Doyle, Cathbodua, and Usna went in one of the cars before we did. Doyle wrapped me in his arms and I put my head against his chest so that I could hear the slow, deep beat of his heart. I breathed in his scent as if I would memorize it.
He raised my face so he could kiss me. There were a thousand things I wanted to say, but in the end, I said the most important one. "I love you."
"And I you, my Merry."
"Don't get killed," I said.
"Nor you."
We kissed again, declared our love again, and that was it. The first of the people I cared about the most left to try to get past some of the most powerful magical wards they'd seen in centuries outside of faerie itself. If they could get inside before we arrived, they would take our bad guys and rescue Julian, but if they thought it would set off alarms before they could save Julian they would wait. Barinthus would accidentally on purpose set off all their wards like a false alarm, and Doyle, Cathbodua, and Usna would breach the wards at the same time. When they reset their wards we'd have extra people inside. That was the plan.
I had to kiss too many people good-bye when it was our turn to leave. Too many "I love you's" and too many "don't die on me's." Galen was wordless as he held me and kissed me good-bye. He would come with Sholto and the others, and he would fight this battle. Once they had kidnapped Julian he hadn't even argued, and he hadn't once said, "I told you so." For that I loved him more than his willingness to shed blood to save Julian. We'd all do what we had to do to save our friend, but most of the men wouldn't have been able to resist an "I told you so."
Rhys drove, and Barinthus had the backseat to himself. I had the shotgun seat though no real shotgun. I was carrying my Lady Smith because they'd told us not to bring the police, or more than two guards; they hadn't said not to bring weapons, so we were all loaded for Dragon.
I was also wearing a folding knife in a thigh sheath under my summer skirt, not because I thought I'd use it to cut someone, but because cold steel cuts through most glamour. If I'd had less human or brownie blood in me, I might not have been able to bear the knife next to my skin, but I wasn't just one thing. I was the sum of my parts. I kept thinking calm thoughts as Rhys drove up into the hills. I hoped that what little dinner I'd eaten wasn't something my new baby-rich body didn't like. I didn't want to throw up all over the bad guys, or then again, maybe I did. It would certainly be distracting.
In a pinch I could fake morning sickness. I held the thought in reserve, and prayed to Goddess and Consort that Julian wasn't hurt badly and that we would get out safe, and none of us would get hurt. That was my prayer as we drove into the growing dusk.
There was no smell of roses to accompany the prayer.
Chapter Fourty-six
We were twenty minutes early when Rhys pulled into the small gravel parking area. What do you do when you arrive early at the kidnappers' rendezvous? Do you get out? Do you wait? What would Miss Manners say about it? I was betting it wasn't in any of her books.
Rhys got out first, then Barinthus. He got the door for me and gave me his hand as I stepped out. I had a little jacket on over the skirt and summer blouse to hide the Lady Smith at the small of my back. Rhys and Barinthus were both in lightweight trench coats to hide their guns, knives, swords, and for Rhys a small axe at his back. Some of the weapons were even magical holy items. I had left mine at home, because the sword that had come to my hand had only one purpose and that was to kill and kill messily. We would at least pretend we were here for something else. If the police did get called we had to be able to at least fake the thought that we'd come to rescue Julian and not to kill Steve and his little girlfriend. I was betting we'd get to all the above, but we needed wiggle room in case one of the neighbors called the cops.
We went to the door as if we were visiting. It felt almost wrong to ring the doorbell and wait for them to answer. Doyle had called us in the car and they hadn't risked the wards for fear of getting Julian killed before they could rescue him. So when we went through the door Barinthus would throw off enough magic to set off every ward they had. If we timed it right they would get in at the same time. I trusted Doyle to time it right.
Rhys rang the doorbell. They had put me between the two of them. I'd been given my orders to not show myself until Rhys said differently. I couldn't see anything but that the door opened.
Rhys's matter-of-fact voice was my first hint that ... "The barrel of a gun isn't a very friendly way to start a visit."
"Where is the princess?"
"Wave to the man, Merry."
I waved above his wide shoulders.
"Fine, come inside, but if you try any magic your friend will be dead before you can get to him. Bittersweet is with him now."
I didn't like the sound of that, but I followed Rhys back through the door. The moment I passed it the wards flared along my skin so powerfully magic that they took my breath for a moment. I'd never felt anything like it, not even in faerie itself.
Barinthus came through last and did what we'd planned. He flared his magic like throwing wide a cloak to make certain you tripped the alarm. But it wasn't noise that these alarms made, it was magic.
Rhys kept me behind him, shielded by his body. "You've got your wards set too sensitive for Barinthus. Easy, he was Mannan Mac Lir. That's a lot of magic to get inside these wards."
If Barinthus hadn't been so bloody spectacular in physical appearance it might not have worked, but it was hard to stare up at a seven-foot-tall man with hair every shade of blue of the world's oceans and elliptical pupils in his blue eyes like some deep-sea creature and not understand just how much magic was standing in front of you.