Give the Devil His Due (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Three) (42 page)

“So after all of this, the prophecy of the last is coming to pass,” she said. “All your planning, your schemes. All for nothing.”

He didn’t look at her.

“It won’t happen,” he said. “I won’t let it.”

“How will you stop it?” she asked.

“Simple,” Sanheim responded. “If they want a challenge, I’ll give them one.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What I should have known was inevitable from the very beginning,” Sanheim said. “We prepare for war.”

Chapter 33

Kieran walked towards Kate and Quinn, holding the knife behind his back. He figured he should get this done quickly, before his doubts set in and lengthy explanations were required.

He wasn’t sure he even needed to conceal the knife. The two of them were caught up in each other, still standing in the carcass of the giant, man-eating Wyrm. Kieran doubted that a motorcycle gang or a marching band would have distracted them.

He kept his eyes trained on Quinn, who had his back turned to him — just like before. He remembered driving the knife through the Horseman’s back, trying to convince himself the whole time that doing so would bring her back.

For Grace
, he thought.

But it hadn’t really been for Grace because she would have been appalled by what he had done. Had she been alive, she would have never allowed it. Of course, the bitter irony was that had she been alive, it would never have been necessary.

Kieran drew closer, all the while waiting for Kate to glance up at him. But she was just holding Quinn as if afraid he would suddenly disappear. Behind him, he heard the portal close shut. Or rather, he
felt
it close, like a vibration that suddenly stopped. He hoped all the soldiers had made it through.

He drew the knife from behind his back and as he neared the couple, he lifted the blade, preparing to strike.

That was when an arm grabbed him from behind, pulling him backward and wrenching the knife out of his hand.

“Nice to see you again, Kieran,” a voice hissed in his ear. “I’ve missed you.”

Kieran struggled briefly and then gave up.
Well, this won’t be done the easy way
, he thought.

“Elyssa,” he said. “I had no idea you’d be here.”

“Quinn!” she shouted.

*****

Quinn looked up to see Elyssa holding Kieran from behind. She gestured to the ground, where he saw a knife with a red handle.

“Where have you been?” Quinn asked her.

“Really?” she responded. “That’s your first question? You do realize he just tried to kill you again, right?”

Beside him, there was a howl of pure, unfiltered rage, and Kate was suddenly the banshee again.

“Wait, no,” Kieran started to say, but Kate was already inches from his face with her hands around his neck.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Kieran choked out.

“Really?” another voice chimed in. “Because it looks pretty bad.”

Kieran tore his eyes away from Kate’s angry, skeletal face.

“Carol,” he said. “Please help me.”

“Help you?” she practically shouted. “You killed me! I loved you once. I mourned for you and then you reappear in my life to slit my throat. In fact, how many people standing here have you killed, Kieran?”

“Look, let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who,” Kieran said. “Let me just explain.”

“Oh, well, let him go then, ladies,” Quinn said in an almost casual tone. “I’m sure he has a good explanation. Here, let me get your knife and I’ll turn my back again while you tell us.”

“What were you thinking?” Kate screamed at him.

“The
ail-enedigaeth
,” Kieran sputtered. “I was trying to do the
ail-enedigaeth.
”

“The what?” Quinn asked. “What the hell is that?”

Carol looked stunned.

“How do you even know about that?” she interjected.

Kieran looked at her pleadingly.

“Tell them,” he said. “Before they tear me apart, for God’s sake.”

Quinn turned to look at Carol quizzically. Kate loosened her grip on Kieran, but never took her eyes off him.

“You’re insane,” Carol said dismissively. “It can’t work. The ritual requires…”

She drifted off and Kieran smiled.

“It’s perfect, right?” he said. “Everything is in place. I wasn’t trying to kill Quinn. Quite the opposite.”

Carol turned to Kate.

“He may be telling the truth,” she said.

“Someone start explaining quickly,” Kate replied.

Kieran nodded at Carol.

“You tell them,” he said. “I doubt anyone will believe a word I say anymore.”

Carol looked flustered.

“It’s just an old myth,” she said.

“You’re talking to a fucking banshee,” Kieran said. “The fact that something is a myth doesn’t make it untrue.”

“It’s a ritual that supposedly brings the dead back to life,” she said.

*****

Quinn blinked in surprise and Kate eased off Kieran, turning her attention to Carol.

“It does what?” Kate asked.

“It can restore a soul to the living, mortal world,” Carol said.

“I can do that just by opening up the portal and taking him back through,” Kate said.

“No, you can’t, Kate,” Kieran said. “You can’t take a dead person back through that portal. They’ll disintegrate.”

She glared her eyes back at him.

“You lied to me,” she said through gritted teeth. Her hands closed around his neck again.

“Kate, wait!” Carol said. “It’s important that you don’t harm him.”

“Why?” Kate said. “If you know the ritual, you can do it and let me deal with him.”

“Just trust me — we’ll need him,” Carol said.

“Why the hell didn’t you mention this before?” Quinn asked. “You told me over and over that the dead can’t come back to life.”

“I didn’t remember it,” Carol said defensively. “It’s very obscure. I don’t know how Kieran ever heard of it.”

“So what’s the ritual?” Quinn asked. “How does it work?”

“It’s from an old story about a man who was out hunting deer and, thinking he spotted a doe, accidentally killed his wife,” Carol explained. “The man was so consumed with guilt and grief that he wandered the world in search of a way to get her back.

“He became obsessed with finding Death to convince him to return his wife. He began killing men and women he came across, just in the hopes that Death would appear to take their souls. When he had killed his seventh victim, Death finally came to him. Death thanked him for all the fresh souls who had been taken well before their time. So the man poured out his heart’s desire — that he wanted his wife back. Death smiled and told him of a secret ritual. He asked him if he was prepared to sacrifice another soul to return his wife to life.

