Gold: A Bandia Novel Part 11

"When?"

Joe shrugs. "Pwil and I aren't exactly on speaking terms. He's been below for a very long time. I imagine he'll do it as soon as he thinks you're ready."

"Me?"

"You and the other bandia. He won't set up a fight he doesn't think he can win."

Braden grins at me from across the pub. He lifts a gla.s.s of dark beer toward me in a silent toast.

I turn back to Joe. "Can you get me a meeting with Rush?"

He's silent for a long minute before he answers. "I'll see. How about you? You okay?"

"I'm really not."

Joe stubs the unlit cigarette in a small planter next to us. "Then G.o.d help us all."

TWENTY-ONE.

Everything is quiet back at Austin's. It's strange to move through the giant halls without seeing anyone. I hear a footstep behind and spin around, but there's nothing there. Nothing behind me, and no magic to grasp. Every little sound sets me on edge. It's one thing to be hunted by a bunch of demiG.o.ds when you're capable of taking them out in your own right. It's another to be powerless prey.

Mick took me to a library on the first day here when I got the grand tour, but I can't for the life of me remember where it is. I search through both wings on the main level, but I don't find it. I head upstairs, finding another drawing room, and two empty bedrooms. I'm nearing my own room, when I notice a light on under a large door across the hall. I knock, but no one answers.

I try the door, and it turns. I push the door open just wide enough to stick my head through. The bedroom is huge, at least twice the size of mine. A king size canopy rests against one wall, covered in brown drapes that match a plush duvet. An L-shaped leather couch and giant flat screen television sit off to the right. The limestone floor is covered with a large brown faux fur rug. At least I a.s.sume it's faux. It's too big to be real. A stone hall disappears through an arch in the opposite wall.

"Mikel?" Austin says from beyond the alcove. "Is that you?"

"It's me."

Austin comes through the archway in jeans and a thick cabled sweater, the wool dyed a deep, rich blue. "Looking for me?"

"The library, actually."

"In my bedroom?" He raises his eyebrows, and I'm all too aware of how this must look.

"Right." I back out of the door and into the hall.

"Brianna."

I poke my head back in. "Yes?"

"I shouldn't have left you at the gateway. Liam could have- I'm sorry." His brows furrow, but he doesn't look angry. At least not with me.

"It's no big deal." I can't stop staring at the lines on his face. I'm not used to seeing any imperfections beyond his crooked smile. I'm sure that's all it is. It's a strange thing to see a G.o.d look so imperfect. So vulnerable. The little pang in my chest is just a natural reaction to seeing someone weakened.

He leans against the wall of the alcove, but doesn't move closer. "I'm not as patient as I used to be."

"You were never patient." That's one thing that hasn't changed.

"Was I always so jealous?"

"I don't know. Are you jealous now?" Of what? I have nothing to be jealous of. No family. No friends. No Blake.

"Eternally."

"Ha."

"Ironic, I know. But some things survive even death. Especially emotions. They're tied to the soul. You humans can't ever seem to let them go."

"Well, you did keep trying to get me to kill Blake until you finally succeeded." I say the words matter-of-factly, without my usual venom.

"It's definitely worse. Now I want to do it myself." He takes a breath and I realize that the lines in his face aren't the only thing that's changed. There's emotion behind his eyes, not jealousy exactly, but something sadder.

"Austin?"

He closes his eyes. "I love the sound of my name on your lips."

I let myself smile while he's not looking. Last night, when I tried to get Austin to kiss me, it had been nothing more than a twisted attempt at revenge. A way to forget the pain and inflict some of my own. But now I can't stop thinking of the way he felt over me, his teeth grazing my neck. I shudder and close my eyes, trying to block the image from my mind.

"What are you looking for?" Austin asks.

I focus on my reason for searching out the library. Research. "What's the Gathering?"

"Did you see Liam?"

"Joe. And a giolla I've never seen before. He was with a guy I know from R.D."

"One of the Sons? I never should have left you-"

"Chill. Just a guy from school who's spending his summer hiking through Europe."

"Who just happens to be pa.s.sing through the Irish backcountry a week after the gateway opened? With a giolla?"

It does sound odd, but why not? Braden is an Irish name, it makes sense that he'd want to see the land of his ancestors. c.r.a.p. Braden is connected to Ireland. To all of this. "If he's not a Son, what is he?"

"More trouble."

"Killian killed the other demiG.o.d lines once he got his own power. And Blake would have tested Braden back in R.D. for the Killian gene. He's not a breeder."

"The Seventh Daughters and the Sons of Killian are all that remain of the demiG.o.ds. But the G.o.ds weren't the only magical creatures to grace our homeland. Nor were they the only ones to suffer when the Milesians drove magic underground."

"The giolla?"

He nods. "The giolla have always aligned with power. They blend easily with humans since they can compel human emotions and create memories, but they prefer to surround themselves with magic. So they don't have to pretend."

"You can use compulsion too."

"Not like they can. The giolla can create thoughts and feelings from nothing at all, but they don't like to. I can only bring forward feelings that are already present. More of a magnification."

That explains why Austin couldn't make me want him after I bonded with Blake. "But Haley?" She had nearly drowned herself under Austin's power.

"She's more troubled than you realize."

I sit down on the edge of the leather couch. "Poor Haley. I knew things were bad at home, but I never imagined."

Austin finally walks out of the alcove and into the room. "The Sons needed the giolla to pa.s.s down their history. A lot is lost in seven generations. It's been a mutually beneficial relationship."

