In fact, Tristan couldn’t see a good outcome for Queen Maeve in all this.
Cathbad would not mourn her loss, if he could pull it off, but then neither would Tristan.
“I did at first think to barter with Daegan for your return,” Cathbad said, jerking Tristan into the present again.
That sounded as if Cathbad had not sent any word to Daegan, who had no way of knowing Cathbad was Cavan. If Tristan had failed to finish that telepathic call and inform Daegan of Cavan’s true identity, no one had a clue where he was.
His stomach twisted the more he realized he held little value to Cathbad. If that ended up being the case, Cathbad could keep him here forever.
His gaze shot to the frozen pond.
Would his gryphon survive being imprisoned in there?
Cathbad turned his head, looking in the same direction as Tristan, then swung around laughing. “I will not throw ya in the pond unless ya give me trouble.”
Tristan had to admit that gave him a small amount of relief, but only for the moment. His middle name was trouble when anyone trapped him.
Brynhild slid a look of disgust at Cathbad, who evidently had no issue with putting her in the pond.
She should have thought twice about getting involved with Cathbad. Tristan had little sympathy for anyone in bed with that druid voluntarily.
He sure as hell had not come here of his own free will.
“No, no, no,” Cathbad said, still chuckling as if he found Tristan’s worry amusing. The prick.
Cathbad turned serious. “I am seein’ the benefit of havin’ an Alterant.”
“In what way?” Tristan asked dryly. “Not like I can fly around with my arms and legs pinned.”
The druid spoke in a hushed voice, rapt with excitement, and moved his hands as he worked to paint a visual for everyone. “Just think of the powerful polymorph I could create. One far greater than Ossian. I see a polymorph that could shift into a dragon form and enter Treoir realm once I compel it.” He paused and turned his crazed gaze on Tristan. “Ah, yes, ya have so much more potential. ’Tis a very painful process,” he warned then his grin widened. “But that does make it all the better for me.”
Tristan’s throat tightened. He struggled to breathe. He hadn’t felt terror in a long time, but his heart dropped like a silver dollar tossed in a shallow fountain.
If Cathbad turned him into a polymorph, Tristan could be compelled to destroy everything and everyone that mattered to him.
He’d become Daegan’s greatest nightmare and would die at the hands of the man who had given him back his life.
Chapter 6
Casidhe wriggled her way through the dark tunnel leading from a massive hollow tree, which shielded the outdoor entrance to this secret route. Soon, she’d reach the hidden doorway inside the ancestral research centre.
Good thing. Her legs and arms were spent from tonight’s cross-country race to find Fenella.
She’d used this path when she had snuck out of the research centre covertly to visit Herrick only days ago. The hunched-over speed-walk seemed twice as long today. Carved and reinforced hundreds of years ago, this location had been shared only with Herrick’s squire families.
Fenella had never wanted to take the route, claiming her back couldn’t handle it, but she may have to now.
Casidhe’s fingers cramped from still clutching Lann an Cheartais like a lifeline, but for now this weapon was her sole support team.
She’d love to have her backpack with the sheath for carrying her sword. Under normal circumstances when she didn’t have to carry this weapon while jogging for miles, the sword weighed little and had excellent balance.
But even holding a butter knife for hours would eventually become tiresome.
Adrenaline had run out long ago, leaving her to function on anxiety alone.
She stumbled in the tunnel and slapped a hand against the rough-cut stone wall to catch her balance. Her damp shirt clung to her and her jeans sagged from the fog that had soaked the denim. She dragged in one long breath after another, which should have refreshed her.
Instead, she sucked in the damp musty smell of a tunnel that seeped water on occasions.
If she wanted fresh air, she needed to push on to the ancestral building. Her legs ached, but she kept forcing one step after another.
When she finally found the two steps up to the hidden doorway, she took them then flipped a latch on the back of a bookcase. That caused the shelving to roll forward, creating an opening.
Relief rushed through her at reaching the centre before daylight. Blood pounded in her ears as she listened for any sound of another person present.
She’d love to hear Fenella humming, but the woman would not be here yet. Not if the time was around eight in the morning.
If Fenella had not been captured, she should be arriving at nine, like normal, an hour before the centre opened at ten.
Casidhe couldn’t wait to reach the desk phone and call Fenella’s mobile phone.
Easing through the narrow opening, she closed the bookcase and sidestepped two cases over to tug a latch camouflaged as a bookend back, which locked the doorway again.
Just inside the library area, the door to the small bathroom on her right sat half open and the dim light glowed. She silently thanked Fenella’s fear of darkness for having a way to see in this back area without having to turn on overhead lights. The soft glow brushed across the floor, allowing Casidhe enough ambient light to traverse the maze of bookcases in this area, far from the harmful rays of the sun.
She wouldn’t flip on any lamps up front either.
No point in advertising her presence.
When she reached the narrow opening between cases forming a wall behind Fenella’s desk and Casidhe’s side of the room, she hesitated to enter the reception area up front.
Would those yellow things attack her here?
Would Cavan or the stranger be waiting for her?
Her heart had been slammed around too many times tonight. Terror seeped into her chest. Her