“When the man eagerly agreed, Death escorted him to the Land of the Dead where his wife was waiting for him. He told the man to lie down on a slab of stone with his wife beside him. They clasped hands and Death drove an arrow through their joined hands. At the end of the ritual, the wife was restored to life and allowed to return to the land of the living.”

“Let me guess: the guy got the shaft,” Janus said.

“When the wife left, he was not permitted to go with her,” Carol finished. “Death explained that only the sacrifice of the one who killed his wife — with the weapon that killed her — would be enough to restore a soul to the land of the living. Unfortunately for the man, that person was him. He didn’t realize it, but the final sacrifice Death required of him was his own.”

“I can’t imagine why Disney hasn’t made that one into a movie yet,” Janus said.

Kate and Quinn looked at each other and then turned to Kieran. Kate released him and stepped back.

“I wasn’t going to kill Quinn, Kate,” Kieran said. “I swear it.”

“You want us to believe that you were going to sacrifice yourself… for me?” Quinn asked.

There was a snort from Elyssa, who stood close to Kieran so he couldn’t run away.

“Oh, please,” she said. “You’ve never thought of anyone but yourself. Ever.”

“If this is true, why wouldn’t you just tell me?” Kate asked Kieran. “Why not spell it out when I found you in the jail?”

“Oh, sure, Kate,” he replied. “I’ll bet you would have believed me. Not only do I know what the ‘last’ is, but I know a secret ritual in which I sacrifice myself for Quinn. Do you remember what you were like then? Ask yourself: would you have believed me, or killed me on the spot?”

Kate shook her head, but couldn’t deny the truth of his words.

“You could have told me later,” she said. “When I was… myself again.”

Quinn looked at her quizzically, but she just squeezed his hand in response.

“Maybe,” Kieran responded doubtfully. “But I couldn’t take the risk. There was a possibility you might have backed out of the whole thing.”

“You can’t trust him, Kate,” Elyssa said. “He betrayed me and Sawyer. He betrayed you and Quinn. It’s possible he and Carol are in this together. They’ll start a ritual, and it’ll end up killing you or Quinn.”

“No,” Kieran said. “But this is exactly why I didn’t tell you earlier. If Carol weren’t here to verify the story, none of you would believe any of this.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Janus said. “I’m not sure I see the big deal anyway. Quinn’s here, Kate’s here. Why does it matter if Quinn is ‘alive’ or not?”

“You don’t pay attention, my boy,” Buzz said. “Carol has already told you.”

“You know I ignore half the shit you guys say,” Janus said.

“My plan was to come and take Quinn home,” Kate said. “But now Kieran says that’s impossible.”

“I don’t know, sugar,” Carol replied. “I thought you could take him home too.”

“You can’t,” Kieran said. “If you could, it would have happened before now.”

“But Lilith…” Kate started.

“Lilith wasn’t dead when Sanheim sent her back,” Kieran said.

“You thought Grace could come back,” Quinn said. “That was your deal with Sanheim, right?”

“But in the end he made it clear that he couldn’t,” Kieran replied. “I did more research after that. I was a fool to take Sanheim’s offer seriously. The dead can’t pass back through that portal — full stop. If you try, you’ll be destroyed. It’s as simple as that.”

“But if Quinn is ‘alive’ again, I could take him home,” Kate said. “If we do this ritual you’re talking about, I could open that portal and take Quinn back. We could return to Virginia.”

“Good luck explaining that,” Janus said. “Rebecca would put that on the front page for sure. ‘How I Rose From the Dead’ by Quinn O’Brion.”

“It’s more than that,” Quinn said. “If I’m ‘alive,’ then I’m the Prince of Sanheim again. All my old powers would come back, right?”

“Yes,” both Kieran and Carol said at the same time.

“It’s not just your old powers, Quinn,” Carol said. “According to what Crowley wrote, the Prince of Sanheim can challenge Lord Sanheim himself. As it stands now, Kate has an army and lots of power, but she’s only one-half of the equation. I don’t think she could do it on her own. But if you were ‘alive,’ you would be complete again. You would be an incredible threat to him.”

“Don’t you realize?” Kieran said. “That’s what Sanheim was trying to stop all along. He feared what would happen if Sawyer and Elyssa beat you. That might have made Sawyer powerful enough to beat him. But he was also worried about you two, and he had every reason to be. Kate is more powerful by herself than any Prince I’ve ever heard of. Inspiring the dead to follow her? That’s totally new. When he asked me to betray you last year, he wanted me to kill Kate, not Quinn. He knew she was a threat. But the two of you together are more than enough to challenge him.”

“So that’s why Carman was trying to kill you?” Kate asked. “I wondered if you were still working for Sanheim, but she kept targeting you. It was because you were needed to complete the ritual. If you died, there would be no way to bring Quinn back.”

“I wonder if he knows about it,” Kieran said, seeming genuinely unsure. “I only know because…”

He drifted off.

“How?” Carol asked.

“Well, it seemed sort of random at the time, but now I’m not sure. I was traveling in Ireland, doing research. I was trying to see if there was any way I could fix what I’d done. You may not believe it, Quinn, but your death haunted me. I didn’t want to betray you – I believe in you two. And maybe also because in killing you, I did the same thing that Sawyer had done to me. Losing Grace was like losing my compass, the better half of my soul. Seeing what I did to Kate kept me awake most nights. Anyway, I had heard about some expert on Celtic myth in the Aran Islands. I forget who mentioned it to me, but it took a while to get there.”

“And he told you about the
ail-enedigaeth
?” Carol asked.