Colin looked behind him, and then back at Devin.
“I better get going. The cook may listen to you now, but I don’t want to be around when she changes her mind. Thanks for standing up to her, and thanks for the milk. Mara was overly happy when I got home to show me what you did,” Colin told Devin, still looking around the kitchen. “I’m glad you didn’t get in trouble.
“Not a problem,” Devin replied. “I hope I can help more when I get time. Right now things are a bit busy around here.”
“The coronation, yeah, heard about that. Probably the reason the cook hasn’t beat me to death yet. She needs the fruit I find, and the flowers Mara grows. Nice that we have useable talents unlike some of the others,” Colin added, making his way through the kitchen. Devin followed behind.
Colin turned, heading in the opposite direction that Devin was going, and Devin watched the young man walk away. The castoffs were going to be a priority once all of the dust was settled with the assassins and the coronation. They deserved better.
Walking through the hallways, Devin searched for the child Tara. His ability told him exactly where to go, but he wasn’t expecting to find her behind a desk. He had made it to the only school in the palace. Tara sat near the back with only four other children in the room. They were all older than her, and none were from head families. When Devin walked into the room, the teacher stopped teaching. Devin nodded for her to continue, and she reluctantly did so as he sat down and looked around. The children all turned to stare at him, and he felt bad for disrupting the class. However, when he didn’t reply, they turned back to the teacher.
The room was like most schools. There were several desks pointed to the front of the room, though most were unfilled. The students sat, trying to watch the teacher at the front of the room, but now she was having an even harder time keeping them from distraction while the kids took turns turning around to catch glimpses of Devin. He ignored them and surveyed the room. There was no one around, but he needed to be sure that they were safe. Two windows on the opposite wall faced into the courtyards outside the school. Devin scanned the outside for anyone that could be lurking. It seemed safe, but he couldn’t let his guard down.
The lesson continued and Devin grew bored with the talking. He allowed his mind to wander as he kept guard over the young child. He had to stay diligent, but he didn’t have to relearn lessons he had long forgotten.
Who had the most to gain by the head families losing all of their children? So far only the Ferguson family was untouched, which meant it was probable that they were responsible for the killings. If there was no direct line to contest, they would automatically be next in line to the throne. However, it could, while slim, be that Fiona had not been touched yet as they were the only head family left with one direct heir. Who would that leave to win if everyone loses? Could the elite that were not part of the head family be responsible for killing their own? Would they even do that? Devin had no clue. Could the commoners be responsible? Devin had wandered the streets. Most of the commoners didn’t even care about the elite in any way. In fact, none of them actually even talked about the elites. They lived in their own little world. That left either the Fergusons or the other elites.
‘Nessa, what happens to a head family when all of their direct descendants are killed off?’ Devin asked across the bond.
‘If there’s no one related back one generation, to the grandfather or grandmother, then they get to choose a new head family from their own elite in their village,’ she replied.
‘Then if one family wanted more power, they just kill off their relatives?’ Devin asked. It would be easy to do. Each elite family had their own wing of the palace, and they would be easy targets for each other across, or within, families.
Nessa understood the logistics Devin was thinking of through the bond. ‘No, the new family must come from the village. Anyone living here in the palace would move back to their own family village.’
Then it was not elites killing off their own families. That was a bit of a relief. He didn’t want it to be that complicated, as he would never find an answer there. If they lost their head family, they would all be downgraded to outside of the palace. That was one more crossed off his list. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t still be the elite, just not the elite within the walls of the palace.
‘Is it a crime to kill off your own family line?’ Devin asked. Sidhe rules were all a bit skewed, if you asked him.
‘It’s a crime to kill anyone, if you get caught, or if you could prove someone killed your family,’ Nessa replied.
That was not what Devin was expecting to hear. The sidhe were constantly killing each other. If it was a crime, why would they continue? How come no one was ever caught or punished.
‘Is your system of justice skewed here?’ That had to be the answer Devin was looking for.
‘Justice system? No, that’s fine, but our investigations lack a little, if you didn’t notice,’ Nessa replied.
That Devin had noticed. Lacking wasn’t the best word to describe it. It was non-existent, which was why he had gone to Mori. He needed to know more, and they didn’t have the ability to help him in the village. There was one more thing for him to add to his list of changes. That list was sure growing larger each day!
‘Thanks,’ Devin replied as he looked back outside the windows. A couple of young sidhe passed on their way to whatever house they worked for.
If it wasn’t the common sidhe, it was more than likely Maureen. Yet, if it wasn’t Maureen, was it likely the outside sidhe were responsible? Would they plan it together? Devin was pretty sure all of the villages were remote and isolated, but would they work together to change the palace? It would be a great master plan. Kill off all of the existing ruling sidhe, and then they could all take over at one time. Were the sidhe really like that? The more he considered it, the more it began to make sense. Who had more of a motive to kill, Maureen or the families? Maureen wanted to be queen herself. She had motive to kill Nessa and her cousins, but she didn’t need to wipe out more than that. Whoever was killing off the sidhe was doing it to kill off all of the families. Maureen was becoming less suspicious … even though Devin kind of wanted it to be someone who wasn’t the littlest bit remorseful about sending her son to kill Nessa.
