to get the ability to breed. She stole the Gur amulet to power her spell.”
“I understand you’ve already tried to stop her.” Reardon’s voice was a delight to hear, even with the rasp of a hangover.
“Yes, and I don’t know why she moved the amulet but she did and Cate died. I don’t know if Fionuir had anything to do with that.” I swallowed a tightness in my throat.
“Now you are sure that the amulet is in the basement of Bank’s?” Reardon continued his questioning.
“In the basement of Fionuir’s court, I’ll get there through Bank’s. Maeve found it and has guaranteed it will be there until tomorrow. I want to take it tonight just to be safe.”
Clarence raised an eyebrow, or more accurately a ridge of spines above his eyes. “And you trust Maeve?”
“I don’t have a choice.” It didn’t sound helpful when I said it, but it was the truth.
“Now tell us your plan.” Reardon gestured as though asking me to take the stage.
“The wisps start hanging around Bank’s.” I looked at the four lights. One floated over to me and settled on my head.
“My brothers are there now.” A gentle voice filled my head.
“So that part of the plan is already in place,” I thanked the wisp and started again. “The plan is pretty simple. Reardon, you will start an impromptu concert in Bank’s, and we will open the door to the basement.”
Reardon held up his hand. “I will work with my flautist, Meredith.” The girl looked up at us and flashed a smile. “I will sing and she will accompany me on the flute.”
“Good.” I started to wonder if this guy would be able to carry off his part. He was a bit of a ham. “Now, as soon as the Sidhe come out of the corridor between the two basements, the wisps will float down and come back to let us know it’s clear.”
“How will you know they are saying it’s clear?” Lionel asked.
I looked at the line of lights. They rose and formed a circle then started spinning. “Okay, so they will do that if the coast is clear.”
Burr raised her hand and when I nodded she stood on the chair. “What is our role in this?”
“I’m coming to that. So if the corridor is safe, the wisps will follow me down the corridor and when I have the amulet, they’ll make sure that I can slip out without being seen.”
“One change there, wizard,” Edrinda said. “I will come with you. There is no point in taking chances. If a Sidhe should come through from their basement while you are locating the amulet, someone will need to deal with them.”
“What do you mean by deal with them?”
She smiled and I felt my flight response overwhelm my admittedly weak fight response. “Well, I suppose there are alternatives but I was planning to kill them.”
“No killing.” I couldn’t take the chance that the obligation would stop us from taking the amulet if a Sidhe was hurt. After all, if that happened it would be because I brought the trouble to them. “We don’t know who is on Fionuir’s’ side and who might be on ours.”
She grunted. “Very well, I will stun them; there will be no permanent harm. Do not argue with me, Quinn, I will not allow you to go into danger and not be protected.”
“Fine, then the wisps will lead both of us out.” I would find a way to stop her coming with me but it didn’t make sense to argue the point right now.
“I will be guarding the entrance to the basement,” Clarence said, patting her arm. “Do not fret my dear. I can create a distraction if need be. I will watch for the wisps and if you are not able to get out easily, I will make it so.”
She kissed him on the cheek and he grinned.
I cleared my throat. I came to the realization that my sleepless night was wasted. They had been putting together their own plan.
“Fine. You create a distraction I slip out with the amulet and bring it here. Then we remove the spell and the fairies don’t have to kill humans.”
Sting stood on his chair. “I do not understand our role in this, wizard. You said you would get to it, and yet this plan has come to a successful conclusion without our help.”
“No, you are important to the end.” I poured another cup of coffee. “Fionuir set the spell with a mixture of fairy and Sidhe blood. She painted the spell to control breeding in fairy blood, and then overlaid it with another spell in Sidhe blood. To remove the spell we will paint the control spell in fairy blood which will give you back control.”
“You wish to take our blood? Why not just wash the spell away?” Sting wrapped his arms around himself as though we were about to drain him right then.
“I don’t know what washing the spell away will do to the druid souls. And, no, I don’t want to take your blood, I am hoping you will give it.”
“I will consider it,” Sting said.
Lionel looked away but I could tell he wasn’t happy with his role stay at home and out of trouble.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I arrived at Bank’s just as the sun was going down, and headed to the bar where Mark was pulling my pint. I thanked him as I casually looked around the room.
There were six or ten will-o’-wisps floating around. I couldn’t really count them because they were moving fast, every once in a while one would dip into an unguarded glass and come back up wobbling. I hoped it was an act, because wisps weren’t all that reliable when they were sober, I didn’t want to think about what would happen if they were drunk.
I saw Clarence leaning against the back wall, a bit too casually for my comfort. As I watched Edrinda join him. I didn’t see Lionel or the two thistle fairies, but I did see a number of other fairies. What I didn’t see is Reardon, or Meredith. If he didn’t come, we needed a new plan to bring the Sidhe out.
I turned to talk to Mark. “Don’t you have a basement here?”
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, why?”
“Do you trust me?”
“I don’t like that question. I would normally say yes, but the question makes me think I should say no.”
“I promise that nothing will happen to make you close your doors.”
He pulled another pint as he thought it over. “Interesting way to put it. I guess I don’t want to know the details?”
“I’ll tell you about it afterward over a glass of whiskey.” I nodded to the top shelf where Mark kept the old stuff. “I’ll even pay for the drinks.”
“I guess I trust you.” Mark replaced my empty glass with a full one. “The basement door is beside the dartboard. You need a spell to open it from this side. You don’t from the other side, just in case that information is useful.”
“It is.”
He flicked a gaze at the door, like he was waiting for someone. “You know it connects to the Sidhe court, right?”
“Yep, can you give me the spell?”
He laughed. “No, I don’t trust you that far. When do you need it open?”
I thought about that, if we wanted the Sidhe to come in, they would open the door. I just needed to make sure it stayed open enough for the will-o’-wisps to get in and out. “I guess the door has to be pushed open from the inside? There’s no proximity spell?”
“No, someone has to push it. Are you getting lazy in your old age?”
“I’ve always prided myself on being lazy. The Sidhe are going to come through the door at some point, I just need you to make sure it doesn’t get closed again until I come out.”
“Okay. I can do that. Just don’t mess with my reputation. I need customers.”
