The Returned (28 page)

“So I'm guessing you'd be Joe?” Wraith asked.

Joe nodded.

“Remember what I said,” One said to Wraith. “Everything I said.”

Wraith studied his eyes for a long moment, trying to get a read on him. It pissed her off that he was turning out to be a decent guy. “Thanks for your help,” she said and held out her hand. It might've been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

One eyed her hand, then shook it. “You're welcome,” he said.

“Give my best to Four,” Wraith said, unable to keep it back.

One let out a sigh and shook his head before returning to his men. “Let's move out.”

“Do you need a lift?” Wraith asked.

“No,” One said, then drew out an amulet and broke it.

He vanished, disturbing barely a piece of dust. The rest of his team did likewise and also vanished.

“Show-offs,” Wraith said.

“Y
ou're not going to lock her up, are you?” Wraith asked as Joe's companions carefully lifted Anna and carried her out.

“I weep every day for Ellie,” Joe said. “What was done to her is beyond our healers to fix. But we have people inside the hospital who are making sure she's cared for. My sister loves her deeply, and that makes her family.”

“You didn't answer the question,” Wraith said.

“No,” Joe said. “We'll tend to her wounds and send her home.”

“She's going to need a lot of help,” Edward said. “She's been through something incredibly traumatic. There's no telling if she'll even remember it all or if those memories will come at a later time.”

“We'll take care of her,” Joe said and nodded. “She's under our protection. Though I admit, it might be useful at times to call upon a wizard with skills at healing wounds of the spirit.”

“I'd be happy to help however I can,” Edward said and offered his hand.

“Me too,” Wraith said. “If there's anything I can help with.”

Joe shook Edward's hand and smiled at Wraith before taking hers and then Caitlin's. “You've done us a great favor today. We won't soon forget this. All the First House will know of you and what you've done. We'll call you all ‘friend' from this day forward.”

“Thank you,” Caitlin said.

Joe nodded, then went to Siobhan, and they spoke quietly before shaking hands, using their left instead of the right since hers was bound in a splint. Then he left, and it was just the four of them.

“If this is what you call a bleeding honeymoon,” Siobhan said, “I've got to be there for your birthdays or the New Year.”

Caitlin laughed and pressed close to Edward as he put his arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder and smiled. “I think a quiet night of cake and Netflix next time.”

“Coward,” Siobhan said.

“I'll take her to Brigid,” Wraith said, motioning to Siobhan. “Once she's taken care of, I'll come back and—”

“Take a break,” Caitlin said. “You need some downtime. We all do.”

“I think we'll be fine for the next few days,” Edward said.

“Yeah,” Wraith said, then gestured around the room. “And all this was planned for, right?”

“Can't argue with that, can you?” Siobhan asked.

“Give me your phone, Doc,” Wraith said.

Edward drew it out of his pocket but didn't hand it over. “Why? What are you—?”

Wraith grabbed it.

Edward reached for it. “You'll need to unlock—”

Wraith smacked his hand away, then bypassed the lock screen and went to the systems menu.

“Maybe not,” Edward said.

Wraith pulled out her own phone and held it to Edward's, then she copied an extension of her tracker app over to his phone. When it was done, she put her phone away and did some adjustments to the program on Edward's, leaving the entangled code that connected the two phones. When it was done, she dropped the widget onto his main screen and handed the phone back.

“ ‘Don't Panic'?” Edward asked through a chuckle when he saw the icon, a big red button labeled with that phrase. “Really?”

Wraith smiled and nodded. “Yep, if there's trouble, just hit that. It'll send a message to my phone with your location, and I'll get there straight away to pull your butt out of whatever fire you're in. Oh, and don't worry about having service or not; it doesn't need it.” She turned to Caitlin. “Want one for your phone, just in case?”

“I'm good, thanks,” Caitlin said. “You get her to Brigid, and then get some rest. Okay?”

“Yes, Mom,” Wraith said, then she paused.

Caitlin opened her mouth.

Wraith stepped close and hugged her and Edward.

Caitlin hugged her back and stroked her hair. It made Wraith think of her mom, and her heart twinged a little at missing her.

“I mean it,” Wraith said. “You two ever need anything from me, you got it. Okay?”

