The Sixth Labyrinth (The Child of the Erinyes Book 4) by Rebecca Lochlann

Author:Rebecca Lochlann [Lochlann, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Child of the Erinyes
Publisher: Erinyes Press
Published: 2016-04-07T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DIORBHAIL TIPTOED PAST the drawing room where Morrigan was playing some exquisite piece on the piano. She glimpsed Curran reading a newspaper, and Fionna setting down the tea tray.

Diorbhail knew she wasn’t wrong about Aodhàn Mackinnon. He was dangerous, though from the way Morrigan reacted when confronted by this, it was clear he’d already done much to worm himself into her trust. That night he’d carried Morrigan from the bothy, his malevolence had struck at Diorbhail’s senses as though it was written in fire on the ground. She’d caught him staring at her with an expression she could only describe as hatred. A warning response had awakened, and had not abated with time.

Twice since the man reappeared from wherever he’d been for two months, Diorbhail had clandestinely followed him. The second time, she’d caught him hiding something along the river in Gleann Beag, and putting some effort into being secretive about it.

She went outside, closing the great oak door quietly behind her, and bundled up in her heavy wool shawl, the one Morrigan had given her as an early Christmas present. A few stars glimmered as she set out, determined to follow the path shown to her, and see what she would see.

* * * *

By the time Diorbhail reached her destination, her hands and cheeks were numb and it was snowing again. She made her way along the north side of the river to a dense thicket of stunted trees on a steep slope leading down to the water.

Aodhàn had stood a long time, looking around to make sure he was alone before he ducked and vanished into the copse. When he emerged, he no longer had the container he’d been carrying. He must have left it in there.

As Diorbhail approached, she saw a vaporous, nearly transparent red mist issuing from the ground within the stand. She forced her way in, pulling away twigs and branches, thankful for her long wool sleeves. In the center was a cleared space. The light made a faint halo around a large rock, which she dragged to the side. An opening was revealed, like a badger hole, though larger, leading into the earth. After reaching in as far as she could and finding nothing, she realized with dismay that she would have to crawl into the hole if she wanted to find what Aodhàn had hidden.

She draped her shawl over the nearest branches and forced herself to enter quickly, before she could think too much and dissuade herself.

It was a claustrophobic, muddy tunnel, only slightly wider than she, and pitch black. She inched along, cold, wet, and afraid. The heavy weight of the earth pressed on her. At least there was no sign or smell of habitation.

When she’d gone some distance and the tunnel squeezed around her, she saw again the red glow and her knuckles struck something hard. She backed out, bringing it with her, until she resurfaced at last and could stand, gratefully sucking in deep breaths of fresh air.

She

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.