Last Car to Annwn Station (24 page)

Ilona gave a small laugh and turned to Robert. “She comes as advertised.”

Jill gave Robert a mock glare. She looked back down at Ilona. “Sadly, most of the tales are probably true. But the reason I so rudely interrupted whatever you two are plotting is that I need a bathroom.”

Ilona pointed at a side door. “If you go out that door and follow the hallway, it is the second door on your left.”

Jill nodded. “Thanks.”

Ilona offered a hand. “I can hold your drink while you’re gone.”

Jill passed the short woman the glass of wine and strolled from the room, conscious of the eyes following her as she left the gathering behind. She walked down a short hallway, paneled in dark wood. There were portraits along the walls, and the soft string music followed her from the ballroom. She looked at the ceiling and noticed speakers cleverly disguised in the mural of happy people by the lake. A pair of tall tables, each adorned with flowers and candles, stood opposite each other near the bathroom door.

Jill hesitated. There was something about the placement of the tables that bothered her, but she would have to walk between them to reach the restroom. She lifted the eye patch. The candles glowed with a faint yellow light. They were magical, but she had no idea what the magic was. Steeling herself for an unpleasant surprise, Jill walked cautiously past the tables. Nothing happened—at least nothing she could detect. There was no point in waiting. With a last look down both sides of the long hallway, she slipped into the bathroom.

It was every bit as opulent as the rest of the mansion, the vanity sporting a black marble top, the faucet a brightly polished gold. Jill suspected the gold might be real.

No Dixie cup dispensers here, Jill thought.

She looked at the window. It was shuttered from the inside, but that was easy enough to take care of. She opened the shutter latch and found the window lock. She lifted the window slowly, trying to avoid any loud noise. She supposed there could be a silent alarm, but there was nothing for it.

Jill opened her clutch purse and withdrew a metal nail file. She jabbed it into the screen and ripped across the soft wire mesh, opening a gash Mae would be able to exploit. She pulled out a red piece of fabric and pushed it partway out of the cut screen. She shut the window and closed the shutter, careful to make sure the latch did not catch.

She washed her hands, just to make them damp and slightly chilled, and pulled her eye patch back down before opening the door of the bathroom.

Ilona was waiting for her in the hallway.

The short woman gave her a humorless smile. “Your brother sent me to make sure you were all right. I think he was concerned that you would wander off.”

“I do have a history of getting into trouble.” Jill laughed.

Ilona gave her a measuring look. “Perhaps we should return to the party.”

“Lead on,” Jill said, following the short woman back to the ballroom.

“What took you so long?” Robert asked, his face anxious as he handed Jill her wine glass.

She favored him with a cool look. “Why so nosy?” She started to take a sip of her wine and paused. There was no way she was drinking it after leaving it alone with her brother.

“I just didn’t want you to go poking about in our host’s home and get into places you shouldn’t be.”

“Why? Do they have something to hide?”

“No, but it would be rude.”

A woman carrying a tray of drinks came around. Ilona and Robert drained their glasses and took another serving of the wine. They each gave Jill a curious look. She would need to find some way to discreetly pour the drink out into a potted plant.

“So how do you know my brother?”

Ilona smiled up at her. “We are associates in an exclusive club.”

“Oh, what kind of club?”

“Ilona…” Robert started, a warning in his voice.

“It is a thaumaturgical, spiritual and esoteric research club.”

Jill felt a shiver go down her body. That the woman was being this open about what they were, practically admitting they were mages, did not bode well for Jill. She put on a mask of feigned interest.

“Like the Golden Dawn?”

Ilona snorted. “Those charlatans were nothing. This place is a place of power. All of us in this room, we are power. Those attending tonight are the most powerful of our order.”

“I’m not a member of your order,” Jill said.

Ilona laughed aloud. It caught the attention of the entire room. Jill took a step backwards as the other revelers turned and started walking toward her.

“No, Miss Hall,” a new voice, a male voice, said. “You are not here tonight as a member, even as a prospective one. We have another use for you.”

Jill turned to look at the source of the words. She found herself staring into the smiling face of William Hodgins. His was not a warm or friendly smile.

“Sorry, Jill,” her brother said. “It’s nothing personal.”

