Chapter Twenty-Three
“I already spoke to Niamh,” Graves said gruffly.
Kierse tugged on her jacket. “Good. Tonight I will get my magic back and we’ll both be walking into Amberdash’s party armed.”
Graves’s grip tightened on his book. “I would prefer to be there.”
“And I would prefer to be checking out old, creepy, experimental laboratories with you underneath the Amberdash building. Visage is like a ghost in this town. I didn’t even know they still had labs under the building.”
“It’s certainly haunted,” Graves agreed.
Kierse reached for his gloved hands. “I wish you were going with me as well, but we both have business to attend to tonight. And neither will feel safe walking into that party to get that damn ledger tomorrow if we don’t complete our tasks.”
Graves nodded. “You’re sure that you can get the ledger?”
“If I have my magic?” she said. “Without a doubt.”
Kierse had been in Amberdash’s study enough to know that he kept a ledger hidden within that held all of his dirty dealings. The plan was twofold—discover Amberdash’s motives at the party and obtain the ledger to unearth his private dealings for the Men of Valor.
Kierse was a talented enough thief without her powers, but a little added security wouldn’t hurt.
Graves took her hand. “Just be careful. These spells…they’re never what you think they are.”
“What do you think I’ll see?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure, which is the problem.”
“You never like things you can’t control.”
He shrugged. “Can’t blame me.”
“I don’t,” she said softly, lifting her eyes to his. “I want to know that you’ll be okay with me doing whatever it takes to try to get under the bond.”
Graves nodded once, dropping his lips to hers. “Whatever it takes.”
She left Graves at the brownstone and took the subway into Brooklyn. His nerves weren’t unfounded, of course. She was nervous herself about what was to come but went into it with a clearer head now that she had his blessing.
Ethan waited for her at the Brooklyn subway stop. “You ready for this?”
She fell into step with him, pushing her shoulders back. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“And what does Graves think about all of this?”
Kierse hesitated before saying, “He seemed…fine.”
Ethan shot her a look. “I’m not Gen, and even I can tell when you’re lying.”
Kierse huffed, but Ethan didn’t budge. “Okay. He’s not fine. He doesn’t like the spell, but he told me to do whatever it took to get under the bond.”
Ethan laughed. “Now that sounds like him.”
“Things have been tough,” she admitted softly. Ethan’s hand went to her shoulder. “Lorcan can get in my head, and Graves can’t.”
“That must infuriate him.”
“To no end,” she said. “Also the bond is…complicated.”
“Yeah. I read a lot about it with Gen afterward. That’s why I’m hoping this cleansing will help. Doesn’t Graves want that?”
“Of course he wants that. But he can’t fix it right now. He can’t do anything about it, in fact. Everything we’ve tried hasn’t worked.” She paused before adding, “He already lost someone once from this. He doesn’t want to lose me, too.”
Ethan tugged her in for a hug. “We’re going to figure this out. And come on, we all know Graves is going to use that big brain and come up with something else.”
“Yeah,” she said, bottling her emotions all back up where they belonged.
Ethan rubbed his hands together. “Well, let’s make this happen.”
They headed into the Williamsburgh Bank building, which was empty save for a handful of High Priestesses in long white robes. Niamh and Gen stood at the front of the building that led into the room with their sacred tree. Niamh smiled when she saw her and waved them over.
“Glad you made it,” Niamh said brightly. “We’re all set up.”
“Good. You think this is going to work?”
“As I explained to Graves, this is a classic clarity spell. It will work with the energy of the universe and the bond between you and Lorcan. No harm will come to you, but it’s possible that you could access the essence that separates you and Lorcan.
Then at least you could undo the lock he’s placed on your magic.
It wouldn’t solve the greater problem, but one step at a time, right? ”
“One step at a time.”
“Let’s get started. I have enough shit to deal with, with Lorcan’s Druids testing our defenses,” Niamh grumbled. “We’re going to do the spell and then reinforce our warding. Hope it all sticks together.”
