Chapter 16

I cast a look around the crowded van; my gaze lingering on the two fairies amid the mass of extinguishers. We humans were wearing combat gear; kevlar body armor, thick boots, and helmets reinforced with iron to guard against fairy mind tricks. There were pockets in our pants which were filled with anti-fey charms such as four-leaf clovers and St. John's Wort even though all of us were gifted enough to see and battle the Fey all on our own. Charms added just a little bit of extra protection that sometimes made all the difference in a magic-based fight.

I could tell that Tiernan and Aideen were feeling very uncomfortable around all those charms and iron weapons but the Council had done its best to make them as safe as possible, and they were both wearing full combat suits as well; without the charms or helmets. The suits would protect them against any accidental cuts from our iron weapons. Even a careless brush against one of our blades could burn them.

I glanced into Tiernan's silver eyes and ended up staring. The outer ring of black around his iris made their strange metallic color seem brighter in the dim interior, almost hypnotic, like those rings were drawing me in. He gave me a slow, knowing smile, and I looked away; my gaze landing on Brendan who was three men down from Tiernan on the bench across from mine. Brendan's look was a disturbing mix of sadness and anger. Disturbing because I knew that look; my father had worn it since the day Mom died. Men who looked like that didn't care who they hurt as long as they found a way to make their own pain diminish. I knew then that Tiernan was right; Brendan was not for me.

Mini-Murdock might not have thought I'd be an easy win, but he obviously hadn't expected to work so hard for me either. Tiernan was amazing, but he was also off-limits to me; a fact that Brendan could have used to his advantage. If he had manned-up and accepted a little competition, I may have been impressed enough to give him another chance. Instead, he threw tantrums like a toddler until he just gave up and sulked. No woman wanted a sulker, no matter how attractive he was.

The van jerked to a stop and the back doors opened; revealing our team leader, Extinguisher Eric Kavanaugh. Eric was a cousin of mine, but we weren't close. Maybe it was a side-effect of the work we did, but families—beyond the immediate unit of parents and children—didn't spend a lot of time together. Perhaps because we didn't have a lot of free time and our main family unit spent most of its time training. Even if we had been close, Eric was a professional and would never have given me special treatment.

He nodded grimly to us, and we filed out onto the sidewalk without a single word. The street in front of the looming office building had already been cleared in preparation for our arrival. Although, the human police had no idea who we actually were or what we were doing there. Only the most highest up in law enforcement knew of our existence and helped pave the way for these little excursions.

Although, the deserted sidewalk was a plus, it was also an annoyance. Gentry Technologies would have had ample time to prepare for our attack after the warning we'd given them. I was kind of looking forward to a fight—a way to expend all this nervous tension that had been building up inside my muscles—but I was hoping to have the element of surprise on our side. It was bad enough to be fighting in an area controlled by the Fey, but giving them time to prepare virtually ensured an ambush.

That was all warrior whining, though. The Council had made the decision to clear the streets for good reason. They had weighed the options carefully and determined that innocent lives were more important than the extra risk to ours. It was the right call and one which I would have made in their shoes. We signed up for this, they didn't. The possibility of an ambush sucked, but the possibility of civilian casualties sucked more. I guess sometimes that's what being a leader was about; choosing the path that sucked the least.

Tiernan and Aideen were right beside me as we entered the main lobby to find it completely deserted. The large windows which made up the entire front wall let in lots of light; illuminating the abandoned reception desk to our left and the empty waiting area with its collection of modern looking couches to our right. Large silver letters hung on the cream marble wall directly across from us; proclaiming that this was Gentry Technologies. I narrowed my eyes at the sign and tried to figure out what exactly bothered me about the name. The Gentry part wasn't too surprising, it wasn't even all that original; Gentry was another name for the Fey. But the Technologies addition made it seem like an oxymoron. Fairies had magic, they didn't need technology; and that's what bugged me. If the Fey combined their magic with our technology, they could do anything. They could... create biological weapons and destroy us all. I sighed and silently called myself an idiot as I realized that even if we won today, this was merely a skirmish; the war had just begun.

I let go of my doomsday thoughts to look around again. There were elevators to our right, just past the waiting area, and across from us, beneath the silver sign, were three, polished, wood doors; each with security panels set into the wall beside them. A glance to my left showed two more doors just past the reception desk. One was marked; stairs and the other; parking. Lots of places for fairies to jump out of but none did. It was just us in our black suits; stark against the perfect shine of the empty room.

I wasn't surprised by that. It made sense to lure us into a location of their choosing. With this being a fairy business, there could be anything waiting for us on the upper floors; perhaps even a lack of floor entirely. We could walk out into empty air or onto water... or into a Sluagh ambush. I forced my tight throat to swallow and glanced at Tiernan. His look was not reassuring.

"Ms. Evergreen." Eric came up to us. He cast me a quick side-nod in acknowledgment before focusing his dark eyes back on Aideen. "We're relying on you to direct us. Where's the lab?"

"The fourth floor," Aideen said immediately and waved a hand toward the elevators.

