“Blood makes magic stronger,” Bahlin growled, his mouth too full of teeth for normal speech so his enunciation wasn’t clear.
The crystal began to spin in a rapidly diminishing circle over the map, moving farther and farther toward what looked like the suburbs and then the countryside of Edinburgh. With vibrating intent, the crystal stopped, the horsehair taut, over a finite point on the map.
Hellion looked up and smiled. “Castle Duncan.”
Hellion left after giving his sworn oath that he wouldn’t disclose anything he’d learned during the scrying to anyone, not even the Council.
I lay on the bed, miserable. Tyr’s voice repeated over and over in my head. “Reassurance that what you know to be true will not kill you.” Bahlin had gone deadly still when I told him what I suspected. But he’d insisted I go through the motions after Hellion left, sorting out the how and why of the crime. I had, and now I had my killer—Tarrek. It was what I knew to be true, and I knew from Tyr’s warning that Tarrek would try to kill me. I wanted to go to Castle Duncan immediately and demand answers. Bahlin refused to go tonight.
He’d had gone into the bathroom to take a quick shower before we left, claiming he felt out of sorts following his partial shift, healing my arm before closing the bathroom door behind him. I suspected he just wanted to give me some time alone to sort out my mind.
I drifted in and out of consciousness, unaware of the passing of time. Tyr’s voice stirred me and I sat up, disoriented.
“Maddy, we must speak.” He looked at me with such compassion.
I wanted to beg him to take this burden from me, but I knew that the time was coming when I’d have to issue my findings and condemn Tarrek to death and no one, not even Tyr, could relieve my responsibility.
“Why?” I croaked.
“You know why. Your logic is unassailable. Would it make you feel better to go over it with me? To assure you that you’ve missed nothing?” he asked, walking over to the bed and sitting next to me.
I scooted over to give him more room. “Please,” I choked out, the tears lodged in my throat.
“Tell me what you’ve discerned, dear girl, and I will do what I can to aid you.”
“Tarrek and Bahlin have struggled against each other for hundreds of years, challenging each other for the leadership role on the High Council. Tarrek said to me the first night I met him that neither he nor Bahlin ruled, though they both attempted to lead. It didn’t mean much to me at the time.” I glanced over at Tyr, my eyes begging for some type of forgiveness that wasn’t his to give.
He looked at me tenderly and said, “And why should it have? Go on, Maddy.”
“That same night, Tarrek warned me on our way to the sithen that I would find that not all that was beautiful was soft, and not all that was visually unpleasing was harsh. I thought nothing of it. I didn’t think it applied to him. But he was warning me, wasn’t he?” I asked Tyr.
“He wanted you to know about the prophecy, but he wasn’t brave enough to tell you. He counted on Bahlin’s sense of honor to do that and more to drive you back to him, thus leaving Bahlin the jilted suitor.” Tyr ran his hand down the front of my face, forcing me to close my eyes. With two fingers he began to massage my brow, forcing the muscles to relax. “But what Tarrek never considered was that Bahlin would truly love you, Maddy. The thought of losing you was too much for him to shoulder. So he took the coward’s way for the first time in his life, and he waited for someone else to carry the truth to you. It almost cost him the love of his life, though, and I’m willing to place strong odds that he’s learned his lesson. We’ll not discuss the second part of the prophecy, so don’t ask.”
“Fine,” I bit out. I thought about how to phrase the next part, and I just couldn’t come up with a way that didn’t make me sound self-important. “Forgive me for sounding arrogant, but…”
“Out with it, kid,” Tyr said, sounding for all the world like my father. My eyes squinted shut as I held on to the voice. “Would you like me to manifest as him, Maddy?”