Corbin looked ready to argue, but he snapped his mouth shut.Damn right, it’s not your decision any more. I was High Priestess now, and it was time I took responsibility for what that meant. And that started with listening to this little old lady.
“You’re right. I think you should.” I held open the car door for Clara and she climbed inside, adjusting her hat in the rearview mirror. Corbin climbed in behind her, and I sank down beside him, and we tore off.
I didn’t register anything about the ride back to Briarwood. One moment we pulled out of the churchyard and the next Arthur careened through the gatehouse and squealed to a stop outside the Norman keep.
I dragged my feet across the inner courtyard in a daze.
How did this happen? The fae weren’t supposed to be able to get here unless they came through the gateway. And Blake and I sealed the gateway with our spirit magic. They wanted Connor, so why did they take all those other people instead? Why did they need so many? How has everything gone so horribly wrong?
The front door groaned on its hinges. Briarwood welcomed us home with a cold draft blowing from one of the high, narrow windows. Clara shuffled across the flagstones in front of me, her intelligent eyes darting around the entrance hall, taking in the sweeping staircase, gilded portraits, and towering suit of armor.
“Briarwood,” she breathed, the word catching in her throat. “It’s been so long.”
“I need a curry.” Blake pushed past us and headed toward the kitchen. Corbin grabbed his collar.
“Not so fast. We’re going to the Great Hall and you’re going to explain to everyone what the fuck just happened.”
“But—”
“Now.”Corbin hauled Blake into the hall. I dragged my feet after them. The way Corbin looked, Blake’s life might be at stake, and I wasn’t going to have any more death today.
Corbin threw Blake down on the couch. “Start talking, before I give that smartarse face a real human makeover.”
I grabbed his arm. “Corbin, we should at least wait for the others?—”
“Yeah, Arnold will be pissed if you rip my throat out without him,” Blake shot back.
“Peoplediedtoday,” Corbin yelled, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “Can you possibly stop being a fucking twat for just a single second and be actually useful?”
“Iwasuseful. I was the one who told you the fae were going to be at the church. If it wasn’t for me, that screaming baby might’ve joined them. I get credit for that, right?”
“You want credit? I’ll give you fuckingcredit?—”
Connor’s shriek echoed through the great hall, as if underlining Blake’s point. The others must’ve arrived. Arthur moved to Corbin’s side, his arms folded and his face twisted with menace. Flynn walked around the other side of the sofa, his expression dark.
“Don’t threaten Connor,” he said. “You said you’d explain it all when Maeve got here. Well, she’s here. Start talking.”
“You took the last of the sleeping draught.” I slumped down into the beanbag opposite Blake. I knew I should be angry at him for lying to us, but after everything that had happened today, it seemed like it barely even mattered. “You spoke to Liah again.”
Blake nodded. He fixed his eyes on mine. For the first time since I’d met him, he showed none of his swagger or bravado. He looked utterly defeated, which was exactly how I felt. “I didn’t just speak to her. I brought her back with me.”
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Corbin yelled.
I fixed Corbin with what I hoped was a withering stare. “I know you feel betrayed here. But can we just let Blake tell the whole story first? Then we can decide whether he gets the tar and feathers.”
Flynn whistled. Arthur glanced at me in surprise. I guess no one ever told Corbin to shut up.
Corbin nodded. Blake continued.
“I did the same thing you did when you brought all the guys back into this world. Only I did it from outside the grounds so Liah wouldn’t get hurt by the castle’s wards. I hid her in the wood – on the Raynard’s property, since she couldn’t enter Briarwood, and I took her some food.”
“The curries,” Rowan breathed. Blake nodded.
“And I stole some fruit, too. We talked a bit. Liah was all keen to join us against the fae, but then she went down to the village and saw the buildings and the roads and cars. That made her angry. She told me she wanted to go back. I thought—” he took a deep, shuddering breath. “I thought I could still convince her to fight for us. When we were kids I could convince her to do anything. It was me who encouraged her to pick up a bow, and of course she excelled at it immediately.
“So anyway. I told her some stuff about you guys, about the castle. I showed her the gateway. Then yesterday I went down to see her, and she wasn’t in the forest. I found her at the sidhe. She destroyed all Maeve’s equipment. She had burns from touching the metal all down her arm from doing it.” Blake’s eyes darkened. “On her other arm she’d carved a rune into her flesh. Daigh’s rune. She wouldn’t do that unless she was on his side.”
“And then what happened?”
