Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(75)

“I don’t think so.” She picked her way as carefully as she chose her words. Pushed hair behind her ear. Nervous move. “You track the Birrn to anything or anyone … else?”

“I found where the Cresyls were killed. The fear and pain lingers. A third demon entered the city. Not sure what it was other than Hindu in origin. When I found that demon, he’d been tortured and cut up into pieces.”

She stopped about fifty yards from the footbridge at the south end of the park and turned to him. “I heard about a Rak demon that was cut up and left in a suitcase.”

“I’m not familiar with Raks, but that sounds like the one I found.”

“Did you pick up anything on the Rak’s killer?”

“I tracked him for all of a half mile, and the trail disappeared in a MARTA subway station. He must have teleported at that point for me to lose him.”

Crossing her arms, she stopped again and stared off into infinity. Debate played through her eyes. She glanced up at his face and he saw her dilemma.

Share information, or not?

He waited for her to come to a decision.

Her fingers tapped against the rain slicker. She gazed off into the distance. “Okay, this is what I have. I talked to a Nightstalker tonight who thinks the demons are all controlled by one source or by two that are working together.”

Storm kept his surprise hidden that Evalle had actually shared anything. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t narrow the field much.”

“Except when you add in the Noirre majik.” The bill of her cap swung around toward him, bringing her dark glasses almost eye level with him. He liked a woman with substance. Evalle was tall and tough. They matched physically, and noticing that little detail only sharpened the edge on his frustration.

What had they been talking about? Noirre majik. “Isn’t that Celtic?”

She shook her head, water flying off her cap. “Not always, but there’s one major source of Noirre that is Celtic.”

“I don’t know much about that history.”

“There’s Celtic history that is known, then there’s the history that is only known by Beladors,” she began. “I’ll tell you what is not necessarily common knowledge but known by more than just the Beladors. There was a witch way back in the thirteenth century known as Medb, though some knew her by other names. She had a daughter called Findabair, who was sent to one man, then offered to a bunch of other men. Supposedly seven hundred men lost their lives when a war broke out over her virginity lost in the wrong bed, and Findabair died of shame just after that.”

“Another war fought over a woman, huh?”

“Not the first time men used the little brain to make a big decision. You want this history lesson or not, Storm?”

“Since you make learning a real joy, continue.”

Her finely cut lips pulled taut. “Back to the how, there are two versions of history. Another story circulated about Findabair says that while she was dying of shame, a druid named Cathbad found her and asked if she wanted to live. But Cathbad was a sly one. He’d actually been sent by Findabair’s mother, Medb the witch, to get a child from her that she could raise in secret.”

“I thought the Medb was a coven of witches.”

“Are you listening? Did you have to go through remedial shaman classes?”

Storm couldn’t help himself. Annoying Evalle brought out the color in her cheeks.

“There was a powerful witch named Medb from which the Medb coven developed.” Evalle composed herself in her next breath. “Got it now?”

“Got it. But the druid broke the deal by letting Findabair die.”

“No, Findabair didn’t ask how long she would live. Just like witches and any other being, druids are not all good or all evil. He brought the baby to Medb, who wanted to create a Medb coven of witches and warlocks for the sole purpose of destroying all Beladors.”

“Why?”

“Long story, but the Medb coven believes the island where our warrior queen Brina lives is rightfully theirs.”

“Where’s that?”

“I can’t tell you exactly.”

Storm wanted to keep her talking. “Based on just the Beladors I’ve met, it doesn’t seem like the Medb coven has fulfilled their duty of wiping out the Beladors.”

“They came very close when Brina’s family was destroyed. She’s supposed to be the last descendant of the Treoir family, which has always been the keeper of the Belador power on earth. Beladors draw their power from the Isle of Treoir, which is hidden somewhere in the mist over the Irish Sea, but only as long as a Treoir family member lives on the island. That’s why Brina can’t leave and only shows her face in a hologram-type form. If the Medb coven ever figure a way to take that island, or to kill Brina before she has a child, they will hold our power by the short hairs.”

“So you think the Noirre majik in Atlanta is tied to the Medb?”

“Maybe. That’s the only form of Noirre that I’ve ever heard of that’s Celt in origin, but I’m not as well schooled as other Beladors.”

He considered the last demon he had found dead. “You think the Rak killer was connected to the Medb?”

“I don’t know. Whoever killed the Rak demon can teleport, but I didn’t think the Medb could disappear without leaving a power trail.”