Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Carys?” Duncan was shaking her arm. “I wish I could let you sleep for days, but the dragon is about the break into our room to check your breathing.”
She blinked awake to see Lachlan leaning over her. No, it was Duncan. Obviously it was Duncan and they were in the spy’s house and…
“I just had a very weird dream.”
Duncan frowned. “Was it bad?”
“No, it was with Seren.”
Duncan sat on the edge of the bed. “What did she say?”
“That I can’t go to Annwn. That mortals don’t return from Annwn. Which is not strictly true—some of them have returned in stories, but it’s rare.”
His eyes went wide. “Then you’re not going.”
Carys sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. “Why don’t we head to Swansea today and see what these Mothers have to say? How far away is it?”
“Not close. Four and a half hours minimum, and that’s not accounting for all the stops that Naida and Godrik are going to want to make at travel centers so they can feed their slushy addiction.”
“So all day.”
“Likely yes.”
Carys stretched her arms up, then looked around the room. Her arms fell and her heart jumped. “Duncan, where are my papers?”
“I put them in the library this morning,” Duncan said. “Relax. Just give your mind a rest. Have some food. Breathe. Go walk in the garden a bit. Maybe it will give you some perspective. Clear your mind.”
Carys smiled. “If I’m Frodo, are you Sam? That would explain why you’re always trying to feed me.”
Duncan crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not a fucking hobbit.”
“But I am,” she whispered. “I’m Sexy Frodo.”
“Fuck me, I’m going to be hearing about this for the rest of my life, aren’t I?” Duncan shook his head. “Get out of bed, Frodo.” He pulled back the covers and slapped the side of her thigh. “Come on, lass. Get up and let me feed you.”
“Okay, but only if there are potatoes involved.”
“Is that another Sam reference?” Duncan asked. “Because I haven’t read those books in ages, and at this point, I’m going to actively avoid them.”
Carys slid off the massive king-size bed. “Dear Sam.” She patted Duncan’s shoulder. “Frodo wouldn’t have made it very far without her Sam.”
“Don’t make me strip you naked and fuck you again, woman.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” she muttered. “Because it’s really not.”
Duncan shoved her toward her duffel bag. “Get dressed or the dragon is going to break into our room.”
She did not want Cadell breaking into their room when she was naked.
“Fine.” She wrangled a bra from the tangle of her jumbled duffel bag. “But know that underneath my modern armor” —she nearly tripped over a heavy wool rug while trying to fasten her bra— “I am still Sexy Frodo.”
The house butler, Franklin—no doubt a man who also doubled as a driver and majordomo for the undercover spy—delivered a rolling tray of breakfast to the library.
“Poached eggs and bacon,” he said. “Roasted tomatoes and potatoes from the garden. The cook just took these scones from the oven.” He lifted the last tray. “And of course a rack of venison for the” —he glanced at Cadell and Godrik— “for the gentlemen.”
“Thank you, Franklin.” Duncan picked up a scone. “I’ll let Jeff know how helpful you’ve been.”
Franklin didn’t look like he gave two shits about impressing Duncan, but he was clearly more than a little bit worried about the library. He glared at Duncan before he closed the double doors and left them alone.
Laura had attacked Carys’s file of research and spread it into very engineer-coded piles.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ve separated the files on the Morrígan from the research you’ve done on other gods.”
Naida added, “And we also have another pile of papers on various alternate realms.”
“I had a dream with Seren last night,” Carys said.
Lachlan’s head popped up from his slumped posture in a corner of the room. “What did Seren say?”
“That I should absolutely not go to Annwn, but I was already kind of thinking that,” Carys said. “I mean, the track record of humans returning from underworlds is not good no matter what world mythology we’re talking about.”
Godrik nodded. “The realms of Hel are only trespassed by the dead.”
Angus muttered, “I could take you to several different otherworlds, but even as powerful as I am, I could not guarantee your return.”
Naida sat at the table and looked at the spread papers. “But the druids did imply that Carys would need some kind of wisdom from Annwn to defeat the Morrígan.”
Godrik walked over to the breakfast tray and took a plate. He piled it with roasted potatoes and tomatoes before adding a scone and taking it to Naida. “We should make a list of our assets for the coming battle.”
Laura took out a notebook. “Let’s start with what we know.”
“Carys is the hero the old gods have chosen,” Lachlan said. “That is without question. Wada confirmed it after the battle in Yorkshire, and his daughter gave Carys a prophesy that led her to Angus.”
“Who led her to the druids.” Cadell was leaning on the bookshelves and eyeing the side of venison.
