“Like opening magic locks and magic books.”
“Like that.” Warwick’s hands clasped my hips, moving me forward.
My eyes widened, turning to Opie and Bitzy, my smile growing. To a thief, this was like finding the master key that opened everything in the world. There was nothing I couldn’t steal.
“You two... you are the best.” I blew a kiss at them.
A deep blush colored Opie’s cheeks, a bashful smile hinting on his mouth, while Bitzy just flipped me off.
I loved them.
Taking the pair from Kek, I placed Opie on my shoulder, the duo holding on to my ponytail as we entered the pitch-black entrance.
I took lead since I had been through here. My memories were sharp because of whatever the healer had injected me with; every step now was like a callous rubbing against my brain. The smell brought me right back to when Killian’s guards had towed my maimed carcass up the spiral stairs toward my doom.
Now I was descending into it.
As silently as we could, the seven of us advanced down the tunnel. My anxiety corded in a tightrope around me, hoping I wasn’t leading them wrong. The odor triggered memories I had locked away, pumping my lungs with dread.
“You made it out, Kovacs. You survived. Don’t let it win now.” Warwick’s ghostly voice seeped into my ear.
Taking a deep breath, my shoulders eased down. The memories wouldn’t go away. They probably never would but feeling him behind me, Ash on my other side, my boys flanking me, Opie and Bitzy on my shoulder, all centered my wild thoughts, letting me focus on the goal.
“Double broomsticks. You get out of this place, Fishy, and then you purposefully come back?” Opie gripped my hair tighter. “I’m having flashbacks to when Master Finn made me bait the feral rats down here.”
“You had to put out the bait?”
“No, I was the bait.” He shivered. “He said it built character. But all it did was make me lose my bowels.”
Chirp!
“I didn’t know you could stuff character up there.”
Chirp!
“Hey, time to muzzle the pets,” Warwick grumbled, his physique coiled and tensed, his head darting around, even wary of the group behind us.
Luk and Kek were in the middle, while once again Tracker and Ava were guarding the rear, which did not settle Warwick at all.
I placed Bitzy and Opie back into Ash’s pack to be safe, with the rule that he couldn’t design any more outfits from the book.
Gesturing, I headed us toward the main tunnel, my intuition leading the way. With every step, I was aware we could be caught by a soldier, by the ruler himself, or even worse, by Nyx. That bitch would slice me down without hesitation. And oddly enough, I wasn’t sure I blamed her. I killed her lover, and Warwick almost killed her. She kind of had a reason to hate me.
My boots tapped lightly over the stone as we rounded a corner, air sticking in my throat when I saw the room with the altar at the end. My heartbeat doubled against my ribs while we crept closer. Everything was exactly like I saw it in the book, but now that we were here, I didn’t know what to do. If Killian knew it was around here but hadn’t found it, how would we? Even if Killian didn’t know, it still wouldn’t be out in the open.
Where did we even start?
My curiosity drew me up to the altar, the small table filled with peculiar objects. Feathers, bones, crystals, and herbs were all placed around a symbol, which looked like a star lightly carved into the table. Warwick and Ash came up beside me, peering down.
“Holy... shit,” Ash muttered, his eyes widening at the articles on the table.
“What?” His tone spiked anxiety in my gut, intensifying the knot in my stomach I had since the book took me here.
“That altar is a—”
“A Druid altar.” A crackly voice came from in front of us, yanking our heads up to an outline in the murky shadows. Warwick and Ash pointed their guns at the silhouette, but I didn’t move. A realization hit my chest before it fully unspooled in my mind.
The figure shuffled out of the shadows, a fire bulb flickering across his weathered features and distorted frame.
A sharp gasp burned down my lungs, my eyes taking in what I already knew deep down.
“About time you arrived, my girl.” His blue eyes found mine.
Wearing exactly the same dirty white outfit I saw him in last, his hair even greasier, was the Druid.
Tadhgan.
Chapter 12
“Tad?” My voice squeaked, my brain tripping and rolling over itself, trying to make sense of his presence here.
A soft smile pulled at his mouth as he hobbled closer to us, ignoring the guns pointed at him.
“Looks like the gang is together again.” He nodded at Warwick and Kek. “Should have known they would gravitate toward you like the sun.”
“Hey, old man.” Kek smirked, flicking her head at the Druid. “And I should have known someone as stubborn as you wouldn’t die. Not that lucky, I guess.”
He grinned back at her. “Death will come for me soon enough, but not today.”
“Wait.” I held up my hands. “Wha-what are you doing here?” My head shook, not all the pieces clicking.
“Doing here?” He scoffed, lifting one arm in a general motion. “I never left here.”
I took in his ratty hair and the soiled white Halálház uniform he still wore, his trusty cane gone.
“This is where you’ve been hiding since Halálház was bombed?” My mouth parted. “That was, like, a month ago.”
“Was it?” His white brows curved up. “Time means so little to me.”
“How?” I shook my head. “Weren’t the doors to the tunnels magic-locked?”
“Oh, my girl, fae magic means little to us Druids.” He batted his hand, stopping on the other side of the altar from me.
“Why are you in Killian’s territory? Practically in his house.” Warwick growled, keeping his weapon on him. “Don’t tell me he or his guards haven’t noticed you’ve been squatting so close for a month?”
“Hardly anyone comes this way anymore. No need since the prison is out of use, but you should know a Druid can hide in plain sight.”
I’d heard powerful demons and some Druids had the power to almost cloak themselves in their surroundings. Your eye passed over them, seeing nothing on the surface unless you reached out and touched them, destroying the illusion.
“No better place to be than right under his nose.” His gaze darted to Warwick then Ash, ignoring the others in the room. “You don’t need those weapons. This old, crooked body won’t put up much of a fight against you.”
“Tadhgan, the Druid of old. The oldest living Druid in the entire world.” Ash kept his gun on him. “You think it’s your physical body I’m afraid of?”
“Dear boy, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already. But I am a white Druid. We do not harm; we heal and help. Plus, why would I when I’ve been waiting for you to arrive? Well, her most of all.”
“Waiting for me?” I gestured to myself.
“I felt you visit me before. I knew you were coming.” Tad’s gaze landed back on me. His eyes were like oceans of knowledge and life. They slowly went from me to Warwick, his lips flattening together in slight confusion.