I shrugged. “I’m just trying to square up everything I learned about the fae and your coven with my multiverse theory. There’s a lot of thinking I have to do, and I’d really like to start setting up some equipment and writing this all down. I need to formulate a proper hypothesis.”
“Can you explain this theory of yours to me, using the mostoffensivelysimple terms?”
“Sure,” I smile. “Buckle up, and I’ll take you on a wild ride through theoretical physics.”
I was still trying to demonstrate the multiverse theory to Arthur using daisies I’d picked off the lawn when Flynn called us for lunch. We ate out on the porch again – Flynn said it was a rule in England that you couldn’t waste a single day of sunshine because we only got a handful each year. Rowan had made sometraditional English dish called Toad-in-the-Hole, which sounded disgusting but was actually delicious; beautiful, thick homemade sausages cooked inside a giant savory dough and smothered with a thick gravy. I had three helpings, all washed down with some HP sauce (it was starting to grow on me) and a glass of elderflower cider Arthur had made. All the other guys had cider except for Rowan, who sipped a cup of steaming tea.
“I’ve compiled some research you might find interesting in the library,” Corbin said to me. “If you give me a list of the implements you want, Arthur and I will run into town and grab them this afternoon.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask about why Corbin was lying about where he knew me from, but I decided to hold off until we were alone.
I shook my head. “I have to come with you. I need to choose this stuff on my own. I’ll be fine,” I glowered at Corbin’s drawn face. “Arthur’s already taught me tons of sword moves, and if we all go together, I’m sure we’ll be safe. We could even take a taxi – the fae aren’t going to try anything out in the open, surely.”
“I don’t like it,” Corbin frowned.
“Oh, go on, you grumpy bastard.” Flynn speared the last piece of sausage off Corbin’s plate and shoved it in his mouth. “We can’t stay locked up here forever. My arms are about to fall off from all the hammering I’ve done in the forge this morning. Us Irishmen start to turn green if we don’t set foot in a pub every twenty-four hours.”
“Wag off, Flynn,” Corbin growled.
“I think we should go,” Arthur said, touching the daisy chain circlet I’d placed over his head. “Maeve’s been telling me about her theory, and I think there might be something to it. Any knowledge could potentially give us an advantage against the fae, and right now we need everything we can get.”
“We could talk to the girl,” Rowan mumbled into his chest.
The guys fell silent.
“What did you say, mate?” Corbin asked.
“The woman whose baby went missing yesterday. If she saw anything weird, she wouldn’t tell the police. But she might tell us.”
“That’s a brilliant idea,” I said. Rowan beamed. “It’s settled. We’re going to town.”
“Not today though,” Corbin said, pushing his chair out and collecting the plates. “We have a surprise for you this afternoon.”
“Another surprise?”
“This one was all my idea,” Flynn said. He grabbed my hand and dragged me around the side of the garden, where a flat lawn stretched out toward a low topiary maze. A series of metal hoops had been shoved into the pristine lawn, creating a weird zigzagging course. Flynn grinned as he handed me a flat-ended mallet.
“You’re a little like Alice, fallen through the rabbit hole into a strange new world where everyone says bollocks and Irishmen are the rightful rulers of the world. So I thought we could play some croquet, and then Rowan’s made a proper high tea – finger sandwiches and scones with jam and clotted cream and all that guff.”
“But—” It was on the tip of my tongue to say we couldn’t play croquet when the fae had stolen two babies and were pushing their way further and further into our realm, weakening the wormhole between the multiverse. But Flynn tilted his head to the side, and the smile he gave me made my heart somersault, and all my protests died on my lips.
“Look, we’re still no closer to getting those wee ones back from the fae, so I figure we need a distraction. Recharge our batteries and all that. I have a present for you, too.” Flynn opened my palm and pressed something into it – a round medallion on a leather cord. My fingers brushed over theelaborate knotwork pattern and that same stick writing Corbin and Rowan had on their tattoos. “I made it for you this morning. It will help protect you from the fae, and if you press it against their skin, you’d probably do a fecking load of damage.”
“Flynn, it’s beautiful.”
Flynn clasped the leather cord around my neck, and I placed my hand in Flynn’s and let him walk me across the yard, his flirty humor making my skin flush and my body light.
The multiverse could wait.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MAEVE
My eyes flickered open, recognizing the tapestries on the wall and the blazing fire.
I was in the Great Hall.
I must’ve fallen asleep.
