a tater sack, it would,” she said, shaking her head. A couple of guys walking behind her were busy eyeing her form and I was pretty sure they weren’t thinking of dogs or potatoes.
“So what does a fair maiden of the Emerald Isle eat to maintain such a svelte and lithesome form?” I asked, adopting a cultured tone.
“Oh such complete and utter blarney. Ye’ve kissed the Stone then, have ye?” she asked, even as she held up a salad to answer the question.
“No, never been to Ireland, let alone Blarney Castle. Would like to, but you know how it is. An entire clan of Irwins would most likely murder me,” I said, thanking the lady behind the counter as she handed off my seafood salad sub masterpiece.
“Now yer jest talking shite,” she said, grabbing my elbow and steering me toward a table. “After what I’ve seen ye do, I think ye could probably be crowned King of the circles,” she said.
I started to snap out a witty reply but stopped. “Wait, you’re serious. Not about the king thing, but you don’t think my mother’s killers would come for me?”
She settled into an open table in the corner, her green eyes uncharacteristically serious.
“Declan, I’ll be honest with ye. Most of the circles already know of ye.”
“You told them,” I accused.
“Of course I told them, ye box head. Ye never told me who ye were or that it was some great bloody secret. So naturally, I told me sisters about ye. Being the grand gossips that they are, word spread fast,” she said, holding up one finger to stall my response. “Then yer aunt showed up and explained about ye and herself and, well, I passed that along too. Yer the biggest news to hit the Irish circles in years. Me damn cell’s been ringing nonstop. And ye can thank me for not giving out yer own number or they’d be calling you, too. I know for a fact that they’ve sent emails to yer aunt’s website. Has she no said a word then?”
I sat back, stunned, while she poked her salad without much enthusiasm. “She’s still a bit mad at me,” I finally said.
“Bah, what witch isn’t going to read their own mum’s grimoire? Bloody nonsense, if ye ask me. She should be glad ye didn’t just burn the stupid bloody wolf to cinders or that gobshite Jenks.”
“So what have they wanted—the people who call you?” I asked, fighting to kill the blossom of hope that had taken root inside me.
“They want a fecking introduction is what they want. Like I’m yer bleeding agent or some shite,” she said, watching me take a bite of my sub, her eyes a little covetous. Her salad was mostly getting pushed around instead of being eaten.
“Do you eat a lot of salads in Ireland?” I asked.
“We don’t grow a whole lot of this leafy shite. Lots of root veggies,” she said.
I pushed the other half of my sub her way and her eyes lit up like it was gold at the end of the rainbow.
“So if I was introduced, what would they want of me?” I asked.
“Babies, most like,” she said, taking a huge bite of the sub, eyes closed in pleasure.
“What?” I asked.
“Yer the most powerful warlock anyone’s heard of and yer mum was a fecking legend. They want to breed ye back into the lines.”
It was a repeat of what the witch that had worked to contain me in the missile silo, Krista, had said. I hadn’t really believed her then, especially as she didn’t know how strong I really was. I absently wondered if she gotten out before the asteroid hit.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Just remembering something another witch said to me once. But if I understand you, then I need to stay away from Ireland for what… ever?”
“What, ya think they’ll chain you up and breed ya like a prized bull, do ya?” she laughed.
“Actually, that’s pretty much what this other witch said, although I think drugs were mentioned.”
“I won’t lie to ya… There are some what might treat a male like that, but yer stronger than most circles, unless I miss me guess.” She looked at me with raised eyebrows until I shrugged. “Drugs would be a mighty iffy thing with a witch of yer power, Declan. If they fecked it up, you’d like to get free and then they’d all be fecked, wouldn’t they?”
“Well, I wouldn’t trust any of them. They killed my mom,” I said, taking a bite