It also helped mellow her homicidal tendencies that she was frickin’ exhausted. The events of the morning had led to five more hours at the convention center talking to police, talking to the FBI, giving statements, giving more statements, getting checked by paramedics, and giving yet more statements. By the time their group had finally returned to the brownstone and collapsed in the living room, she’d barely had the energy to call the restaurant and have the food delivered.
Seriously. She and the other Wardens had played rock-paper-scissors to decide who had to answer the door when it arrived. She had suggested rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock, but had been vetoed. Apparently, she was just “a big ol’ geek.”
Pshaw.
They all perked up, at least mentally, when the television transitioned to the world news. There, the terrorist attack in Boston took second fiddle to the news of a much greater disaster in Ireland.
“More than seventy people are dead, and authorities warn that the numbers may continue to rise as they sort through the aftermath of this afternoon’s tragic events in Dublin, Ireland. Sources in the capital city are calling this attack ‘an utter and complete surprise,’ as well as ‘one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of the Republic.’ Coming on the one-hundredth anniversary of the Easter Rising, Sunday’s bombing and riot shocked authorities who claimed to have had no prior warning leading up to the event.”
The station cut to film of an Irish official looking shocked and devastated as he delivered a statement to the press. Kylie felt a knot of dread in her stomach as she turned toward her friends.
“I think we know now what the Demon was really up to.”
Fil looked blown away. “I can’t believe they could do this. I mean, I can’t believe they managed to coordinate across two continents to create simultaneous events. And to use one as a distraction for the other? That is way more sophisticated than we’ve been giving them credit for.”
“Not to mention that we’ve been so busy concentrating on the things happening here in North America that we’ve completely ignored the rest of the world,” Wynn said with a troubled frown. “I don’t know what else we can do, though. We’re already spread out between here and Canada, all the way from the East Coast to the West. Now we need to be worried about the British Isles and Europe, too?”
“Should we always have been worried about Europe?” Kylie asked. “I mean, that is where the Guild was based, and where the Order started, right?”
“Are you trying to make us cry, Ky?” Ella teased weakly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m already feeling overwhelmed. I don’t know if I can take on another continent right at the moment.”
Kees hugged her close to his side. He had barely let go of her after hearing how she had been hurt attempting to prevent the portal from opening. A knife to the side had taken her out of commission, but had thankfully deflected off a rib before it could do much real damage.
“No one expects any of you to take on all of Europe,” he reassured them. “You have enough on your plates as it is. This simply means that we must redouble our efforts to find the remaining Wardens and Guardians as quickly as possible. I have to believe that some of our brethren remain overseas. To have moved us all to the New World would make no strategic sense.”
“That is assuming that the nocturni infiltrator did not arrange for our assignments,” Knox growled, holding Wynn tightly on his lap. If Kees had been overprotective since this morning, Knox had been nearly feral. The sight of a knife to his mate’s throat had thoroughly shaken him.
“Do not give in to paranoia,” Spar advised. “To do so only weakens us. We must keep clear heads and trust in our Wardens until we have evidence to the contrary.”
Dag sighed. “I trust our Wardens implicitly. It’s the ones who came before that I wonder about.”
Kylie pushed aside her plate and climbed onto her mate’s lap. He looked surprised, but welcomed her with open arms and settled her comfortably against his chest.
“We can’t give up on them all,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “The ones who’ve gone into hiding? They’re probably on our side and are just as much opposed to the Order as we are. If we find them and share with them what we’ve learned, I’m sure they can help us. And at this point, we need all the help we can get.”
She had to stifle a yawn with a fist to her mouth.
“You’re right,” Wynn said, “but that doesn’t make finding them any easier. The three of us have been trying for months.”
“Not on the deep Web.”
“What do you mean?”
Kylie explained. “Before I knew magic existed, I never thought about where people would be able to safely discuss it without freaking out the public and shit. I mean honestly; you put that stuff on the surface Web, and someone is either going to burn a cross on your lawn, or send the men with the white coats to talk to you about it.”