The war room had an immense conference table with a map spread over it. Tea, coffee, and refreshments were placed on a sideboard, and Bridget thanked the gods for whoever had put them there. Charlotte, Reeve, and Lachlan were all waiting for them.
“Good morning, Apollonius,” Lachlan said with a smile.
Apollo ignored Lachlan and smiled at Reeve and Charlotte. “Morning all!”
“Nice to see you back in one piece, big bro,” Reeve said, and Bas ruffled his already messy hair. “Apollo sent me photos, and I thought he was taking the piss with some Photoshop until I saw the death grip you had on Bridget.”
“I’d like to run a few tests when you have time, Basset,” Charlotte said, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Apollo sat down next to her. “I want to do some, too, so let’s combine forces.”
“No one is pushing and prodding at me until this Brollachan is stopped. Then I’ll shift back and forth as many times as you want,” Bas said, pulling out a chair for Bridget. “Take a seat. I’ll get you some coffee.”
“Thanks,” she said and didn’t add the ‘I love you’ that almost slipped out. She was going to need a lot more caffeine before the meeting was over.
Bridget needed to talk to him about the love thing too. She was pretty sure she heard him say it the night before, but she could have dreamed it in a lucid state.
When everyone had their coffee and snacks and had settled in, Kenna started to go through the markings on the map along the river.
“Going off the map Bridget and Basset made, we have these areas set up as the Brollachan’s hunting grounds. These colored squares are areas we are going to check over for its den,” she began, using a laser pointer on the map. “Because of the nature of this creature, it might only be active at night, which means we might have a better chance of hunting it before the sun goes down. Charlotte?”
Charlotte pulled out a small device, and the screen behind Kenna turned on. She had taken photos of the hooks in the victims’ necks.
“The sigils we created still seem to be holding. I suggest we all put a patch on before we go hunting because we have no idea what its capabilities are. It can mess with minds, and it might be strong enough that we don’t need to be asleep for it to use illusions against us.”
“How can we kill it if we find it?” Lachlan asked.
“The stories never mentioned anything working except warning people not to fall asleep near rivers,” Bridget replied. “If it’s strong enough to possess bodies, it might go down with a bullet to the head like a normal human would.”
Lachlan nodded. “Easy enough. We can make the bullet silver just to be sure.”
“If it can possess people, what makes you think it won’t just jump into its spirit form as soon as its host dies?” Valentine said, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. “How about we carve some locking sigils on the bullets? Once it’s been shot with one, the magic will keep it from body jumping.”
Bridget frowned. “It still might not kill it. Just lock it in a decomposing corpse.”
“Least we will know where it is,” Valentine replied, a feral glint in his eye. “I have a spirit box I can modify that might act as a good permanent prison for it.”
Apollo made a choking sound. “What the fuck are you doing with a spirit box? Why would you make such a thing?”
“I don’t know? To see if I could. I thought the medieval guys were full of shit but turns out they really could make them. I followed their instructions.”
“Jesus, Val,” Reeve muttered.
Valentine rolled his eyes. “What? I wasn’t going to use it, but I suppose it’s a good thing I never threw it out either, isn’t it?”
Kenna cleared her throat. “For the uninitiated, what the fuck is a spirit box?”
“It’s a device that can trap someone’s—or something’s—spirit like a djinn in a lamp,” Cosimo explained, frowning at Valentine. “Unscrupulous magicians in the past have used them as power sources to fuel spells.”
“Charming,” Kenna said dryly. “And you think this box thing can hold something like a Brollachan.”
“I don’t see why not. Unless someone has a better idea to kill an incorporeal creature? Assuming the magic silver bullets don’t bring it down? No?” Valentine demanded. “Then save your judgemental looks for someone who gives a shit.”
Taranis broke the tension in the room by starting to laugh. “You know, Val, it really is a shame you don’t get along with Lena. You two think way too much alike.”
“Surewe do,” Valentine said with a roll of his eyes.
“Getting back to the task at hand,” Taranis said, ignoring him. “When fighting this kind of creature, the more magical hands, the better. Pair up, one magic user and one fighter in each group. Lachie and Apollo. Reeve and Charlotte. Cosimoand Valentine. Quinn and I. Bas and Bridget. The magic users can hold off the Brollachan until Bas gets there with Valentine’s spirit box. He’ll be the best equipped to go up against this thing.”
