I almost fell to the ground in relief. ‘Uh huh,’ I said. ‘We can do that … or we can get me a stretcher and a caffeine-filled drip. Either one is good with me.’

  16. Our Saviours Or Our Doom

  We stepped into a warm kitchen, where an older man had prepared us a hearty stew. He also handed me an enormous mug of black coffee, making him a friend for life.

  As we sat down to eat, he explained who he was: my father’s grandfather, my great grandfather, the man who had made the cane which now trapped Brian inside. When he asked me to call him Granddad, I took a deep breath and said, ‘Okay, Granddad.’ Sure, he was technically my great grandfather, but I had a much easier time accepting my family ties with this man than I did with Arnold Albright.

  Like the Queen, his power was palpable to me. When I looked, I could see it shining out of him. As beautiful as it was, it also made me feel more afraid than ever that I’d fail tomorrow night. If he and his daughter hadn’t managed to break Arnold’s spell, I wasn’t sure how I could. Criminy, anyway – just a couple of days earlier, I’d been so sure that this was going to work.

  They chatted away with me, telling me all about my father, and the other members of my family. ‘Brian is the youngest of all my children,’ the Queen said. ‘By a great degree. The others had long gone on to the next stage in their journey when he arrived.’

  As curious as I was about the next stage, I had the feeling that was something I wouldn’t be finding out about for a very long time. Instead, I asked her a question that was a whole lot more relevant to the current situation.

  ‘So … how many of your people have tried to break this spell of Arnold’s over the last thirty years?’ I asked as I dug into one of the star-shaped biscuits that my new grandfather had just brought to the table.

  He and his daughter exchanged a glance. ‘Everyone,’ he said, finally. ‘And of course, all of the Púca and the others among us who are still free to come and go. It’s only the sióga who Arnold trapped here.’

  The Queen’s father stood, moving into another room, and she reached for my hand. ‘I have done my best to see you, ever since my Púca friends brought me news of Arnold’s latest journalist. I was able to project myself once or twice, shortly after your arrival, just so I could see you. But that became too risky, so I stuck to Greg’s game instead. You were very hard to get to talk to, you know. As stubborn as your father. You look so like Abby, but your personality … that is all Brian.’

  I smiled. Hearing that I took after someone was as wonderful as it was overwhelming.

  ‘That’s why I can almost understand what you’re about to do,’ she said. ‘With the cure.’

  ‘Almost?’ My smile slipped away. ‘I told you about this from the start. I mean, sure, Greg and I came up with an extremely awkward code in which to explain things, but I know you understood. You’ve had plenty of time to state your objections.’ Wow, that sounded defensive, but something told me that I was about to get a whole lot more offended, so I might as well start as I meant to go on.

  She ran a hand through her dark red hair. It was all shades of red, in fact. Some strands looked auburn, some golden. Some looked a bright, fiery red. ‘There used to be a saying, a long time ago, until we fae got together and wiped it from all memory. “For we who change, we will be drawn forever towards the sióga, though they may be our saviours or our doom.” The truth is, our blood can alter not only vampires, but werewolves too. Possibly weredogs, but that has never been put to the test. Vampires drink our blood, and they are vampires no more. Werewolves bite us, and not only do they do us no harm, but they are no longer under the sway of the moon. So you can see why some would consider themselves being saved by us, and some would think us their doom. It all depends on perspective. If being a vampire or a werewolf is agony for you, of course you would seek us out. But if you wanted your kind to stay strong, and feared that we might bring an end to you … well then, you might consider us your greatest enemy.’ She arched her brows. ‘And don’t even get me started on what the witches will make of this news.’

  I stood up, looking around for Fuzz. He’d found a spot in front of the fireplace to lounge. I sat on the rug next to him, stroking his fur. He always calmed me, and I needed to be calm right now. I was beginning to realise I’d been right to be pre-offended. And the worst thing was that I felt sure she hadn’t even gotten to the worst thing.