Devin glanced back to the window and saw shadows of people that he couldn’t make out. Tara was sitting near one of the windows, far too exposed for Devin’s taste now that he was even more certain she was a target. She was just a young child. Devin didn’t want her in on the war. In order to change the elite, he would have to start with the children, young ones like Tara. She didn’t need to be a target. Devin would find another way. He stood abruptly and walked over to the child who, like the others, was distracted.
“Would you like to have a tea party with Princess Vanessa?” Devin asked the young child.
Her eyes lit up at the suggestion, and she vehemently nodded.
“Sounds good.” Devin offered the child his hand. Smiling, she took it without fear, which was a nice change for him.
The teacher stopped mid-sentence and stared at Devin.
“Tell her parents that she is visiting the princess. I’ll return her by bedtime.” Devin wanted to add maybe, but he wasn’t about to tell that to the parents or the teacher. They needed to move into the protected room, and they needed to go now. Tara was not going to be one more body in the crypt.
Devin looked at Nessa and Tara sitting together at Nessa’s kitchen table. Nessa wasn’t a tea drinking type of girl, but she was playing right along to keep Tara entertained. It didn’t seem to matter if Nessa was good at pretending or not. Tara seemed completely enamored with the future queen.
‘I need to go back to my car and cell phone. Mori should be calling soon,’ Devin told Nessa, and smiled at her from across the room. She looked comfortable with the young sidhe. She had a knack for engaging the girl.
Nessa gave him a what look in reply to his stare.
‘I
never really pictured you as the mothering type, but it seems maybe you’re a kid person after all,’ Devin added as he stood. He began to walk out of the room before Nessa could respond. He was only teasing, but he didn’t want to anger her again, since she had seemed to forgive him for being overprotective.
“Mr. Day Human,” Tara called. The little girl stood up and ran from the table, catching Devin in a hug. “Thanks for taking me to this great tea party. I’ve never met a real princess before. She’s much better than my mother tells me.”
Smiling, Devin patted the young child’s head as she kept her arms around Devin. He wasn’t exactly a kid person.
“And you’re not too bad, either. They say all sorts of stuff about you, but now I see none of it is true. I kind of like you, Mr. Day Human.” The little girl finally let go of Devin and hurried back to Nessa at the table.
‘Yes, Mr. Day Human. You’re not too scary,’ Nessa mocked as he walked away.
Devin decided with Turner watching Sean, it was safe enough for him to take a hike through the woods to his car instead of using the trees for immediate transport. He had energy to waste after sitting around watching Tara for part of the morning, and running always made him think better. He took off through the woods, feeling the air whip past him as he ran. His new sidhe power gave him an advantage as he jumped over obstacles and ducked with greater efficiently than he ever had before. Life as a kind-of-sidhe wasn’t as bad as he’d first thought.
His car sat in the parking lot when Devin arrived. He almost felt bad that she was just sitting there, collecting dust. He never went long without his car. It was all he had that he truly felt was his … that he’d called his own. He had rebuilt the entire car on his own, using money he’d earned at odd jobs when Lord Randolph allowed him to work. He could have easily asked his guardian for a car, and it wouldn’t have been a problem to choose the most expensive one out there, but Devin wanted to build his own.
Devin opened his car and quickly grabbed his phone. There was a missed call from Mori. He dialed him back and waited for the techie dearg-dul to answer.
“Finally made it back to civilization?” Mori asked.
Devin replied with a question, “Did you find out what it is?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mori added, dragging out the conversation. “It is a bit strange. We found that it is Tolocandies.”
Devin shook his head. Sometimes, it could be a bit difficult dealing with Mori. He was extremely bright, but often forgot that not everyone else spent as much time in the lab and on computers as he did. Devin had no clue what that word even meant, let alone why it was strange.
“And that means what?” Devin asked.
“It’s an extinct plant,” Mori replied. “As in, why did you bring me a poison from a plant that has been dead for at least thirty years?”
“Extinct?”
“Yes, extinct,” Mori replied.
“As in the way animals can go extinct?” Devin tried to clarify. He really hadn’t heard of a plant becoming extinct before.
Mori gave a long-winded explanation, “Yes, and plants can go extinct, too. You hear about animals more than plants, but it can happen to plants as well. Most of the time things die out by accident, over poaching and all that, but this one was man-made. It’s a very powerful toxin. The sidhe had been cultivating and growing it for centuries. They can make several different poisons from different parts of the plant, but they realized that it was a double-edged sword. While it was great to use on their enemies, when they turned to using it on each other, it was outlawed. Nessa’s grandfather led the last harvest, and killed off all of the remaining plants they could find about thirty years ago.”
“So it’s extinct?” Devin reiterated. How could a poison be made from a plant that was considered long dead? Did someone manage to hold on to some of the poison longer than Devin had been alive? “Someone kept it around?” Devin asked.
