Into the Fire (27 page)

“It was remarkable. When I drank human blood I could see the world of magic more clearly than ever, and I could see far—not just with my eyes, but with my mind. Word of my power spread, and magic-seekers began coming from all over the world to learn from me. They would freely offer their blood as payment. In my travels I had acquired a great deal of wealth, and was now chieftain.
I was never cruel, as your druid has said. No people were better protected than mine, as no enemy would dare cross me.

“Now the druid who had rejected me as his apprentice had gone mad with hatred and jealousy. He would watch as the travelers would pass his house to come to mine, for my skills exceeded his in all things. He thought I was a demon and started spreading lies about the origins of my power. Twice he sent a great warrior to kill me, and twice I dispatched the attacker with ease. He would not fight me himself, of course, because he knew he could not overcome me.

“But though I was powerful beyond measure, I had never been permitted to study the druidic arts. Parts of their lore were still a mystery to me. The last person the druid sent to slay me was not a great warrior, nor a powerful magician or rival chieftain. It was my own son, who was still a young man.

“My son believed, as others did, that I was immune to death. He believed it more strongly than most. He was a foolish child, too eager to please others and too proud of our family’s high standing. The druid told him that I could be killed with a sword of yew. My son, of course, denied it. He said that there was nothing in this world that could kill his father. And so the druid bet him a very large sum that he was wrong, which my idiot son thought would be an easy way to become rich in his own right. So that night he plunged a simple sword of yew into my heart. The druid was wrong: I did not die. But I was trapped inside my mind, unable to work my body or use any magic. To the world, I appeared dead. I heard my son’s wails and my wife’s keening. I heard the druid tell the villagers that I would terrify them no longer if only they would do as he commanded. They buried me upside down, because the druid told them that only human chieftains should be buried in the traditional way, standing up straight and proud. He said I was an evil spirit and that the only way to keep me from haunting them was to sprinkle thorns around the grave and to raise a dolmen over
my feet. But I have been alive these many years, waiting for someone to free me from my prison at long last.”

When Felix stopped speaking, there was silence. Finally, Cedar spoke. “Please tell him that we are grateful for his story and that we will do what we can to redeem his name among the Tuatha Dé Danann and among the other magical beings of the world.” She waited as Felix translated this for Abhartach, who nodded gravely. “Have you told him why we need his help?” she asked.

“Yes,” Felix said. “I will ask him if he has decided.”

Cedar squeezed Eden’s hand while they listened to Felix and Abhartach converse. She knelt down to her daughter’s level. “There, now you can say that you’ve seen a real live dwarf,” she said softly.

Eden smiled. “I didn’t think he’d be so dirty.” Cedar laughed, but the smile slid off her face when she took note of Felix’s stormy expression.

“He says we ask too much,” Felix said. “He has been in the ground for more than fifteen hundred years and has no desire to return there. He will exact his revenge on the druids, but not in open combat.”

Cedar stared at him incredulously. “But we freed him!” she said. “And he won’t help us?” Her face was flushed, and she glared at the dwarf, who stood there impassively.

Felix held up a hand. “He won’t come with us to retrieve the stone,” he said. “He says he’s not at his full strength, obviously, and he fears that he might not be able to defeat an army of druids. But he
will
help us find the stone.”

“How?” Cedar asked. “How can he do that if he won’t come with us?”

Felix rubbed the back of his neck. He was staring at the ground, silent. Then he looked directly at Jane. “You heard the story,” he said softly. “He needs blood. Human blood.”

All eyes were now on Jane, whose face had gone ashen.

“No!” Cedar said quickly. “I’m human, he can use me.”

Felix shook his head. “It is Danann blood that runs through your veins. Jane is the only true human among us.”

Jane stepped forward. Her chin was held high, but she couldn’t disguise her trembling. “Okay,” she said. “It’s okay.” She grabbed Cedar’s hands tightly, trying to force a smile.

“Jane, no,” Cedar said. “I won’t let you. There’s got to be another way.”

