Page 32 of Dream Lost (The Fae Universe #12)

32

T wo hours later, Bridget, the Greatdrakes, Taranis, and Quinn were heading to the Ironwood mansion. Valentine and Cosimo would meet them there.

Bridget toyed nervously with the buttons on the cuffs of the shirt she was wearing. She had run out of clean ones, so she raided the clothes Bas said were now too small for him. The button-up black shirt swam on her over her jeans, but she had nabbed a waistcoat from the same pile, and it brought the look together. Bas had taken one look at her, and Bridget thought he was going to change into a dragon again.

As Bas had predicted, everyone had been waiting for them to get up, and after a quick coffee and a muffin, they were on their way.

“Are you going to hunt the Brollachan with us?” Bas asked Taranis from the back seat of the SUV they were in.

“That’s your realm of expertise, not mine. I’m less concerned with dream monsters and more concerned with you going full dragon in the middle of a fight,” Taranis replied, turning a little to smile back at them. “If you destroyed Dublin, I don’t think Killian would ever forgive you.”

“I have it under control,” Bas insisted.

“You do right now, but the second things get dangerous? You might react in ways you don’t expect.”

Quinn was driving but managed to wink at them in the rearview mirror. “Pussy power might not work in that situation, Baby Bas. Let us be backup like you were for me against the Fomorians. Remember?”

Bas held onto Bridget’s hand a little tighter. “Fine. But I don’t think the dragon is going to be a problem. We are blending together. Our minds, I mean. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I know what you mean,” Taranis said, looking back at him. “It can take time, but with your magic abilities being around the mind, it will help you synchronize faster.”

“How long will it take for the rest of us then?” Apollo asked, leaning forward in between the seats.

“That will depend entirely up to you. The more you fight it, the worse it will be,” Taran said and bopped him on the nose. “So stop fighting it.”

Apollo pushed his hand away. “If I do that, it will rip someone’s throat out.”

“For the last time, you won’t hurt Lachie. Your dragon is too protective for that.”

“That’s not what it’s telling me.”

Quinn giggled. “Then you need to listen closer. Killing Lachlan is not what you want to do to him.”

“Unless it’s la petite morte ,” Bridget whispered to Bas.

“I heard that! Don’t you get in on their nonsense, Bridget,” Apollo said. “Lachlan and I have an understanding, and we made peace. As promised.”

“Good. Because the best way to hunt a Brollachan is going to be be in pairs, so you won’t mind if you are put together?” Taranis asked.

Apollo tossed his golden curls. “Go right ahead.”

Bas touched Bridget’s mind. We should have stayed in bed.

We will get back there. Let’s kill this monster, and then we can get to more important things. Like you teaching me magic.

Sweet little hawk, I’m going to show you all kinds of things.

Bridget’s face heated. Normal Bas had been bad enough, but a Bas that was synching up with his dragon side was making her sweat.

“It’s super rude for you two to talk to each other in your heads, you know,” Apollo said, flicking Bas in the ear.

Bridget kicked his chair. “Don’t pout because you aren’t as cool as us.”

“You’re not in this family five minutes, and you’re already full of sass. Tame your brat, Basset, before she bites off more than she can chew.”

Bas smiled sharply. “Mess with her at your peril, Sunspot.”

“I’m so scared,” Apollo said.

Bas pulled out his phone and held it out in front of Apollo’s face. Bridget didn’t know what was on it, but Apollo’s eyes glowed, his attitude disappearing. He shook himself out of it and glared at Bas.

“You’re such a dick,” Apollo growled.

Quinn turned around in her seat. “Don’t make me come back there and break you up, children.”

Bridget nudged Bas for his phone and saw the photo of Lachlan Ironwood on the screen. She burst out laughing.

“It works every time,” Bas said, and pulled Bridget in for a kiss.

Cosimo and Valentine were waiting for them as they pulled into the parking lot of the Ironwood estate. Bridget clenched her jaw to keep it from falling open.