“Same here, honey,” Caitlin said and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you lot trying to make me cry?” Siobhan said in a tone that suggested there was no risk of that.

“Don't be jealous,” Wraith said, then went over and hugged Siobhan, careful to avoid her arm. She rubbed her cheek against Siobhan's shoulder. “You know I'm always there for you too.”

“Aye,” Siobhan said, doing her best to pretend to be uncomfortable, but Wraith noted she hugged back.

Wraith turned to lead Siobhan to a safe place to stride back to Brigid's.

“Wait a second,” Caitlin said and stepped away from Edward.

Wraith stopped and turned back.

Caitlin stepped close and spoke softly. “I understand your anger. Your rage at what's been done to you and your friends. Believe me, I do.”

Wraith nodded. “I can't imagine how pissed you must've been when Fiona was kidnapped.”

“When the oíche took her,” Caitlin said and shook her head, “I was so scared and filled with murderous rage. At the oíche, at the world, but also at myself.”

Though it had never really occurred to her before, Wraith couldn't deny that all the anger in her wasn't solely directed at Four and the Legion.

“I've never felt so helpless in my life,” Caitlin continued. “My baby had been taken, and I was utterly incapable of rescuing her. I had to rely almost entirely on Edward, Dante, and Brendan for help.”

Wraith's heart stuttered, and she felt the color drain from her face. “Brendan?”

Caitlin nodded. “He was a Fian, like Siobhan. He saved me when the oíche mugged me, and he took me with him into Tír na nÓg and the Dusk Lands to save Fiona.”

“Dusk Lands?” Wraith asked, her mind spinning.

“It's the home of the Dusk Court fae, where their king, Fergus, rules and where he took Fiona,” Caitlin said. “But I'm getting off track.” She looked at Wraith. “In the Dusk Lands I had to face some really terrible challenges, nightmarish stuff I'd rather not talk about.”

Wraith nodded.

“Brendan tried to help me,” she said. “He encouraged me to get angry, to let the rage give me strength.”

Wraith swallowed, her insides twisting. She couldn't help noticing Caitlin kept referring to him in the past tense.

“He was wrong,” Caitlin said. “At least for me. He was a warrior, had been for I'm guessing a very long time. It worked for him, but I can't imagine at what cost. Rage like that carries a heavy toll; it eats away at you.”

Wraith nodded again. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. But how did you move past it?”

Caitlin smiled. “It sounds hokey, but I used love. The love I have for my little girl. That's where I got my strength.” She looked at Wraith more intently. “Don't get me wrong. I was still angry. I still hate the oíche for what they did, but I don't let it control me.” She put her hand on Wraith's shoulder. “You need to find your own strength. You can't let the anger consume you. It'll eat at your soul, and if it does that, the people you're angry at win. Find something brighter, something better, and draw strength from that.”

Wraith thought about Brendan and the place where she went to visit him. “Dusk Lands” seemed a very fitting term. It had always struck her as odd that the place was in a perpetual twilight, not the dark of full night but nearing it. Was it the same place? Was he the same Brendan Caitlin was talking about? It would explain a lot—the pain in his eyes, the fear, and the embers of a deep rage.

She swallowed. “You said ‘was' as in past tense. What happened to him?”

Caitlin let out a sigh, like she was fighting back tears. “He died. Sacrificed himself so Fiona and I could escape. I wish I could've thanked him.”

Wraith opened her mouth, then closed it. She wanted to tell Caitlin everything, to bring her to Brendan, but somehow she knew it wasn't her secret to tell.

“Just something to think about,” Caitlin said, then nodded at Siobhan. “Get her to Brigid. I'm going to check on my little girl and try to enjoy the rest of this trip.”

“May I suggest whiskey?” Siobhan said. “In large amounts.”

“You kinky minx,” Wraith said.

Siobhan muttered something Wraith didn't understand, but she could guess at its meaning.

Caitlin just rolled her eyes. Then she and Edward left the building.

“I really hope they get to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon,” Wraith said.

“Aye, me as well,” Siobhan said. “Now, if you don't mind, me fecking arm is killing me.”

“Fine, you wuss,” Wraith said as she stepped close and drew up the entropic equation.