Jane shook her head. “But there isn’t, is there?” she said. “This is so much bigger than any of us. It’s
my
world that’s in danger, and I’m glad I can finally do something to help.” She looked at Felix. “Does he need… all of my blood?” she asked.

Felix translated her question to Abhartach, who answered in a couple of terse sentences.

“He says he can tell you are very dear to us and that he’ll try to take only what he needs. He says… there is a risk, but he cannot see the stone without the blood.”

Jane took a deep breath and squeezed Cedar’s hands again. “I haven’t talked to my mum in ages,” she said. “If it… doesn’t go well, tell her… tell her I ran off with some nice guy and that I’m very happy,” she said with a teary smile. “Nah, don’t tell her that, she won’t believe you. Just make something up. But tell her I love her.”

“No, you’re going to be fine. She’s going to be fine, right?” Cedar looked imploringly at Felix.

“Yes,” Felix said, his face like stone. “I’ll make sure she is.”

“So, how do we do this?” Jane asked. Felix held her gaze for several heartbeats before turning back to Abhartach.

“He says a bowl and a knife is the traditional way. In my opinion, it’s also the safest. I say that we go up to that farmhouse and see if we can’t find the proper supplies there. Then we can open a sidh to get the hell out of here once he tells us where the stone is.”

Finn nodded. “We’ll have to go to the farmhouse to make a sidh anyway,” he said. “Let’s go.” Cedar grabbed Eden’s hand and
started walking, but stopped when she heard Abhartach’s angry voice behind her. “What is it?” she asked Felix, who looked grim.

“He thinks we’ll try to escape,” he said.

“Why would we do that? We need his help,” she said.

“He wants to do it here,” Felix said. “He says he is too weak.”

“Fine,” Jane said in a loud, clear voice. “Let’s do it here. Finn, can’t you transform into a scalpel or something?”

He shook his head. “No, but…”

“One of the big cats should work,” Felix interrupted. He sat Jane down on the grass and held out her arm. “Just make it as clean as you can.” He beckoned for Abhartach to come closer, and spoke to him quietly. “I’ve told him that I will control the flow of the blood, and that he may collect it in his hands and drink from there. Under no circumstances is he allowed to drink directly from your body. I want you to tell me if you are feeling weak or light-headed.”

Finn frowned in concentration for a moment, and then Eden squealed. “Watson!” she cried. A housecat that was identical to her neighbor’s pet climbed up onto Jane’s lap, and Jane stroked it, laughing.

Felix smiled. “I told you one of the
big
cats,” he said, flicking one of the cat’s pointed ears. “But this will do. Give me a claw.”

Finn obliged, holding out his paw and extending his claws. Felix told Jane to relax and then deftly swept the claw in a small, neat line up her forearm. Cedar turned Eden toward her and hugged her close. Immediately, bright red blood began running down Jane’s arm and dripping off her wrist. Abhartach, who was kneeling beside her, held out his muddy hands to catch the drips then lapped at them like a dog.

“Never fancied myself a cutter before,” Jane said, smiling weakly. The cat gave her one last purr and licked her arm, then jumped down onto the grass and transformed back into Finn. Cedar reached out to him, and he put his arms around her.

“This isn’t right,” Cedar whispered, her voice muffled by his chest. “I should be the one doing this, not Jane.”

“You don’t always have to be the one making the sacrifices,” he told her. “We all want to see Nuala defeated. You were the only one who could destroy Lorcan… and Jane is the only one who can help us here. She’s going to be fine. And I think she’ll be more than fine if Felix has anything to say about it.”

Cedar grinned despite her worry. “They seem like such an odd couple… but perfect for each other at the same time. Do you think they’ll stop fighting for long enough to see it?”

“I think they already see it… and it scares the hell out of both of them,” he answered.

“Interesting choice of cat,” Cedar said. “And it made me think: When I first found out that Eden was missing, Watson stayed with me for the whole night. It was so strange; usually he doesn’t visit for more than a few minutes. Was it you?”

Finn shook his head. “No, I was still on my way back to Halifax,” he said. “But it wasn’t Watson. It was my mother. She told me about it later. She was worried that you’d be angry because she had invaded your privacy, but she couldn’t bear the thought of you spending that night all alone.”

