Great. So, my mortal enemy was also a deranged lunatic. “How do we stop her?”
“We have to find her first. The girl strikes fast and then disappears even faster. But don’t worry, she won’t attempt to attack you outright. As she discovered at the docks, you each have an immunity of sorts to the other’s power.”
“How lucky of me,” I huffed. “Rather than infect me directly with the pox, she’ll use a pack of hounds to do her dirty work.”
Cate shook her head, her face tight with thought. “To be honest, I don’t think the two events are related. Cailleach has been known to send her hounds after some of Brigid’s stronger descendants if she feels the balance is at risk between our kind. But I’ve never known her to work directly with one of her own offspring to meddle in human affairs. After tonight, there’s little question she wishes you dead, but I’ve no reason to suspect she is working in tandem with Deri.”
Mr. Chubais flashed again in my mind, his pale skin and pink eyes, the ragged teeth when he lunged for my neck. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been attacked by one of those creatures.”
Cate’s eyes lit with curiosity. “What do you mean?”
“The day before I left the Colonies, a man came to Brighmor asking about my grandmother. He returned later that night in the form of a hound and attacked me.” My chest tightened from the memories and I started to twist one of my rings. “I thought I was going to die, but then he laughed at me and I got so mad that I wanted to tear his heart out. I killed him with Brigid’s knife.”
My voice trailed to silence. The story sounded even worse when spoken aloud, and I stared at Cate, desperate for some sort of reassurance of my sanity. She said nothing at first as her gaze slipped past mine to settle on the cushion behind me.
“So the hounds finally found Sarah,” she said softly. “But they were thirty years too late.”
It took a moment for my brain to catch up. “How do you know about my grandmother?”
Cate’s eyes snapped back to mine. “Henry told me how that hateful man drowned both your mother and grandmother. And then tried to burn you alive in your own bed.”
The scars on my foot prickled from the memory. “He...he thought we were cursed.”
“Mr. Sweeney was a madman who killed innocent women for the sole crime of helping others.” She snorted her disgust. “This other man though explains why the hounds started sniffing about the very day your ship arrived. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why Cailleach was so quick to release her pets. Even if Deri had shared the local gossip, the name Selah Kilbrid would warrant little notice from the goddess. But Selah Kilbrid, descendant of Sarah McBres, would mean everything in the world. It must have been the hound you killed who told her once he returned to the Otherworld. Did he happen to give you a name? Not that it matters, since those creatures are so fond of lying.”
“He said his name was Mr. Chubais.”
Cate gave a sudden burst of laughter. “Oh, how original. Mr. Death’s hound. Certainly he could have created a better alias than that.”
The words raced through my head. Hound...death...cú...báis. I nearly groaned out loud from the obvious play on words. “I should have known.”
She flicked her wrist. “Well, what he lacked in imagination, he made up for in strength. Not every hound can take human form. That trick is reserved for the oldest and most powerful of Cailleach’s pets, and I can imagine her disappointment when only his spirit returned home. You’re fortunate he won’t be strong enough to venture out again for several hundred years. Those hounds do hold a grudge.”
“How old are you?” I asked, inadvertently giving voice to my thoughts. The words hung in the air for a split second before I realized the mistake. “Pray forgive me. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
She only laughed. “Five and twenty if the family bible is to be believed. Though I confess no personal memory of the day.”
“Of course not. I should never have asked.”
“Quite the contrary. You should feel at liberty to ask any question as there’s much to learn after such an isolated upbringing.” She fell silent for a moment. “For starters, I’ll need to teach you how to deal with Cailleach’s hounds on your own, in case you’re ever caught without Brigid’s knife. A lower stance often works best as it keeps them from lunging and knocking you off balance.”