“Oh, my girl, fae magic means little to us Druids.” He batted his hand, stopping on the other side of the altar from me.
“Why are you in Killian’s territory? Practically in his house.” Warwick growled, keeping his weapon on him. “Don’t tell me he or his guards haven’t noticed you’ve been squatting so close for a month?”
“Hardly anyone comes this way anymore. No need since the prison is out of use, but you should know a Druid can hide in plain sight.”
I’d heard powerful demons and some Druids had the power to almost cloak themselves in their surroundings. Your eye passed over them, seeing nothing on the surface unless you reached out and touched them, destroying the illusion.
“No better place to be than right under his nose.” His gaze darted to Warwick then Ash, ignoring the others in the room. “You don’t need those weapons. This old, crooked body won’t put up much of a fight against you.”
“Tadhgan, the Druid of old. The oldest living Druid in the entire world.” Ash kept his gun on him. “You think it’s your physical body I’m afraid of?”
“Dear boy, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already. But I am a white Druid. We do not harm; we heal and help. Plus, why would I when I’ve been waiting for you to arrive? Well, her most of all.”
“Waiting for me?” I gestured to myself.
“I felt you visit me before. I knew you were coming.” Tad’s gaze landed back on me. His eyes were like oceans of knowledge and life. They slowly went from me to Warwick, his lips flattening together in slight confusion.
“You mean through the fae book yesterday?” Ash lowered his arms, peering over at me.
“Was that yesterday? Like I said, time is a funny thing to me now.” His attention went back and forth between Warwick and me intently. “Incredible... I have never seen anything like this before. And I have lived for many, many centuries and seen the most unbelievable things.”
“What?” The sensation of bugs crawled over my skin.
“Still no auras, but there is now an astonishingly bright glow between you two.” The Druid’s brows creased. “Life connects you, but death binds you.”
As if Tad could peel back my skin and see everything inside, letting in the chill of truth, my limbs started to tremble.
“And your sexual glow . . . oh my . . .” His eyes widened.
“Yeah, we heard and felt it.” Kek snorted. “Allllll night and morning nonstop. Do you want to know how many times I had to take matters into my own hands or out on the grumpy coffee guy? Like anobsceneamount.”
“Jan? Really?” Luk’s mouth dropped in shock. “Wow, I guess he’s cute in a gruff, cranky way.” Luk tilted his head in thought.
“He’s pretty decent in bed. Next time you should join us, pretty boy.”
“Okay, enough,” Warwick barked. “We are wasting time. We need to get back on mission.”
“For the nectar,” Tad said evenly, snapping every head to him.
“H-how did you know that?” My eyes widened; my muscles tightened defensively.
“Because I am old and wise.” He winked. “And because there is no other reason to come straight into Killian’s domain. Most people have forgotten the rumors, lost over the years into the void. As I keep saying, time is a funny thing to an ancient mind. What it remembers was yesterday and yesterday is what it forgets.”
“You know about the nectar? What it is?” I licked my dry lips.
“The last object to hold pure fae magic? So strong it can survive being in Earth’s polluted realm.” His head dipped. “Yes, I am aware of it.”
“Is it here?” I advanced to him. “Have you found it?”
“Would I be here if I found it? Still look like this?” He motioned to his bowed body, a flinch of pain straining his cheek. “No, if it is here, it is not showing itself to me. I have hunted it for years, andeven Ihave not been able to locate it.” Tad reached for my hand. “Help an old man sit down. I can’t stand for long like I used to.”
He grunted as I assisted him onto the floor, taking a seat in front of the small altar table. “I only know of a possible rumor stating it was last seen here.” His eyes slid to Ash. “But possibly our old friend on your back might be able to help us.”
Ash automatically touched the strap of his backpack.
“I can feel it,” Tad said. “It calls to me. In the ancient days, Druids were the historians for the old high fae kings and queens. The original fae books are of our making.”
Ash’s unsure gaze went to me. I nodded, having no other ideas about how to find the nectar. He pursed his lips but walked over to us, shedding the bag off his shoulder, dropping it next to the table.
