Karl explained my plan to get me reassigned to Muller and use that connection to get inside the barrows where the Heart was kept.
“That will take a couple of charms. Hang on,” Oriel said. He walked over to the bar and spoke with the bartender. A few minutes later, he came back.
“You don’t have any duties or anyplace you have to be?” he asked. “No one to report to or who expects you tomorrow?”
“Nope. I’m on leave.”
“I have duties in the morning, but meet me here for lunch, and we’ll go see a charmsmith. I think she can fix us up with what we need.”
Oriel had to be back at the cathedral for prayers, so Karl dropped me off at the hotel where I was registered as a Knight. After he pulled away, I melted into the shadows and made my way to the other hotel.
I probably didn’t need to be so secretive, but I hadn’t told either Karl or Oriel about my second residence. Having a secret hiding place that I could escape to was a throwback to my Hunter days, and I felt a little more secure that way.
I made it up to my room without anyone seeing me, took a long, hot bath, and went to bed. Unfortunately, I found that Oriel was probably right about the book. That poor girl’s face haunted me, and I had trouble falling asleep.
I had a phone number Muller had given me, but I thought calling him was a little too aggressive. I stole into my hotel room downtown and changed into my Knight’s uniform, then went over to the cathedral.
Getting inside wasn’t a problem. Hanging around without attracting attention took a little more effort. Eventually, Muller left his office. I didn’t know where he was going, but I managed to work my way ahead of him. Turning around, I walked toward him.
We approached each other, and I turned on my smile.
“Good morning, Under-Marshal,” I said while saluting him.
It took him a moment, but he stopped, smiled, and returned my salute.
“Sergeant O’Grady. How nice to see you again. I didn’t expect you back in town so soon.”
“My unit was told to stand down for the next seven days, so I have some unexpected leave time.”
“Ah, yes. And how do you plan on spending all that time?”
I looked down at my shoes, then up at him through my lashes. “Well, I really haven’t made any plans, so I’m open to any exciting ideas. Any suggestions for a girl alone in the big city?”
“I might have some. Are you available for dinner this evening?”
“I would like that. Should I come in uniform? I noticed that sometimes women on leave wear civvies. I’m not sure what’s appropriate.”
“Oh, I think you should dress in any way you’re comfortable. When we’re off duty, I don’t think we should stand on ceremony. Are you staying at the same place?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’ll pick you up around seven.”
Trying to hide my grin, I went back to the hotel, changed back into civvies, and walked to the Fae pub to meet Oriel.
He showed up in civilian clothing, driving a thirty-year-old compact French car. Not at all what I would normally expect from him, but definitely discreet. We drove out to a wooded area west of the city. It was a pleasant trip, until Oriel suddenly swerved off the road into the trees.
I screamed and shielded. But instead of crashing into a tree, we drove right through them. It took me a few panicked breaths to figure out that we were driving along a road through an illusion.
“Damn you! Warn me before you do something like that!”
He was laughing like a crazy man, and I wanted to slug him. The only thing that stopped me was that he was still driving, and I couldn’t tell where the illusion stopped and the real trees began.
After fifteen minutes of terror, we emerged into a clearing with a giant white-polka-dotted, red-capped mushroom growing in the middle. The grass sparkled, changing colors from green to yellow to pink and back to green again. The surrounding trees seemed to loom over us like beings from a swamp-thing movie. Oriel stopped the car and turned off the engine.
“We’re here.”
“In the middle of a psychedelic hallucination?”
“You wanted a master illusionist, didn’t you?”
We walked up to the mushroom, and he knocked on the stem. A door opened, and a short green-haired woman stuck her head out.
“May I help you?”
“Roisin sent us,” Oriel said. That was news to me. The last time I saw Roisin was in Ireland.
“Ah, yes. Do come in.” She stood back and ushered us through the door. Inside was a very homey country lodge with a high arched roof. The curved beams came out of the floor, and it appeared each of them was a single piece, from the floor on one side to the floor on the other. In between the beams the walls were stone, fitted together without mortar.
As to our hostess, she was a little over five feet, with pixie-cut grass-green hair. She was obviously female, slender with small breasts. Her legs seemed a little too long for her body, and when she waved us to sit on a couch, her fingers were also too long for her hands.
