Quinn dipped his head in a quick acknowledgement. “You have my word.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.” Slipping one arm out of the strap, Luigsech lowered the backpack to the ground. She stretched her shoulders and neck, loosening up as if ready to battle someone. All that would appear to show how ready she was, but her breathing seemed to increase and get choppy.
She nodded. “I’m ready.”
Quinn’s voice came into Daegan’s mind. She doesn't look ready. She appears close to hyperventilating.
Unfamiliar with the meaning of hyperventilating, Daegan guessed it was similar to panicked victims he’d seen unable to breathe properly then passing out. He told Quinn, I've watched her fight Imortiks. She's tough and powerful. She can do this.
Nodding, Quinn moved ahead. “Stay calm and focus on the faces. I will do the rest. Understood?”
She sucked in another shaky breath and closed her eyes. Her body needed to be relaxed to make it easier for him to jump in and out of her mind as quickly as possible, but her shoulder and neck muscles were visibly tight as taut ropes. She clenched her fingers. When she spoke, the word came out as if uttered on her last breath.
“Yes.”
Quinn closed his eyes, too. He kept his voice low. “I’m entering now. You have a mash of faces in your mind. Try to relax and single out Fenella, then bring her face into focus.” He paused a moment. “Ah, there she is. Bring all of her into focus so I can see her body and how she’s dressed.” He opened his eyes and continued staring at Luigsech. “Good. I have an image of Fenella. I can tell you’re worried, but you’re doing great. It’s crowded again. Push everyone away except Cavan. Bring him to the front of your mind.”
Luigsech’s face showed the strain she felt. She breathed faster and sucked in her lower lip.
Daegan remained completely still as Quinn used his mind lock on the woman. He couldn’t breathe for waiting to see if this worked.
Quinn whispered, “Cavan is blurry. Push the background and other people away. Focus a little harder on Cavan’s face, his mouth, his neck, his eyes, all of it.” Quinn’s voice changed to surprise. “There you go. Stay with it, stay with his face and ... I’ve got it.” He sounded as if he’d won a difficult battle.
Bringing his voice up, Quinn said, “You can open your eyes now.”
Her eyes remained closed and her body trembled.
Quinn sent a worried glance to Daegan. “I was careful with her.”
Daegan unfolded his arms and stepped over to her, taking the place Quinn vacated. He gently shook her shoulders. “Wake up, lass. He’s done.”
Her eyes blinked open mere inches from his.
He saw a world of things in those gorgeous blue eyes lost in the moment. It wasn’t the time to notice her beauty, but neither could he stop the thought from flittering through his mind.
She blinked fast and seemed to come out of her daze.
Daegan dropped his hands from her shoulders.
She stepped back quickly and crossed her arms. “Keep your hands off me.”
That was more like the little termagant. “I did not harm ya. We’re tryin’ to tell ya that he got the faces.”
She bent over and dropped her hands to her knees, expelling enough air to fill the lungs of a bear. “Really? You got both of them?”
“Yes. I could have done this even faster, but the glamour Cavan used actually blurred his face at first. You seemed to change it midstream and his features sharpened.”
Smiling with visible relief, she stood up. “I did. I saw his face on his first trip to the centre when I was hidden in the back at the time. He didn’t see me then.” Scrubbing her hands over her face, she shook off her tension. “Okay, do you know who he is?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome! That’s great.” She looked ready to jump around celebrating. Then she must have realized no one else was happy. “What’s wrong?”
Daegan noted Quinn’s lack of joy in learning the identity. “Who is it, Quinn?”
“Cathbad.”
Now Daegan understood what Tristan was trying to tell him. Of all people to take Tristan, Cathbad knew exactly what Tristan was and his value.
Finding him would be impossible if the druid did not wish to be found.
Dragging Tristan from Cathbad’s grasp would be even more difficult. Every minute spent was another minute Tristan paid the price for any more missteps.
Luigsech’s jaw dropped. “Who?”
Both men turned to her. Daegan asked, “With all your research, have ya never heard of Cathbad the Druid?”
Her face faded three shades lighter. “Of course, I have, but ... he’s dead. Been dead forever.”
If only that were true.
Daegan spent two thousand years locked in Queen Maeve’s realm, thinking he would never see her or Cathbad again.
Then she and Cathbad showed up.
He filled her in. “’Tis true that he and Queen Maeve were believed dead when they vanished, but they faked their deaths. They came out of a deep sleep recently and are both very much alive.”
Her lips moved but she couldn’t form a word.
Daegan took pity on her. “I know ya care deeply for your friend Fenella, but do not think to go runnin’ off. Ya are no match for this druid.”
“And you are?”
At one time he would have said yes, but he had no idea what destruction the Imortik venom was causing in his body.
Chapter 21
Casidhe had never suffered a panic attack, but she had the makings of a good one. These two men had just flipped her world upside down.
Cathbad-the-freaking-Druid.
She tried to calculate how old he could be today. She couldn’t get past the fact that she was pretty sure Cathbad had been alive before Herrick had been born.
What did that make these two men standing in front of her?
Were they just as old? Or had they only recently found out about Cathbad? “Who are you people