Cedar was speechless for a few heartbeats. She remembered that horrible night and how much comfort that small bundle of fur had brought her. She felt her eyes well up at the memory. “I’m not angry at all,” she said. “It was very thoughtful of her. She hardly knew me at the time.”

Just then a roar of rage from Felix brought them back to the present. Abhartach was no longer lapping up Jane’s blood from his hands—he had his mouth firmly planted against the open wound on her arm. Felix had grabbed him and tried to tear him off, but he stopped at Jane’s wail of pain. “You’re ripping my arm off!” she screamed.

“He’s going to drain her!” Felix yelled. “Finn, help me!”

“Stay back!” Finn yelled at Cedar and Eden as he ran forward. Felix was saying something in the dwarf’s language, but Abhartach seemed oblivious to everything but Jane’s forearm. Felix held Jane’s body down while Finn tried to loosen the dwarf’s grip, but after a moment he fell back, panting.

“I can’t loosen it,” he said. “I’ve never seen such a strong hold.”

Jane was lying limp on the grass, her eyelids fluttering. She was quickly losing color.

“He’s using some sort of magic,” Felix said. “Damn it, where is that druid when we need him?”

Finn looked around frantically. “I need a yew tree… he said that’s what killed him.”

“Just knock his head off!” Felix yelled.

“Right,” Finn said, and Cedar held Eden close as he transformed into his dragon form and let out a great roar. He took one lunge toward Abhartach, his jaws opening wide to reveal rows of sharp teeth the length of Cedar’s forearm. But before he could close them around Abhartach’s head, the dwarf finally lifted his mouth from Jane and flung out one hand. Finn froze, immediately immobilized.

Felix immediately gathered Jane into his arms and pressed his lips to her forehead. “She’s still alive,” he said to Cedar, and then said some things to Abhartach that required no translation. The dwarf raised his bushy eyebrows and said something back.

“What’s he saying?” Cedar asked. She was pressing Eden’s face into her stomach so that she wouldn’t be able to take in the gruesome scene. Abhartach’s beard was rust-colored with Jane’s blood, and Jane was as white as a corpse. Eden squirmed and tried to break free. “Mum, I can’t breathe,” she said. Cedar loosened her grip but didn’t let go.

“He says it was taking too long. And that you should call off your dragon. Then he will tell us where the Lia Fáil is,” Felix said.
He pressed his forehead to Jane’s and started singing softly, so low Cedar could barely hear him.

“Finn,” Cedar said softly, “Don’t attack him.”

Abhartach nodded at her, then waved his hand again. The dragon gave one last snort, and then Finn was beside her, glaring at the dwarf with undisguised venom.

“Mummy?” Eden asked. “What’s happening?”

“The dwarf took too much of Jane’s blood,” Cedar explained. “But Felix thinks she’ll be okay… right?” She looked at Felix and breathed out a sigh of relief when he nodded, though he didn’t take his eyes off Jane. He pulled a roll of white cloth out of one of the backpacks and wrapped it around Jane’s arm, then opened a jar of herbs and placed a small gray leaf on her tongue. “Tell him he got what he wanted,” Cedar told Felix. “Where is the Lia Fáil?”

Felix translated, and Abhartach walked a few paces away and then sat down. He put his hands on the ground and closed his eyes, breathing steadily and deeply.

After several minutes, Abhartach opened his eyes and stood. He spoke to Felix, and then, without another word, spun around once and disappeared.

“Did he tell you?” Cedar demanded.

Felix nodded. “Maggie was right. It
is
in Tara… inside the Mound of Hostages.”

“I’m fine…,” Jane mumbled as Felix carried her up the hill toward the farmhouse. “Want to go with you…”

“Absolutely not,” he answered firmly.

“Jane, you can’t even walk,” Cedar said.

Jane opened her eyes and gave Felix a look that was probably intended to be flirty. She was so weak it looked more like she was drunk. “Aren’t you going to fix me again?” she said.