  ‘I know all this,’ I said. ‘Or most of it, anyway. I might not know that old phrase, but I have considered things very carefully. I’ve thought through all the ways this could be used against vampires, or against us. I’m not an idiot. That’s why I chose the people I’m working with so carefully. No one’s going to know that my blood helped to create the cure. Ronnie and Florence are going to pretend they invented it themselves.’

  She joined me on the rug, kneeling next to me and stroking Fuzz. Personal space thoroughly invaded, I moved away from her. ‘Aisling, I know of both those women, and they are trustworthy. But what’s happening now has happened before, in one way or another. It’s been forgotten by most, but not by me. This will go badly.’

  I gritted my teeth. ‘History doesn’t always repeat itself, you know. There’s a dayturner virus now. It’s horrendous. That’s what this cure will be targeted towards.’

  She gave me a funny little smile. ‘Ah yes. The handsome but bumbling detective. You think this will make him into the man you want, don’t you? That he’ll lose his grumpiness, stop feeling sorry for himself all the time. That he won’t mind the fact that without his vampirism, you’ll stay young and he’ll rapidly age. Well, he’ll certainly change once he takes this cure, Aisling. I just hope that it’s in the way you want.’

  I blinked rapidly. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she replied, clearly telling a big fat fib. ‘Why don’t we have some more coffee?’

  ‘I don’t want coffee. I want you to spit it out. In what way is he going to change? If my blood is going to do something funny to Dylan – to anyone – then I need to know.’

  She repositioned herself on the rug. Fuzz was still letting her stroke him, the little traitor. ‘It’s not going to change anyone. Not exactly. Aisling … haven’t you noticed anything strange about how your vampire and werewolf friends act around you? The male ones in particular?’

  ‘No. I mean … I don’t have any close werewolf friends. And as for the vampires … well … Pru and Malachy treat me like anyone else. And Jared and Dylan …’ I wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. Telling my grandmother the nitty gritty about the guys in my life seemed like a case of too much, too soon.

  She repeated the words she’d said before. ‘“For we who change, we will be drawn forever towards the sióga, though they may be our saviours or our doom …”’ She gave me a pointed look. ‘Everyone who can be cured by you is drawn to you, Aisling. And if there are romantic feelings, then they become all the stronger. I’m not suggesting this is what’s happening between you and the detective. But once he does take the cure, his real feelings – whatever they may be – will come to the fore. If his attraction to you is because his vampire nature is drawn to your fae blood, well then … then that attraction will disappear along with his vampirism. So I suppose I’m just saying … I’m just saying that I’ll be here for you. No matter what happens, you will always have your family in this enclave.’

  I stood up – and far too quickly, too, because now I was reeling, feeling so dizzy that I had to hold onto the wall to brace myself. Suddenly a whole lot of things made sense. When Jared’s crush began, I’d convinced myself it was just because I was the latest woman in town, and the only one who didn’t fall at his feet. But as time had gone by, he’d begun to act like it was a whole lot more than just a simple crush.

  It had been so strange to me. I knew I was reasonably attractive in the right light. But usually my stubbornness, inquisitiveness, and my personality as a whole was enough to send men running in the opposite direction.

  If anything, I was relieved about Jared. But Dylan? What if he didn’t feel the same about me as I felt about him? What if all he was attracted to was my blood?

  Seeing my distress, the Queen rose. Fuzz rose too, and hurled himself into my arms. About time too, I thought as I cuddled him closer.

  ‘There’s a way you can be sure,’ she said. ‘A simple enough spell. I can give you enough for the three of them. Once you’ve performed it, you’ll know who loves you, and who merely loves your blood. And if Dylan doesn’t love you … well then, maybe then you’ll see that this is a foolish thing you’re about to do.’

  I felt my whole face distort. I was confused and irritated. ‘Do you honestly think that I’d even consider holding the cure back just because Dylan might not really love me? There’s no way I’d do a thing like that. He’s getting this cure, no matter what that means for me and him.’ I paused and scratched my head. ‘Wait … did you say you’d give me enough for the three of them? What do you mean three?’

