Chapter 27
“I’m not ready,” Aodhan said again, his scowl deepening. “This isn’t like charming warts off her nose, you realize. The tithe-curse is complicated. I need more time.”
“We don’t have time!” Cuan’s fists clenched. “We need to free Tamsin now.”
Tamsin had never seen Cuan so agitated. All his usual careful courtesy was gone, leaving nothing but raw desperation. His muscles strained against the straps of his formal harness. He looked on the verge of picking up the alicorn and trying to shake magic out of him.
They were all back in Cuan’s room. As soon as they’d been out of sight of Maeve, Cuan had summoned Motley using a small, polished obsidian stone, which seemed to be the fae equivalent of a smartphone. Motley had fetched Aodhan. Now everyone was waiting for someone to come up with a plan.
So far, no one had.
Motley had reverted to raven form, as he seemed to do whenever he was particularly nervous. His talons gripped the splintered wood of the broken bed frame, and he flinched whenever Cuan raised his voice. Angus pressed against Tamsin’s calves, whimpering.
“It’s okay, baby,” Tamsin whispered to her dog. She put a hand on Cuan’s arm, feeling the iron-hard tension there. “Cuan, calm down. This isn’t helping. Aodhan’s doing his best.”
“It isn’t good enough!” Cuan snarled, for a moment sounding very much like he did in wolf form. His faemarks burning like captured lightning, seething with frustrated power. “We only have until midnight, and we are fortunate that Morcant granted me these scant few hours to prepare! He is a prince, Tamsin. If I slow his blade for as much as a single second, it will be because it catches in my ribs!”
Fear writhed in her guts, but she ignored it. She had to stay calm and focused, as much for Cuan’s sake as her own.
“You’re right,” she said. “We only have a little time. Do you really want to waste it yelling at Aodhan?”
Cuan sagged a little. He raked both hands through his hair, mussing his braids.
“My apologies, honored Aodhan.” His voice was still a long way from his usual controlled tones, but at least he no longer seemed on the verge of howling and chasing his own tail. “I am…a little on edge.”
“Understandable, for a man who’s about four hours away from certain death,” Aodhan said dryly. “I still don’t know what you expect me to do about it, though.”
“Have you gotten anywhere with undoing the curse?” Tamsin asked. “We’re really running out of options here.”
Aodhan spread his hands. “I have the start of a spell that might work. Eventually. But it’s a long way from being a complete, perfected ritual.”
“Do it,” Cuan said instantly. “Now.”
Aodhan muttered something under his breath. Tamsin didn’t know the language, but she caught the word sidhe, and something that did not sound at all complimentary.
“You understand that I can’t guarantee this will work,” he said. “Normally I wouldn’t dream of performing a new magic until I’d spent several moons going over every part of it. These are not the sort of forces with which a wise mage trifles.”
“Please, Aodhan,” Tamsin said. “It’s got to be worth a try. It’s not like the situation can get any worse, after all.”
Aodhan let out a resigned sigh. “Very well. I will make an attempt. Everyone get out of the way.”
They all moved back to give him space. Tamsin had expected him to shift into his alicorn form, but instead Aodhan crouched down. He took a short, polished stick from a holster at his belt, and started dragging the point across the flagstones.
He’s got a magic wand.Tamsin bit her knuckle hard, clamping down on a hysterical giggle. I wonder if he went to Hogwarts. Oh crap, I’m going out of my mind with stress and now everything seems hilarious. If he starts chanting in cod-Latin too, I’m going to lose it.
Aodhan did not chant. Shimmering golden lines appeared in the wake of his wand, floating just above the floor. With brisk, controlled precision, he sketched out an eerily perfect circle, big enough for someone to stand inside.
Aodhan marked out some runes inside the circle; stood back and considered for a moment, then added a few more. The symbols rippled and swirled, shifting in eye-watering patterns.
“There,” Aodhan said, standing up and flicking his wand as though cleaning something off the tip. “It’s ready.”
“Er…” Tamsin eyed the glowing circle. “Am I supposed to get inside that?”
Aodhan rolled his eyes. “Humans. Show them something glittery that they can’t possibly understand, tell them it’s horribly dangerous…and they’re always raring to pitch themselves in head first. No, idiot. Now we do a practice run. Do you have something from your own realm? Something that came over with you when you were tithed?”
Tamsin glanced down at the ballgown she was wearing, then at Cuan. “Do you still have my old clothes?”
Cuan nodded and turned to rummage in a chest for a moment. He pulled out her torn skinny jeans, handing them to the alicorn without a word.