‘But Niamh should have been safe here,’ I insist. ‘It’s in the rules and even the Rialis can’t break those.’
‘From what we can work out, Vittoria didn’t break any rules,’ Matt says. ‘We all thought that “within the walls” of St Marnox meant the outer wall, but it must mean only the walls of the monastery itself. The Rialis always find a way around the rules, don’t they? Some way to twist everything to fit their own needs.’
I nod. ‘It’s how they’ve stayed in power so long. It’s why I want to be king. To change that.’
I take a deep breath, regretting my decision to give up my chance at the throne just for a second. But to rule alongside Vittoria would only give her access to my family’s power as well as her own. And I know the Court wouldn’t survive that. Not to mention that sooner or later, one of us would be dead at the other’s hand.
‘Anyway, it wasn’t until we’d finished unloading the van that I found them in the kitchen garden. But by then it was too late. Cillian, I’m sorry.’
‘It was definitely Vittoria?’
He nods. ‘I saw her. She’d used Glamour to disguise her appearance to Niamh, but afterwards…’ He frowns in confusion. ‘She did something, I’m not sure. It was like she grabbed something away from Niamh… and her Glamour just… faded and we all saw her true self. How do you think she knew Niamh was here?’
‘Well, either someone from here told her?—’
‘No one here would tell the Rialis anything.’
‘You worked for them. As did your father,’ I point out.
‘My Kin come from the water. Vincenzo is the embodiment of the sea god, Llyr. I don’t hunt, Cillian, or I would have worked for you. But I definitely wouldn’t tell them anything. No one here has any love for them. I know these men, Cillian. They’re far from perfect, but I’m sure of that. Rightly or wrongly, Vincenzo is responsible for most of them being here.’
‘Are there mirrors here? Reflective surfaces?’
He frowns. ‘In the kitchen, yes. All the units. And mirrors around the place. Why?’
I curse and rub my forehead with my hand, regretting for the first time the lack of attention I paid to my fiancée. ‘Cover them all. Everything. Vittoria’s been scrying.’
Matt lets out a low whistle. ‘You’re sure?’
‘Very. She showed me Niamh lying unconscious, surrounded by the seven of you, in the surface of an apple in The Unseelie Court chamber.’
‘But… but we thought that magic was lost, intentionally wiped out. No one has been able to?—’
‘It seems, we were wrong.’
‘So, she might have been watching us… via any reflective surface…’
I nod grimly. Avoiding scrying is a challenging task, especially with someone powerful wielding the magic which is why historically those who held this power were hunted down and killed. Scryers wield a power virtually unsurpassed by any other, and my ancestors were responsible for their scourge, as it fell to the Huntsmen to hunt them down and kill them. After all, knowledge is power. And the Rialis already have enough power. It’s not a gift that is passed down through generations, so how has Vittoria come to be in possession of such power? The irony that I was hunting the wrong woman is not lost on me.
I stare down at Niamh, wondering just how long Vittoria has been watching her. With all the technology we use nowadays, not least our phones, there are surfaces everywhere that can be used for the magic. The antique mirrors in Cernunnos, including in my bedroom, the windchimes Vittoria encouraged me to buy my sister… Dammit, I put those in the flat Rose shares with Niamh– gave Vittoria a way to watch her. That ancient mirror in Vittoria’s flat– it must be what she’s using to scry. I pull my phone from my pocket and look at the screen. I need Aiden’s hacking abilities to find a solution that will save Niamh and prevent Vittoria from bringing her more harm.
‘What do you think she took from Niamh?’ Matt asks.
‘Her necklace,’ I say, leaning over and running my fingers around Niamh’s delicate bare neck.
He frowns. ‘I don’t remember her wearing one.’
I stare at him. ‘You don’t?’
‘No.’ He smiles slyly at me. ‘But then I’ve never paid attention to her the way you have.’
‘She always wears it. Her mother gave her that necklace, and Niamh will be devastated if it’s now in Vittoria’s hands.’ I rake my hands through my hair and then realise something odd. An urge to forget about Niamh’s necklace forms in my head, and for the first time I recognise this for what it is. Magic. But from where? We need to find it. ‘Search the area thoroughly and see if you can find it discarded in the kitchen garden or grounds. It’s a gold pendant, with a heart-shaped dark red stone at the centre. A garnet. Get the others to help– and can you send James in here?’
‘Got it.’ Matt nods and hurries off casting one last look back at Niamh.
I close my eyes and focus my thoughts on Niamh’s necklace. How have I not given it any significance before? The magic within it is more powerful than anything I have access to. I search her face for any sign of Kinfolk magic, but there’s nothing.
* * *
