“No.” He exhales a slow breath that draws a grimace to his lips. “I’ll be discreet.”
Had he been an air-Fae, discretion may have been attainable, but water will splash.
He starts down the steps, one hand clasped around the railing. I don’t miss his jerky intakes of air, or the amount of time he holds each one in. He’s in no state to head down under and use magic that will drain him of energy.
“How bad is your pain?”
“I’ll live.”
“Not what I asked.”
“Stop worrying. I’m fine.” I think he tries to add a smile but it barely registers on his lips.
When he flattens his palm against his abdomen, I realize that he’s in lots more pain than he’s letting on. This mission will be the death of Lore’s patience, and quite possibly, the death of the brave Faerie standing before me.
However resilient and cunning, the man cannot do this alone.
“You’re not going back down there, Nipota. Swear it.”
How on earth did he guess? When we reach the bottom of the steps, I say, “Nonna would be furious with me if I struck a bargain with you.”
He rumbles, sounding a lot like the wards around the house that Lore pummels with his unrelenting storm.
I cross my arms. “Can you press your hand onto a sigil of my making?”
He stares at the rivulets of dried blood on my arms. “No. Which is why you’ll crumble this hidden door.”
My eyes draw wide with excitement.
“After which, you’ll return to Ríhbiadh’s side for I truly do not wish to be eviscerated tonight.”
“Yep.” His tapered stare prompts me to add, “Cross my heart, I’ll do just that.”
He holds his finger over my bleeding arm. “May I?” At my nod, he dips his fingers in one of my wounds, then paints five parallel waves with four swoops each. “The more waves you draw, the stronger the tremor.”
I commit this to memory. “And now the invisibility sigil.”
He collects more blood and draws a ‘V’. Before he even draws the rest of it, I know that it’ll stand on an inverted ‘T’. And I’m right.
I close my eyes for a heartbeat. If I hadn’t dropped from Bronwen’s vision before she had time to explain the effect of the interlocked ‘V’ and ‘T’, I could’ve used it. I could’ve turned myself into a ghost. People don’t see ghosts coming.
Not even Faerie Kings.
After all, he didn’t notice Meriam’s invisibility earlier, so even though I cannot kill him with my blood, I can use it to my advantage.
After frustration comes resolve. “That simple?”
“That simple.”
“Am I invisible?”
“I cannot cast spells with your blood, Fallon,” he says gently.
Right.“How does one remove a spell?”
“Blood on skin fades on its own—sometimes in a matter of minutes; sometimes, hours. However, if you want to remove it sooner, then you must hover your hand over the sigil until the blood rises to the surface, then either slash your finger through—if you’re impatient—or wait until it collects back under your skin.”
“So if I make you invisible, you’ll stay invisible until I recall my magic or until my spell fades?”
