The Morrigan's Curse (13 page)

WHEN DONOVAN PULLED UP
at the cabin, Riley met them outside. Jax got out of the car gingerly, expecting the usual
Jax, you idiot
greeting. Instead, Riley walked up without saying anything, put an arm around him, and pulled him close for the nearest thing to a hug he could give Jax without hurting him.

“Thank you,” Riley said to Donovan.

“You would've done the same for one of mine,” Donovan replied.

“Come into the house—please,” Riley said, walking Jax to the door with a hand on his elbow as if he was afraid Jax might fall over. For a second it seemed like Donovan was going to decline the invitation, but Tegan got out of the car and followed Riley. Her father sighed.

Inside, Mrs. Crandall took charge of Jax, helping him into the living room, planting him in a chair with a pillow supporting his back, and shoving a bowl of soup into
his hands. Jax felt lucky she didn't try to spoon it into his mouth. Mr. Crandall rumpled his hair fondly with a mumbled comment about them being happy to get him back in one piece.

A.J. snorted and said, “Only an idiot with dumb luck like Jax could've survived it.”

Jax grinned gratefully at A.J. for telling the truth. All this niceness was freaking him out.

“You should go to bed and rest,” Mrs. Crandall urged him.

“Not until you tell me what happened to Evangeline,” he said around a mouthful of soup.

“I thought for a while that she took off because she was mad at me,” said Riley, “but I don't believe she'd leave
you
, Jax.”

“Mad at you?” Jax repeated. “I told you to take her on a date, not make her mad!”

“Well, it didn't work out like that!” Riley retorted. “I thought she was driving around until she cooled off, except she never came back. You weren't here either, and until we heard from Donovan, we thought the two of you must be together. I was sure you'd call me after midnight and tell me where you were, but then . . .” He waved his hand helplessly toward the Donovans. The phone call he'd gotten was not what he'd been expecting.

Jax frowned. Could Evangeline have gone looking for him? No. Before jumping to the conclusion that he was
missing, she would've asked the Crandalls if they knew where he was.
What would Evangeline have done after her meeting with Bedivere?

Oh . . . no.

“She scried for Addie,” Jax said. “Something she saw must've made her take off.”

Riley shook his head. “She couldn't have. There's no saffron in the house.”

“She had saffron,” Jax said. “She made me get it and not tell you.”

While Riley looked hurt, A.J. looked skeptical. “If Evangeline saw Addie—heck, even if she saw what happened to Jax—why did she leave without telling us? Is she planning to drive to Maine? Alone?”

Jax gasped. “How do you know where—”

A.J. held up his phone. “Billy. You may have blocked his number on Riley's phone, but he has my number, too. Called me right after midnight. What were you thinking, Jax? We needed that information!”

“I was afraid of what you'd do with it!”

“Deidre's on her way to that island now with a team,” Mrs. Crandall said.

“See!” Jax jumped out of his chair, spilling soup, and reawakening pain all over his back. “Ow! You can't send Deidre! She'll blow the place up!”

“She won't,” Riley assured him. “There's no urgency on a Thursday. She'll survey the place, but Jax—after you
found them and escaped, I doubt they're still there.”

“Ten'll get you twenty they've flown the coop,” said Donovan.

“Blondie might not know that, depending on whether she did her witchy scrying thing before or after they hurt Jax,” Tegan pointed out. “It'd be helpful if we could figure out what direction she's heading.” She turned to her father. “Take Tommy to track her car.”

“Dad, are you really gonna let her—” Thomas asked his father at the same time Donovan muttered, “Tegan, girl—”

“We talked about this,” she interrupted them. “I made up my mind.”

Donovan and his son looked at each other, then headed for the door, both of them grumbling. No one but Jax seemed surprised by how quickly they obeyed. Riley gave a relieved sigh as soon as they were out of the house. He pulled Excalibur from its sheath and laid it on the closest table. The Crandalls pulled their blades out and did the same. Jax hesitated, not wanting to intimidate Tegan with the formality of a meeting with blades on the table.

But she seemed perfectly at ease. “I don't carry an honor blade. And not because the Donovans have no honor, which is what some people might think.” Tegan shot a challenging look in Jax's direction.