The Ironwoods lived in a fricking castle. She got out of the car and stared wide-eyed at the stone facade and the people in work gear and weapons filing in and out.

“No time to dawdle. We are already late,” Cosimo called to them. When they got nearer, he caught Bas up in a hug. “My beautiful boy, I’ve never been so proud or so terrified than I was last night.”

“Sorry if I scared you,” Bas said, hugging him back.

Bridget swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. She had never had a father and wondered what it would feel like to have someone like Cosimo give a fuck about her.

Bridget yelped as Cosimo dragged her into the hug too.

“You helped my boy come back to himself. Thank you, Bridget,” he said and kissed both her cheeks.

Oh. So that’s what it felt like. She swallowed down the salty taste of tears and emotion that were flooding her mouth.

“Aren’t we going to be late?” she said meekly. She couldn’t process this much feeling at once.

“You’re right. We had best not keep Kenna waiting,” Cosimo said, letting her go.

“Too late. Are all magicians this tardy?” a stern brogue demanded. A strong woman was waiting by the door, hands on her hips. She looked like she could wrestle a bear with her bare hands.

“Apologies, Kenna. Bas shifted into a dragon last night! We are all very excited,” Cosimo said, face beaming with parental pride.

“Christ.” Kenna sighed loudly. “That’s just what we need in this family. More dragons.”

“I heard that,” Taranis said and bent to kiss her cheek.

Kenna’s eyes narrowed, and Bridget knew there were few males out there ballsy enough to pull that kind of move on her and live to tell the tale.

“You know that I didn’t mean you,” she replied. “Get your asses to the conference room. We have things to discuss. You must be Bridget? Good. This rabble of magicians needs another woman in their family, so there’s some common sense.”

“Ah, thank you? Nice to meet you,” Bridget said. She hung onto Bas and tried not to get distracted by the weapons on the walls and ancient portraits of ancestors with Kenna’s stern expression.

The war room had an immense conference table with a map spread over it. Tea, coffee, and refreshments were placed on a sideboard, and Bridget thanked the gods for whoever had put them there. Charlotte, Reeve, and Lachlan were all waiting for them.

“Good morning, Apollonius,” Lachlan said with a smile.

Apollo ignored Lachlan and smiled at Reeve and Charlotte. “Morning all!”

“Nice to see you back in one piece, big bro,” Reeve said, and Bas ruffled his already messy hair. “Apollo sent me photos, and I thought he was taking the piss with some Photoshop until I saw the death grip you had on Bridget.”

“I’d like to run a few tests when you have time, Basset,” Charlotte said, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Apollo sat down next to her. “I want to do some, too, so let’s combine forces.”

“No one is pushing and prodding at me until this Brollachan is stopped. Then I’ll shift back and forth as many times as you want,” Bas said, pulling out a chair for Bridget. “Take a seat. I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Thanks,” she said and didn’t add the ‘I love you’ that almost slipped out. She was going to need a lot more caffeine before the meeting was over.

Bridget needed to talk to him about the love thing too. She was pretty sure she heard him say it the night before, but she could have dreamed it in a lucid state.

When everyone had their coffee and snacks and had settled in, Kenna started to go through the markings on the map along the river.

“Going off the map Bridget and Basset made, we have these areas set up as the Brollachan’s hunting grounds. These colored squares are areas we are going to check over for its den,” she began, using a laser pointer on the map. “Because of the nature of this creature, it might only be active at night, which means we might have a better chance of hunting it before the sun goes down. Charlotte?”

Charlotte pulled out a small device, and the screen behind Kenna turned on. She had taken photos of the hooks in the victims’ necks.

“The sigils we created still seem to be holding. I suggest we all put a patch on before we go hunting because we have no idea what its capabilities are. It can mess with minds, and it might be strong enough that we don’t need to be asleep for it to use illusions against us.”

“How can we kill it if we find it?” Lachlan asked.

