I turned to walk around the perimeter of the room, working counterclockwise. I passed a painting of the Wild Hunt, tall fair people who looked like Maeve riding in the moonlight, then a sculpture of the same scene, these Sidhe looking more like Fionuir. Beside that was a tapestry of a picnic the setting looking like something out of the sixteen hundreds. Fionuir had covered most of the walls with art depicting hunts and parties and landscapes of an Ireland that never really existed.
The tapestry Maeve described was further from the door than I remembered but I could see the table underneath it. I tiptoed past three Sidhe women who lay in a crumpled heap in front of a sofa; they were going to be sore when they woke up.
The table was cluttered with china ornaments. I placed a shepherdess and a filigreed bowl on the floor. Then I started moving the rest of the contents around. There was no amulet. I couldn’t feel any tingle of a disguise spell. I looked around the room; I was going to need a day, not just an hour to search the whole area.
My internal clock told me I’d been in the room for ten minutes tops. I had an hour easy. If I had a strategy maybe I could do it.
I did a fast tour of the room, not stopping to search, just looking for possibilities. There were six places where Fionuir might keep something that important to her.
I found her, sleeping in a chair, a glass of wine spilled on the rug beneath her. I worked outward from her checking all the tables and baskets. I found gems and ornaments and baubles. I found bowls full of gold chains and rings. What I didn’t find was a lump of stone with spells painted on it. No disguise spells either. As far as I could tell the amulet was not in the building.
Fionuir shifted in her sleep and I realized it had been too long.
I slipped out of the room and ran down the corridor. The front door was still sitting ajar and I pushed it as I ran through. The twins were stretching, eyes still closed but they were seconds from waking. I looked toward the corner where I knew Cate was waiting for me and saw shadows. Good, she was still hidden.
Then one shadow slipped away and I stopped dead in the middle of the street. The shadow was hunched and its outline moved as though rats were fighting under the skin. Then it drifted toward the rooftops. I stopped watching it and drew my eyes back to the doorway. My stomach clenched, my blood sank to my feet. I knew I was in shock but I couldn’t let that stop me. I ignored the cold that grasped me. I tried to breathe but it was too much effort.
I stepped toward the doorway. Cate was there. She was leaning against the door. Her head was hanging, hair falling like a curtain.
“Cate.” I tried to get above a whisper but I had no breath.
I kept stepping forward. “Cate, please say something.”
Now I was standing in front of her. I lifted the curtain of her hair and saw what I dreaded; her eyes were drained of color. There was a round burn mark on her forehead. The shadow had been a demon. Someone had conjured a power demon. It had drawn Cate’s entire magic potential through that burn mark.
Cate was gone. Cate was dead.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I picked up her body, she was so light, and carried her home, to my home, not hers. I knew she was gone but I couldn’t leave her here. The demon would go back to its own plane now. Whoever summoned it and didn’t contain it would still be worried until daylight.
Fed or otherwise it wouldn’t live longer than the night.
If I found the person who summoned that demon, I would give all my power away by violating my oath and be happy to do it.
I reached my door and saw someone was lurking in there. I ignored them and went around the side to my garden. There was an old oak tree in the far corner. I cast a dig spell and within minutes there was a deep hole big enough for me to lay Cate inside. I placed her as gently as I could and then picked a bouquet of roses and lilies and placed them across her body.
Then I pushed the dirt back in place.
I sat beside the grave trying to make sense of what happened. This afternoon we were planning to save the fairies and humans. The twins had been so vigilant because they knew about the demon. And that was why all the Sidhe had been in court. They weren’t willing to take the chance of encountering a hungry demon.
Why couldn’t it have taken a twin? Why Cate?
I heard someone calling. “Quinn. Quinn.” I felt like I was at the bottom of a well, the voice distant and echoing.
My shoulders were frozen with the cold and from being held stiff to contain my grief.
“Quinn.” It was a woman.
I rolled my shoulders to warm them up.
“Quinn Larson.” I knew that voice, and the impatience in her tone.
I stood then turned to see Maeve standing at my gate. I ran toward her.
“Get away from me,” I snarled.
“Quinn, I’m sorry what happened to Cate.”
I could barely force words through my anger. “We were there because you told us the amulet was in the building.”
She frowned. “You mean it wasn’t?”
“No, don’t pretend you didn’t send us into a trap.”
“No, I didn’t. I swear to you, Quinn, I wanted you to succeed. I’m sorry, had I known there was danger to either of you I would have done something.” She reached to touch me but jerked her hand back when she hit the defenses I had around my home. “Please, can I come inside? This is too public.”
“No, I will not invite you into my home.”
She looked around then sighed. “I understand. I promise when I get the crown back, I will make amends to you.”
“There is no way for you to make amends. You cannot bring Cate back.”
A flash of anger crossed her face and I realized I may have gone too far, but I didn’t care.
She composed her features to sorrow again before speaking. “There is still the problem of Fionuir stealing power from the Fairies. You must stop that.”
“I don’t care. Find someone else to defeat your enemies. I have better things to do.” Like shut out everyone and mourn what could have been with Cate.
“You didn’t think that a few hours ago.” Her voice hardened and I saw a glimpse of the queen she claimed to be. “Grieve for her, but don’t walk away from this, Quinn.”
My vision clouded with a red mist. I reached across the gate to slap her. She pulled away at the last second. “Don’t be foolish,” she hissed. “I know you are obligated to not harm a Sidhe. I will forgive you the attempt because you are grieving.”
“I don’t need your forgiveness, Sidhe.”
She smiled and it was a cold expression. “You need two things I can give you. I will find out where the amulet is now, and I will find out who released the demon. I know you have a spirit oath, Quinn. I will leave it to you to decide what to do with the knowledge.”
She caught my attention with that. “Let me know when you have found the fool who can’t contain his summonings.”
“Oh, Quinn, I expect to be able to find out both things and quickly. I will tell you who summoned the demon after I am queen.” She smiled that predator smile and walked away.
I watched her go then turned back to the tree. The mound of earth seemed to reproach me. As if I was supposed to be doing something. Even from death Cate was trying to tell me something.
“Lionel.” I felt my shoulders slump. I was going to have to tell him.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and headed for Cate’s house. I hoped Lionel had managed to clean it up since the last time I was there. Remembering the hurricane incident stopped me in my tracks. Could Lionel have summoned the demon? No. I started walking again. He didn’t have the experience to do that. Summoning was not just speaking the spell and having the right ingredients. You had to know what you were doing.
From the outside, Cate’s house looked fine. The front door was locked, and now that she was dead, I didn’t feel right just walking in. She’d passed me through her protection spells but still, I felt that the permission ended when she died. I knocked on the door.