Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Afew mornings later, drastic measures were taken to keep Tighe entertained while a sensitive discussion took place in the study.
He was in the kitchen, helping Everly and Niall supervise a basket of kittens.
They were “on loan” from a veterinarian friend but Silas suspected that the four adorable fur balls would be adopted before they left the townhouse.
“I’m rather partial to the black one,” Nox said as they convened in the study and Nelson closed the doors.
Merlin chuckled. “It’s been too long since we’ve had a cat around here. We should keep the little tabby as well, he’ll be a good mouser.”
“Good thinking,” Nox said, smiling at Silas, Arawn, Bryn, and Fletcher before glancing up at the ceiling. “I would appreciate your input as well, Lord Smoak,” he called, then looked toward the corner when a curl of smoke appeared.
“At your service,” he said flatly.
“Thank you,” Nox replied and gestured for him to take a seat but Smoak propped his shoulder against the bookshelf and crossed his arms.
“This is far enough. The guest room isn’t as bad but the rest of the house is intolerable.”
“What doesn’t kill you…” Merlin said sweetly, then turned to Nox. “That reminds me, more rosemary in our smudge sticks!”
Nox tapped his brow and grinned. “Later. Right now, we’re appreciative of Smoak’s cooperation,” he said before holding up his hands.
“What’s Dùbhghlas’s next move?” he asked everyone.
“I’m concerned about Eoin Ossor but wanted to see if there was more we could be doing to trip Dùbhghlas up or slow him down.
I’d like to avoid a confrontation and convince him to forget about Tighe. ”
“That’s why you didn’t want him here,” Silas realized and was glad Nox had exercised caution. There was no telling how Tighe would respond if he thought Eoin might be in danger.
“Ahem,” Smoak said as he held up a hand. “Take the fight to him now before he has time to grow any stronger,” he suggested but Nox shook his head.
“That’s what he wants,” he said and Merlin hummed.
“And what Smoak wants. The sooner one of you is out of the way…” he said as he cut his eyes at Smoak but the demon just smiled and shrugged.
“I’m cooperating because it pleases Niall and because it’s the right thing to do, in this instance,” he added with a pained grimace.
“The right thing?” Merlin said with a laugh. “That’s a laugh, coming from you.”
Smoak waved dismissively. “Not at all. Dùbhghlas has no respect for the sanctity of death. No one gets away with defying the natural order, not even the Father of Demons. I won’t stand in the way if MacIlwraith is meant to be the consequences of Dùbhghlas’s foolishness.”
“Huh!” Merlin bowed his head. “In that we can agree. Necromancy helps no one, not even demons.”
“We wouldn’t want it to get out that there was a loophole,” Smoak said with a chuckle, then acknowledged Silas. “He’s right to worry about the brother. It’s the only thing Dùbhghlas can use as bait to draw Tighe out or barter with.”
“Damn it!” Silas swept a hand through his hair, at a complete loss. Just when things started turning around, they got worse. “How the hell do we find Eoin before Dùbhghlas does? It was hard enough finding Tighe and we had an oracle and witnesses to guide us.”
Nelson waved his notepad. “The FBI might not know them as Ossors but they may have an idea about where they’re currently operating. It would be almost impossible for us to have nothing on them.”
“He’s right,” Fletcher said from the sofa. “If they get even a whiff of a militia or a cult, they’ll want to monitor them. And smuggling is always a concern, being that close to the Canadian border. Any small groups attempting to fly under the government’s radar are going to be of interest.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Nelson said to Silas. “You can come with me and act as my liaison with ISB and the Park Services. Any contacts we can make up north could be useful.”
“Agreed,” Silas said with a nod and began plotting how he’d break it to Tighe. He was going to flip when he found out that Eoin might be in danger and he wouldn’t like being separated from Silas. But Silas finally had something to do and there was a chance they could get ahead of Dùbhghlas again.
After that was settled, the conversation shifted to how they could protect someone like Eoin Ossor.
“We’ve already seen how challenging this is for Tighe,” Nox said, his tone heavy as he wandered to the terrace doors and leaned to check the sky.
“He’s handled it better than we could have expected but Eoin Ossor will be an entirely different animal. ”
“Closer to an actual animal,” Merlin said, earning a snort from Silas.
“Based on what I’ve learned from Tighe, we can expect Eoin to be proud and far more headstrong. He’s fearless and accustomed to violence. There will be absolutely no trust for ‘outsiders’ and he won’t give a damn about our authority,” he warned. “He’s killed to protect Tighe before.”
“Noted,” Nelson said as he wrote in his notepad. “Eoin Ossor should be approached with extreme caution.”
“That still doesn’t solve our other problem,” Silas complained and gestured at a map of the Appalachians that had been tacked to one of the rolling boards. “Assuming we can locate Eoin and we figure out how to bring him in without grievous bodily injury, what the hell do we do with him?”