“I really doubt it. I heard there were people involved in the hunt for the plants that could feel difference between plants. They knew exactly where to look for each one. When they did the hunt, Nessa’s grandfather led it to make sure the sidhe would be safe. It really should be extinct. I have no idea how you got a poison that has been gone for thirty years,” Mori replied.
That was a good question. If there were no plants, then where did the poison come from?
“Could someone have saved the poison?” Devin asked, trying to cover all options. He didn’t doubt that Mori had the correct poison, even if it seemed impossible. Devin trusted Mori’s analytical abilities completely.
“That’s the strange part. The poison loses its effectiveness within twenty-four hours of the leaves being picked. Someone had to be growing the plant for this poison to be around and useful. You were lucky you brought them to me when you did. Even the samples were quickly degrading. We were barely able to make out the poison in the first few samples.”
“How do we counter it?” Devin asked. He needed a cure to it that could be administered when he didn’t get there quick enough.
“There is none. It kills everyone,” Mori replied.
That changed the game, and wasn’t what Devin wanted to hear. It was bad enough the poison acted fast and was hard to catch, but to hear it degraded just as quickly was a problem. Turner was going to have a hard time tracking anything if it was gone as quickly as it killed. If they didn’t find it, more people would die.
“Someone had to be growing the plant, but how is beyond me,” Mori added. “I swear, all records say that every single plant was killed off.”
“How do I find it?” Devin asked. Now it was time to go hunting. Devin was unsure how you looked for one plant in a world full of them, but he had to do it … and he had to succeed.
“I sent a text with a pic for you to see,” Mori replied. “It’s old, and black and white, but you should get the main idea of the shape of the leaves and flowers. It grows as a small shrub. They take about five years or more to mature. The leaves are almost heart shape, and it makes a small, white flower. When you do find the plant, be careful. Don’t try to pull it out, or cut it down. It’s very resilient. Just burn it, wherever it is.”
Devin nodded to himself. That would be the plan, if he could find it.
CHAPTER 10
Devin walked back into Nessa’s room, already forming his next plan. Inside, Turner was waiting, along with Tara and Sean. Devin didn’t have time to explain to the two of them the importance of staying with Nessa in her room. He’d just automatically made the spell surrounding the room include the two kids. He had no clue how it came to him, but stress seemed to amplify his ability. Only Turner, Devin, and Rolf could come and go as they pleased. Nessa jumped up as Devin entered, and followed him back into her bedroom. Tara and Sean, who were playing some sort of board game at the table, didn’t even seem to notice.
“Did Mori find out what it is?” Nessa asked in hushed tones so that the two in the front room wouldn’t hear. It was clear that they didn’t know what was happening.
“Yeah. An extinct plant made into a poison,” Devin answered. “I guess your grandfather was involved in getting rid of it. It’s very powerful, and there’s no cure.”
Nessa’s mouth hung open. “Deadheart weed? Tolo something or another.”
“So you know what it is then?” Devin asked. She might have suggested it before.
“Of course I do—everyone does—but it’s impossible. That can’t be what it is. Mori had to get it wrong,” she added. “My grandfather worked with a team to get rid of all of it. They destroyed every plant that was growing in the villages, and every plant that was growing wild around here. He was sure they were all gone.”
“Well, not everything was gone. Maybe someone found a way to conceal it,” Turner suggested. He had faith that Mori was right.
“You can’t conceal it from a plant seeker,” Nessa replied. She was confused by the results of the analysis. “They feel the plants and know where each and every one is. My grandfath
er’s first ability was to seek out plants. He could tell, for miles, what plant was where. My family is very connected to plants, and his power was stronger than normal. No one could have hid a plant from him.”
Turner’s eyes bounced between Nessa and Devin. She was looking at him, waiting for him to reply.
“Not something I’ve learned yet,” Devin finally replied. It would have been useful to know this earlier, but everything having to do with the sidhe was a learning curve. He needed to see it be done, or be stressed to do magic he had no clue about. Even if Nessa had told him that there was a chance, he wouldn’t know how to do it. Devin wished the old man’s powers came with an instruction manual.
“He should be able to do it, right?” Turner asked Nessa, getting what she was hinting at.
“He should be able to do everything my grandfather could do. I know Devin can once he learns how, but since he was not born a McKinny sidhe, he must have to figure it all out.” Nessa sounded disappointed, and Devin hated to hear the defeat in her voice. She smiled at him, and it made it seem not quite as bad. She wasn’t mad at him, or even sad, she just didn’t like the situation. Devin had a feeling it made her miss her grandfather a bit more. She wasn’t the one who’d spoken with the old man days ago; in fact, she barely got to see him before he disappeared into dust.
“But that’s fine since I have a friend with an excellent sense of smell,” Devin replied. He had to be two steps ahead. He had magic now, but didn’t know how to use it, so he had to be willing to use good old detective skills to get things done. “I figure it will take time, but my puppy and I can go wing to wing in the palace first, and then to each compound, searching for plants, especially hidden ones. Mori sent me a picture of what it looks like. Once Turner finds it, I can see if it’s what we are looking for.”