“Ah, now that’s a really interesting feature of the original keep.” Corbin came up behind me, slipping into his “Professor” voice. “If the enemy broke through the outer walls, the castle’s inhabitants hid on the upper floors. Once the enemy broke down this inner door, the soldiers would pour hot water or pitch through the hole down on top of them. The castle is filled with all kinds of interesting details. Would you like a tour?”
“I’d love one.” Kelly looped her arm through his.
“Me too.” Jane shoved Connor into Flynn’s arms and looped her other hand through Corbin’s. “I’ve been hanging out here for a couple of weeks and I never knew that hole was defensive. Lead the way.”
“I’ll come too,” I said.
“Don’t you have aproject?”Kelly said, her voice even. “I heard you on the train saying you had some important report to do for theHistorical Society.”
My throat dried up. Kelly had overheard Corbin and me talking. At least we’d taken to calling the fae the Historical Society, the same way my mother had.
Corbin glanced at me, and he smiled. “Kelly’s right. We’ve got all this info from our trip. We should put it together before we forget anything. Maeve, why don’t you get started on that while I tell the girls about the castle? I’ll join you when we’re done. We’ll start on the second floor and then I’ll show you the Great Hall and the stables.”
I blinked, fighting the urge to cry. “I guess I’ve got some stuff to do. You guys have fun.”
Corbin dragged them off, leaving the rest of us alone. I stared after them, watching Kelly’s hair swinging behind her.
And then I realised what was happening. Corbin had just distracted Kelly so I could get on with my ‘project’ – which was preparing the painting ritual.
My bones ached with weariness. All I wanted to do was climb up to my tower room and sleep for fifty years. But I was also desperate to find out if I was right about the painting.
No rest for the wicked witches.
“Get all the equipment we need,” I hissed to Flynn and Blake. “Take it down to the sidhe.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, of course right now, while Corbin’s distracting Kelly. Did you think he wanted to give a history lecture at this exact moment?”
“It’sCorbin.Even if the Inquisition caught him he’d probably be trying to explain the provenance of their art collection.”
“What about Kelly?” Blake asked. “Corbin can’t exactly distract her during a ritual.”
“I’ll get Jane to take her somewhere or occupy her,” I said, then remembered Jane’s furious face in the car earlier. “Or I’ll figure something else out. You two just get down to the sidhe with all the stuff. Corbin’s started on the first floor, so when you hear them down in the Great Hall, it should be safe to sneak out the painting.”
Flynn gave me a thumbs up. I raced off up the stairs. Corbin was just heading up the winding stairs to my tower bedroom, explaining how stairs in castles always turned clockwise because it gave the inhabitants an advantage when swinging their swords in the confined space. Jane stood at the bottom, Connor in her arms. I waved at her and she hurried over, a frown on her face.
“What do you want?”
“After Corbin finishes the tour, can you keep Kelly occupied while we go down to the sidhe? I know you hate me right now, but we might have found a way to defeat the fae, and that’s more important than anything, even…” I trailed off, not sure what I was trying to say.
“Fine.” Jane’s face remained stony. “I’ll distract her. But you’re going to have to explain this to her.”
‘You know I can’t?—”
Jane grabbed my shoulder, her eyes locked with mine. “Maeve, listen. I know you and I haven’t been friends for very long, and I know you think you know what’s best for your sister. But the girl who walked off that plane is not the same person you grew up with. The death of her parents changed her, same as it changed you. Did you ever stop to think maybe she deserves to know the truth about their deaths? Did you ever think that maybe asking me to lie for you is a shite thing for you to do?”
“Why are you so invested in her?” I narrowed my eyes. “You hate girls like her, you told me so.”
“She’s different,” Jane insisted. “You’re so stubborn and pigheaded that you don’t see how the rules can bend. People aren’tscientific. They don’t just act one way all the time. You know, you rail on and on about Kelly’s religion making her blind, but you’re blinded by your prejudice, too. You can’t see what’s right in front of you. You better figure it out soon, because Kelly saw you with Gwen’s coven and she saw you with Flynn. But I’m done. If you want to ruin your relationship with your sister to avoid facing your hypocrisy, then that’s your decision. I don’t bloody care.”
She spun on her heel and stomped away.
“Jane, wait?—”
She held up a hand but didn’t turn around. “I’mdone, Maeve. If you’re excuse me, I’ve off to lie to your sister for you.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
