Levi sighed and looked around as if afraid someone might overhear our conversation. “From what I’ve heard, Moira is the more dangerous of the two. She’s got a lot of magic up her sleeve. A Healer, I believe. And a Herald.”
“What’s that?”
“A Herald is someone who can talk to the dead or the crossed over. Most of the supernatural don’t view death as a finality. They tend to see it as an evolution or a passing into another realm. They don’t harbor the spiritual existence as a joining with God or going to heaven. Think Avalon. You don’t die die. You just leave this realm, and your soul takes up residence somewhere else. But I guess I don’t have to tell you that.”
I knew Shaedes didn’t believe in conventional death. Xander said our physical bodies might die, but we would forever live in shadow. And apparently this Moira could speak to our dearly departed brethren. “What about Reaver?”
Levi leaned close. “Reaver is called the Keeper.”
I knew that much already. “Do you know what he keeps?”
Levi gave a nervous chuckle. “I don’t have a fucking clue.”
Well, I knew something Levi didn’t. The thing that Reaver “kept” was the exact thing Fallon wanted me to steal. If Levi was corroborating Fallon’s information-that Reaver was, in fact, the Keeper-then at least I knew he hadn’t been playing me. It didn’t matter that Levi didn’t know what the Sidhe kept. Fallon knew. “Do you know where they live? How I can find them?”
“I don’t know about Moira, but I’ve heard Reaver likes to hang out at a place called Atlas. It’s a high-end, private club. Caters to nonhuman clientele only. Very exclusive.”
“Where is it?”
“Don’t quote me on this, but I think it’s underground. Industrial District, maybe. They’re only open at night; watch for the flow of luxury traffic-should lead you right to him.”
I left The Pit a thousand dollars lighter but rich with information. Levi was good for it, I had no doubt. That preppy bastard knew more about the supernatural world than I did. The waterfront called, and I was itching to check out the Industrial District for any sign of the esoteric supernatural hangout, but the gray-streaked eastern sky told me I’d have to wait another eighteen or so hours before I could begin my quest for the Keeper.
Sandpaper would have been softer than my eyelids as I blinked. God, I was tired.
I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in…I couldn’t even remember how long. When this was all over and done with, I was going to sleep for a month. I headed toward downtown and my apartment, when the sound of wings flapping drew my attention. As I looked skyward, a golden red form swooped down, nearly clipping my head with its talons. A falcon, the same falcon that had given me the pendulum, dove and spun, twisting in midair and digging at my pocket while it beat against me with its wings.
Insistent shit, I thought as I batted it away. Gaining altitude, the falcon regrouped and began anew, clawing at my pocket and tugging with a swift flapping of wings. I fought the bird off with my left hand while my right ventured to my pocket, which had begun to grow warm. Strange. Since I’d returned from my little field trip, the gem had been dormant, its warmth and otherworldly light seeming to have disappeared. But with the appearance of the falcon, it had awoken. The emerald pendulum pulsed with bright green light as I drew it out into the open air, watching as it swung to and fro before my eyes. With a parting screech, the falcon soared into the sky and out of sight. Guess it had delivered its message.
Two days I’d been gone the last time I had allowed myself to become drawn into the pendulum. And I’d kept the damned thing tucked in my pocket ever since. But I pulled it out of its hiding place and stared into its depths anyway, unable to tear my gaze from the fathomless green light. The gem swung toward me, pulled by some unknown force of gravity, and I leaned toward the light, mesmerized by the sudden peace and unequivocal quiet it offered. Seconds slowed, the pulsing beat of time came nearly to a halt, and I felt a strange tug at my center, urging me toward something I couldn’t identify. I allowed my eyes to drift shut, and when I opened them again, I no longer stood on the gray Seattle streets but at the top of the knoll, looking down into the green valley and at the dark-haired woman who waited for me.
Chapter 15
Another blink of my eyes and I no longer stood on the knoll. Without taking a step, I’d appeared in the valley below, standing face-to-face with a woman I recognized and yet didn’t know.
This was the woman who’d run from the charging Enphigmalé in my dream. She had the same thick raven hair, same peaches-and-cream skin, and the exact same sapphire eyes. She looked my age, maybe a little younger, but I realized with certainty there was no mistaking the kinship between her, the child who’d warned me about “the Man,” and the adolescent girl who’d brought me here the first time. Sisters? Mother and daughters? Did I really have time to wonder?
She smiled. Again it struck me as familiar-not an openly hostile expression, but not exactly warm either. It didn’t suit her. A gentle breeze stirred her hair, and she looked to the sky, her smile fading into something more serious. When her eyes met mine again, there was a depth of sadness there. “I must speak with you,” she said.
“Whatever you have to say, make it fast.” The sound thumping in my ears now was not the passage of time but my own racing heart. “The last time I wound up here, a few minutes cost me two days. What the hell is going on? Who are you?”
“I’m nothing but a humble servant. A priestess and caretaker. And you are the Guardian. You must protect the Key and the natural order. You must give assistance if I call upon you.”
Lovely.
“I have to go,” I said.
“He will deceive you,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “You have to be strong.”
“I really, really do not have time for this.” I pulled my hand from hers. How long had I been standing here? A minute? Ninety seconds? “I have to get back home before someone notices I’m gone. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and I’m not a damned Guardian. You got that?”
“Please, Darian,” she said, too calmly. “You have no choice.”
“I’m not sure what you think I’m responsible for guarding, but I don’t even own a key to my own apartment. As for giving you assistance…this looks like a nice, calm place. I doubt you have anything to worry about.” I held out the emerald, trying again to return it, but she took a step back and shook her head.
A couple of minutes gone? A day-or more? I had to leave. Now. “I can’t help you,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’ve got my own shit to deal with. Find someone else to guard your keys, and quit bringing me here.” I let the pendulum fall from my hand, and it drifted as if it were a feather. “I have to go. I can’t stay here.” I turned my back to her, and the green landscape melted away as I heard the pendulum land in the grass.
“Look out! Move out of the way!” someone shouted before a horn blared. My eyes flew open just in time to see the bus barreling toward me. I jumped, falling back against someone as I tripped on the sidewalk, the bus whooshing past me to turn the corner. Late afternoon. The sun was just about to sink into the western sky. How long had I been gone this time? I had to get back to Tyler fast, but becoming incorporeal on a street packed with humans wasn’t an option. Of course, no one had seemed to notice that I’d just popped out of thin air, so maybe no one would notice if I did it again. Above the din of engines, horns, and people, a high-pitched keen raised my hackles. The falcon swooped down; silver glinted in its talons as it released its cargo just above my head before spinning in midair and flying away.