Again with the small smile. "No, and we would ask that you don’t, either. The council has no need to know of our more sacred places."
I nodded, even as I noted the use of we rather than I. She was in contact with someone else. "And the directions to find this site?"
"Will be here momentarily." She paused, obviously listening to that other voice again. "Be wary when you enter the site. If Selwin has raised a Maniae, she may well have stepped from the path of light. There is no telling just what else she is capable of."
"Thank you for the warning."
"Also, it is very likely your dark defender will not be able to enter. Those who are not true flesh and blood may be summoned into that place via magic, but they may not otherwise enter from outside its boundaries."
Unease slithered through me. I might have said many times that I was more than capable of looking after myself, but I’d learned very quickly that such was not the case when it came to the spirits and demons of hell.
And I had the sudden, gut-wrenching notion that, if Selwin had slipped from the path of light, I might just be facing those sort of creatures at the ritual site.
After all, she’d have to know that sooner or later the council would come after her, and she’d had plenty of time to prepare for that eventuality.
"Why would such a site be able to ban the entry of reapers and Aedh when a place as powerful as the Brindle cannot?"
"Because the Brindle is old, but it is not situated on an ancient site. There are places in this country that have been used for magic and ceremonies since long before European settlement arrived."
Which really didn’t answer the question, but maybe she didn’t actually know.
She glanced past me. I turned and watched a gray-clad young woman approach. She offered me an envelope, curtsied, then left.
"Please read the contents here," Helena commented. "We cannot risk the directions falling into the wrong hands."
Meaning Hunter and her council, I suspected. I tore open the envelope, scanned the directions carefully, then folded the paper into the envelope again and handed it back to her.
"Again, thank you for your help."