“Testing your defenses?” Kierse asked.
Niamh waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I have it under control. Now, you should go,” Niamh told Ethan, pointing him toward the exit. “No Druids allowed.”
Ethan scoffed. “Fine. Fine. But I’ll be nearby in case you need me.”
“We don’t,” all three girls said at once and then laughed.
Ethan saluted them and then jogged out of the room.
“Are Druids always this insufferable?” Kierse asked Niamh.
“They used to be worse, if I’m honest. When I thought that I was going to have to grow up a Druid before I transitioned, I was raised to think they were the best of the best. But it was clear that the High Priestesses were the ones doing most of the work behind the scenes.
I liked the idea of being part of something more exclusive.
I always felt like a girl, but I think I knew I wanted to be a High Priestess first.”
Kierse touched Niamh’s shoulder. “And look where you are now. Running the whole thing.”
Niamh swallowed and nodded. Her eyes went distant as if she could feel the pull of the Oak Throne so near to where they stood.
“Well, we can’t all be as perfect as me,” she teased.
“We can all try,” Gen said.
“Hear, hear.” Niamh clapped her hands, and the remaining High Priestesses formed up before them. “We’re going to get started. Everyone to positions. Kierse at the center.”
Kierse took her spot at the center of the circle of women.
“As you know, Druidic spells work best with necessity of the three: self, spirit, and sacrifice. The self is the inherent magic that the group of High Priestesses bring to the spell. The spirit is the time, place, and celestial arrangement that we chose. Almost as important as the amount of magic. Timing is everything. And finally our sacrifice—what we bring to power the spell. Today that is a fusion of energy, burning herbs to our goddesses, and what Kierse has stored in her mind. Are you ready?”
Kierse nodded. She’d heard all of this from Lorcan before, but it was good to remember before a spell of this magnitude that they did this in alignment with the rituals of old.
Niamh began, “As with the tradition of the Tuatha de Danann, we are a set of nine women. Three sets of three. Three sets of the three-faced goddess—the Morrigu—and the three queens of the Tuatha de Danann—Eriu, Banba, and Fodla. The sacred three of Ireland.
“We come before you today at the stroke of midnight to place enchantments and spells of clarity around a troubled individual. We wish to reach the subconscious mind, deep perception through intuition, and the access of the inner voice.”
Niamh reached first, and Kierse distinguished the scent of chalk and sea salt before the remaining High Priestesses lifted their hands and the scents all blended together.
Their arms stayed at shoulder height, and then they tipped their heads back toward the moon.
The power that flowed through them was at once a trickle and then a current.
Kierse could see the magic flow like water through each of the individuals.
Her eyes caught on Gen, who held the magic as if it were made for her.
It was hard to imagine that her friend who’d had little magic and a tiny bit of sight could access that much.
And Kierse couldn’t even connect to the triskel with her to enhance it the way that she was made to.
“Keep your thoughts focused,” Niamh said as if she could see into Kierse’s mind. “Clarity, presence, psyche, power, and the veil of what is hidden.”
Kierse focused. It was easier to think of Lorcan than it had been to keep him out of her mind.
The bond was ever present. A wide canal that she had to dip her toe into to feel at full blast. Lorcan was there behind it all.
An awakening that caught his attention. She’d kept him behind her defenses so long that having him turn fully toward her on the bond while she looked at it was almost disorienting.
“This is our calling for higher wisdom,” Niamh said thickly. “Bless us, Morrigu. Bless us, Medb. Bless us, Danu. Bless us, the three queens. And always the blessing of Brigid.”
The priestesses’ magic jumped like static and then a bolt of electricity. At once, all nine High Priestesses’ magic hit Kierse in the chest. It was unlike the experience of Lorcan’s Oak King magic that nearly killed her. This was like an awakening.
One moment, she stood before them, and the next, she was on the floor with the power coursing through her. Her mind focused on the divine intervention they requested for her in this clarity spell.
Then she went under and didn’t come back out.