Cate Tiernan - Changeling

“Great,” I said. “He’s really brilliant—does all sorts of research and design and experiments. But then he’ll leave his glasses in the fridge, and forget to put gas in his car, so it runs out, and you’ll ask him to get something and find him an hour later, reading in his office.”

Killian laughed. “But he’s nice?”

“Really nice. He loves me a lot.”

“There you go, then.” Killian rubbed his hands together and looked up, as if to say, Shall we go?

“It must be difficult for you,” I said quickly, trying to keep this conversation going. “I mean… I hope you’re not upset with me. For bringing you here. For springing all this stuff on you so quickly.”

Killian looked surprised for a moment, and then he seemed to regard me differently. He gave me a rueful smile. “Well, love, it’s not as though my family life has been The Cosby Show . Finding out I have a sister…” He seemed to take me in, and at that moment I felt a sense of connection to him, like this wasn’t just an awkward conversation between strangers. I sensed in him that—kinship, I guess—that sprang from this less-than-ideal connection by blood. “… well, there are worse ways to spend a Monday afternoon.”

I smiled in response, and immediately started to feel guilty about using Killian to get through to Ciaran. It saddened me to think that he was a real person, my real half brother, with feelings, and I was really only getting to know him as part of a spy maneuver. The fate of Starlocket was a pretty good motivation, but I was beginning to feel that I liked Killian and that I might enjoy getting to know him even if Ciaran wasn’t involved.

“So do you and Ciaran ever… see each other?”

Killian made a face as though he tasted something sour and took a last sip of chocolate milk shake. “No.” He shifted, and I realized that all at once that he was incredibly uncomfortable with this conversation and wanted to flee. “I’m beat sis,” he said as I kicked myself mentally for not changing the subject earlier. “It was lovely speaking with you. I’ll see you around.”

“But—” I watched helplessly as Killian left some money on the table and walked briskly out the door. “Killian! Wait!” I threw some money down on top of Killian’s, grabbed my stuff, and ran out the door behind him. How would he get home? We were too far from anything to walk. Widow’s Vale wasn’t exactly a place were you can hail a taxi.

But I didn’t see Killian in the parking lot, and a quick scan of the highway found no pedestrians, no cars headed in either direction. In fact, I realized, I hadn’t heard a car go by in the last five minutes or so. I looked back at the parking lot, moving closer to study the woods on the perimeter of the lot. There were no footprints anywhere; the ground looked untouched by human feet. Frustrated, I leaned against Das Boot and took my last look around. Where had he gone ? Had he actually used magick to get away from me?

Finally, after a few more minutes trying to make sense of it, I climbed into Das Boot, checking my watch. Five o’clock. Barely twenty-four hours after accepting Eoife’s mission, and I was already feeling pretty certain that I just ruined the council’s plan.

Eoife was staying at Hunters and Sky’s, and Hunter answered the phone when I called. The sound of his voice made my heart flutter inside my chest, but I ruthlessly pushed down the pain.

“Hunter? I need to talk to Eoife.”

“What’s wrong?” Hunter’s voice was warm with concern. Oh, Goddess, I thought, I can’t talk to you about how I’ve already ruined everything.

“Um—Killian’s here. But he kind of… got away.”

“Got away ?” Some of the warmth leached out of his voice, and I sucked in my breath to prepare for his disappointment.

“Well—”

“Listen, Eoife just walked in.” Hunter cut me off. “I’ll put her on.”

Before I could react, Hunter was gone from the line and I heard Eoife’s voice. “Morgan? Is there a problem?”

“Well,” I began, “Killian came, and we were talking, but he took off before I could talk to him about calling Ciaran. And then he sort of… disappeared, and now I don’t know where he is or when I’ll see him again.”

“Morgan, calm down. It’s not a disaster.” Eoife’s sensible voice, if not exactly warm, still calmed my nerves a bit. “Listen, I was just heading out to attend a Starlocket circle. Would you like to come meet me there?”

Starlocket? Oh, no. How could I face Alyce and all of the innocent members of Starlocket when I might have just thrown away their one chance for survival?

“I don’t know Eoife. I mean… maybe this mission isn’t for me. Maybe you should find someone who’s better equipped—”

“Morgan,” Eoife interrupted me, “I think you’re overreacting. Come with me to the circle—it will calm you down. And we can talk a bit about how to approach Killian from now on.”

I sighed. It would calm me to attend a circle, especially since I’d skipped Kithic’s this week. And Alyce was always a warm and comforting presence—I could only hope that no harm would come to her anytime soon. “All right,” I said finally. “Where is it?”

Starlocket was meeting at a cozy, cedar-shingled house on the outskirts of town. When I rang the doorbell, the door was answered by a tall, formidable woman who looked to be in her late thirties. She had long, dark brown hair that reached all the way down to her butt, and she wore a brilliant robe of purple silk. “Hello,” she greeted me.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Morgan Rowlands. I’m a friend of Alyce and Eoife’s.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Morgan.” The woman regarded me calmly. “Welcome to my home. I’m Suzanna Mearis.” Suzanna stepped back from the doorway and gestured into a small living room. “The circle will be held in here. Eoife hasn’t arrived yet.”

