“Solid plan. I’ll talk to Liam. You might want to be back here by 3:00. Cade’s going to call the rest of the pack.”
Great. Farren rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to get mixed up in Cade’s pack politics. He’d ordered two of his wolves to stay in Seattle, and two more—along with their pup—to head for Canada. From the little she’d gathered from Caitlin, they were all pissed about it. Unsurprising.
“The silver one seeks answers.”
Farren jerked, her fingers knocking half a dozen chips onto the table. She’d been so mired in her thoughts, she hadn’t heard the pub door open. Then again, perhaps it hadn’t.
“Paddy, ya’ daft bastard. Ya’ scared the piss outta me.”
“Old Paddy meant no harm.” The elderly man pulled out a chair, sat, and withdrew his spoons from the inside pocket of his tweed jacket. “The time is close now.”
“What time?” Fuck. What she wouldn’t give for one straight, honest, direct conversation with him. Every time, he spoke in riddles and vague references that only made sense hours or days later.
“The time for secrets is almost over. What is blind will find a way to see. What is hidden will be the answer to all.” He rapped the spoons on his thigh and smiled a mostly toothless grin.
“Gone for weeks, and ya’ still can’t give me a straight answer to anythin’? Ya’ show up at my front door with Diedre so her magic can protect Mara and Caitlin, then vanish without even sayin’ goodbye. We can’t read that feckin’ book ya’ know. The pages keep changin’.”
“Need a key, ya’ do. And the sight that only comes with trustin’ yer heart.”
“Any idea where this key is?” Farren tossed back the whiskey, then signaled to Mickey for another two shots. One for her and one for Paddy. The man tended to keep talking whenever the drinks were flowing.
“Old Paddy knows, but cannot say.”
Slamming her glass down on the table, she leaned closer and hissed, “Then what good are ya’? For years, I’ve trusted ya’. Let ya’ go on with yer riddles and mysteries, but enough now. Liam almost died. Mara’s gone away in the head, and now Diedre sends a man to town with this feckin’ thing,” she held up the pendant, letting it swing from her fingers and catch the light, “but doesn’t tell him why.”
Paddy moved so quickly, Farren didn’t have time to react, snatching the bauble from her hand and closing his fingers around it. His cloudy eyes cleared, and he focused on her with such intensity, she stifled her retort. “A pretty thing, but not for show. Only whole will power grow. He’s the last, and doesn’t know. Teach him or give in to woe.”
“Another goddamn mystery.”
When he offered her the pendant, she returned it to the velvet pouch in her pocket. The old man pushed to his feet, and Farren reached for his hand. “Come back to the house with me, Paddy. Please. We need yer help.”
He smiled even as he shook his head. “Paddy’s got the wrong time. But he’ll see ya’ again.”
Farren’s fingers fell away, despite her efforts to hold on to the man, and once again, she wondered what powers he could muster. Clearly he’d whispered to her mind somehow, but she hadn’t sensed an air charm, or smelled the metallic scent of magic.
Magic it had to be, though, because he shuffled out of the bar and she remained glued to her seat.
“Feckin’ loon. One day, I’m goin’ to figure him out.” She just hoped it wasn’t too late when she did.
Chapter Six
Mara
Sitting at the counter peeling apples—enough for at least three pies—she felt almostnormal. Except for Cade refusing to go more than twenty feet from her and Caitlin checking on her every half an hour.
She understood their concern. Hell, she hated this as much or more than they did. Never knowing when she’d lose herself? When she’d be forced into a dark, terrifying place where she could see everything around her, but had no control over what her sister’s fire element wanted her to do?
Farren strode through the front door, her silvery blond hair cascading behind her as she pulled off her motorcycle helmet. “Well, I found the bastard. And then he disappeared right in front of me. Again.”
“Paddy?” Liam asked.
“Who else do ya’ think? Daft old man spouted some nonsense about how we needed a key to read the book, but wouldn’t tell me what it was or where to find it. And more malarkey about the blind bein’ able to see. Oh, and this. I wrote this part down.” She unfolded a piece of paper she’d tucked into her pocket. “A pretty thing, but not for show. Only whole will power grow. He’s the last, and doesn’t know. Teach him or give in to woe.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Cade came up behind Mara and draped his arm around her shoulders. “You okay, honey?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m fine. But this is nice.” She snuggled against his chest, letting the touch of her mate, his warmth, his strength, center her. Besides Caitlin’s charms, Cade’s presence was the only thing that worked. Except when it didn’t. Like this morning. When she’d wriggled out from under his arm, left their bed, and walked outside, barefoot, not dressed for the chill, and with no clear idea of where she was going.
All the while screaming inside her own head for whatever invisible force had locked her away to release her. To stay safely within the boundaries of Diedre’s wards.
