Kissed by Moonlight (19 page)

"Clever girl."

Genevieve reappeared, cellphone in hand. She handed it to Jack. One look and his eyes went wide. He quickly passed the phone to me.

I had half-expected the picture to be of Alister Jones, but it wasn't. It was Brent Darroch.

Chapter 27

I don't know why I was surprised to discover the man who had visited Father Nicolas was my nemesis, Brent Daroch. We'd known, or at least suspected, for some time that Alister and Darroch were working together. What we didn't know was why.

I ran my hand along the cool wood of the bannister as Jack and I descended the steps from Genevieve's third floor walkup. Our footsteps echoed loud in the stairwell. For all the noise on the street, Genevieve's building was surprisingly quiet. It gave me a moment to mull over the Darroch revelation.

There was something else that niggled at me.

"How on earth did Brent Darroch get Father Nicolas to spill his secrets in the first place?" I wondered aloud as I jogged down the stairs behind Jack. "And how did he remove the memories without help?" I was pretty sure Genevieve would have mentioned the Fairy Queen if she'd shown up at the door. She was kind of hard to forget. "It's impossible. Brent may have Atlantean blood, but he hasn't got the power." Which was why he'd wanted the Heart of Atlantis in the first place. So he wouldn't have to team up with anyone else.

"No idea," Jack said.

Fat lot of help he was. "Okay, so why didn't Alister get the information? He's far more powerful than Darroch." Not in a superpower way, but in a convincing sort of way. "And he'd met Father Nicolas before. Wouldn't it be easier to waltz in and take up where they left off?"

Jack stopped so abruptly, I nearly ran into his back. "Maybe that's it."

"What's it?"

He turned toward me. "Maybe whatever Darroch did to Father Nicolas only worked because they didn't know each other. Maybe if Alister had tried it, it wouldn't have worked."

I mulled that over as we continued down the steps. "Okay, so like whatever they do scrapes off the top memories because they're recent. But the memory of meeting Alister would have been implanted much deeper, since it was years ago. No way to erase it."

"Something like that."

It sort of made sense, though it didn't explain how Darroch had managed to mess with the priest's mind without the Fairy Queen in tow. A thought struck me as we reached the bottom of the steps. "Holy crap."

"What?"

"Come on." I grabbed Jack by the arm and pulled him out into the street. "I'm hungry. Let's get some lunch, and I'll tell you what I think."

***

Jack stared at me as if I'd suddenly grown a second head. "You seriously think the Fairy Queen is behind all this?"

"Not exactly." I stuffed another chunk of bread in my mouth, followed by a healthy spoonful of
tagine
. Yummy. The spicy lamb dish was perfect. I swallowed. "The Fairy Queen has the ability to erase memories and replace them with something. New ones, I imagine. She must have lent that power to Darroch somehow. Temporarily, at least."

"Can she do that?"

I shrugged. "Why not? She's got abilities far beyond anything I've ever seen."

"Why, then? What's in it for her?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. But whatever it is, right now I'm betting her goals coincide with Alister's. And Darroch is either a full partner or along for the ride, playing his own angle." I was betting on the latter. Darroch always had his own angle.

"And the Queen is willing to work with them." Jack sounded doubtful, but I was convinced we were on the right track.

"For now. For a price." I took another big bite of
tagine
. Gods, I couldn't get enough of the stuff.

"And you think Alister is willing to pay that price?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I think Alister is willing to pay almost any price for power." I swirled the bread through the
tagine
sauces and popped it in my mouth. "I also think Alister is arrogant enough to believe he can outsmart the Queen of the Sidhe. I bet he figures he won't have to pay the price. That he'll come out on top." That was Alister all over.

"That, we can agree on." Jack took a bite of his
tagine
. "This brings me back."

I knew what he was talking about: the Crusades. He must have eaten similar food while he was in the Holy Lands. He didn't talk about it much, and being something of a history nerd, I was eager to hear more. "How long were you there?"

A pause. "Long enough." His expression closed as he glanced away from me.

