Half a dozen other young mages were also being trained in swordplay at the club, and I understood that such training was being conducted at other locations in the U.S. and Europe. Infiltration into the Knights’ compounds was part of a larger resistance effort, and I was taught a number of recognition symbols that were used by members of the resistance.
After one of our training sessions, Michaela approached me. “Buy you dinner and a drink at Rosie’s?” After our kidnapping, we tended to be careful about where we went out, and Rosie’s was as safe as we could get.
I said sure, and she followed me to my place so I could shower and change, then she gave me a ride to the bar.
“What do you think about this grand plan?” she asked me after the waitress took our orders and brought our drinks.
I shrugged. “I don’t have any better ideas.”
Michaela shook her head, a scowl on her face. “But the whole plan rests on the basis of you sticking your neck out. Doesn’t it seem to be rather fragile? Not to mention the chance that you’ll get killed or captured again.”
I sat back in my chair and took a long pull on my beer. “Well, yeah, I guess. Actually, I’m the one who brought up the question of what they would do if I get killed. They are working on contingencies, I think.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
I laughed. “That bothers me a lot. But, Michaela, I guess I sorta figure I’m living on borrowed time. All the crazy things that have happened in the past year, all the people I’ve seen die. I’m not smarter, or stronger, or have better skills than all those people. I’m just luckier, I guess. And I owe a lot of people for bailing my ass out, including you.”
She seemed to study me in silence for a couple of minutes, then shook her head again. “I can’t figure you out. You sit in those planning meetings and almost never say anything. You act like a good little soldier, nodding your head while people talk about sending you into the lion’s den armed with a penknife. That seems at odds with the strong woman I know.”
“You say that as though it’s unusual.” I found myself smiling. “I guess for other people it does sound weird, but that’s been my life since I was eighteen years old. Older people dream up crazy things for me to do, then send me off to figure out how to do them. I’m conditioned to it. It’s a lot easier than objecting or asking the wrong questions, and it avoids the beatings.”
Her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed.
I leaned forward. “Just between you and me, the reason I don’t say anything about all their plans is that I expect most, if not all of them, will fall apart once I hit the ground. They’ll drop me into a situation that will be completely different than anything they expect, and I’ll have to figure it all out on the fly.”
Michaela stared at me, her mouth hanging open.
“Hell,” I said, “the Illuminati did that to me all the time. I learned to just shut up and listen. Usually there are bits and pieces I can use, and the background I’m picking up will be useful. Since I have to coordinate with other people, I don’t want to do anything that might get them killed. Michaela, I think it helps if you’re absolutely terrified and aware of the fact that you don’t understand anything that is going on around you. It keeps you from getting complacent. I’ve always been able to figure it out before someone kills me.”
“That is either the smartest thing or the dumbest thing I think I’ve ever heard anyone say.”
“Maybe, but it’s kept me alive so far.”
She burst out laughing. “Everyone thinks you’re Supergirl.”
“And I think I’m the luckiest dumbshit to ever walk the earth. Everyone perceives the world differently.” I shrugged. “The thing is, I can mix drinks, kill people, and manage to land on my feet. I have to pay the rent, and those are the only things I’m any good at.”
“That’s a really cynical and rather sad way to look at things.”
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”
Chapter 15
We flew to Dublin and were taken by car to a house in the country where Roisin met us and gave us our weapons. Then Josh, Ian, and I were given Knights’ uniforms. Karl Langermann and Oriel donned Universal Church priestly garments, and we drove to Belfast in our new Knightmobile—a large black SUV.
Once there, we used our new fake credentials to take a ferry to Liverpool. Trevor had inserted false records and orders into the Knights’ computer systems creating our identities. Langermann, Ian, and I had cut our hair, and the men had all shaved their beards, conforming to the Knights’ regulation grooming. Karl looked younger and more distinguished. I had never had my hair so short and couldn’t get used to the woman looking at me out of the mirror.
Our trip across the sea started out okay, but then clouds built up, and the wind and waves soon followed. Oriel and I stood out on the deck watching the gulls hunt for fish until even they decided to head for cover. The rain started just as we went inside.
“Lovely weather,” I said as we joined the rest of our party.
