I'd appreciate that.”
Images started surging into my mind.
Chapter Nine
On the second day of our mission to staunch the flow—yes, there were so many damn faerie spots on Earth that it took more than a day to get to them all—we were attacked.
The magic hadn't jumped from all of the new paths—I mean raths—so there were quite a few that withered after the rath was closed—no dragon fire needed—but every location so far had been more rural than urban. We'd come close to a few towns but had yet to find a rath inside a city. It felt to me as if the magic preferred the open spaces or perhaps it was easier for it to transform one type of plant into another instead of changing cement into something living. Whatever the case, we were in the wilds again, surrounded by trees, some of which were breathing, when a screeching child came running out of the forest at me.
“For my brothers!” the little boy shouted.
He appeared to be six or seven years old, blond, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned. A bandanna ringed his forehead like Rambo, mud streaked his cheeks, and a golden wand glowed in his hand. He pointed the wand at me—never a good thing in my experience—and light blasted out of it. The light hit me in the chest and I went flying. I smacked into a breathing tree, causing both of us to gasp, and then crumpled onto the gnarled roots. They separated to cradle me as if they knew the bashing hadn't been my fault.
As the men gawked and I climbed to my feet, buoyed in part by roots, the kid ran, ducked behind a tree, and disappeared.
“A Thaisce!” Arach hurried to my side and ran his hands over me. Once he was assured that I was unharmed, he headed after the child. “I don't know who that small god was, but I'm going to roast him and have a little snack before dinner.”
“Funny that you should say that,” I muttered as I walked after him.
There was no point in rushing; I knew the kid would be long gone. He wasn't the type to stay and fight, more of an ambush and flee kinda guy.
Arach sniffed the air. “He traced. But we can track him.”
“Forget the Lord of the Flies; he's not worth the effort.” I grabbed Arach's hand and drew him back to the clearing where the other men were waiting with shocked expressions on their faces. “We don't have time to chase him.”
“But, Vervain, he attacked you.” Arach gaped at me. “You want me to just let that go?”
“I killed all of his brothers.” I frowned in thought. “I think I ate them too. It was awhile ago; I don't recall everything that happened. But if I did eat them, they deserved it—just desserts.” I snorted at the play on words. “He must have heard about how I'd been turned human and thought he'd get some vengeance. We've been expecting my enemies to start showing up since Hermes never did a follow-up report about me getting my magic back. I'm actually a little surprised more gods haven't made the effort.”
“Was that a reference to the book or is that god really called the Lord of the Flies?” Lugh squinted at me as if he were still processing what I'd said.
“A reference to the book. Come to think of it, I never got his name.” I squished up my face. “I probably should have looked up his name, what with killing his family and all.”
“When was this?” Arach asked me.
“Remember when Zeus got barbecued?”
Arach blinked. “Yes.”
“That little boy was one of the pitmasters, as it were. He had a belly full of Zeus when we first met.”
“That child is a cannibal?” Rory asked with horror.
“A cannibal god or rather, a god who turned cannibal,” I corrected. “They were eating other gods to acquire their power. And he's not really a child.”
“And here I thought the Tuatha were vicious,” Lugh muttered.
“Stick with me, kid, I'll show you all kinds of horrifying things.” I winked at him.
“Gee, that sounds great!” Lugh exclaimed sarcastically.
“Let's get back to work.” I took another look around the forest, just to make sure the kid hadn't come back for another go. “Hopefully, we won't have any more interruptions from little orphan Canni-bal.”
Chapter Ten
Night found us at the Killington Mountain Lodge in Killington, Vermont. No, I'm not making that up, that's the name of the town, and I didn't ask why. Frankly, I had enough