I laughed. I didn’t trust him. But I liked him. “You got a muffin to go with that?”
“Blueberry or bran? There’s a basket here with both.”
“Bran. It sounds healthy, but tastes delicious.”
He pulled one out of the basket and handed it to me along with my coffee.
“Ready?” he asked. “There’s a car waiting. We can head to the coast now. I’ve got a boat on stand-by.”
“Is there a type of transportation you can’t access immediately?” This guy had everything.
“No.”
“Spaceship?”
“My company, Origin Enterprises, is in the final testing phase of a shuttle that’s meant to carry valuables to a safe deposit bank on the moon. If you can wait a year or so—until we’re sure it won’t blow up—I can even get you a seat on that.”
“The moon?” I’d really thought I’d stump him with the spaceship thing.
“Safest place for valuables. Even you can’t break in there.”
I frowned. “Huh. That would really kill my business model.”
“No doubt.” He nodded to the stairs. “ Ready?”
“Yeah.” I made my way down the stairs to a white Range Rover. The rolling green of the Irish countryside spread out before me. The scent of grass and the lingering bite of jet fuel mingled in the cool air. I climbed down the rickety stairs, hoping I wouldn’t fall on my face. These little landing stairs were always the worst.
On the ground, a red-haired man greeted us. He was in his forties with freckles and a friendly smile.
“Welcome back, sir.” He handed Aidan a set of keys.
“Thank you, Patrick,” Aidan said.
“Not a problem. I hope you have a fine visit.”
“Give my best to your wife.”
“She’ll be delighted to hear it!” Patrick nodded goodbye and walked toward the terminal.
“Where are we?” I asked. I’d only ever been through the Dublin airport.
“Secret location.” Aidan held the passenger side door open for me, and I climbed in, balancing my coffee and my bag.
“Seriously though, where are we?” I asked before I sipped my coffee. Not bad.
“Private air strip in the southwest. We’re headed to the coast now.”
It took us about an hour to get to the little port. I was silent most of the drive. Though Ireland was beautiful, being here put me on edge, like I was walking along the Cliffs of Moher in a strong easterly wind.
If I was Irish—I hated that I couldn’t say for certain because I didn’t remember—this might be the place that we’d fled. The person we ran from might still live here.
When Nix, Del, and I had awoken in the field, we’d quickly figured out that we were in America. But Irish had been far easier for us to speak. We still didn’t know why, but maybe we’d run from here.
I was relieved when we finally arrived in the little port. I wanted to get off land. A grizzled old man with white hair and a fisherman’s cap waited for us on the single dock. A pipe puffed at his mouth.
“Aidan, my lad, good to see you,” he said. “Visiting the monks?”
“Yes,” Aidan said. “Thanks for lending us your boat.”
“Well you’re paying me a pretty penny now, so it’s no hardship.” The man handed over a key and nodded to the rickety fishing boat that bobbed at the dock. It was red, though the paint peeled, and was a distinctly charming sight in its sunny setting.
“Thank you, Mack,” Aidan said. “I’ll bring her back in one piece.”
I climbed aboard and we set off.
“Not the quickest boat,” I said as we bounced over the waves. “But it has charm.”
“The faster boats are in the bigger tourist towns. Better to stay under the radar.”
That, I could agree with. Though this was just recon, it was good practice to avoid humans when doing something that could go magically south.
“Is that it?” I asked, shielding my eyes against the sun as I looked over the glittering waves to a steep, craggy mountain that jutted out of the sea. I’d never seen a place so desolate. How could anyone live on the shear rock cliffs?
“It is. Monks have been living there for two thousand years.”
“Jeeze. Peaceful, I guess. But being locked up there for my whole life—no thanks.”
The jagged cliffs soared above us as we pulled the boat up to a small floating dock.
The sound of screams and blasts of magic rent the air.
“What the hell?” I glanced at Aidan.
“So much for peaceful.” He grabbed a line and leapt off the boat onto the dock.
I hopped out as he tied off the boat, charging up the stone steps without waiting for him. They were nearly vertical, but the sound of a fight pushed me forward.
On the cliffs above, I spied a collection of strange beehive-shaped stone structures. It’d be quicker to climb over the rock ledge to my right rather than take the stairs that curved around.
Aidan’s footsteps sounded and I turned.
“Give me a boost,” I said.