Jax spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. The thought had never—okay, maybe it
had
crossed his mind.

“I own one, for your information,” she said. “It was my grandmother's. But it gets in the way—climbing and squeezing through small spaces—so I don't carry it. My talent works just fine without it.”

“Do you think your father and brother can track Evangeline?” Riley asked.

“They have a decent chance,” Tegan said. “Do you think she's deserting your side to join the Llyrs?”

“No,” Riley replied. “Not for a second. This is about her sister.”

“Is that what you fought about?”

“Sort of.” When Tegan raised her eyebrows as if waiting for more information, Riley continued reluctantly. “Evangeline met with Calvin Bedivere to inspect the refugee lodgings he's established and discuss how to spread the word to friendly and neutral Kin. But she was more interested in circumventing the Table's decision for a preemptive strike against the Llyrs—to the point of digging up dirt on Table members to put pressure on them. I pulled her aside to warn her she wouldn't make a good impression with Bedivere that way.
A-a-a-nd
my criticism didn't go over very well.”

“I bet not,” said Tegan. “She's trying to save her sister any way she can.”

Jax blinked in surprise. Tegan, defending Evangeline? Now he'd heard everything!

“Yeah, I know. I just . . .” Riley broke off, slumping in
his seat and rubbing his face wearily.

The Crandalls exchanged glances, and Jax guessed they were thinking the same thing he was.
Riley's trying to live up to his father's reputation as an honest leader,
Jax thought.
But if his sister Alanna was alive and where Addie is right now . . .

“Was your family's estate sold at auction?” Jax suddenly asked. “The Kin holding Addie thought I might know who bought up the Pendragons' possessions. They wanted me to lead them to ‘the Treasures.' Wasn't Evangeline talking about Treasures of the Kin?”

“She was,” Riley said. “Not all my family's things were sold at auction. Maybe it's time to get one item out of storage and keep it closer.” He turned to Tegan. “Billy compiled a list of properties owned by the same company that owns the island Jax was at today. Would you be willing to visit them and see if you can detect any Kin present? I'll get someone to accompany you, and it should be perfectly safe for the next seven days.”

“I've committed the Donovans now,” Tegan said. “I'll go.”

“Tegan.” Riley spread his hands. “What do you want in return? You've refused everything I've offered in the past. An alliance. Vassalhood.”

Jax's mouth fell open. Riley had offered to make Tegan a vassal? Really? And when?
Why don't I know these things?

“I don't want anything,” Tegan said stubbornly. “The Donovans prefer working alone. I'm going to make an
exception for now, but let's save the world and get it over with, okay?”

Jax didn't argue the next time someone suggested he go to sleep. He climbed the stairs to the second floor, then stared bleakly at his sleeping bag on the floor and wondered how much it was going to hurt to get down on the ground.

“I'll sleep on the floor,” Riley said from the doorway. “You take my bed.”

Jax frowned suspiciously. “You should be reaming me out, not giving me your bed.”

“You
want
me to give you heck? Sure, I can do that.” Riley's gaze bounced around the room before returning to Jax. “But that would let you off the hook, right? If I just yelled at you for what you did and got it over with.”

“So, you're stretching it out to torture me?” Jax asked. “I screwed up and made things worse. Let me have it!”

“Everybody screws up,” Riley said. “Nobody knows, when they take a risk like you did, if it will make the situation better or worse. That's life.”

“Then what—”

“Here's what I want,” Riley interrupted. “Get out your blade. Swear to me that you'll never leave us again to implement some plan without checking with me first.” When Jax opened his mouth to protest, Riley said, “You've done
it twice—gone to New York to face the Dulacs and to Maine to face the Llyrs. Both times, you narrowly escaped losing your life or your memory. How many more risks can you take before your luck runs out?”

Jax thought about his father driving his car into the Susquehanna River. Riley believed it was an accident. Balin said it was on purpose, but even if it was, Jax didn't believe it'd been an act of suicide. At most, his dad had taken a daring, desperate risk, and his luck
had
run out. Everyone said Jax was a lot like his father, but this was one area where he didn't want to follow in his dad's footsteps.

