Page 56 of The Dark Rises
Unbelievable. “We lost our contact?”
“No, I made it to the rendezvous, but without Fluk, I knew he would get suspicious. Better to pretend we didn’t show and follow him. So, that’s what I did,” he excitedly corrects me. “He’s here.”
“In Aerie Wells?” I ask, afraid to hope.
“In the inn,” Lot replies. “He’s downstairs. I was going to try to follow him from here, but Kavi found me first.”
“When was this?” I whip around toward the door. “Madoc, Rivan, and Meri. Head outside. If he gets past us, I’ll text you. Kavi and Lot with me.” I get to the hallway and stop. “Which way?”
Lot hurries past me, taking the lead. “Stairs to the bar around the corner.”
We head left, and I look back to make sure Madoc turns right to lead Meri and Rivan to the rear exit. Before we reach the common room, I grab Lot’s elbow. “I’m going to slide into the shadows with Kavi. We’re too recognizable. All I want you to do is go in and sit down near the contact. Order an ale and blend in.”
Lot dips his chin, then hunches his shoulders and opens the door.
Slipping into the shadows, we watch him shuffle into the bar. A few of the patrons look up when he enters, but they quickly dismiss him and return to whatever they’re doing. Except for one.
That’s him. His height alone gives him away. I stare at the tall, dark hair man with bright green eyes, sitting there, nursing a tankard of ale. Not once does his eyes drift to anyone else, not even when Lot walks over and sits two seats down from him. It’s puzzling. Lot said he was paranoid. Those aren’t the actions of a paranoid man.
I text Madoc, asking if he can take the shadows to meet us in the common room. Near the interior entrance. Seconds later, he slides up beside us, and I add a sound barrier between us and the room.
“Lot says that’s him, but all he’s done is sit there. Do you recognize him?” I murmur, pointing to Fae.
“Aristocratic Fae. At least a lord or lady based on the reading I’m getting from their magic. Hard to tell with his glamour,” Madoc replies softly.
Glamour, of course. “Can you remove the glamour?”
“For a brief second, but they will instantly know it’s gone and bolt,” Madoc cautions me.
Modern technology working with old magic. Got to love it. I pull out my phone and aim the camera toward the Fae. “Do it. Now.”
Magic pulses out of the shadows, and the Fae turns toward it. The glamour lifts and I snap several pics of the now blond-haired, brown-eyed lord.
Flipping up the table, the lord takes off toward the door. I step from the shadows, with Madoc and Kavi, and wave to Lot. The four of us leap after him, intent on following him as far as we can.
Rivan: Small incident. We’re leaving. Might want to send Kavi to bury the bodies in the back. 3 Red Caps. One pile of ash.
Cormal: …
I show Madoc the text. “Will you go with Kavi and check it out? I’m going to keep following these two. Catch up when you can.”
Madoc pulls Kavi into the shadows, and they disappear.
Winding through the town, I spot Lot standing in the corner of a dark alley. Deliberately letting him see me, I walk past his hiding spot. He flicks a finger at the stables nearby, and I slide into the shadows.
Light streams through the slats from the lights outside. The cool interior is dark and mostly silent except for the occasionalwhinny from a horse. For the next hour, I stand in the shadows, waiting for him to make a move.
The front door slides open, and light spills through the entrance. Several Red Caps, muttering angrily amongst themselves, make their way to the wagon in the corner. Hitching up the jackass next to it, they lead it out of the barn and close the doors. The sound of clucking and the wagon pulling away echoes in the darkened room.
A huge beast of a horse rears up in the corner of the stables and changes from animal to Fae in a blink of an eye. Glamour gone, he leaps up on the nearest horse and sends a biting cold wind into the doors to open them wide. In a flash, they’re gone.
I rush outside and see Lot and Madoc standing in the alley. “Where’s Kavi?”
“I helped him drag the bodies out of town and burn them. He’s scattering the ashes throughout the woods,” Madoc replies with a shake of his head. “Based on the evidence, Rivan killed the three Red Caps, and Meri used faery fire to kill a hag. We need to leave. They’ll be searching for royalty.”
“I have an idea where to go next,” I tell them. “Lot, find Kavi and head back to The Underworld. Collect your bonus. You’ve earned it. Well done.”
He reaches out and shakes my hand. “Thank you. That money means a lot to me and my family.”
