Emerald Isle (9 page)

Cinnamon looked skeptical, but not enough to care, thankfully. She wasn’t nearly as curious as Anastasia. She didn’t have the need to understand everything all at once, just accepted things as they were.

Birdie was ever so grateful for that.

The girl shrugged and said, “Okay. Let me know if I can help with anything.” She shuffled down the hall, struggling with the oversized coat.

Fiona called to her. “Be right out with that soup, sweetheart.” She spun to Birdie and said, “I’ll handle this. You see who’s calling.”

Badb, or the woman who called herself Badb, walked up to the cage. She winked at me, and with a wave of her arm and a shudder from the tree, the bars instantly melted into a thousand fluttering blackbirds that flew up into the evening sky.

I folded to the forest floor.

Hand on my sword, I called to Thor, who was still wriggling around on his back. The dog perked his ears, righted himself, and trotted over to me.

Danu took a seat on her throne, produced two ruby-encrusted goblets, and invited me to join her.

It was just the two women, Thor, and me. I saw no one else as I scanned the woods, and decided that my chances of escaping were pretty damn good. I tapped Thor on his backside and bolted in the opposite direction of the two women, pumping my legs toward the pathway and the light still shining through it.

I heard Badb say behind me, “You see why I trapped her?”

The fireflies wove through the trees. I had the sensation they were leading me to a way out of this nightmare, so I ran faster.

As soon as I reached the mass of tiny orbs, they burst into flames that showered down in front of me. I jolted to a stop.

And right before my eyes, the flames transformed into people. Fair-skinned, lithe, two-armed, two-legged people.

I think I passed out for a moment, because the next thing I knew, I was sitting in a drafty palace with twenty-foot ceilings, crystal-clear windows, and three bronze chandeliers anchoring the room.

Danu said, “There she is. Welcome back.”

My mind was fuzzy again, same as before when I woke up in the birdcage. I moaned. “My head hurts.”

Badb poured a yellow liquid into a pewter goblet and handed it to me. “Drink this. It’ll clear the web from your mind.”

“No way, Elvira. I’m not touching anything you want to offer me.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to Danu. “Are you certain this is the one?”

Danu walked over to us and took the drink from Badb. “Have faith, maiden. The web is hard on the senses.” She handed it to me, her eyes warm.

“Where’s Thor?”

“Your familiar is fine. He’s having a rest.” Danu offered the cup again. “Go on, you’ll feel better.”

I took the goblet and sniffed. It smelled like May wine. Sweet honey and citrusy orange blossoms. I took a small sip, and instantly my thoughts cleared and the pain vanished.

I downed the whole cup and stood, feeling fortified. “What did you mean the web is hard on the mind? What web?” Was I trapped in the Internet?

Danu cocked her head and smiled. “The Web of Wyrd, of course.”

Of course.

“So what you’re saying is—” I started.

Danu cut me off. “Welcome to the Otherworld.”

I turned to the woman with the jet-black hair. “And you are…”

She bowed. “Badb, warrior goddess of the Morrigan.”

I flicked my gaze to the red-haired woman. “So that would make you…”

“Danu, mother goddess of the ancient island. And these”—with a sweep of her hand, the far wall fizzled away, revealing a cheerful scene of a village at work—“are my people.”

It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. “The Tuatha Dé Danann.” I looked at her, incredulous. “This is a prank, right? A birthday gag? Did my grandmother put you up to this?”

Danu parked her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you pinch me to see if I exist?”

Tentatively, I reached forward and she zapped me with some kind of electric current.

“Ouch!” I wiggled my fingers.

“Not very bright, today’s humans,” Badb said, reaching for an apple from the fruit bowl on the table.

I glared at her.

Danu circled around her throne and stood behind it. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve brought you here, Stacy Justice.”

“The thought did cross my mind.”

“It seems that my cauldron has gone missing, and I want it found.”

She stared at me, searching for a sign of recognition.

I said, “I heard something about that.”