She tried to pull away as Robert grabbed her. There was a sharp prick on her arm and she turned to find the gray-haired woman who had taken her coat holding a small syringe. Jill wobbled on her feet as a low buzzing started in her ears. She made an unsteady lunge at her brother, reaching for his throat.

“You sold me out, you fu—”

Jill fell to the cool, polished wood floor, landing on her knees. She looked up at her brother. He frowned down at her. Next to him Ilona’s face held unconcealed glee. Hodgins simply seemed bored.

Jill tipped over, her vision clouding and the buzzing in her ears becoming a high pitched whine. The delicate sound of her wine glass shattering on the floor was the last thing she heard.

Mae watched as the big black Mercedes carrying Jill and her brother turned onto the street at the end of the long driveway. When the taillights vanished from sight, Mae made a short dash into the kitchen. She dressed for the night and cold, grabbing a few items, including Jill’s baton. She peered out the window, just in case Jill and her brother had returned for some strange reason. Detecting no signs of them, she stepped outside.

The familiar ringing of a streetcar bell reached her ears.

Mae swore and jogged down the driveway. Parked in the street was one of the big yellow streetcars, its red door opened wide.

Mae paused in front of the streetcar and glanced up at the destination sign: Malveaux Express. She climbed aboard.

“Ten cents, please.”

Mae smiled at the conductor and fished in her bag for a dime. She dropped the coin into the fare box.

“Welcome aboard, Miss Malveaux,” the conductor said, handing her a transfer. “We’ll reach your destination in plenty of time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lowry.”

The bell rang twice and the door closed. Mae turned to look at the other riders as the streetcar rolled away with a click-clack. She grinned at the two occupants of the car and walked toward where they sat on the back bench.

“Kravis. Death. How are you both this evening?”

Kravis wore a heavy coat over his red shirt. A sword with a short, curved blade lay across his knees. “Ready to take on a few mages.”

Mae frowned. “You shouldn’t go into that mansion.”

“Probably not. Is the plan for gaining access to the mansion in motion?” Kravis asked.

“Jill is already inside. She has a piece of red cloth she’s supposed to put in a window as a sign it’s open. Once in, we find Fay and close the door to Annwn if we can, run if we can’t.” She glanced at Death. He looked somber in his black business suit. There was an expensive-looking leather briefcase next to him on the seat. He regarded her with his star-filled eyes.

“My business is your business this night.”

Mae gave him a stiff nod of her head. For all she knew, his business was with her tonight. She hoped not, but if it was her time, she hoped he had plenty of business with others first.

“I hope you’re not planning to stake me to another tree.”

Death cocked his head to one side. “Why should I desire to do such a thing?”

“I’m just remembering the last time we met.”

“Those were different circumstances, Maeve.”

“Good,” Mae said, taking a seat on the bench next to Kravis. She gave Death a smile. “I thought I told you to call me Mae.”

“That was before I impaled you on the Great Oak in the frozen wastes of Annwn.”

“Mae’s not one to hold a grudge, are you?” Kravis said.

Mae turned toward the misshapen creature and raised an eyebrow. “Depends on exactly what you’ve done to cross me. Hang me from a tree in a mythical Underworld, that I can forgive. Kidnap my sister and use her for God only knows what purpose, that will get you killed.”

“You’ve become a fierce little thing,” Kravis replied.

“She has always been such,” Death said in a soft voice.

Mae turned her gaze back to the dark faerie. “Where is my mother?”

“She has gone into hiding, away from the long reach of those you would confront tonight, and is protected from Rhyania’s hunters.”

Mae nodded, reassured that her mother would be safe even if the mission went poorly.

“And Ellie?” she asked.

“She arrived at Rhyania’s Court seeking sanctuary, but was taken prisoner. Because she is nobility, she was given rooms in the palace, but a prisoner she is. I have heard from a trusted friend that Rhyania refuses to turn her over to the Llysllyn nobles until Mirallyn is captured as well.”

“Why would she do that?”

Kravis gave her a hard, grim look. “I suspect that she needs Ellie and Mirallyn alive in order to transfer titles and power over to her before she can merge the two Courts. It might be for the best. If Ellie and Mirallyn cooperate, the Lady of the Falls will likely give them asylum and protection from the Llysllyn nobles.”