I thanked Suzanna and headed past her into the warm, golden-hued room. Nature-themed oil paintings adorned the wall in shades of green, gold, orange, and red. A rust-colored velvet couch sat before a brick fireplace, and candles burned in every available surface. Several members of the coven were sitting on the couch, chatting, and I noticed Alyce standing by a window, looking out into the night. I walked over to her. “Alyce?” I said softly. She turned and hugged me tightly without a word.

“Morgan,” she whispered finally. “I’m so happy you’ve come.”

“It’s good to be here.” Seeing Alyce made me realize how much I’d missed my friend and confidante, and I had to fight back tears.

Alyce’s eyes met mine, and I could see her concern shining there. Her voice dropped. “I know that you had a difficult time in New York.”

A difficult time, I thought. Difficult was right. One blessing of this new assignment was that it kept my mind off just how much my life had changed in the last week. I nodded, not feeling up to talking about it just now, even to Alyce.

“Morgan?” I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find Eoife in a green linen robe. “We should talk.”

I nodded and followed Eoife to a private corner of the room, after saying good-bye to Alyce, and promising we’d get together as soon as possible.

“Listen,” Eoife began, “Killian isn’t going to open up to you right away. What we’ve asked you to do us to get close to him, and that’s going to take more than just one meeting. Given what we know about Killian’s upbringing, I can imagine that he doesn’t trust people too easily. If you were able to make contact and tell him who you are, you should consider this first meeting successful.”

She had a point, I realized, but I hadn’t counted on my half brother disappearing into the blue. “But how can I be sure there’ll be a next meeting?” I asked. “I have no idea where Killian went or how he got there. And he’s not answering my witch messages.”

Eoife put her hand on my shoulder. “Morgan, remember: Killian is your half brother. He may not want to share everything with you right away, but we believe that he will feel a connection to you and that he will want to come meet with you again. You just have to give him time.”

I sighed. I didn’t have time. Starlocket didn’t have time.

“What if I scried for him?” I asked hopefully. “I’ve always had good luck with scrying with fire. I could find what he’s up to—”

“Absolutely not,” Eoife said instantly. “What’s most important right now is to keep Ciaran and Killian’s trust. You don’t want to scare them off with a lot of questions at once or by letting them know that you’re watching them. Once Killian gets to know you, the subject of Ciaran will inevitably come up. But for now, as hard as it is, you just have to be patient.”

I nodded reluctantly. “I understand,” I said quietly. “I’m just… scared.” I looked over to where the coven was gathering. I couldn’t bear knowing that I’d failed to save them.

“Being afraid is natural, Morgan.” Eoife followed my gaze to the coven members. “But you mustn’t allow that fear to drive Killian away.”

An hour later I no longer felt afraid. Joined with Eoife and the members of Starlocket, I swirled ecstatically in our circle, feeling my magick course through me in a way that made me feel powerful, unstoppable. The fire in the fireplace glowed orange and blue, and I was a part of that fire: fire was my partner, and together we were capable of anything. I would see Killian again, I felt sure. The power in me could not be contained. I would help Starlocket any way I could.

Then, suddenly, everything changed. There were other voices in the room, voices that didn’t belong to any of the members of Starlocket. They were lower, harsher, inhuman. Slowly they began to get louder, until they were almost shouting. They were chanting words I didn’t recognize, but the mere sound of them made my skin crawl. The voices built to a crescendo, and suddenly the fire sputtered and was gone. The circle stopped moving. Through my haze of magick I saw somebody falling to the floor. A sudden shock of fear ran through me, like ice water pumping through my heart.

I dropped to my knees and closed my eyes, and I could feel the magick running out of my body. I remembered the first few times I felt magick, before I understood what it was. The feeling was overwhelming, and sometimes the power of it made me sick. I wondered if somehow I had lost control again. Slowly, painfully, I opened my eyes.

Before me on the floor lay Suzanna Mearis. Alyce was bent over her. “Someone help me carry her to her room,” Alyce commanded. Her face was drawn. Suddenly she looked haggard.

I felt a welling of fear. “What happened?” I asked. “What’s wrong with her?”

Eoife was the one who answered me. “A taibhs came,” she said in a hushed voice. “More than one, I’d say. Dark spirits. They broke through all our protections and attacked the circle. Suzanna took the brunt of the attack. We were able to banish them, but…”

“Is she okay?” I asked in a near whisper. “Will she be okay?”

Eoife’s voice was somber. “I hope so, Morgan. But I just don’t know.”

There is a villager here named Nuala. Without the abbot’s permission I asked to meet her, as she was one of the few Wodebaynes who would meet my eyes.

I asked her frankly what devilry was at work here. She said no devilry at all since there was no devil. I cried out that that was heresy and that if she had no fear of the eternal fires of hell, how could she hope to join our Lord in heaven? Brother Colin, she laughed and said there was no heaven either. As I gasped in horror, she leaned close so I could smell heather and smoke in her hair. She said, “I’ll fill your cows udder if you kiss me.”