Page 83 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“Like the good old days,” Niamh said. She jumped down and headed toward the door before Lorcan could respond. “I’m going to check in with Maeve. You should take her to Ethan. That’s what she wants, after all. She’s going to sneak off if you don’t do it yourself. So beniceand show the girl some Druid hospitality. Not whatever shit you’ve been getting into since I’ve been away.”

Lorcan growled under his breath, but Niamh blew Kierse a kiss and disappeared. Now she was completely and utterly alone with her enemy. No,Graves’senemy. They weren’t the same thing.

“I am glad that you’re home,” he said as he walked around the desk.

“I’m glad to be home.”

He held his hand out. “Though I forgot your proclivity for stealing my possessions.”

She huffed and placed the letter opener in his hand. “How’d you guess this time?”

He flipped it around to point at her chest. “Your heartskipped a beat. Was it joy or fear?”

“Neither,” she said. “You can’t sense my heartbeat.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps not. Perhaps I’m just that good.” His smile was swift and heart stopping. “Now, allow me to demonstrate the Druid hospitality that Niamh mistakenly thinks I haven’t shown you. We did have a wonderful dinner once before.”

“I was kidnapped that night,” she reminded him.

He laughed. “You like that sort of thing.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he gestured to the door. “Come on. Unless you don’t want to see Ethan.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The thought of finally getting to see Ethan overrode all reason. She followed him into an elevator that dropped to a subterranean level, depositing them into a hard concrete passageway. The ceiling was arched as if it might have had some grandiose use before this, but she couldn’t discern what.

“It’s a bank escape shaft,” he explained on their walk.

Her eyes lit up. “An exit.” Her favorite.

“It connects to the original Williamsburgh Savings Bank across Broadway. We purchased the bank after it went under and had it restored to its former glory. The tunnel had caved in at two different locations. We dug it out so that we could use the corridor to connect the acolyte training space to their dormitories.”

“Acolyte training,” Kierse repeated slowly. “Is that what Ethan is doing?”

“Yes. It takes years of rigorous work to become a full Druid.” He shot her an easy smile. “Luckily, we are long-lived, as are wisps. So we have the time.”

“And that’s why no one has heard from him since I left?”

“Ah, most Druids grow up in the Order. We don’t get many from outside. But the first line of training is removing attachments to the physical world.”

Kierse narrowed her eyes. “You mean brainwashingthem into good little soldiers.”

“If that is what you want to believe. The Druidic Order is a lifelong commitment. We focus on a large swath of knowledge—nature, the elements, astronomy, philosophy, rituals, spells, justice.” His eyes cut to her once before he added, “The changing of the seasons.”

“And fighting.”

“We strengthen the body through martial arts and weaponry,” he agreed. “How can you mete out justice if you cannot enforce it?”

Kierse didn’t think he had any right to enforce anything, personally. But he had kept Brooklyn in better shape than Manhattan, so perhaps some of their discipline made sense.

“Where do the High Priestesses fit into this?”

“Thinking of your friend, Genesis?”

Always. A part of her wondered if Gen should have taken the same deal Ethan had, but Kierse hadn’t wanted to lose her. Was she now five months behind on her own training? Could she have done more here?

When she said nothing, he continued, “The High Priestesses have their own development. They also train physically and in rituals and spells, but their focus is on the healing arts. It is more a subsect of the Druidic work. There are all genders of Druids, but only female High Priestesses.”

“There are no men or nonbinary people with an affinity for healing?”

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