Imperative: A Quinn Larson Quest Read Online Free PDF Page A

threads into a rope. “Can I help?”
    “I figure the fairies are using Belladonna or Lily of the Valley. The key seems to be more pain, more fear, and more power.” This was Olan’s opportunity to show how much better it was to be working together instead of alone.
    “That sounds about right. No one gets energy from a peaceful death. Fionuir probably knew that since she was a tiny thing. Have you never noticed that the Sidhe can be found around violence?”
    “No, I don’t tend to hang around violence myself. So, something tells me there’s more to this than just increased power.”
    “Nothing I can think of just now.” Olan stuffed the rope into his pocket.
    He wasn’t helping. The itch in my brain didn’t go away nor did an answer come.
    Olan rubbed his chin and frowned. “The fairy you saw at the murder, were they from the Belladonna or Lily family?”
    “Yes. But it’s not just those clans affected. Bob didn’t say it’s just two clans, he said fairies .”
    “What was in that book about Belladonna?”
    I shrugged. “It grows here and it is fairly easy to get.”
    “Lily of the Valley, is that the same?”
    “Almost every garden on my street has some.” The tickle of an idea started to increase. “I think we’re getting warm.”
    “Well, is there a place where the fairies might harvest the plants?”
    “There’s a patch of both down at the other end of the path. But I think it’s a red herring. If we stake out that patch, we could be wasting our time. Like I said, both grow everywhere.”
    “You don’t need much to turn the flower into poison in either case.” Olan looked up at the sky. “Did you hear that?”
    “What?” I wasn’t really listening; his interruption chased the idea away before I could grasp it.
    “Nothing there. It must be my imagination.” Olan turned back to me. “Are you ready to hear my news?”
    “Sure, go ahead.” I hoped it was worth more than what I’d come up with.
    “I have a friend who supplies the Sidhe court with jewels. She tells me that the women of the courts are competing for position. There is a lot of backstabbing going on and Fionuir may lose her control of the court.”
    “Who is your friend?” His information was important but didn’t get us anywhere.
    “A brownie, she likes to find shiny things. The Sidhe take half her supply and pay with food and protection for her family.”
    “Is this information reliable?”
    “As far as I know.” Olan sidestepped closer. “Are you willing to work together?”
    “It’s not like we’ve made a lot of progress, but we haven’t screwed anything up yet either. What could go wrong?”
    For a while, we tried to think of the best way to get close to Fionuir, or find a source of real information, but eventually we ran out of ideas. The sun was warm and no one was nearby. I felt so tired and started to doze off.
    “Pixie.” A voice screeched from the treetops. I dropped the book and pulled out my wand. There was threat in that one sound. If I had to cast a protection spell I would, and be damned if a human saw.
    Olan climbed off the back of the bench. I heard him say, “damn that bird.”
    A crow the size of a small plane streaked to the earth, The Morrigan. Mad as hell and bent on Olan. I put my wand back in my pocket and stepped aside. Olan was capable of taking care of this all by himself. I looked around in case I needed to put a veil spell on us, but there was no one in sight.
    The Morrigan landed beside Olan, she shrank to double his size and stalked him. “I have been looking for you.”
    “Now, Morrigan, dear. Why do you sound so angry?” Olan tried to sidestep away from her. “I told you I didn’t mean what you thought.”
    “What did you mean by ‘the crows give birds a bad name’?” She flickered in and out from crow form to a blur of black. “How am I supposed to have taken it?”
    “I see. If that is what you heard I can see how you would be upset.” Olan kept sidestepping as