I sat down on a nearby rock to wait for Mo. She appeared after a few minutes, shifting from blackbird to human form as she neared the base of the mound.
“You comfortable up there?”
“No, because this rock is as cold as ice and my ass is freezing.”
“Ah.” Her gaze narrowed. “You’ve found one of the anchor points. Well done.”
“Thanks. Did you contact Barney?”
“Yeah. And then I rang the High Council. They’re going to send people ASAP to investigate the four Greater London gates.”
“I take it they’ll also send an official priority warning out to all witch councils?”
She nodded. “Barney did ring back after I’d finished that call and said the rest of Ainslyn’s councilors are okay.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, to be honest. Darkside—through Max—would be well aware of your relationship with Barney. Attacking him or anyone else would basically advertise their intentions. I don’t think they’re quite ready for that just yet.”
I leaned down and offered her a hand up. “The anchor is in either that crack or the fissure beside it.”
Mo squatted in front of the fissure and shone the flashlight into it. After a moment, she grunted. “I can see it. It’s a piece of darkstone lodged about three feet down.”
“Just out of our reach then.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t ever advise touching darkstone with bare hands. It’d give you frostbite in seconds.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I take it that’s why these boulders feel so cold and weird?”
She nodded. “It’s a reaction against a substance generally not found here on Earth.”
“Aside from the freezing thing, is it actually dangerous?”
“No. Nor will the foul freezing radiate out more than ten feet or so from its location.”
“That will at least make them easier to find.”
“Yes.”
She pushed upright and wavered a little. I caught her elbow to steady her. She might be the strongest, smartest woman I’d ever known, but even she had her limits. Not that she’d ever willingly admit that.
I couldn’t help smiling. I guess that was something else I’d inherited from her.
“Are you going to deactivate the shield?”
She shook her head. “It’ll only warn them we’ve discovered what they’re doing, and, for the moment, I’d rather not do that.”
My gaze went to the clearing I couldn’t see. “And the bodies of Lincoln’s councilors?”
“Will be retrieved tomorrow.”
If there was anything left to retrieve. She didn’t say that, of course, but it nevertheless remained fact. I took a deep breath that did little to ease the frustration of not doing enough for the dead and then said, “So, back to Ainslyn?”
“You should, as you still need to conceal Elysian.”
I frowned. “Where are you going?”
“To London. I need to bring the High Council fully up to date, but I don’t trust the phone. Besides, I wanted to run a physical check on them, just to ensure we’ve no wraiths on board.”
“Wouldn’t they have already checked that, given you contacted them about getting a team in to disinfect Noelle?”
“That would be a logical step. Unfortunately, there are some on the council very set in their ways and very convinced no mere wraith would ever get the better of them.”
“Then I’m glad you’re heading there to smack some sense into them.”
She half smiled. “I only resort to violence if it’s absolutely necessary.”
And it very much sounded as if it was. “How long will you be?”
“About a day. But I want you to keep an eye on the maps and tell me if anything happens.”
“And if something does?”
“Then pray we can counter it,” she said. “Because if I’m right, they’re about to test our defenses. If we don’t counter it, all hell will break loose.”
Chapter Eight
“And on that cheery note,” I muttered, “we’d both better get moving.”
She smiled and dropped a kiss on my cheek. “Be careful, but don’t behave—at least when it comes to that luscious man of yours.”
I rolled my eyes. “He has this whole honor and duty before pleasure thing going on, so nothing will go on until Darkside is defeated.”
“That man is not made of stone, despite appearances to the contrary.”
“Want to bet on that?”
She laughed. “I’ve never been one to wager on the whims of a man. They can be fickle creatures. Fun, but fickle.”
“They say that about us.”
“Of course they do. Men have a long history of projecting their own failures onto us.” She glanced at the sky, her nostrils flaring as she drew in a deep breath. “At least it’s a good night for flying. Be careful, darling girl, and don’t be seen. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I nodded and waited until she’d shifted shape and flown off before I did the same. It took longer to get back to Ainslyn, thanks to the fact the wind was against me, and I was shaking with weariness by the time I flew into the chapel via the old vent.
Luc glanced up from the stack of scrolls as I walked into the room. His gaze swept me, then came up concerned. “What’s happened?”
“Everyone in the Lincoln council has been murdered. Mo thinks it’s a precursor to a major attack, and is off to London to coordinate with the High Council.”
“Have the Blackbirds been informed? They certainly should be involved with any retaliatory action.”
I frowned. “Aren’t your people guarding the queen and her family?”
“Six are, but they will need to be updated. If there is a major attack planned, then in all likelihood it’ll involve the royal family. Remember, it’s your brother’s goal to regain witch rule of this land, and he can only do that if the entire royal line is erased.”
I could hardly forget something like that. “You’d better ring them, then, because it’s unlikely they’ll be the High Council’s first priority given what has happened in Lincoln.”
While he made the call, I walked across to the wall that mapped out the Yorkshire area and found the main gate. Its rune was larger and a dark red rather than the gold of the other gates. Its color reminded me of dried blood, which was somewhat apt given if that gate ever opened, our blood would be flowing across all of England.
I raised a finger and lightly touched the rune. It was inert. I skimmed the rest of the map until I found an open gate and then touched that, just to compare. It felt like I was touching lightning.
Did that mean I could tell which gates were close to opening even just by touching them? I guess there was only one way to find out.
I slowly traversed the room and checked each of the runes. None of the closed gates sparked. Not until I reached the map detailing the southeast portion of the country and Greater London.
Three of the four gates there sparked even though their runes were still backward, indicating their closed state. The fourth was a known active gate.