Page 153 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

Now that she knew what this was between them, that pressure in her chest made perfect sense. It was like a fishhook caught against her breastbone, and she just needed to follow the string back to its owner to find Lorcan.

She pressed her hand against her chest. Not yet.

“You okay?” Gen asked.

“Yeah,” she lied.

Gen pursed her lips. “You can feel him?”

“Over there,” Kierse said, pointing vaguely in the direction of his headquarters. The direction they were circling toward.

“It’s that specific?”

“If I think about it,” she admitted.

“So he’ll be on us soon,” Gen realized.

“Guess we’ll have to be quicker.”

Gen sighed. Always finding Kierse’s propensity for danger unnerving. “Hurry.”

They rounded another corner before hitting their drop point. Niamh’s head appeared at the back entrance of a building, her burgundy hair up in a complicated braided twist. Her red-painted smile widened as she saw them.

“Hello, girls,” she said with a wink.

“Niamh,” Kierse said as she ducked inside.

Gen shot her a shy smile. “Hi.”

“My little acolyte,” Niamh said. “Never took you to be a rule breaker.”

“I make an exception for Ethan,” Gen said with herhead lifted high.

“Then let’s get going.”

Kierse and Gen followed her through the labyrinth of Druid corridors—a bunch of empty office spaces and then closed apartment doors—before getting into more familiar territory.

“You might have to do some offensive work,” Niamh warned Gen. “As we get closer.”

Gen bit her lip. “You can’t?”

“Oh, Ican. But I’d like to see how my pupil is progressing.”

“Offensive work?” Kierse asked. She glanced between Niamh and Gen in alarm. “What exactly are you teaching her?”

“You’ll see,” Niamh said with a smirk.

Gen muttered a few words to herself and took a deep breath as they continued forward. They were nearly to the barracks when a pair of Druid guards appeared in their way.

“Gen,” Niamh said.

But Gen had already moved in front before either of them could react to intruders. Her eyes were closed and she moved on instinct, sliding through dance-like steps as she got in close to the two guards.

“What the…?” the first man asked.

Gen touched her finger to his throat and whispered, “Sleep,” under her breath.

The woman next to him watched with wide eyes as she realized who she was dealing with. Kierse could see surrender in her eyes, but Gen wasn’t looking at her. She wasn’t looking at anything, in fact.

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