  She cleared her throat. ‘Ah. Yes, I can see why you’d be confused. After all, Mark Moon has no idea he’s a werewolf, so why should you. His grandfather performed a spell to suppress the curse.’

  ‘Wait … Mark doesn’t really like me, either? I mean, that’s great. Wonderful. Fabulous. It’s not like I wanted him to like me or anything. Not like my ego is taking the biggest bashing of its life right now.’ I gave her my brightest (and fakest) smile. ‘Well, let’s get this spell together, shall we? So I can get the heck out of here and have a nice long scream.’

  17. Two Crushes Down

  I looked down at the little sachets of herbs, mixed with a pinprick of my blood. There were three in all, made hastily by the Queen before I left. According to her, the sachet would begin to disintegrate as soon as the afflicted put head to pillow, sending a complicated concoction into their sleeping airways and making sure that when they woke, they would no longer be driven crazy by little old me.

  Yes, she really had called them the afflicted. Because apparently, being attracted to me was as bad as being stricken by torment or illness. The nicest thing about meeting my grandmother had been the biscuits – and she hadn’t even baked those herself.

  Oh, who was I trying to kid? I understood everything she said. I understood her. In some ways I even agreed with her. The generosity of the fae had been abused again and again by witches. She was right to fear what would happen if the truth about the cure got out. And when it came to her worries about how I would feel if Dylan didn’t love me afterwards … well, it was kind of amazing that she was worried in the first place.

  I wasn’t used to having family, and I definitely wasn’t used to having a family that stuck their noses into my business and, well, cared about me. Maybe it was time to set my stubborn self-reliance aside and let her care.

  Placing Jared’s sachet was easy enough. He was out at the Fisherman’s Friend with his father, so I just had to sneak it under his pillow and wait for him to come home to bed so it could do its work.

  Mark Moon’s was going to be a little more difficult. Brent had taught me how I could travel to places I was familiar with, and how to travel using coordinates and the inner map. The inner map was a network all witches had access to, allowing them to make their way to anywhere in the world. You concentrated on the coordinates, found the inner map within you – it was a little like seeing an entire universe filled with bright, shining lights, which was kind of fabulous – then clicking your fingers and following the twinkliest light you saw (aren’t you just loving my ever-so-scientific explanations?). It was like a magical sat-nav, I supposed – only with no annoying voice telling me when to turn the corner.

  I shouldn’t need the inner map for Moonstone Farm, seeing as I’d been there before. But when I clicked my fingers, nothing happened. Brent had begun to teach me how to find places on the inner map when you were unfamiliar with the area, and didn’t know the coordinates, but none of those workarounds seemed to be working, either.

  Mark’s grandfather was a wizard, and a wizard with very bad experiences when it came to the witches in the area. He might have managed to find a spell to keep people out – and I couldn’t say I blamed him. So, after much chin-scratching as I tried to remember how I travelled in the long-ago days before magic, I borrowed Nollaig’s car and drove to the farm.

  As I turned onto the bumpy muck-road that ran through the turnip fields, I saw Felim Moon with a wand in his hands, the loveliest golden magic emanating from its tip and spreading out over the fields.

  ‘You making those giant turnips grow even larger, Felim?’

  He looked my way with a wary smile. ‘I had a feeling you might be stopping by. Has my Mark been bothering you again?’

  I stepped out of the car, glad for my knee-high boots. Rain and sleet fell through the air, and the ground was already turning to mush. I made a silent wish for the rain to stop mixing itself in with the snow so that the white stuff could start to stick. ‘You know he has a crush on me, then?’

  ‘Do dragons like coal?’

  I had no idea if they did, having never met one (but a girl can dream), so I had to assume this was his way of telling me I was stating the obvious. ‘Felim, do you happen to know why Mark likes me so much?’ I felt like I ought to ask. The Queen had assured me everyone had been made to forget the power of sióga blood a long time ago, but Felim had been a friend to my parents. It was possible my father told him.

