“Yes,” Patrick said.
“Are you sure?”
“Jono has watched my six since I met him. I trust him enough to sleep with him, and he hates the gods as much as I do.”
Gerard dragged a hand down his face. “Patrick.”
“What?” Patrick asked testily.
“You should’ve told me.”
“Same way you told me about your engagement?”
“That’s different.”
“Is it? When did everyone else find out?”
“After his satphone call,” Keith admitted.
Patrick felt marginally better that it wasn’t months, only days, of him being out of the loop. It still served as a reminder that he was one of the last to know.
“Look,” Gerard said, leaning forward again to rest his elbows on the table. His mouth ticked down in a faint frown, and Patrick didn’t miss the way he suddenly lookedtired. “I requested leave for a family emergency. That’s what the Old Man is putting in my records. The team came with me because they don’t go into the field without me, but that’s not the entire reason why we were all wanted Stateside.”
“The Morrígan’s staff,” Patrick said, then took another bite of his burger.
Before Gerard could reply, their waitress returned, depositing a second Guinness next to Patrick’s plate and taking away his empty glass. Gerard took a moment to eat half his burger in a couple of large bites. Patrick jangled his right leg under the table as he waited Gerard out.
“The person responsible for the audit of the Morrígan’s staff three years ago doesn’t exist,” Gerard said a few minutes later.
“On paper?”
“Anywhere,” Keith said with a grimace. “Onsite records were wiped clean. Only evidence we had was on a server they couldn’t access because it was located at the Pentagon, behind an air gap, encrypted every way you could think of, and received updates bimonthly through a physical courier escorted by Special Forces. The identity the audit person used at the time was false, and the picture doesn’t match any facial recognition records in any national database.”
“So, magic.”
“Glamour,” Gerard corrected.
“Same fucking difference.” Patrick put what was left of his burger down, suddenly not hungry anymore. “You think the fae stole back the Morrígan’s staff?”
“I think it’s not that easy or clear-cut, because things never are when it comes to the fae or the Dominion Sect. We know Ethan wants the staff. We don’t know why, and we don’t know what bargains he’s made to find it.”
Patrick thought of Hades and the betrayals immortals inflicted within their own pantheons for the sake of power. He wouldn’t put it past any of the fae to make deals with Ethan the same way Hades had.
“Where does Órlaith come in?”
“I don’t know all the details, I only know the Spring Queen called her warriors home, and that is not a call I can ignore.” Gerard grimaced. “I would never ignore it for Órlaith.”
The words were said in a quiet, tired voice, and Patrick wondered about the faint bitterness and worry in Gerard’s tone.
“Brigid ordered you back?” At Gerard’s nod, Patrick frowned as he dredged up what he knew of the Tuatha Dé Danann. “She’s the Dagda’s daughter, isn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Which means she’s immortal.”
“Yes.”
“I hate dealing with the gods.”