“You see, the Cauldron of Abundance was passed to my son, Dagda, but I encouraged him, before we departed for this land, to gift it to the island and her people.” She frowned. “Had I known that you would be so careless with it, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“Sorry about that.” I had no idea why I was apologizing. It’s not like I misplaced the thing myself. Maybe because I was afraid the two of them would turn me into a hedgehog.

“Yes, well, it isn’t the first time, and I suspect it won’t be the last,” Danu said. “Do you know what happened the first time the cauldron was stolen, Stacy Justice?”

I shook my head.

The woman worked her hands into a frenzy, circling her fingers round and round, faster and faster, until finally,
a large bubble popped out from her palms and floated through the air.

I watched as the bubble puffed and expanded to the size of a Ferris wheel. It settled in the center of the room. Within seconds, a scene emerged, or rather several scenes all at once. Emaciated people, pale and gasping for breath; children crying as their mothers looked on desperately, helplessly; men in rags wandering the streets, begging for food.

“The Famine.” My heart felt heavy and my stomach lurched as I watched all the pain and suffering.

“Precisely. We don’t want that to happen again, do we?”

I shook my head.

The red-haired beauty smiled. “Good.”

I looked from her to Badb. “But what does this have to do with me?”

Badb said, “Seriously, Danu, are you sure she’s the one?”

Danu shot Badb a look. Badb shrugged and bit into her apple.

Danu rushed at me, grabbed my shoulders, and stared hard into my eyes. “It has everything to do with you, Stacy Justice, because you are going to find the cauldron.”

She said it so convincingly, I almost believed her.

Birdie hurried upstairs to answer the call from her mirror. She hadn’t expected to see the face staring back at her so soon.

“Aedon, what an inconvenient surprise.”

“I know you didn’t expect to hear from me so quickly, but the natives are restless, so to speak, and they are calling for swift action. I’ve arranged for a private charter to pick you up at the regional airport. You’ll fly in to the west, to a private landing strip, where a driver will be waiting to transport your party to the castle.”

“When?”

“They’ll be expecting you on the plane by nine o’clock in the morning, your time.”

Birdie was flabbergasted. “Aedon, you cannot be serious. That isn’t enough time to pack and plan, let alone rest.”

“This is quite serious, Birdie, and I put my tail on the line promising the council that you and your Seeker could complete the task. Do not make a fool of me. Should you fail, I cannot guarantee to keep my promise.”

Birdie stiffened. What was she going to do? Anastasia was missing, her daughter was imprisoned, and there was a cauldron to find.

Her old fetching spell had to work. It just had to.

“I assure you, Aedon, we will not fail.”

Aedon gave Birdie the rest of the transportation details. She jotted them down and cut the connection.

She exited her room feeling nauseous, nervous, and incredibly frightened for the first time in many years. The matriarch of the Geraghtys knelt before the huge painting that hung ceremoniously on the wall of her home, said a silent prayer to Danu, and fluttered down the back stairwell to prepare for the most important spell she would ever cast in her life.

Birdie bumped into Chance and Derek on her way through the kitchen. They carried the lumpy rug that concealed the chief of police.

“Jesus, Mrs. Geraghty, what you got in here, a body?” Derek asked.

Fiona bit her lip. “Don’t be silly.” She looked at Birdie. “Just having the rug cleaned. Careful, now.”

Birdie watched in horror as Chance banged his end of the rug into the refrigerator. She was pretty sure that was where the chief’s head was tucked.

“Just set it right by the back stoop.” Fiona held the door open. “That’s it. Nice and easy. It’s one of a kind.”

Derek tripped over the rug.

“Watch your step,” Fiona said. “Now, everyone sit down and we’ll bring out the soup. Stacy shouldn’t be but a moment.”

Birdie went back inside and grabbed a tray with five soup cups. She brought it to the stove as Fiona sashayed through the screen door.

“Would you like to tell me what that was about?” Birdie asked.