  I could just come out with it and tell him I knew that Mark was a suppressed werewolf – in fact, Felim was too. But the Queen had told me how horrible the curse had been for their ancestors. They had far less control than the average werewolf when they turned – often turning at very bad times, and hurting people in the process. Felim was right to suppress Mark’s werewolf side as well as his own, by the sounds of it. And not just for other people’s safety. There were still a lot of witches about who would not be happy to find out that Felim was both wizard and werewolf. If I told him I knew, he would only worry that their secret might get out.

  He gave me an innocent shrug. ‘I wish I knew. I mean, you’re a very pretty woman. But even I have to admit that the life-sized cut-outs Mark has of you in his bedroom are taking things a bit too far. And it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that you’re head over heels with Dylan Quinn. I’ve tried to give Mark some potions to take the edge off, but nothing seems to be working. I’m worried about him, Aisling. Worried what this might come to.’

  I breathed a sigh of relief. If Felim was as concerned about Mark as he said, maybe he’d help me out. I held up the little sachet. ‘This is something that will help him. It’ll take his crush away. I … I wouldn’t normally like to mess about with someone’s feelings. But I just want him to feel better, you know? To get over me and find someone who likes him – and his tractor – as much as he deserves.’

  Felim smiled. ‘You’ve a kind heart. Just like your father and mother before you. Tell me what I need to do with that sachet, and do it I shall.’

  ≈

  Two crushes down, one to go. And yet … instead of driving out to the lighthouse, I found myself turning in to the small carpark of the Vander Inn.

  It wasn’t because I was a chicken. It was just … logistics. That was all. Dawn had arrived, and Dylan was an early riser. I’d just have to find the right time to slip it under his pillow. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that I was petrified of discovering his feelings for me weren’t real. Cough cough.

  ‘You’re afraid he won’t like you back once you’ve broken the thrall of your magical blood?’ said Fuzz, jumping from the passenger seat onto my lap.

  Darn that pesky cat! I almost got away with it. ‘I am,’ I admitted. ‘But if that happens, I’m a big girl, so I’ll get over it. I just … look, I’m going to give him the cure anyway, no matter what Her Majesty thinks. So I’ll know then, won’t I? The cure will either reset his feelings for me, or it won’t, and then I’ll know for sure.’

  ‘You will,’ said Fuzz. ‘But don’t you kind of want to find out beforehand? You could be wasting a whole lot of effort on Detective Dopey and, let’s face it – the Queen ain’t wrong. This whole thing is super-risky. All it takes is one person to let the truth slip. Ronnie Wayfair is going out with an Albright. She could tell him about this, then he could tell Arnold, then Arnold could tell the rest of the witches who hate vampires as much as he does and … hey presto. The War of the Enclaves is returning to a town near you.’

  I stroked his head. ‘Ronnie is going out with Arthur. Having the same initials and a love for chronicling is the only thing he has in common with Arnold. Even if Ronnie did let it slip, Arthur would keep the secret.’

  Fuzz yawned. ‘Sure, he’d mean to. Just like Ronnie would have meant to. Just like all the too many people who already know will mean to.’

  I picked him up. ‘Do you want tuna for breakfast or not? Because I’m pretty sure I saw a tin of supermarket cat food at the back of the cupboard.’

  Fuzz purred up at me. ‘You’re absolutely right, my witch. You have to do this for the sake of all supernatural-kind. Now … is this tuna tinned or fresh?’

  18. A Very Stubborn Brain

  You know your friends are real friends when they agree to show up at six o’clock on Winter Solstice morning, just so they can be given the details of the incredibly dangerous plan you’re asking them to help with later that night. And when you’ve told them those details, and instead of slinking away they suggest having a practice session, well then you know they’re even more than real friends – they’re the best friends in the world.

  We practised in the lighthouse (no, I couldn’t have crept upstairs and put the sachet under his pillow while I was there, because … reasons). It was almost as exhausting as when I’d worked with the Queen. While Dylan and Jared went off to make us all our fifth cup of coffee, Pru pulled me out onto the lighthouse’s deck.