“Yes, I’ve always loved the calm, sunny days of the British Isles,” Langermann said as raindrops the size of quarters hit the windows like bullets. “Got my first taste of the Atlantic on a troop ship in 1918. Best place to be was on deck, because below decks was full of seasick soldiers.”
To say I was relieved when we pulled into Liverpool would be an understatement. We left the boat and followed the directions we’d been given. Ian drove, and I was glad to let him. Driving on the wrong side of the road always made me nervous.
The Knights hadn’t received any warmer welcome in England than they had in Westport, as attested by the angry scowls I saw on many of the pedestrians’ faces as we drove past. And when we reached the cathedral, we found a virtual fortress, with a half-finished wall being constructed around the entire property. Knights patrolled the areas where the wall was yet to be finished, and Knights in guard towers watched from the finished parts.
“Only about five percent of the country is Universalist,” Ian said as we pulled up to a gate and Knights came forward to meet us. “Their push for power didn’t go over too well here.”
“Papers?” a Knight said when Ian rolled down his window. Ian handed him all of our credentials as well as the orders that we had to report to the Liverpool garrison. I tried to look nonchalant, but it was the first big test of our identities.
The Knight took everything to a guardhouse and disappeared inside. It took about fifteen minutes, but he came out and handed all the papers back to Ian.
“Take a right,” the Knight said, “and then the first left. You can park in the underground lot, and put this placard on the dash.”
We followed directions and drove under the cathedral. Ian wandered around a bit until he found an empty space close to an exit stairway. Grabbing my duffle bag, I followed the others up the stairs. In keeping with our supposed mission of being guards for the priests, Josh led the way up, then Karl and Oriel, while Ian and I brought up the rear.
What followed was another three hours of bureaucratic security checks, but eventually, we were shown to our quarters. Of course, for our purposes, our new bosses’ arrangements were inconvenient. Karl and Oriel were given rooms in a section with other priests. Ian and Josh were put in a barracks with other male Knights, and I was sent to a building on the other side of the compound where female Knights were housed. The worst part was that I had a roommate, a witch probably fifty years older than I was. She didn’t look very happy about me, either.
But at least we were inside, our credentials had been accepted, and the first part of our plan had gone off without a hitch. The Illuminati taught me paranoia, so things going too smoothly had me worried.
Sergeant Sabrina Mason, my new roomie, took me to dinner in a large dining hall. The food was plain but good. Then she took me to prayers in the main church building. I was surprised at how many people were there, Knights and clergy, but also civilians. Before I left Westport, Sam had given me basic lessons on Universalist theology and practices so I didn’t do anything to give myself away.
After the service, we went back to our room, and Sabrina made it clear that it was time for bed. At nine o’clock. For a bartender used to going to bed at three in the morning, it seemed a little early, and I had trouble falling asleep. So, it came as a bit of a surprise when she rousted me at four o’clock to go pray again. Then we went to breakfast at six. The coffee was lousy but strong, and thankfully, there was a lot of it. I escaped after that and went looking for my team.
I had to ask directions three times—the last time at the barracks where Josh and Ian were quartered—before finding them standing outside a door of one of the outbuildings. At which point Ian gave me a rather loud lecture on punctuality. It was just like old times training with the Hunters.
“Thought you’d gotten lost,” he said in a quieter voice after publicly putting me in my place. Our forged identities had Ian as a chevalier while Josh and I were sergeants. Karl was a chaplain, and Oriel was identified as a priest, but not a member of the Knights. Most human mages and witches wouldn’t be able to identify him as a magic user.
“Not lost exactly, but no one told me where the rest of you were being housed. I’m way the hell over on the other side of the compound, with the rest of the women. It really isn’t clear whether they are protecting us from all you rough, uncivilized men, or protecting you from us.”
Josh chuckled. “Your reputation precedes you.”
I winked at him. “So, what’s going on? Where are the reverences we’re supposed to be protecting?”
Ian motioned with his head toward the door. “Inside, doing whatever. Supposedly, to get a briefing and clear their orders to report at Sarum, but this is the second place they’ve been sent. Chaplain Conway said it looks like we may be here longer than we expected.” Karl Conway was Karl Langermann’s new identity. All of us had kept our real first names, which Ian and I had encouraged. I was Erin O’Grady.