Page 49 of Crown of Tides and Fury

“Nay. Only one Grandfather at a time, eh? Even now, I feel the White One pressing me to quit this place.”

I would definitely ask Wickham about this White One. On the recording, Wickham eventually asked how to kill Orion.

“Kill him?”

“Aye. We’ve learned his monsters cannae survive silver through their skin.”

“Monsters?”

“Aye. Minions. Beasts who do his bidding.”

“Mmm. Interesting. I suppose he’s had enough time to craft his own army. But they’ll have no souls. Nothing more significant than mud. He cannae be killed in mortal terms. Perhaps, though, ye might contain him again.”

It wasn’t what we wanted to hear, but finally, Wickham asked about the DeNoy.

“If any yet live, kill them where they stand. Man, woman, or child. Do it! Heartless deeds have been done before, to save both mankind and our kind. And they must be done again.”

Man, woman, or child? My disappointment caught me off guard. I’d secretly worried Hank was somehow a 0, that maybe he could be unlocked. But it sounded like my pet rock was just that, with a little boost of healing power contained in his star stones.

At least no one would have to put him down--or rather,her...

“But how do we find one? And does it mean something? To lock or unlock one?”

“Dinnae get yer nose too far ahead of yer feet, laddie. Ye’ll frighten yerself, sure.”

Wickham’s growl was loud, as if close to the phone.“Ye must understand. I willnae be back a second time. If ye dinnae explain now… There is no one else to ask.”He then explained how Muirsglen was on fire, that there were no more elders left to question.

It took some time for the Grandfather to get over the shock, and then the questions resumed.

“Seanair, is there a way into this realm within our realm? This hell?”

“Why do ye ask?”

“I cannae say why. But I need to know.”

“An escort.”

“An escort?”

“A Fae escort. Or one of those minions ye spoke about. Much like Muirsglen, ye must be invited, or escorted to find the place.”

“So, any Fae can escort me there?”

“None will wish to do so. Would ye willingly step foot in the Hell of Man, considering ye may not be allowed out again?”

“This is what they risk?”

“This is what they would risk…if any were foolish enough to go.”

I didn’t dare look up, knowing that everyone at that table was thinking of the same Fae I was.

Would Griffon be willing to escort us into Hell itself…to save a bunch of Muir witches? Or did he just want to send us to our own?

19

Old Men Be Damned

The recording clicked. Kitch reached for his phone. “We broke for lunch. There is a little more in the second recording.” He grinned at Alwyn, who sat in a chair just inside the door. “We were fed goose, blackberries, and plums. Plums were sour. Meat needed salt.”

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