Page 135 of Broken Veil
I’ll follow you anywhere.
On my way.
Coming. LOL. ??
“Okay,” Carys said. “Click on the profiles and see if any of them look like they’re in that location or something similar.”
“You think they might actually follow her?”
“You remember her in Gorne Wood, don’t you? She’s inviting the whole world to follow her. She wants acolytes to build her power, and she’s using the internet to gather them.”
Duncan nodded. “Right.” He started clicking on profiles while Carys walked over to grab Laura’s phone.
“We have an idea,” she said. “Macha posted on her socials this afternoon. She’s walking up a hill. We’re trying to figure out if anyone in the comments knows exactly where she is. It could be in this area.” She pointed to the triangle on the map.
Duncan was sitting in a chair, his feet kicked up on an ottoman, scrolling through his phone. “Come on, one of you horny nerds is into geography, aren’t you?”
“Cley Hill!” Laura shouted. “Does that sound familiar to anyone?”
“Cley Hill is named on this map,” Naida said. “It appears from the legend that there is a monument of some kind there.”
“Two of these guys in the comments are certain that she’s walking up Cley Hill,” Laura said.
Lachlan stood over the map and marked Cley Hill with a question mark. “It does fall within the boundaries of the triangle.”
“Tomorrow,” Carys said. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to go to that bookshop and get some real answers. I’m going to figure out how to get to Annwn so I can talk to my mother and Seren.” She raised her chin. “Because something tells me that they’re the ones who can tell me how I’ve already defeated the Morrígan.”
She turned to Duncan, who nodded. His face was grim, but he nodded.
It was the nudge of confidence she needed.
Carys looked around the room. “So if I manage to return from Annwn alive, I’m pretty sure we’re all going on a trip to Cley Hill.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
When Carys pushed open the door of the bookshop the next morning, Duncan and Angus were waiting in the van and three patrons were in line to buy books from Donna, who was behind the antique desk that served as the sales counter.
“Carys?” Lakshmi called her from the back where a table was set up for coffee and tea. The goddess waved her over. “Come sit with me until Donna is finished. We’re almost ready for you.”
Carys walked over, and Lakshmi handed her a pretty teacup that smelled of oranges. “Ready for what?”
“White tea with orange and lotus flower,” Lakshmi said. “It will help you to find unity in your journey.”
“I need some very direct answers this morning,” Carys said. “I need to go to Annwn. I need to talk to my Shadowkin.”
“Seren does not have the answers you seek,” Lakshmi said. “She is just as lost as you are, though she will be with you in the journey. But you are correct that you must go to Annwn to seek answers.”
“Who then?” Carys asked. “Epona?”
“Epona is a goddess of the Shadows now.” Oshun spoke from the top of the stairs. “I’d ask forgiveness for ignoring you, but I don’t need it. I’m finishing a special piece right now.”
Carys could see Oshun on the landing above, bent over a wooden table. She couldn’t see what she was working on, but there was a blue light glowing under her hands.
Carys glanced at the customers lining up at the desk. “Do any of them have any idea who you three are?”
“Probably not.” Lakshmi sipped her tea. “Though there is a lovely coven who meets here on Thursdays for feminist book discussions, and two knitting clubs show up every other week.”
“Knitting clubs?”
