“It hasto be here somewhere. That Morrigan must have swallowed it.” Seamus moved the flashlight beam around the small bedchamber. “We have to find the changeling. She’s taken Brigid’s Heart. Would she have stuffed it up her ass?”
“I found it,” the Garda guy exclaimed. He stuck his hand into the skeleton’s ribcage and came out with a lump of coal. “Why is it black?”
“How could my beloved’sheart be black? You lie.” Griffin cocked his fist and punched the Garda guy on the jaw. The lump of coal went skittering across the white slate floor.
Seamus tore off the skeleton’s flowing red wig, and he picked up the skull, shaking it.
“You heathen. You pig!” Griffin launched himself at Seamus, throwing a well-aimed punch on his squinting eye. “Out. Out. The goddess will punishyou. You two are cursed. I say, cursed.”
Wow. Clare didn’t think Griffin could be such a great actor. With all the noise and commotion, she was able to finish dressing and loop the chain with the Heart of Brigid around her neck. When the skeleton had showed no sign of coming to life, she’d simply replaced the diamond with the piece of coal she’d filched from Griffin’s closet right beforeBiceps hog-marched her through the secret doorway.
Clare was tying the laces on her long, lace-up boots over her legs when the Garda guy grabbed the curtains and yanked. The rings popped, and she was exposed to his penetrating blue gaze.
“Morrigan. Morrigan,” the Garda guy shouted. He lunged and grabbed her, ripping off one of her ostrich wings.
“Ah, ha. Caught.” Seamus puffedup his chest and raised the knife. “Let me shed her blood over the Heart of Brigid. It’s almost dawn. It can still work.”
“No, wait, we need the Heart of Brigid back in the skeleton in exactly the right place.” Griffin shoved Seamus and sent him sprawling onto the bed.
“You idiot,” Seamus shouted. “She has the Heart of Brigid. Catch her.”
He slammed Griffin to the floor sohard his eyes rolled. His arms and legs twitched, and a loud, feral howl emitted from his throat.
“No, you hurt him,” Clare screamed. “He’s having a seizure. Help him.”
“Mack, get the Heart of Brigid,” Seamus shouted. He slapped Griffin. “Man, come back, man. You have a job to finish. We’re trying to help you.”
Clare spun around and ran smack into a blond, blue-eyed musclehead.The Guardian Seamus had called Mack clamped a hefty arm around her. He grabbed the Heart of Brigid and tried to lift the chain from her neck.
She bit him. Hard. No one was going to take Griffin’s family treasure from her.
“Ow! You bit me,” Mack cried. “Give me the Heart.”
“You can’t take it from me,” she declared. “I’m Brigid and it belongs to me.”
“No, you’re the changeling,”Mack said.
“Duh, what do you think a changeling means?” Clare hissed. “I’m possessed by the spirit of Brigid. You’d better let me go.”
“Is she speaking the truth?” Mack asked Seamus who hovered over Griffin, who was sitting up, rubbing his head, and patting his disheveled, dirty, and muddy Great Gatsby style clothes.
“No, she’s the changeling still,” Seamus said. “She onlybecomes Brigid when the Heart of Brigid is covered with her blood.”
Clare shuddered at all the blood and gore involved. Why couldn’t they simply dress her as Brigid and be done with it?
“Let me help Griffin.” She struggled against the immovable wall of muscle. “He needs medical attention.”
“He’s fine,” Seamus pronounced, pulling him to his feet.
“Where am I? Why amI dressed so funny?” Griffin moaned.
“We don’t have much time,” Mack said. “Get yourself together, Griffin. It’s your time to act. Don’t wimp out now.”
“Griffin, help me.” Clare struggled against Mack’s strong grip. “Get me out of here.”
“Who are you?” Griffin’s eyes were blank like still, black coffee. “What’s going on? Where’s Grandpa?”
Seamus gripped Griffin by thelapels and shook him. “We don’t have much time, so listen to us. We’re guardians. This woman is a changeling. She has the Heart of Brigid. You must make the transformation.”