“Arneson Manor,” the conductor called out. “Last stop on the line.”

“Here we go.” Kravis stood and offered Mae a hand up.

She took his hand and rose. The three riders, mortal woman, dark faerie and Death himself, stepped off the streetcar and into the night. The streetcar bell rang twice. Mae glanced over her shoulder, but the big machine was nowhere to be found.

Mae took a deep breath and jogged away from the long drive, into the trees surrounding the estate. She paused by the trunk of a particularly large snow-covered maple. She squinted into the darkness, searching for the trees, structures, odd stone cairns and statues she had marked in her head during the scouting foray she and Jill had undertaken. Jill had pointed out every magical object she could find and Mae had made a point to commit each to memory, but faced with them in the dark, Mae was unsure. The estate grounds and buildings looked wildly different at night.

Mae turned to her two companions. “I know they have all sorts of magical—I guess—things scattered all over the yard. I don’t know what any of them do.”

“They do not concern me,” Death said mildly.

Mae frowned at him as she drew the baton from the messenger bag. “Well, they concern me. Are you going to follow me around all night?”

Mae thought she detected the slightest bit of a smile. “Yes.”

“Because having you following me around is going to get on my nerves after a while. I don’t want to be distracted at the wrong moment.”

Death faded from her vision. “Is this better?”

Mae swallowed. “Yeah. That will work.” She looked at Kravis. “What about you?”

He gave her a tight frown. “Sorry, I don’t bend light.”

“I mean, what’s your part in all this?” Mae leaned close to him. “If you go inside that mansion, you’ll set off all kinds of alarms. What are you really planning?”

“I’m here, Mae, in case you fail. If you don’t emerge after a reasonable amount of time, I’m to assume both you and Fay are dead and act accordingly.”

“More likely you shall fail and die, my faithful servant,” a female voice said from the trees.

Mae and Kravis turned to face the newcomer. Kravis lifted his sword. Mae snapped Jill’s baton to full extension.

Mae’s mother stepped from behind an old oak tree, wrapped in winter heavy robes trimmed in dark fur. “Would the two of you strike me down?”

Mae lowered the baton. “Mother?” she whispered.

Kravis sheathed his sword. “Lady Mirallyn, you should not be here.”

“I have more right to involve myself in these events than you, my faithful servant. These are
my
daughters who are threatened.”

Mae stepped in front of the smaller woman. “You can’t go into that mansion. You said it yourself. You’ll trip every magical alarm in the place.”

“Yes. And while those inside concern themselves with my presence, you shall be able to seek your sister unimpeded.”

“No,” Kravis said. “I’ll go in with Mae and provide the distraction.”

Mirallyn gave him a haughty look. “The circle would overwhelm your small magics in moments, after which they would slay you and capture my daughter. My magic is far stronger. I will keep them occupied for a time, and then make my escape.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Mae said through gritted teeth. She pointed to the mansion. “Jill’s in there right now, all alone.” Mae glared at her mother. “Are you determined to do this?”

“I must try.”

Mae turned toward the mansion and shifted her weight forward. “Good. Keep up.”

Mae ran toward a stand of elms and maples on the side of the house, near the four-vehicle garage. She reached the trees and gave the grounds a close look. Her next step would be to make a dash between the garage and a shed while trying to slip past the security camera. She sprinted across the strip of open ground, keeping low and to the shadows. Panic and adrenaline gave her feet wings, though her bulky coat and heavy boots slowed her pace. She reached the shed and flattened herself along its side. Taking two quick breaths and trying not to think about how positively silly she must look, Mae dived around the corner of the shed. She paused to catch her breath. She looked at her two shadows. Kravis’s face was troubled. Her mother seemed serene. Mae assumed Death still traveled with them and had no concerns about his ability to keep up.

Mae peered into the darkness. There was no one patrolling the grounds. She saw the mansion was mostly dark. There was supposed to be a party inside, but the building gave no indication of activity. A creeping fear that something had gone wrong traveled up her spine. She slipped around to the back of the garage and started moving toward the large Victorian structure.