He kept glancing at Naida.
“Just go ahead,” she said quietly. “Both of you need to eat too.”
Angus muttered, “You all could have found the druids on your own most likely.”
Duncan cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m sure that finding our way to an alternate realm in the middle of Sherwood Forest where the Green Man lives would have been no problem, ye daft old creature.”
“You could have found it.” Angus pointed a gnarled finger at Carys. “Well, not you, but she could have.”
“Luckily, Angus led us to Jack and saved us some time.” Carys tried to redirect the conversation before it turned into an argument.
Cadell and Godrik started to wolf down the rack of venison, and the smell of roasted meat filled the room.
“So what did Jack tell us?” Laura said. “That’s the important part.”
“Uh…” Carys frowned. So much had happened that it felt like months since they’d been in Sherwood, but it had really only been a week or so.
“Jack confirmed that we cannot kill the Morrígan,” she said. “Which Dru said too. Jack didn’t seem all that upset about her being here, but he also didn’t deny that his power was different with her influence.”
“Truly,” Angus said, “it has been centuries since I have seen him so fully transformed into his old form.”
Lachlan spoke from the corner again. “I think we have to acknowledge that there will be gods who might not mind the Morrígan’s actions. They may even be supporting her.”
Lachlan wasn’t eating. In fact, Carys hadn’t seen him eat in days. His face was wan and his eyes were tired. The only time he seemed animated were the times that Seren’s name was mentioned.
“Tell him that I love him still. That I might have died, but my love never did.”
Would telling him that Seren still loved him bring him comfort or just make him more reckless and desperate?
Angus shook his head. “Gonna have to disagree on that, my boy. The gods who want to live as their true selves have the Shadowlands to command. Magic is real there. Humans believe in them. Jack lives in the Brightlands because he loves humans and this world.”
Laura said, “You can love humans and still think we’ve done a pretty shit job taking care of the planet.”
“He won’t harm people.” Angus was adamant. “The Morrígan will.”
“Okay.” Carys raised her hands. “Let’s move on. Jack also said something about enchantments and breaking them.”
Bad stories weave enchantments. Good stories break them.
“We scared off an enchanted bear,” Laura said.
“No, this was after the bear.”
Duncan said, “What about Jibril?”
“He’s a messenger,” Carys said. “Angels are messengers.”
“If we don’t stop the Morrígan here,” Lachlan said, “magical war is going to spread. In all the worlds.”
“The barriers between worlds could fail completely,” Carys said.
Godrik chimed in. “That means more Brightkin wandering into the Shadowlands, possibly with deadly consequences.”
“And more magical creatures creeping out here. Creatures like imps and redcaps can be vicious,” Naida said. “And they don’t need magic to harm people.”
“My horde confirmed what Jibril said,” Cadell added. “Briton is being cut off from the rest of the world. The other kingdoms are watching what happens.”
“So we stop the Morrígan on this side,” Carys said, “before she breaks down the gates. Or other countries might step in to try to save themselves.”
“War,” Godrik said. “Magical war on both sides of our world.”
Angus pointed at Carys. “The Builder. He took you to another place, didn’t he? When we were at his cottage.”
Every eye swung toward Carys.
“What?” Laura said. “No, we were there.”
“We were there, but they were somewhere else,” Angus said. “At least for a moment.”
“It was more than a moment,” Carys clarified. “I had kind of a… slight mental breakdown. And Joshua was kind enough to freeze time for a little bit.”
Laura’s mouth dropped open. “Okay, how cool is that?”
Duncan frowned, “What did Joshua say?”
“After I blabbed every single fear I’ve been holding in about all this mess, he reassured me that I am capable of defeating the Morrígan.” She glanced at Duncan. “Even when I don’t feel like I can do it, I have to remember—”
“If you tell them…” Duncan started.
“—that I’m basically Frodo.” She smiled at Duncan. “Because this is a burden that came to me, but I can carry it with the help of my friends.” She looked around the library. “With your help, we are going to succeed.”
Laura gasped. “I know I’m human, but can I be Arwen?”
“She wasn’t part of the fellowship,” Lachlan said.
When Lachlan had lived in Baywood, he’d become completely addicted to the movie series. So much that Carys thought he could probably quote it from memory.
“There were like, no women in the fellowship, so I feel like that leaves it open to creative casting.” Laura pointed at Lachlan. “Aragorn. So Aragorn. You’re royal and you ran away from your duties!”
“Thank you so much for interpreting my life that way,” Lachlan said. “How insightful and sympathetic.”
“You’re the only one who regularly carries a sword, Lachlan.”