With a trembling hand, Jax pulled out his blade. “I swear,” he said, “on the Aubrey name, that I will not leave the safety of the clan again without permission from you or Evangeline.”

Riley helped him get into bed without hurting himself. “It's okay, you know,” Riley said.

“It's not.” Evangeline was missing. Addie was still with the enemy. And Jax had squandered their best advantage.

Riley turned out the light. “For what it's worth, squirt, you're way braver than I was at your age.”

IN THE MORNING, MRS.
Crandall and Tegan left to meet up with vassals of Bedivere and investigate properties that were presumably owned by the Kin family Mathonwy. Jax called Billy to apologize for lying to him and blocking his number. At first Billy responded with one-word answers, which let Jax know just how hurt his friend was.

“I did it for Addie,” Jax pleaded with him to understand. “All I wanted was to get her to safety, but I messed up, and now both girls are gone.”

Finally, Billy heaved a sigh and said, “Sometimes, the Doctor lies to his companions to protect them—or for some greater good. It doesn't always work out for him, either.” Jax scratched his head, unsure whether the
Doctor Who
reference meant he was forgiven until Billy added, “It's cool, dude. Just get those girls back, okay?”

Meanwhile, Deidre reported to Riley that the island off Maine seemed abandoned, the plane gone. Her men
had needed both magic and explosives to defeat the protective wards and enter the house, but when they got inside, the state of the place suggested the residents had departed in a hurry. The bad news of the morning was rounded out when Michael and Thomas Donovan found the missing Land Rover in the parking lot of a Poconos casino about fifteen miles away. “I don't think she's in it, though,” Donovan said.

Riley had put his phone on speaker so everyone could hear the conversation, and Jax, listening in, felt his heart sink.

Donovan went on, “There's a Normal couple here makin' a report to police about their stolen car—in between arguin' over which one left it unlocked and that keepin' a spare set of keys under the floor mat was a stupid idea. I suppose somebody taught Evangeline where to look for keys when she needed a car?”

“Yeah,” Riley said. “Teaching her to drive and how to steal a car—it was supposed to be for her safety, in case of an emergency. Can you track the car she took?”

“Normals don't have much of a scent to us, unless we know 'em really well. It's magic we track most easily, and that Land Rover has a unique smell—Emrys and Pendragon, not to mention a lingerin' aroma of Balin and Wylit. Finding it was a piece of cake, but we can't track the car of some random Normal couple.”

“You might as well come back, then. There are
better ways to use your time.”

“We don't take orders from you, Pendragon,” Donovan pointed out.

“Then call Tegan and take them from her!” Riley pushed the button to end the call and looked at Mr. Crandall. “Evangeline ditched the Land Rover on purpose so we can't find her.”

“What is that girl up to?” Mr. Crandall complained. “She spent years shut up in an old woman's house, out of touch with the world. She can't possibly know where she's driving.”

“She's smart and resourceful,” Riley defended her. “Whatever she's doing, it's gotta be part of a plan. If the Donovans turn up, send them to help Tegan search those properties. A.J. and I are going to get that Kin sword, now that we know the Llyrs want it. We'll pick up the Land Rover on the way back.”

“What about me?” Jax asked.

“Can you move around? Are you in pain?” Riley asked.

“I'm feeling better,” Jax said.

“Then you better come with us. I don't think I want to let you out of my sight.”

The last remaining and most personal belongings of the Pendragon family were located in a facility that could've been featured on
Storage Wars
. As they left the truck, Riley
fingered a set of keys in an agitated way. Jax could tell he dreaded the place.

After locating the correct shed, Riley inserted his key, rolled up the door, and peered into the dim interior. It was a large unit—deep, with two rows of stacked boxes and trunks and furniture. Riley led the way, glancing left and right at the stored items. Once, he touched a tasseled, antique floor lamp, setting all the tassels to swinging. Jax had no doubt Riley was picturing exactly where that lamp used to stand.

At the back, covered by an old tarp, was a four-foot-high safe. Riley knelt on the concrete floor to work the combination lock. He swung the door open and pulled out a short sword in a leather scabbard with straps that would go across a man's back. Standing up, he held the sheathed blade out for A.J. and Jax to see. “Doesn't look like much, does it?”