“The stories never mentioned anything working except warning people not to fall asleep near rivers,” Bridget replied. “If it’s strong enough to possess bodies, it might go down with a bullet to the head like a normal human would.”

Lachlan nodded. “Easy enough. We can make the bullet silver just to be sure.”

“If it can possess people, what makes you think it won’t just jump into its spirit form as soon as its host dies?” Valentine said, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. “How about we carve some locking sigils on the bullets? Once it’s been shot with one, the magic will keep it from body jumping.”

Bridget frowned. “It still might not kill it. Just lock it in a decomposing corpse.”

“Least we will know where it is,” Valentine replied, a feral glint in his eye. “I have a spirit box I can modify that might act as a good permanent prison for it.”

Apollo made a choking sound. “What the fuck are you doing with a spirit box? Why would you make such a thing?”

“I don’t know? To see if I could. I thought the medieval guys were full of shit but turns out they really could make them. I followed their instructions.”

“Jesus, Val,” Reeve muttered.

Valentine rolled his eyes. “What? I wasn’t going to use it, but I suppose it’s a good thing I never threw it out either, isn’t it?”

Kenna cleared her throat. “For the uninitiated, what the fuck is a spirit box?”

“It’s a device that can trap someone’s—or something’s—spirit like a djinn in a lamp,” Cosimo explained, frowning at Valentine. “Unscrupulous magicians in the past have used them as power sources to fuel spells.”

“Charming,” Kenna said dryly. “And you think this box thing can hold something like a Brollachan.”

“I don’t see why not. Unless someone has a better idea to kill an incorporeal creature? Assuming the magic silver bullets don’t bring it down? No?” Valentine demanded. “Then save your judgemental looks for someone who gives a shit.”

Taranis broke the tension in the room by starting to laugh. “You know, Val, it really is a shame you don’t get along with Lena. You two think way too much alike.”

“ Sure we do,” Valentine said with a roll of his eyes.

“Getting back to the task at hand,” Taranis said, ignoring him. “When fighting this kind of creature, the more magical hands, the better. Pair up, one magic user and one fighter in each group. Lachie and Apollo. Reeve and Charlotte. Cosimo and Valentine. Quinn and I. Bas and Bridget. The magic users can hold off the Brollachan until Bas gets there with Valentine’s spirit box. He’ll be the best equipped to go up against this thing.”

Bridget zoned out of the conversation, and her hand moved protectively to Bas’s knee. She really didn’t want it to be up to Bas to try and kill it on his own.

I won’t be alone. You’ll be with me, Bas replied.

“We can’t forget that Bridget is going to draw that creature like a fly to honey,” Apollo said, stirring his tea thoughtfully. “And we haven’t even considered that Auntie Quinn has oneiromancer abilities that it won’t help being attracted to. We cut off its food sources, so it’s going to be hungry.”

A deep, threatening growl came out of Taranis, rising the hair on Bridget’s arms.

“My mate is not going to be bait ever again. Understand me?” he snarled.

Quinn patted his hand. “Take a breath, love. No one is suggesting that. Apollo is just pointing out it might be attracted to me. So that you can protect me extra well. Right , Apollo?”

Apollo’s eyes went big and innocent. “Of course, that’s what I meant, Uncle Taran. I’d never want to put my favorite Auntie in any danger. How could you think such a thing?”

Lachlan snorted. “Because you did it last time with the Fomorian mage?”

“Shut your whore mouth, Lachlan Ironwood, or I will—” Apollo began and was silenced by Kenna banging her hand against the table.

“No one is using anyone as bait. If it’s drawn to Bridget, it will just give Bas an opportunity to kick its ass. Everyone pick a patch on the map to check out. We are losing daylight, and I’m done with your shit,” Kenna said, and everyone jumped to obey. Except for Taranis, who was glaring at the wall, eyes shining bright with fury.

Bridget leaned over and whispered to Bas, “I want to be her when I grow up.”