They stepped together through the universal junction point and out in Brigid's house. The magister's healers took Siobhan off to see to her injuries, and Wraith followed Brigid back to her office. A tall, well-dressed elf with short pale blond hair and luminescent green eyes was waiting for them both. Wraith nodded to Dante and collapsed into a chair before recounting the events of the last couple of days and everything she learned. She did not mention Brendan or the Dusk Lands.

When she finished, Brigid and Dante exchanged a look.

“So not entirely malevolent it seems,” Brigid said. “Maybe there's some good to them after all.”

“We both know there are very few mortals who are entirely malicious,” Dante said. “Or entirely benevolent for that matter. They are, and always have been, a spectrum of gray hues.” He smiled at Wraith. “Though some most assuredly are a lighter shade than others.”

“You realize you just said I'm not
as
evil as most other people,” Wraith said. “That's not exactly a real compliment.”

“Well, I happen to think you have quite a bit less evil in you than most mortals,” Brigid said through a smile.

“You're not helping,” Wraith said. “Don't make me have Con set the place on fire. Again.”

“It still makes me nervous,” Dante said, ignoring Wraith's comment and Brigid's unamused look back. “Even if One and his team are operating with the best of intentions, they're not the whole of the government.”

“We dealt with governments that knew about us before,” Brigid said.

“And it rarely ended well,” Dante said. “But that's not entirely it. I looked over those files with Faolan. This was the first anyone has heard of this group or what they're doing. Mortals are notoriously bad at keeping secrets; governments and bureaucracies even more so. Someone is doing an amazing—neigh, miraculous—job keeping a lid on this.”

“Maybe it's just a few people who know,” Wraith said. “The best way to keep a secret is not to tell anyone.”

“That's just it,” Dante said and shook his head. “It isn't a small group.” He grabbed a tablet off Brigid's desk and flipped through some of the scanned documents. “It looks as if they've actually outsourced these experiments. All the reports mention some group called RA-1.”

“Maybe he was telling the truth after all,” Wraith said, more to herself.

“Who?” Dante asked.

“One,” Wraith said. “When I confronted him, he said he'd just learned of the experiments and that if he'd known, he wouldn't have approved them.”

“It wasn't smart to confront him,” Dante said. “But what's done is done. If he was being sincere—”

“He might prove to be a future ally,” Brigid said.

Dante nodded.

“Who is Sylex?” Wraith asked as she glanced over the document on the tablet. “I saw that mentioned somewhere else. Is it a code name?”

Dante shook his head. “No, it's a company. Sylex Industries.”

“I've never heard of them,” Brigid said.

“That's because it's a shell company,” Dante said. “And a really good one. You have to dig deep to find that their assets, and even most of the board members, are fictional.”

“You think some dark and shadowy corporation is doing this?” Wraith asked.

“It wouldn't be the first time,” Brigid said.

“Think of the potential for the person who figures out what gives mortals magical talent,” Dante said. “You could develop defenses. Maybe even replicate it or, worse still, weaponize it.”

He didn't elaborate. He didn't have to.

“Mortals have tried that before too,” Brigid said. “History is full of those attempts.”

“But they never had genetic science like they do know,” Dante said. “Or an understanding of the more obscure sciences.” He set the tablet aside. “I'm not saying I'm right or, even if I am, that they've figured anything out. Or even if it's possible.”

“But you're not saying you're wrong either,” Wraith said.

“I'm saying we need to be mindful,” Dante said. “We need to be careful, more careful than we've ever been. And we need to pass word along to the other houses of the Cruinnigh.”

Wraith started piecing together things in her mind. “I have an idea,” she said. “It's something I started thinking about when I saw they had my and the other slingers' DNA on file.”

“I'm all ears,” Dante said.

“W
raith!” Sprout shouted and ran at her.

“Hey there, little sister,” Wraith said and hugged the girl tight. It was amazing how fast she was growing.

Sprout beamed, just like she did whenever Wraith called her that. “Wanna play? Or do you have to go?”

“I've got some time,” Wraith said. “Especially if you're talking about that new Lego set Brigid said you got.”

“I don't usually share,” Sprout said. “But I'll make an exception for you.”

“Thanks,” Wraith said. “I promise not to tell.”

Sprout took her hand, and they made their way through the halls to the room Sprout shared with four other fifties, all of them under twelve. Wraith helped pull the plastic tub of pieces out of the trunk next to Sprout's bed.