Okay then. I know when I'm not wanted. This was another reason why Jack and I hadn't worked. He would never let me in. Inigo, on the other hand, had welcomed me in with open arms. I was always the one holding back. The stab of pain that accompanied that thought took my breath away. I shoved aside thoughts of Inigo. I needed to focus on the business at hand. Thinking of him would only make it an impossible task.

"We need to figure out what it is both Alister and the Queen want. Wait, duh." I practically smacked myself in the forehead. "We know what they want. They were after the book and they got it. But why? What do they want with it?" Other than to control me and whatever I was supposed to be able to do as the Key of Atlantis. I mean, there had to be a reason, some end game.

"I wish I knew," Jack said. "But like I told you before, we never knew what was in the book."

I thought it over as I finished off the last of my
tagine
and flat bread. "Maybe they figured out how to translate it?"

"How? Alister doesn't speak or read ancient Atlantean. No one does."

"Darroch can. He figured out the ancient prophecy." I didn't bother to remind Jack the prophecy was supposedly about me.

Jack shook his head as he stood up, throwing a wad of green and red euros on the table. "Not well enough, and not without help from your amulet. Darroch probably got most of his knowledge from the dreams and from gossip. Now that you wear the amulet, he's cut off from the dreams."

I followed him out the door onto the busy street. All around me, people shouted in French and other exotic languages I didn't recognize. Dark eyes stared at me from every direction, some with appreciation and some with suspicion. This part of Paris was heavily North African, and I stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. Ignoring the stares, I focused on Jack and our conversation.

"Then it has to be the Queen, right?" Things were clicking for me now. "After all, the Sidhe were still here in this realm when the Atlanteans arrived. Maybe they learned enough before they crossed to the Other World to translate the book."

Jack frowned as he thought it over. "It's possible." He didn't sound convinced.

"It's more than possible," I insisted. "It totally makes sense. There's something in that book both Alister and the Fairy Queen want so much they're working together. Alister to obtain the book, and Morgana to translate."

"But you're forgetting one thing."

I glanced up at him. "What's that?"

"There's no way they could have known what was in the book prior to stealing it. How would they know it would be useful?"

"Maybe you're right," I admitted. "Or maybe they did know somehow. After all, Darroch found out about the amulet. Maybe there was more he didn't tell us." In fact, it was damn likely. "Or maybe the Sidhe knew about it from back in the day."

"It doesn't matter either way. This is all speculation." There was anger in Jack's tone, though his face bore its usual stoic expression. "For whatever reason, they have the book now, and we have no idea where they are."

"True," I admitted. "But we have a secret weapon."

"What's that?" Another raised eyebrow.

"Eddie. Let's head back to the hotel. I feel the need to Skype."

Chapter 28

Eddie's cherubic face came into view on my laptop screen, or at least the bottom half of his face did. I could count his nose hairs.

"Uh, Eddie," I said, "I think you need to back away from the computer just a bit."

"Oh, dear. Just a moment."

I repressed a giggle as I settled against the headboard. Jack didn't even crack a smile. In fact, he looked downright sullen, lounging against the door of my hotel room. I turned back to the screen, determined to ignore his royal sulkiness.

Over the laptop speakers I heard a bit of shuffling, followed by a loud
thunk
. Finally, the whole of Eddie's face came into view, beaming from ear to ear. "How's this?"

"Much better." I didn't bother to tell him he didn't need to speak quite so loud. I just turned down the volume.

"Excellent." Eddie leaned back on his stool and I could see he was sitting at the counter of Majicks and Potions, his little New Age book and gift shop. He was wearing a fuchsia waistcoat over a mustard colored button-down shirt. It was an eye popping combination, to say the least. "I'm still trying to get used to this whole video chatting thing. It's so Star Trek." He practically beamed with excitement.

"How are you, Eddie? How's everything in Portland?"

"Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. It's raining, as usual. But not to worry, I'm packing for a steampunk cruise. Seven days of Caribbean sun, corsets, and bowler hats. Not to mention the food! But I digress. How is Paris? I remember a time back in the eighties... "

"Yeah, Paris is great," I interrupted. I so did not want to hear stories of Eddie in the eighties. My imagination was bad enough. "Really beautiful."

