“There’s not a witch alive who can tell us what happened before or how they managed to do that,” Corbin said bitterly. “And it’s not written in these books anywhere. We’re on our own.”
This defeated Corbin got me down. “We’ve got to have something going for us,” I prompted. “We’re a full coven now with two spirit witches.”
“As long as neither of you gets yourself killed. Thanks to Blake’s dangerous stunt,” Corbin glared in Blake’s direction, “we know Daigh needs the blood of the innocent to get this party started. He can only take unbaptized babies into the fae realm, where presumably this sacrifice will have to take place. At least we know now why he took the babies. As soon as he’s able to, he’ll come back through the gate and take more.” He looked at Jane as though seeing her for the first time. “Did you get Connor baptized yet?”
“It’s in two days.” Jane hugged Connor to her chest, her eyes blazing. Corbin frowned.
“The gateway should hold until then,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t get Connor, he’ll get others.”
“I’ve already found the mother of the other kidnapped child,” Jane said. “I called her mother-in-law and gave this whole spiel about how I was the daughter’s friend and I was worried about the immortal soul of her child. The mother-in-law bought every stupid word. That child will be baptized before the week is out.”
“Daigh will take children from anywhere. We can’t get to every unbaptized baby on earth. And if what Blake said was right and he’s wielding the power of all the fae, he?—”
“Liah can help,” Blake said, using the last bit of naan bread to scoop up the chicken masala curry. Accidentally amputating his friend’s hand didn’t seem to have affected his appetite.
“What?” Corbin’s eyes narrowed.
“Liah. She’s a Seelie fae. I met her in the dream. She’s the one who told me what Daigh was planning to do.”
“She’s the one whose hand is currently pickling in a jar in the kitchen,” Flynn piped up. Rowan’s face paled.
“Wait a second.” In a moment, the old, take-charge Corbin was back. He fixed Blake with a stare that would’ve made a less self-assured guy burrow into the floor. “You didn’t see evidence of this yourself? Are we basing our entire plan off something a fae told you? A fae whose name isLiah?”
Blake licked butter chicken sauce off his fingers. “Liah and I are old friends, insomuch as one can have friends in the fae realm. I trust her.”
“That means a lot, coming from you,” Arthur smirked.
“Whether you trust her or not, it’s not enough,” Corbin said.
“She’s leading a rebellion of the Seelie fae.”
“Even if that’s true, and if she’s still alive, we don’t know who might have got to her in there. She might have been compelled to tell you this to lead us off in the wrong direction. We can’t risk what little we know getting back to Daigh.”
“Once again,” Blake lazily flicked a piece of lint off his shoulder. “I’d like to point out that you are not the one making the decisions. Maeve is.”
Damn.I was hoping they’d forgotten about that.
Corbin whirled his head around and fixed me with that intense stare. “Fine. Maeve, what’s your decision?”
Seven pairs of eyes swirled toward me, all showing various emotions, from amusement (Flynn) and trepidation (Rowan), to anger (Corbin) and fascination (Connor).
“Um…” I threw up my hands.This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to make decisions like this when the entire damn world is relying on me to get it right?“I need my trustyadvisors.” I turned to Corbin. “If we don’t go back to this Liah person, what would you do?”
Corbin sighed. “I’d continue as though we were dealing with the Slaugh and focus our attention on finding a way to block their entrance to our world permanently.”
I nodded. That was sensible. Of course it was, Corbin thought of it. He was the good leader. “Okay, I agree. Let’s do that.”
“What about Liah?” Blake’s eyes bore into mine. He wore his usual casual expression and spoke in his smirking tone, but something in his eyes told me he cared about this fae.
“Going back to the fae realm is too risky, Blake. I’m sorry.”
One by one, the guys left, each one meeting my eyes. A hundred unspoken things passed between us. Corbin remained seated at his desk, looking as though he couldn’t force his body to move. Part of me wanted to leave him alone to what were disturbed thoughts, but the other part of me could see how badly he needed to cast off some of that weight he was carrying around.
I walked to the heavy wooden door and pushed it shut. There was no lock on the door. I guessed libraries weren’t designed for clandestine affairs.
“Corbin.” I leaned against the back of the door and fixed him with what I hoped was a withering gaze. “You look like shit.”
