'He says they don't know what they're doing,' Paen said as Uilleam and two of his buddies stumbled over each other's words to speak. 'He says if those swords weren't dulled, they'd have all killed themselves days ago.'
'Well, they are just actors,' I said, less concerned about the quality of acting and sword choreography than I was the man who shot Clare. 'I wonder why they didn't see the guy with the monkey?'
Paen listened a moment as Uilleam said something else. He smiled in response. 'It sounds to me as if they've been spending their time watching the film people. You're right about one thing—they are tied to the land. They all gave their lives to defend it, and to it they are bound, acting as guardians of a sort.'
'Fascinating, but not terribly helpful as far as finding out why someone wants the bird statue, or for that matter, who he was. Well, I guess we're done here—'
One of the ghosts shouted something to Uilleam, who looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to face his men and yelled something at them.
'What's going on now?' I asked Paen in a low voice, a little bit worried about the ghosts. So far they'd been perfectly well behaved, but I was still concerned about the possibility that they might have a physical presence in our world.
'Uh-oh.'
'What? What are they saying?'
'Uh-oh? What uh-oh?' Clare asked at the same time as I spoke.
An odd look of chagrin passed over Paen's face. 'The suggestion has been made that they do something about the lack of sword skill being demonstrated by the actors.'
'Oh no,' I said, a dread feeling in the pit of my stomach. 'You mean—'
Paen nodded. 'Yes. They intend to show everyone how it's done.'
Uilleam shouted something that sounded very much like a battle cry. The air around him seemed to shimmer and part, as if he was walking through a translucent curtain.
'Goddess above, I see a ghost,' Clare said, her eyes huge as she grabbed on to Finn. 'He materialized! Do you see him?'
'Yes,' Finn said, sounding just as curious as Paen. 'Fascinating.'
'No, no, no,' I said, putting myself in Uilleam's path, my hands raised to stop him even though I knew it would serve no practical purpose. 'I am not going to be responsible in any way, shape, or form for ghosts manifesting to teach a bunch of actors how to swordfight. I'll never live that down… Holy moly! I can feel him!'
Evidently Uilleam wasn't expecting to do more than materialize visually either, because he stopped and looked down in surprise at my hands on his chest.
'Oh no,' I groaned, the dread feeling growing. 'I was right. He's grounded!'
Before I could get the word out of my mouth, Uilleam decided to make up for what must have been at least six hundred years of nooky-less existence by grabbing me, pulling me into an all-too-real embrace, his lips cooler than body temperature as they mashed up against my mouth.
Paen was there in a flash, jerking me out of Uilleam's arms as he snarled something that sounded like it was probably obscene. Uilleam laughed and made him a little bow, giving me a lascivious waggle of his eyebrows.
'He heard you? He understood you?'
'Yes,' Paen said, releasing my shoulder. He looked pissed, both at me and the ghost. I frowned at his frown.
'Good. Then you can tell him that now is not the time to show a bunch of actors how to wield a sword. Tell him if he doesn't back off and go back to his ephemeral form, we'll call in a Summoner and have them all sent to the Akasha.'
Paen duly told the ghost what I said. Uilleam spat out a few words that I didn't need to have translated, then stalked back to his men, his form shimmering slightly as he released his grounding. The men grumbled when Uilleam gave them my ultimatum, a couple of them looking daggers at me.
'They're not very happy,' Paen said quietly. 'Perhaps it would be best if we were to leave.'
'Poor ghosts,' Clare said, her mouth turned down with sadness. She turned to me. 'Would it be such a bad thing if they were to join the actors—'
I raised an eyebrow.
She sighed. 'I suppose so. It seems so unfair, though. They just want to have a little fun, and they are offering to help…'
'Another time,' I said firmly, having way too much to deal with at the moment to add battle-hungry ghosts to my list. 'I think Paen's right. There's nothing more we can find out here.'
'So what do we do now?' Finn asked as we said a polite good-bye to the ghosts, gathered up our things, and climbed the slight hill to the overlook area where all the cars were parked.
'We'll just add the guy who attacked Clare to our list of things to investigate. In the meantime, I don't think it would be smart of you to go anywhere on your own, just in case this man decides to shoot you again. Or worse.'
'Nothing can be worse than shooting an innocent gown,' Clare said, smoothing a hand down the fabric she held tenderly in her arms.
'I will be happy to act as a bodyguard,' Finn said, giving Clare a look that was unmistakable. I glanced from him to Paen, but my would-be lover was clearly thinking of other things.
'Oooh,' Clare said, momentarily distracted by Finn's lascivious look. 'That would be fun. I've never had a bodyguard before.'
'You can't go out in daylight,' I pointed out, not wanting to interfere with what could be a budding romance, but obliged to make sure Clare was protected during the day.
'I can. I just have to have protection. How do you think we came here earlier today?' Finn glanced at his watch. It was now the second hour of deep night (better known as one in the morning). 'Or rather, yesterday.'
'You can go out during the day?' I asked Paen. 'I thought Dark Ones couldn't? Or is that just a vampire old wive's tale?'
'It's partially true,' Finn answered for him. 'My brothers and I can tolerate a lot more than Paen, but even he can go out if he has enough protection from direct sunlight.'
'How can you tolerate more than Paen?' I asked, distracted by the idea of vampires who could walk in daylight.
'Finn—' Paen said warningly.
His brother ignored him. 'We all, the three of us, are Moravians. Paen is a Dark One. That means we have souls, but he doesn't. Our parents weren't Joined when he was born.'
'Huh?' I asked, more confused than ever. 'Joined?'
'That's enough, Finn,' Paen said, stepping over a low chain barrier at the edge of the overlook.
'Joining is the procedure a Dark One undertakes with his Beloved, the woman who can salvage his soul and make him whole again. Mum was Dad's Beloved, but due to a war, they didn't complete the Joining until after Paen was born.'
'They don't want to hear about our family history,' Paen said, striding over to his car. 'There are more important things to be discussed, like what steps are to be taken next in the search for our statue.'
'I don't know, I'm kind of interested in hearing about this,' I said, smiling at Paen. He glowered back at me.
Finn looked from his brother to me, a smile growing slowly on his lips. 'Sorry, Paen. I didn't realize you don't want me telling Sam about Beloveds. No doubt she wouldn't be interested if I told her how there is one woman who can save you, a woman who completes you and makes you whole again. I won't explain about the seven steps to Joining, because that would probably just bore her. Nor will I go into the fact that a Beloved knows she is such by the fact that she is marked by a Dark One, and that the marking usually takes the form of a strong psychic connection.'
'God damn it, Finn, just shut up!' Paen exploded.
My jaw dropped a little.