"Did you get a chance to visit Notre Dame? It really is a must-see. The stained glass and statuary are truly stunning."

"Uh, no. We haven't had time yet."

"Of course, of course. You're there on business." Eddie adjusted his little round spectacles. "I'm sure you didn't call just to chat about the wonders of the City of Lights. How can I help you?"

I gave him a quick run-down on Darroch's escape, soul vamps, Alister's involvement, and the theft of the mysterious book. "Frankly, we're at an impasse. We don't know what the book is for, and we've no idea where to find it. Alister and Darroch have gone completely off the grid, as far as we can tell."

"Hmmmm." Eddie pulled on his lower lip, his eyes taking on a faraway look. I was about to say something when he finally jarred himself out of whatever rabbit hole he'd fallen down. "Yes, yes. I think I recall something of this book."

"Really?" I turned my head slightly and shot Jack a glare. "Jack says nobody knew about it but the Templars and their allies."

"No, no. I'm sure there's something... " Eddie trailed off as he moved out of frame, leaving me staring at the blank wall. There was a lot of rustling off camera, followed by a heavy
thump
and some more muttering. Then Eddie reappeared, waving what looked like a cheap paperback novel from the sixties.

"
Footprints of the Gods
," he said, flipping through the pages. "I know some people think it's right up there with Ancient Astronaut theory, but we all know just how not crazy that is, don't we?" He waggled his eyebrows while giving me a meaningful look.

I knew he was referring to the fact that the ancient Atlanteans had come from another planet thousands of years ago, and their blood flowed in my veins. Not just in mine, either, but a lot of people's. Mainstream scientists could mock all they wanted. Some of the craziest theories about human ancestry weren't that far from the truth.

"How is that," I pointed to the paperback with its lurid orange lettering and classic flying saucer, "going to help us find the book we're looking for?"

"Find it?" Eddie peered at me through his little round spectacles. "Oh, no, it won't do that, but it might tell us what is so important about it, and how Alister Jones discovered it in the first place. And that, my dear Morgan, may help us discover where it is now."

I still couldn't see how a dusty old paperback from five decades ago was going to do that, but whatever. Eddie had a way of uncovering the most interesting bits of information from the most random places. I fidgeted a little as he slowly scanned a few pages. Jack stood unmoving against the closed door, carefully avoiding my gaze.

"Ah," Eddie exclaimed, "here it is. Let's see. Interesting."

"What is it, Eddie?" I prodded.

"Oh, yes, sorry. According to this, there were stories of a book found in the Holy Land."

"Let me guess," I said. "By the Templars."

"Why, yes." Eddie beamed at me before returning to the paperback.

When Jack first told me the story of discovering the cave under the Mount, he hadn't mentioned finding the book, along with the amulet and the dead Atlanteans. Granted, he had a way of leaving things out. Important things.

"Jack told me they found it with some bodies, and the Heart of Atlantis."

"The author is not so specific, but it says here the book was rumored to be made of a mysteriously indestructible material. The pages contained indecipherable symbols. Some people believed they were a message from the gods themselves."

"Sounds like the right book. Any idea what this message said?"

Eddie frowned, flipping through a few more pages. "The author naturally postulates the book was written by an ancient alien explorer. A journal, perhaps, of his adventures. Possibly information regarding his advanced civilization."

"Wow, he was right on the money," I said dryly. We knew without a doubt the book was Atlantean. We just didn't know what was in it, and Eddie's little paperback wasn't helping.

"He also speculates the book was the treasure the Templars took back with them to France from the Holy Land."

I sighed. "Part of it, anyway."

"Indeed." Eddie nodded. "He also claims they kept the book carefully hidden in one of their secret locations, guarded night and day."

"That explains how Alister knew to start looking in Templar chapels. No doubt it was his best lead." And it had proved dead on. "How the hell did some fringe scientist from way back when figure all this stuff out?"

Eddie glanced up from the book. "Secrets sometimes have a way of slipping out no matter how carefully they are guarded."