"But the giolla don't all serve the Sons. Mick has been here serving you, and the boy I saw today was with Braden."

"A thousand years is a long time. Even for the giolla. Especially for the giolla." Austin looks past me to a painting on the wall by the bed, a dark picture of a male angel being stabbed in the back by a smiling, handsome man. "Friends die. Loyalties shift."

"Braden is not a giolla." Joe, Mick and the guy at the pub all had similar builds, tall and lean. And there was something else. Everything about Mick and Joe is slow and deliberate. Braden was too flirtatious. Too alive.

"I imagine not." Austin sits on the couch next to me. As he does, his thigh brushes my knee. His touch doesn't fill me with a rush of heat the way Blake's does, but it's nice.

I try to clear my head. I focus on the stories my grandmother told me about ancient Ireland. "Faeries?"

"An old wives tale."

"What then?"

"Kelpie, maybe. More likely fuath, if he's here for the Gathering."

"Help me out."

"Kelpies are water horses. Dark creatures that lure people to their deaths by posing as horses and then taking the person on a ride to the bottom of the sea."

"Lovely."

"They haven't been active since shortly after the Milesians began their crusade against magic. They choose to stay below rather than risk detection and persecution topside. The fuath are more dangerous. They regularly mingle with humans. And they'll take more chances if they think they can advance their station with the G.o.ds." "What are they?"

"A more advanced form of water beast. They can appear as humans, but in their true form, they have the body of a horse and the tale of a whale. They are among the most beautiful creatures. And the most sinister. They feed off human emotions, but they prefer to feed off magic. If they're here, it will be at Liam's invitation."

"The Gathering?"

Austin sets his hand down between us, but he doesn't touch me. "He's opened the Gateway and put out the call. The others will answer as well. They just don't know it. If Liam called the fuath, he means to align with them. He probably offered them a position in the new world."

"He's building an army." I stretch my fingers until I feel Austin's pinky on the couch next to me. I trail my finger from his nail to his knuckle.

"The Seventh Daughters have turned out to be a bit of disappointment." Austin looks down at our hands where I'm touching him. He takes my hand in his, flashing that crooked smile. His eyes flit to the giant bed. "I've never had a girl here before."

I pull my hand away. "You still don't."

"Don't I?" His eyes burn into mine.

I try to ignore the heat that rushes to my cheeks. I still need answers, and Austin has them. At least that's what I tell myself when I don't immediately leave his room. "So the Gathering, it's meant to bring us all together in one place?"

"Liam intends to speed things along. He will force our hand. Soon."

"Can the fuath take out the Sons?" I set my hand in my lap, clasping it with the other one. Anything to keep it from wandering back over to Austin's side of the couch.

Austin picks up a curl of my hair and twirls it around his finger. As he moves the hair away from my neck, his knuckles graze the skin. "Not alone. But they're clever. They've stayed hidden for centuries, biding their time while the Sons and Daughters killed each other. They won't fully align with any one side until there's a clear winner."

"So their loyalty is still up for grabs?" It's all I can do to keep from leaning into his hand.

"The fuath are loyal only to themselves." Austin drops the curl, like he's only just realized he was touching me. "You should stay away from them."

Stay away from Liam. Stay away from the Sons. Stay away from the fuath. Stay away from town. I may not have powers, but it's not like I can be effective locked away and doing nothing. "I'll find the other bandia. The Sons think Sherri is already here. And I'll see what I can find out about Braden. Joe's is going to set up a meeting with Rush."

Austin laughs. "I don't suppose there's any point to locking you in a tower."

"I'll find a way out."

"I don't doubt it." Austin eyes dance with golden light.

I can't help but smile.

Austin brings his fingers to my chin, deliberately this time, letting them slide down my throat. "Ask me to kiss you again."

My lips part involuntarily. But he was right to stop things last night. We're not friends. We're not anything. Besides, I'm terrified of kissing him. I might want to do it again.

"No." I hope his ability to use compulsion doesn't allow him to see the little seed of longing that flutters in my chest.

From the way he smiles, I'm guessing it does.

I stand up quickly. "Where is the library anyway?"

"Three doors on the right." He waits until I'm at the door to speak again. "One question?"

I hesitate.

Austin leans forward, his elbows on his knees. His hair falls in his eyes. "Why didn't Blake agree to help you?"

"I didn't ask." I didn't bind Blake to me and I didn't ask him for help. But I maybe I got something else I didn't realize I needed. Closure. "And I won't." My hand is fixed on the doork.n.o.b, but I don't turn it.

"You should go." Austin grins. "Or I might not wait for you to ask me to kiss you again."

I scramble out the door and into the hall.

Last night, I had wanted Austin to make me forget. Today, I don't know what I want. I had let myself think that Blake was more to me than he was. I had confused physical attraction for something more. I won't make that mistake again.

Besides, Austin has never cared for anyone but himself. He's a killer. He made me one. And no matter how much he seems to want to help me now, I can't let myself forget what he's done.

TWENTY-TWO.

I find the library right where Austin said it would be. It has floor to ceiling bookcases built into the walls, each shelf filled with leather bound volumes and more modern books.

My eye is drawn to a thick book on a table. A Brief History of Cath. I flip through the pages, scanning through the stories of the town's heritage. I stop when I get to a story of a fire that destroyed half of Main Street a hundred and fifty years ago. The book describes a historic lightning storm and a strange blue fire, now believed to be caused by the natural gas that fueled the new street lamps.