“So, why do you know so much?” Wesley’s voice was dripping with disappointment, and I wanted nothing more than to hug him in that moment. I knew better than most how lonely it felt to be the only one of your kind.
“Ah, well now, I didn’t say I couldne help you at all, now did I?” The old guy’s face creased up in a smile. “Wait here; back in a jiff.” He groaned as he stood from his seat, and then he shuffled his way to a narrow staircase leading up to a mezzanine level.
“Kit...” Wesley whispered under his breath, but I shushed him.
“This is more than we have gotten so far. Let’s just see where it goes.” I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “No harm in seeing what he has to tell us.”
“I’m nothing but human, myself,” Seamus called down from the loft to us, confirming my suspicion. “But once upon a time, my people were badbh themselves. When the plague hit some four hundred-odd years ago, all the full-blooded ones cleared out back to their own realm, leaving any mostly human offspring to fend for themselves here. My ancestral grandmother many, many times over was one of them left behind, but her mam was an optimist, see?”
A series of grunting noises came from the loft, and then he reappeared to make a slow descent down the stairs carrying a heavy-looking book.
“See, back then, a wee mage girl made a prediction that all would be righted in the magical world one day. No one believed her on account of her being so young. No one but my ancestor, that is. She believed, and she didn’t want her descendants left out in the cold when that day came. So she broke all the rules and left this.” He dropped the book on the coffee table and it landed with a heavy sound, sending clouds of dust flying up from it.
“And what is this?” I asked, letting curiosity get the better of me.
Seamus gave us a sly grin. “A bible, of sorts. Or... an encyclopaedia. Except this one outlines all magical species. Their appearances, origins, powers... weaknesses.” As he stressed this last word, he raised a brow at me, and ice formed in my gut. Suddenly he seemed considerably less non-threatening.
“Holy shit,” Wesley breathed, stretching out a hand toward the book. “This is... do you have any idea what this information could mean?”
“No, I just kept it all these years for shits and giggles,” Seamus responded to Wesley with heavy sarcasm, and I stifled a giggle. “I’m letting you read this on one condition, and mind I am not giving it to you, simply letting you study it here to learn what you need to know.”
“What’s your condition?” I asked him quietly, as Wes was thoroughly engrossed in the pages before him already. “You want your magic healed?”
Seamus snorted a laugh. “That’d be assuming I even have any in my diluted bloodline. Ain’t no one know for sure until they try, eh? No, not me. I’ve lived a damn long life already and got no desire to keep on keeping on.”
“If not you, then who?” It was pretty clear that this favor he wanted was from me, if his curious glances had been any indication.
“My great-niece, Siobhan. She’s only seven, but she’s sick.” He pursed his lips and sucked a breath through his nose. “Real sick. Cancer.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I whispered, seeing how much this upset him. That poor kid, to be so young... “And she’s... I mean, is it not something that can be cured through human means?”
“She’s dying, so no. Doctors only gave her six months, and that was four months ago.” Seamus dashed a tear off his cheek. “So, this is the deal. You two can come here and study my family book for as long as you want if in return you”—he nodded at me— “agree to heal wee Bonnie.”
It seemed like a no-brainer, but still I hesitated. “It could change her; you understand that, don’t you?” He gave a short, sharp nod. “Do her parents?”
“I’ll explain it to them. They’ll be fine with it, though. If it gives her a chance to live, they won’t object. For all we know, she could be pure-as-snow human.” He gave me an imploring look, and I sighed.
“Of course I’ll try, but only if she and her parents understand the risks. If she changes... well, then her and Wes will be the only badbh in existence.” I chewed my lip, watching Wesley from the corner of my eye. He’d stopped reading to listen to us, but his fingers unconsciously stroked the words on the page open in front of him.
“I’m aware. But something tells me it won’t stay that way for long.” Seamus straightened his shoulders and stuck out his gnarled hand for me to shake. “Do we have a deal, girl?”
I glanced to Wes, and he gave me a small smile of encouragement. If this little girl really did change, I knew he would be there to help her.
“As much as I want to take your deal just to get access to this book, it wouldn’t be right. I’m having some issues with my magic right now.” I paused, chewing my lip. “As in, I don’t have access to it. So until I get that little problem sorted, I can’t heal anyone.”
Seamus narrowed his eyes at me, clearly thinking this over.
“I appreciate your honesty, lass. And you don’t look like the type to sit on your hands for long, so if you can promise to heal my girl as soon as you can, well, then I will still let you read my book now.” He held his hand back out again.
“Deal,” I agreed, taking Seamus’s hand.
“Perfect,” he crowed, clapping his hands together. “I’d better get over to Siobhan’s mama’s house and get started explaining all of this. She’s a non-believer, so it’s going to take a bit of effort.” He grimaced and rapped his cane on the floor before heaving up to his feet. “You two help yourselves to tea or whatever. When I’m back, we can sort you out somewhere to stay.”
“Sounds good,” I murmured as he hurried out of the door. Nervousness was pooling in my gut, though. Was I doing the right thing in agreeing to this?
“Kit, you’ve got to read some of this,” Wesley gushed, drawing my attention back to him and the huge book open on his lap. “It’s got information on everything. Mages, shifters, Ban Dia, vampires! Sweetheart... vampires are real!”
I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, Caleb told me that they’re, like, some sort of demon or something? And people got them mixed up with Blood Mages at some point in history.”
Wesley bobbed his head in agreement. “Uh-huh, yup, I can see how that happened.” He paused, flipping a few more pages. “This is so cool. I wonder if he’d let us scan it or something.”
“I highly doubt it.” I grinned. “Let’s not test the friendship so early in the game. Flip to Badbh first so you can learn about you. Once you’ve done that, we can go back and learn about everyone else. Who knows when this info might come in handy, huh?”
“You’ve got that right,” Wes agreed. “Okay fine, start with me, then we learn about Ban Dia, and then everyone else. Yes?”
“Perfect. Get started, and I’ll make us more tea. Something tells me Seamus isn’t a coffee drinker, which sucks...” I moved to the small kitchen as I spoke, but I’d already lost Wesley’s attention as his nose disappeared behind parchment once more.
He was beyond excited about the secrets that book held, and I didn’t blame him. I was utterly dying to read what it said about Ban Dia, but the whole reason we made the trip to Ireland was for Wesley, so his information needed to take precedence.
Now if only he would read faster, dammit.
8
Several days passed, and each day seemed a step closer to Wes managing his powers. The section of Seamus’s bible dedicated to badbh was the longest—which made sense, considering they were the ones who authored it. But that meant it didn’t just contain rough information on appearance, skills, heritage, and weaknesses, like some of the other lesser-known creatures. Instead it was like a full training manual on how-to-badbh.