All Daegan heard in her tone was dead end. “Do ya have a visual of where Luigsech got out of the boat on the other side?”
“Yes and no. I can see that spot, but it looks like so many she passed I don’t know what drew her to that specific landing. The one thing that struck me were all the blue flowers growing around a half-submerged tree trunk. They were small with white star-like centers. I’d like to say I could nail the location, but I don’t trust what I saw enough to try that. I could make it through the tunnel easier than you two. If I did that, we could find the river entrance.” She swung to Quinn. “Don’t you dare say one word about it being too dangerous.”
“Wouldn’t dare,” Quinn grumbled and turned to leave the room. “That reminds me, I need to check the outside again.”
Daegan decided to join Quinn for another look through the front room.
The glass window shattered behind him on the other side of the bed.
A demon dove through, going for Reese.
Chapter 11
Cathbad teleported to a rooftop across the street from Luigsech’s ancestral research centre. He cloaked himself as soon as he appeared above the bakery pumping out a delicious aroma. He’d have to visit and try out their sweets on another trip.
He’d arrived at half past ten intentionally, curious to see if Casidhe Luigsech had opened his book to the spot he wanted translated.
If she had, then she put little value on the life of her friend Fenella. That would surprise him, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone had placed their own interests first.
He wanted to see Casidhe’s true colors right up front.
That allowed him to know how to take what he wanted from her.
While he waited a moment to observe the building, a white-haired woman in a pink dress and matching shoes stopped to tap on the door. She ducked her head, moving it back and forth like a bird searching for seeds inside then walked on.
Probably someone who knew Casidhe and Fenella.
Why had no one answered the door?
Casidhe would not have missed this meeting, would she?
When the woman in pink walked away, Cavan teleported into the reception area he’d visited twice before. Those times, he’d entered at street level through the front door.
The first thing he noticed was his book on dark druids nowhere in sight. Shielding his presence from view, he opened up his senses, calling to the book.
It was not here.
Neither was Casidhe Luigsech.
She had certainly surprised him.
He did not believe she would defy him without cause. She had clearly feared him yesterday and he still believed she cared too much for Fenella to put the older woman at risk.
What had changed for Casidhe since yesterday?
Why would she steal his book? If she’d read as much as he believed she had, she would know the danger of crossing a dark druid of his caliber.
He closed his eyes and opened his senses again to search for preternatural residue.
He picked up a lingering trail of energies.
Casidhe had been here recently.
So had that red dragon and two others, one was a being he’d sensed before but could not immediately identify.
Now he understood why Casidhe might have run with his book. Having the red dragon involved changed everything. Cathbad took his time, searching through the library of impressive volumes. Some books had either been moved around or taken, based on clean areas left with a film of dust disturbed near those spots.
How many books had she taken?
Which ones?
His best guess would be something connected to the grimoire. As he moved through the library full of scents from a time long gone he normally smelled only in his own archives, he considered teleporting to the cottage.
Why would she take the books there when he could so easily find her?
He’d located her cottage after his first visit to the ancestral centre when she took off for five days. Locating that cottage had been simple. It was not as if she tried to hide her life, but he had restrained from entering her home in case she had a way of discerning if she’d had unwelcome company while away.
How had she escaped this building after his first visit without notice?
He and Brynhild had remained close by after their first visit. They’d waited for him to see what action Fenella, or Casidhe, who had hidden from them, would take. He’d felt Casidhe’s power as she likely had spied on him and Brynhild when they presented themselves as the Cavans.
But Fenella left the centre that day and no one else.
Only Fenella came in for the next two days as well.
Casidhe didn’t show until yesterday, entering through the front door. She had clearly left by a secret exit the first day he visited. He’d placed a majik tripwire by the rear exterior door that first time. No one had opened the door since then.
The Luigsech squire family had been humans, but Casidhe was not, which created a new puzzle.
Just who was Casidhe Luigsech? What powers did she possess besides translating lost languages?
He kept turning in place as he thought, taking in every angle of the room, especially around the floor and back wall.
Where would be the best place to hide a secret exit from this building? He found nothing disturbed on the floor. He turned his attention to the back wall covered entirely with heavy bookcases.
Running his fingers up and down each shelving unit, he searched for a secret latch of some sort. Nothing.
A thought kept digging at him.
Had Casidhe gone to her cottage?
He should leave this place be and teleport there. Shaking his head at this odd development, he started to walk away, but ... he gave that back wall filled with books one last look.
Then he took a couple steps to the center of the room and faced the wall. Lifting his hands, he tapped telekinetic power to pull the bookcases toward him.
All