“Nope,” said Jax. “But neither does Excalibur.” In fact, this sword looked better than Excalibur, which was black and dull. The Sword of Nuadu was really old, like something that should be in a museum, but it wasn't corroded, at least not on the parts Jax could see.

A.J. shuffled his feet. “Maybe you should leave it locked up. I'll paint wards on the safe. They'll never find it.”

Riley shook his head. “I'm thinking it'll make good bait.” He tucked the Sword under his arm and bent to lock the safe.

“Bait?” A.J. repeated unhappily.

“This Sword,” Jax said. “It's one of the Kin Treasures Evangeline talked about, right? And your grandfather took it from her father?”

“Her father had the Sword of Nuadu and the Stone of Fal,” Riley said. “The Sword is actually the lesser of the two—a single-purpose item, a weapon of vengeance. But the Stone should have ensured a victory for the owner. When placed beneath the throne of a king, it preserves the kingdom. And placed beneath the seat of the man of any house, it preserves his sovereignty over his home.”

“So how was he defeated?” Jax asked. “Evangeline's father, I mean.”

“A woman surrendered both items before the battle began—just walked out and handed them over to my grandfather.” Riley looked at Jax sadly. “I'm thinking it was probably Evangeline's mother.”

Jax sucked in his breath. “She betrayed her husband?”

“I guess so. According to what Evangeline said, she's the one who sent her children fleeing into the woods where the Taliesins picked them up.” Riley gazed at the weapon in his hands. “My grandfather said he made sure the woman was held aside, away from the battle and protected, but at some point in the confusion, she escaped. She ended up among the casualties that day, like she wanted to die beside her husband even though she'd just assured his failure. That's another thing I never shared
with Evangeline. I've known for a while that I need to sit down with her and tell her everything I know about that day, but there never seems to be a good time—and how do I even bring it up?”

“Just do it. She'll want to know.” Jax considered what he knew now about his own father. “It hurts, for a while, knowing what choice your parent made. But at least you know they
made
a choice, instead of . . .” He trailed off, remembering where they were standing. Riley's family hadn't chosen the manner of their death.

Riley nodded, looking miserable. “I will. If she gives me the chance.” He tucked the Sword under his arm and headed for the exit. Jax and A.J. followed.

They were almost to the door when Riley paused and backed up. Jax followed his gaze to a cardboard box labeled
Photographs
.

“Hold this,” Riley said, handing the Sword to A.J. He approached the box like it was a bomb and hesitantly lifted the lid. A.J. and Jax exchanged glances, neither of them wanting to interfere with the moment. Riley surveyed the interior of the box, then pulled out an album. He opened it and turned a few pages. After a second, he laughed. “Heck, I forgot about that . . .”

A.J. put the Sword down on top of a crate. “Don't touch,” he cautioned Jax. Then he edged closer to Riley, peered into the album, and snorted. “That was
not
a good look for you.”

“Dad chipped my front teeth with a baseball,” Riley said. “Boy, was Mom mad.”

Jax wanted to see too. But he remembered how painful it was when his Dulac grandmother had forced him to look through an album of family photographs that included his teenage father. He didn't want to intrude on Riley's memories.

So instead, he brushed cobwebs away from the tasseled lamp, blew dust off a roll-top desk, and finally approached the Sword. A.J. shot him a warning glare, so Jax put his hands behind his back. The handle—or
hilt
, he thought it was called—was rough hewn and curved outward, like the horns of a goat. It didn't have a guard to protect the wielder's hand, and there were no jewels on it or fancy carvings.

It was a simple, basic thing. Single-purposed. A weapon of vengeance, Riley said.

Wish I'd had something like this when that brute started throwing knives at me. What did Addie call him? Griffyn. Wouldn't I like to stick this—

Something sailed past Jax, brushing his ear. He ducked and whirled around, only to receive a glancing blow in the back of the head by another dark shape that flew by. With the vivid memory of knives slicing the air around him, Jax reached instinctively for the scabbard in front of him and whipped the Sword out. He waved it around wildly, seeking his attacker.
I'll put this through your gut, Griffyn!

