand.
Cate pulled away first. “Go, we don’t want to miss the timing. We’ll continue this later.” She smiled when she spoke; it seemed she was taking control of the relationship.
I gave her another kiss, this one quick and on the cheek. Looking up at the moon I said. “I’ll be across the street by the time you cast.”
She smiled again and started the spell. “I call upon the power of Hypnos to beckon the Irish Fay to sleep.”
She continued but I didn’t hear any other words as I loped toward the building.
Just when I got close enough to see the bruises on the Twin’s faces, I heard her murmuring stop. Two pairs of eyelids drooped and two swords slid from lifeless hands. So far, so good. The Sidhe rocked back to lean against the wall and slid to land on their silk clad butts.
I almost spoke the first words of an unlocking spell when I remembered I couldn’t cast any spells until we left the radius of Cate’s casting.
The door swung open at my push, I guess Fionuir had all confidence in her guards. I followed the path we had taken the last time I was here until I came to the large brass doors. Before I opened them, I closed my eyes trying to visualize the location of the tapestry. I thought it was to my right about half way down the room.
The doors were heavy but perfectly balanced, they swung open noiselessly revealing a room full of Sidhe draped over furniture, lying in piles on the floor, and propped against the wall. A few gentle snores sounded but no one moved. It seemed like most of the Sidhe in Vancouver were at home tonight.
I turned to walk around the perimeter of the room, working counterclockwise. I passed a painting of the Wild Hunt, tall fair people who looked like Maeve riding in the moonlight, then a sculpture of the same scene, these Sidhe looking more like Fionuir. Beside that was a tapestry of a picnic the setting looking like something out of the sixteen hundreds. Fionuir had covered most of the walls with art depicting hunts and parties and landscapes of an Ireland that never really existed.
The tapestry Maeve described was further from the door than I remembered but I could see the table underneath it. I tiptoed past three Sidhe women who lay in a crumpled heap in front of a sofa; they were going to be sore when they woke up.
The table was cluttered with china ornaments. I placed a shepherdess and a filigreed bowl on the floor. Then I started moving the rest of the contents around. There was no amulet. I couldn’t feel any tingle of a disguise spell. I looked around the room; I was going to need a day, not just an hour to search the whole area.
My internal clock told me I’d been in the room for ten minutes tops. I had an hour easy. If I had a strategy maybe I could do it.
I did a fast tour of the room, not stopping to search, just looking for possibilities. There were six places where Fionuir might keep something that important to her.
I found her, sleeping in a chair, a glass of wine spilled on the rug beneath her. I worked outward from her checking all the tables and baskets. I found gems and ornaments and baubles. I found bowls full of gold chains and rings. What I didn’t find was a lump of stone with spells painted on it. No disguise spells either. As far as I could tell the amulet was not in the building.
Fionuir shifted in her sleep and I realized it had been too long.
I slipped out of the room and ran down the corridor. The front door was still sitting ajar and I pushed it as I ran through. The twins were stretching, eyes still closed but they were seconds from waking. I looked toward the corner where I knew Cate was waiting for me and saw shadows. Good, she was still hidden.
Then one shadow slipped away and I stopped dead in the middle of the street. The shadow was hunched and its outline moved as though rats were fighting under the skin. Then it drifted toward the rooftops. I stopped watching it and drew my eyes back to the doorway. My stomach clenched, my blood sank to my feet. I knew I was in shock but I couldn’t let that stop me. I ignored the cold that grasped me. I tried to breathe but it was too much effort.
I stepped toward the doorway. Cate was there. She was leaning against the door. Her head was hanging, hair falling like a curtain.
“Cate.” I tried to get above a whisper but I had no breath.
I kept stepping forward. “Cate, please say something.”
Now I was standing in front of her. I lifted the curtain of her hair and saw what I dreaded; her eyes were drained of color. There was a round burn mark on her forehead. The shadow had been a demon. Someone had conjured a power demon. It had drawn Cate’s entire magic potential through that burn mark.
Cate was gone. Cate was dead.