She had large, sharply slanted eyes with slit pupils, sharp cheekbones, a heart-shaped mouth and a pointed chin. Her face was so similar to Roisin’s that the two women could have been sisters.
“I am Muirgen,” she said, pouring tea from a pot on a low table before sitting in the chair across from us. “Yes, Roisin said you would be coming.”
She took a sip of her tea, then leaned forward and stared at my face for a moment. “You are the ley line mage. Interesting. So, you need some charms. Tell me your story.”
“You know about the corruption of the ley lines, I assume,” I started.
Muirgen gave a very unladylike snort and waved her hand. A ring on her finger was set with one of the Knights’ star rubies.
“Everyone in the world knows about the ley lines. That wasn’t what I asked. Tell me your story. You need my help, my charms. My price is a story. Roisin said it would be worth my time.”
She gave me a thin-lipped smile, sat back in her chair, and sipped her tea.
Although I had been fairly open with Oriel, I hadn’t told him everything about my past. There are some things a girl would rather keep to herself, and a lot of things weren’t any of his business. I briefly glanced in his direction while I tried to order my thoughts, and Muirgen laughed.
“Oh, you’re shy.” She waved her hand, and Oriel froze with his teacup halfway to his mouth. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll never know he missed anything.” She pushed a plateful of cookies—or biscuits as the English called them—toward me. “Now, your story.”
It was late afternoon when I finished talking. I told her about my life, starting from what I could remember of the time with my parents in Singapore, through my training and work with the Illuminati, the destruction of them and their city, and what had happened since I got off the bus in Westport. She didn’t ask any questions, just refilled our teacups and urged me to eat more cookies.
When I finished, she asked, “So, what is your plan to recapture the Heart? Tell me what you need to do.”
I told her, and she leaped to her feet. “Come with me.”
“What about Oriel?”
“Oh. I forgot about him. Don’t you think men are more charming when they’re silent? Never mind.” She waved her hand, and I watched him finish bringing the teacup to his lips.
“Now, come with me.”
Oriel started to stand.
“Not you. Erin.”
I followed her through the house, past the kitchen, and into her laboratory.
For the next hour, she worked, molding clay and leaves into shapes, then casting spells. When she finished, she approached me where I obediently sat on a stool watching her. She held out her hand.
Three small objects sat in her palm. One was white and looked exactly like the cartoon ghost from a children’s TV show. The next was a naked woman, only an inch tall, with pale skin and black hair. The third was a silver ring interwoven with a green vine imbedded in the metal.
“Now,” she said, “here are the runes and spells to activate them.”
The spells weren’t difficult, and after about ten minutes, she said, “I think you’ve got it.”
“How long will these stay active?” I asked.
“The ring is good only for one use. One person. The others will work unless they are broken or burned.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
She grinned and shook her head. “Don’t you know? You don’t thank the Fae. I asked a fair price for my work, and you paid it. Roisin was right. I haven’t heard such a fascinating tale in centuries.” She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “But if you get a chance to stop by again, I would love to hear the ending to this part of your tale.”
She led me back out to the front room and showed us out.
When we got in the car, Oriel asked, “Well, did she say she can do the charms you need?”
“I’ve already got them. I’m supposed to meet Muller in less than two hours, but please, can you drive a little slower than you did getting in here?”
Chapter 22
Oriel dropped me off at the downtown hotel. I went in the front door and out the back. Sometimes the dual hotel setup was inconvenient, especially when I was in a hurry.
At the other hotel, I quickly showered, pinned my hair up, threw on some makeup, and dressed in an LBD with low heels. The dress was modest by some standards but wildly sexy from what I’d seen of Knights in civvies out on the town. The hemline was two inches above the knee, and although it had a high neckline, it also had a built-in bra and a keyhole décolletage.
I made it back to the first hotel with five minutes to spare.
Muller walked into the lobby, looked around, and then froze and his eyes widened when he recognized me. First stage, mission accomplished.
“You look very nice,” he said, approaching me and holding out his arm.
I slipped my arm into his. “So do you,” I murmured. “As always. Quite dashing.”