Page 81 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

Kierse shrugged. Perhaps this would get her to where she was going faster, anyway.

She stepped inside the cool interior, which opened into a long hallway. As she walked in front of Declan, gun still at her back, she glanced into the rooms that opened off the hallway. They almost looked like barracks, as if the Druids were sleeping like little soldiers in a sardine tin. Kierse wondered if Ethan was one of them in these little rooms.

She rubbed her hand over her chest at the thought. It was probably just stress. She couldn’t endure two heists, magic drain, and the goblin market without some tension. Add Graves and jet lag and it was a recipe for disaster. Yet…

She shook her head, uncertain.

“Through here,” Declan growled.

Declan reached around her to open a door connecting this building to another. She walked from barracks to office space. The Druid property must have been larger than even she had envisioned. If all of these buildings connected, one after the other, then it could be the entire block. Or multiple blocks.

They crossed the offices to an elevator bank that was vaguely familiar. Was this the back way to Equinox? Would this take them up to Lorcan?

The elevator dinged open.

Declan took a step forward and then froze. Standing intheir path was none other than Niamh in a caramel crop top, high-waisted olive pants, and a gray blazer. Her burgundy hair was up in a high ponytail. She looked almost business professional compared to her femme fatale style in Dublin.

“Declan,” she crooned.

“Niamh,” he grunted. “Just bringing Lorcan a trespasser.”

“Great!” she said cheerfully. “I’ll take it from here.”

“I…”

“After all, she’s really aguest. My guest, actually.” She pressed a button to stall the elevator. “I don’t like when people hold my friends at gunpoint.”

“Friends.” Declan chewed on that word as if it was a piece of gristle.

“Yeah, Declan. Friends.” Niamh shot him a bemused smile. “I’ve been gone too long and this place has gone to hell.”

“You can stay gone,” he mumbled.

Niamh straightened at that. “Excuse me?” Niamh was by no means a short person, and as she came to her full height and looked eye to eye with Declan, she seemed twice as formidable. Kierse could make out a golden glow flickering at the edges of her. As if her magic took insult to Declan’s defiance.

“Nothing.”

“If you’re upset by my return because you’ve been knocked down a peg, Declan,” Niamh said threateningly, “then you know how to correct it.”

Declan’s eyes blazed. “Is that a challenge?”

Niamh crossed her arms. “If you think it is. I’m fine seeing you in the ring.”

“Feck off.” Declan must have known that Niamh could wipe the floor with him, because he promptly stomped away.

Niamh kept her eyes on him until he disappeared behind a door.

“What just happened?” Kierse asked as she got in the elevator.

“Something that he can’t back up.” Niamh winked. “That’s why he didn’t accept. But I should probably tell Lorcan about it anyway.”

“If you think that’s best.”

“I think he’s been dying to see you,” Niamh admitted. “Let’s not insult him.”

“No, let’s.”

Niamh laughed and pressed the elevator button to take them upstairs.

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