“Jax!”

He felt dizzy. His vision blurred, and his head buzzed with magic, but he held the Sword aloft, ready to deflect another attack from the air. “I'll kill you!” he shouted.

A body struck him at waist height. Jax howled as he hit the concrete floor and pain shot through his back. Hands pinned him down, and someone tried to take the Sword from him. Jax clenched his fist around the hilt and hung on.

After a moment, Riley started to holler—and continued to holler, wordlessly—an awful, agonized sound. Jax tuned in to his guardian's voice and, horrified, tried to give up the Sword, which Riley was attempting to pry from his hand.

He couldn't let go of it.

“Riley, stop it! Stop!” That was A.J.

The weight holding down Jax's arms and legs vanished as A.J. tackled his liege lord instead. Under A.J.'s onslaught, Riley released his grip on the Sword. Jax sat up and rolled away. A.J. had hold of Riley's arm, and Riley was staring at his open hand.

It was bright red, like he'd held it in a pot of boiling water as long as he could stand it.

Jax gasped and dropped the weapon. He had no trouble letting go now.

“What's wrong with you?” A.J. shouted at Jax. “We can't take our eyes off you for a second!”

“He drew it,” Riley gasped. “A.J., he drew that thing. It's his now.”

“I don't want it,” Jax said. “Take it.” He scooted backward, kicking the Sword away from him. When he realized he still had the scabbard in his other hand, he dropped that, too.

Tentatively, A.J. reached out. When his fingertips touched the weapon, he jerked back as if stung. “I can't touch it.”

“Who?” Riley asked hoarsely. “Who did you draw it against?” When Jax looked blank, Riley asked more specifically, “Who were you thinking about when you drew it?”

“The guy who hit me with the knife,” Jax whispered. “Griffyn.”

“A Llyr?”

“I dunno.” They hadn't exactly been introduced. “Maybe. Why?”

“Because the Sword is bound to you until you kill him,” Riley choked out.

“Jax, you idiot!” A.J. yelled, still hanging on to Riley as if afraid his liege would try to grab the weapon again. “What part of
don't touch the Sword
didn't you understand?”

“I was under attack—” Jax tried to explain.

“From pigeons!” A.J. looked at the ceiling. “From freaking, stupid birds!”

Jax stared upward. Perched on metal struts near the ceiling were a pair of black-feathered birds. More than two, actually. Half a dozen, now that he kept looking.
“They're not pigeons,” he said, scrambling to his feet. “They're crows!”

I know who did this to me—who sent crows in here to attack me and trick me!

He grabbed the Sword off the ground and charged the entrance of the storage unit. Behind him, A.J. and Riley shouted his name, but he ignored them. He skidded into the sunlight, blinking. There—several feet down the gravel walkway—he saw the girl. It was the closest he'd ever come to her, the first time he'd seen her in bright daylight, with nothing obscuring his vision.

Oh no . . .

From the doorway of the shed there was an explosion of swear words as Riley and A.J. came face-to-face with a legend they'd never believed in.

Jax threw the Sword aside, and ran straight toward the Morrigan.

“Jax!” Riley yelled. “Jax, no! Stay away from her!”

She stood on the path with blank, staring eyes, wearing an oversized T-shirt that said SPCA in faded letters, her messy, dark brown hair fanned out around her head. A crow sat on her shoulder. It lifted off with a lazy flap of its wings when Jax grabbed the girl by the arms and shook her. “Wake up! Wake up! Look at me!”

She blinked. Her brown eyes rolled around; the pupils contracted, and she focused on his face. “Jax?” she whispered. “Where am I? Help me.
Please
. . .”

Then she vanished right out of his hands.

Riley and A.J. caught up with him, grabbed him, and turned him around and around between them.

“Is he okay?”

“Jax, can you hear me?”

“Did she say his name? Holy crap, she said his name! That
can't
be good!”

Jax shook them off. “Of course, she said my name. She knows me! Didn't you recognize her?” When he saw their dumbfounded faces, he remembered.
They never met her.

“That was my cousin!” he said. “Dorian's sister. That was Lesley Ambrose.”