Page 36 of The Night Vision
Smoak waved dismissively. “Not at all. Dùbhghlas has no respect for the sanctity of death.No onegets away with defying the natural order, not even the Father of Demons. I won’t stand in the way if MacIlwraith is meant to be the consequences of Dùbhghlas’s foolishness.”
“Huh!” Merlin bowed his head. “In that we can agree. Necromancy helps no one, not even demons.”
“We wouldn’t want it to get out that there was a loophole,” Smoak said with a chuckle, then acknowledged Silas. “He’s right to worry about the brother. It’s the only thing Dùbhghlas can use as bait to draw Tighe out or barter with.”
“Damn it!” Silas swept a hand through his hair, at a complete loss. Just when things started turning around, they got worse. “How the hell do we find Eoin before Dùbhghlas does? It was hard enough finding Tighe and we had an oracle and witnesses to guide us.”
Nelson waved his notepad. “The FBI might not know them as Ossors but they may have an idea about where they’re currently operating. It would be almost impossible for us to havenothingon them.”
“He’s right,” Fletcher said from the sofa. “If they get even a whiff of a militia or a cult, they’ll want to monitor them. And smuggling is always a concern, being that close to the Canadian border.Anysmall groups attempting to fly under the government’s radar are going to be of interest.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Nelson said to Silas. “You can come with me and act as my liaison with ISB and the Park Services. Any contacts we can make up north could be useful.”
“Agreed,” Silas said with a nod and began plotting how he’d break it to Tighe. He was going to flip when he found out that Eoin might be in danger and he wouldn’t like being separated from Silas. But Silas finally had something to do and there was a chance they could get ahead of Dùbhghlas again.
After that was settled, the conversation shifted to how they could protect someone like Eoin Ossor. “We’ve already seen how challenging this is for Tighe,” Nox said, his tone heavy as he wandered to the terrace doors and leaned to check the sky. “He’s handled it better than we could have expected but Eoin Ossor will be an entirely different animal.”
“Closer to an actual animal,” Merlin said, earning a snort from Silas.
“Based on what I’ve learned from Tighe, we can expect Eoin to be proud and far more headstrong. He’s fearless and accustomed to violence. There will be absolutely no trust for ‘outsiders’ and he won’t give a damn about our authority,” he warned. “He’s killed to protect Tighe before.”
“Noted,” Nelson said as he wrote in his notepad. “Eoin Ossor should be approached with extreme caution.”
“That still doesn’t solve our other problem,” Silas complained and gestured at a map of the Appalachians that had been tacked to one of the rolling boards. “Assuming we can locate Eoin and we figure out how to bring him in without grievous bodily injury, what the hell do we do with him?”
“What about Pooles Island?” Bryn suggested. “Ronan doesn’t like guests but we could pin a note to Eoin’s jumper and drop him off. Then, he’d have to give him shelter. It worked for Tony,” he said but Nox shook his head.
“Tony was dying. Ronan might accept that Eoin’s life is in danger but Pooles isn’t safe for an Ossor. There area lotof unexploded mines and munitions inland amongst the peach trees. It’s the Navy’s island, Ronan just maintains the lighthouse and dock and minds the beach as part of anoldagreement. Ronan and his dogs know where it’s safe to walk but I wouldn’t expect an Ossor to listen.”
“No, Pooles won’t do,” Merlin sighed. “I had already considered it for Tighe after the incident with the vacuum, but he’d be too tempted to explore.”
“He would,” Silas said sadly. For a moment, he was hopeful that there could be an alternative to Georgetown for Tighe but there would be no keeping him away from the peach trees. Then, Silas recalled something Tighe had mentioned the night before. “What about a poppet?”
“A poppet?” Merlin’s brows jumped and he nodded. “That would be handy, indeed.”
“It was Tighe’s idea, he thought we might be able to protect ourselves if we had one.”
“Perhaps!” The older man said as he rubbed his chin. “We took several photos and mementos from Dùbhghlas’s home. I keep them in the bottom of my deepest trunk. The trick would be finding enough of his hair or blood and a freshly worn item of clothing,” he mused but raised a brow at Smoak.
“As much I enjoy being your errand boy and would relish picking through his dirty linens, I can’t.I won’t,” he stated firmly. “I have eyes and ears all around him, but there’s no way Dùbhghlas would let me get that close to him, not after our last meeting. And there isno wayI’m asking another demon to help you make a poppet. I have a reputation, you know.”
“It was worth a try,” Nox said, shrugging. “We shouldn’t give up on the poppet idea, though. That could be part of a long term solution.” He tapped on his temple and nodded. “Tighe’s a clever one.”
“Yup,” Silas said with a wide smile. “He’s always paying attention and understands more than he thinks he does.”
“Pffft!” Nox swatted impatiently. “He'd outwit us all in the woods and be the only one to survive if we had to get by with nothing but the clothes on our backs.That’sclever.”
“I’m obviously not part of this scenario,” Smoak said and looked extremely harassed. “May I go now? I could use some fresh air,” he said but didn’t wait before turning into smoke and disappearing.
“I think we’re winning him over,” Nox said, looking amused. “Let’s see what Nelson and Shelby can learn and meet back here tomorrow,” he told everyone and there were laughs and murmurs as the room cleared.
Nelson returned to the desk and his laptop and Nox went back to the rolling boards with Merlin and a glass of whiskey. It seemed like a good time to follow up on something else Silas and Tighe had discussed the prior night.
“So…what’s this about a Hunt?” he asked cautiously but Nox jumped and looked startled when he turned back to Silas.
“A Hunt?” he said in a weak croak and Merlin scoffed.
“Don’t listen to Smoak, he’s merely stirring the pot.”