“What about Pooles Island?” Bryn suggested. “Ronan doesn’t like guests but we could pin a note to Eoin’s jumper and drop him off. Then, he’d have to give him shelter. It worked for Tony,” he said but Nox shook his head.
“Tony was dying. Ronan might accept that Eoin’s life is in danger but Pooles isn’t safe for an Ossor.
There are a lot of unexploded mines and munitions inland amongst the peach trees.
It’s the Navy’s island, Ronan just maintains the lighthouse and dock and minds the beach as part of an old agreement.
Ronan and his dogs know where it’s safe to walk but I wouldn’t expect an Ossor to listen. ”
“No, Pooles won’t do,” Merlin sighed. “I had already considered it for Tighe after the incident with the vacuum, but he’d be too tempted to explore.”
“He would,” Silas said sadly. For a moment, he was hopeful that there could be an alternative to Georgetown for Tighe but there would be no keeping him away from the peach trees. Then, Silas recalled something Tighe had mentioned the night before. “What about a poppet?”
“A poppet?” Merlin’s brows jumped and he nodded. “That would be handy, indeed.”
“It was Tighe’s idea, he thought we might be able to protect ourselves if we had one.”
“Perhaps!” The older man said as he rubbed his chin. “We took several photos and mementos from Dùbhghlas’s home. I keep them in the bottom of my deepest trunk. The trick would be finding enough of his hair or blood and a freshly worn item of clothing,” he mused but raised a brow at Smoak.
“As much I enjoy being your errand boy and would relish picking through his dirty linens, I can’t.
I won’t,” he stated firmly. “I have eyes and ears all around him, but there’s no way Dùbhghlas would let me get that close to him, not after our last meeting.
And there is no way I’m asking another demon to help you make a poppet. I have a reputation, you know.”
“It was worth a try,” Nox said, shrugging. “We shouldn’t give up on the poppet idea, though. That could be part of a long term solution.” He tapped on his temple and nodded. “Tighe’s a clever one.”
“Yup,” Silas said with a wide smile. “He’s always paying attention and understands more than he thinks he does.”
“Pffft!” Nox swatted impatiently. “He'd outwit us all in the woods and be the only one to survive if we had to get by with nothing but the clothes on our backs. That’s clever.”
“I’m obviously not part of this scenario,” Smoak said and looked extremely harassed. “May I go now? I could use some fresh air,” he said but didn’t wait before turning into smoke and disappearing.
“I think we’re winning him over,” Nox said, looking amused. “Let’s see what Nelson and Shelby can learn and meet back here tomorrow,” he told everyone and there were laughs and murmurs as the room cleared.
Nelson returned to the desk and his laptop and Nox went back to the rolling boards with Merlin and a glass of whiskey. It seemed like a good time to follow up on something else Silas and Tighe had discussed the prior night.
“So…what’s this about a Hunt?” he asked cautiously but Nox jumped and looked startled when he turned back to Silas.
“A Hunt?” he said in a weak croak and Merlin scoffed.
“Don’t listen to Smoak, he’s merely stirring the pot.”
There was a weary groan from Nox as he went to the sofa and dropped onto it, his feet kicking out and crossing on the rug.
“Is he? Or does he know that something big is inevitable? I do hear a drumbeat and feel the…godly inclination to wipe out any opposition so that I am supreme,” he said, then winced sheepishly when Nelson shot him a loaded look. “Sorry.”
“That’s not what you want,” he said in his calm, quiet rumble.
“I have absolutely no desire to start a Hunt,” Nox confirmed with a faint, fading laugh.
“I want to teach and help people. But I do worry that there will come a time when I won’t be able to suppress the inclination, even if we can stop Dùbhghlas once and for all.
He won’t be the last or the end of the darkness,” he said distantly and gave his head a shake before sipping from his tumbler.
Merlin stomped a foot, defiant and indignant.
“We have come too far and sacrificed too much for you to forfeit your will and betray your own heart. I do not care if you choose to lead us all on a Hunt, but I will be damned before I’ll allow you to lose your agency and become an empty vessel for a despot or a monster. ”
“It won’t come to that,” Nelson said without looking up from his screen, seemingly uninterested and unbothered by the prospect.
“I can’t see it either,” Silas said and shook his head. “You’re…chaotic, at times, but your heart is in the right place, from all I’ve seen.”
“Exactly!” Merlin replied as he went back to his desk by the rolling boards and sat, ending the conversation. “I believe you gentlemen have someplace to go,” he said with an expectant look at Nelson and Silas.
“We do,” Nelson agreed as he closed his laptop and stood, preparing to leave. “I sent a message to Agent Benson, telling him that we need anything the bureau has on Ossors and any unusual groups or activity in the region that might fit their MO.”
“Great. I’ll go and break it to Tighe,” Silas said and silently prayed he’d take the news well.