"The elevators are too risky." Eric shook his head. "We're doing this as planned; we go up the stairs."

"They're right there." Aideen pointed at the door marked stairs with a look that clearly said she didn't think he needed her for that.

"All right, let's move." Eric didn't even notice her look; he simply waved the group of extinguishers forward. "Ms. Evergreen, you have your comm link on, right?" He touched his hand to a spot on the side of his helmet.

"Yes." Aideen moved her hair and a little ear bud with a small extended microphone was revealed.

"Good. I want you three to bring up the rear, but I'll still need you to guide me through the link," he said.

"I'll get you there." She nodded nervously.

Eric didn't even reply, just ran for the stairs and edged his way in front of the extinguishers filing into the open door. He disappeared from sight, probably heading to the front, as we got into place behind the others and began running up the metal staircase; creating enough noise to wake the dead.

Which is what we'd be if they caught us in those close quarters. An icy cold was working its way down my spine. I knew the elevators would have been worse but suddenly the stairwell seemed more like a very tall coffin than a means of getting up to the lab. Someone could come out of one of the top floors and simply lob some fairy magic down at us. It would be like one of those carnival games; Shoot the Extinguisher. I bet they'd win first prize.

"We're here," I heard Eric through my own earpiece. "It's empty... wait. What the hell?" Then there was a loud crackling and the communication faded into an obnoxious, buzzing tone.

"Fuck!" The men ahead of us swore and rushed up the stairs, but Aideen grabbed me and pulled me through a door marked; 2.

Tiernan followed behind me, and the three of us came out onto the second floor; a dark, open space sectioned off by cubicles. There were offices on our right but the doors were shut and no sunlight made it through to us. Aideen started running down the aisle in front of the offices still holding my hand.

"Wait!" I tried to pull back, but she was stronger than she looked. "We've got to help them! I can't just run away! What are you doing? Aideen!"

"How?" She finally stopped and stared at me with huge, frightened eyes. "How are we going to help them?!"

Then a low growl came from the far left of the room. I froze and turned toward a growing darkness there. The black cloud puffed up, larger and larger, so dark that it didn't seem to have substance at all. It was simply an empty void consuming everything in its path. Except that it wasn't empty. Creatures lurked within it; monsters who had haunted my dreams the night before. The Sluagh had arrived.

"Run!" Tiernan shouted as light began to fill his hands.

We ran. I followed closely behind Aideen who had angled into the cubicles and was weaving her way through them. Loud crashes vibrated through the floor to us as the Sluagh moved forward; crushing everything that stood in its way. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a ball of light fly toward the oncoming nightmares, and I glanced back. The dark was pierced. Monsters cowered back from the invading light and shrieked. Then the strangest thing happened; the shadows formed by the golden light magic solidified and lashed out at the monsters; tendrils of black clawing at their eyes and other vulnerable places. The screaming intensified.

"This way!" Aideen shouted as she opened a door in front of us.

We rushed into another stairway; this one much narrower than the first. It spiraled downward like some relic from a Gothic novel. It was made of stained wood with intricately carved railings and it barely made a sound as we followed it down and down and down; much lower than the first floor would have been.

"Where are we going?" I asked Aideen.

"This is our only way out," Aideen shot back as she continued to hurry down the steps.

Above us came the distinctive racket of a door being slammed open and then the more horrifying sound of things sliding down that staircase after us. Slurping, rasping, and scratching noises which made the muscles in my back tighten in terror. Aideen slipped and almost fell, but I grabbed her arm and steadied her. Tiernan shot another ball of light back up the way we'd come and the Sluagh screamed again. I swallowed roughly; wondering what kind of magic could make the darkness turn upon itself.

You should fear the darkness. Those words filled my head like a prophecy or a promise.

"Hurry!" Aideen had finally reached the bottom step but as she ran forward, I stumbled, and Tiernan had to catch me.

"A rath," Tiernan whispered as he held me.

"I've never seen a fairy mound before," I whispered back, and we stood there clinging to each other; staring at the impossible scene laid out before us like a couple of hillbillies in the big city for the very first time.

An open field of grass languished across what should have been a cold cement floor and instead of fluorescent lights overhead, sunlight flooded the room from an unknown source. I looked up but all I saw was bright light; no ceiling or sky. The grass was thick beneath my feet, spotted with jewel-toned flowers, and in the center of it rose a small hill. Just a mound of grass-covered earth, no more than ten feet tall. But set into the side of that mound was a gold door with an inlay of a silver star near its top. Metallic rays shone down from the star's spokes and beneath it was a detailed, silver castle with towers reaching up toward the starlight, and an ethereal, silver forest surrounding it. Aideen was already opening the door.

"Come on!" She shouted at us, and Tiernan urged me forward.

"She's right; this is our best option for eluding the Sluagh." Tiernan pulled me with him and then, when that became too much effort, he simply picked me up and started to run.

"It's Fairy," I spoke in a hushed tone; as if I were in church. "I've never been to Fairy."

"Well, hold on, sweetheart," Tiernan said as he reached the door. "The first step is the hardest."