“It isn’t my fault.” Fiona patted Birdie’s pocket. “Check the spell. We need nine loved ones present for the retrieval. I thought it best not to take any chances.”

“You have no idea.” Birdie filled Fiona in on the call from Aedon.

Fiona said, “Then there’s no time to waste. You should know that Lolly is perfectly lucid.”

Birdie reached for spoons as Fiona picked up the tray with the soup cups. The younger sister stopped, a cloud of concern crossing her face.

“Birdie, what is it?” Fiona asked.

Birdie took a deep breath, paused a moment. Then she shook her head slowly. “Something is wrong. I can’t feel her.”

Fiona’s eyes widened. “She’s gone deeper into the web.”

Birdie said, “There’s no time to waste.”

The two women stood there, staring at me expectantly. I finally spotted Thor, snoozing softly near the fireplace, one ear trained on me.

Birdie never covered this in my lessons. There was no chapter in the Blessed Book on dealing with powerful hallucinogenics that conjured up visions of ancient talking goddesses who were unimpressed by your witchiness.

Of course, there was the possibility that they were the real deal. That I had indeed been sucked into another dimension just like that damn rhyming ghost warned me about.

Yet, knowing all the enemies my family had collected over the years, the chance that these two weren’t goddesses, but simply powerful sorceresses who wanted to thwart my plan to bring my mother home, seemed far more likely.

“If you are who you say you are, then why can’t you find the cauldron yourself? Why do you need me?” I asked.

The one who called herself Danu looked at me like she was the Great Oz and I was the scarecrow searching for a brain.

She stepped back, her eyes angry. “Have you not been listening? I told you it was gifted to your people and the fertile land that was once the home of the Tuatha. It no longer belongs to me.” She stepped toward the bubble and tapped it. “It belongs to the island.”

A gorgeous view of a lush green hillside came into focus. Then, with a flick of Danu’s finger, the bubble spun and the scene changed to a waterfall cascading down a mountain. Another wave of her hand sparked the image of a vast forest, filled with towering pines. A slideshow followed then, and I saw a huge lake, dotted with islands and tiny fishing boats, then ocean waves gently lapping a sandy beach, giant cliffs perched along the edge of the sky, winding roads that passed castles and cottages alike, until finally, the bubble stopped spinning, coming to rest on an image of a huge stone protruding from a grassy knoll.

“The Stone of Destiny, planted thousands of years ago. It still stands at the Hill of Tara,” Danu said. “Have you heard of it?”

“Yes. Legend says that it roared when touched by the high king.”

Badb stepped forward to gaze at the picture. “Tara was once a place where heroes gathered. I aided many a soldier in the valley that is called Boyne.”

“Felled many too.” A mischievous smile passed Danu’s lips.

I swung my head to Badb. “Really?”

“Yes, but they were all bad.”

That wasn’t much comfort.

Danu said, “If you know about the stone, then you must know about the other gifts.”

Were they testing me? Were the council members considering my worthiness as a Seeker? I couldn’t get a read on either of the women, emotionally or mentally. Normally, my intuition would tell me something about the intentions of a person. My body would send a signal—or a warning—but here, there was nothing, just numbness. I hadn’t even felt the presence of a single spirit since I woke up here.

I felt naked without my intuition, helpless as a baby bird.

There was no point in dodging their questions until I figured out what they were up to. I rattled off what Birdie had taught me about the treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. “The Stone of Fal, or Destiny, which knows the heart of man. The Spear of Lugh, or Victory—it never misses its mark. The Sword of Nuada, or Light—none can escape its will, and the Cauldron of Dagda, or endless
bounty and resurrection. The sacred gifts also represent the elements—earth, air, fire, and water, respectively.”

“Most excellent,” Danu said, and clapped her hands in a manner that reminded me of Lolly.

I suddenly missed my aunt terribly. I missed everyone terribly. I hadn’t even kissed Chance yet, and it was my freaking birthday. People were waiting for me. There was cake to be eaten, dammit.