Chapter 30: The Attack

Lilly woke up the next morning in a good mood. She looked over at her sleeping husband and kissed his cheek before crawling out of bed. She dressed in her black gunslinger outfit with a dark blue leather hide jacket. Lilly then checked on her children who were bright eyed and bushy tailed. She gasped excitedly when they both saw her and they smiled with their little baby teeth showing.

"Oooh, are my wee chiselers awake?" she asked with a coo in her voice.

Brian stretched and James made a whiny yawn. They both got up and trotted out of the sitting room. Lilly changed her children's cloth diapers and put them in a matching dark blue dress and suit. She set them down and held both their hands as they walked through the regular room. Aoífe immediately waddled over to the king sized bed. Arthur tried to crawl in, but without success.

"Are you trying to wake up Daddy?" Lilly asked with a giggle.

Aoífe gave a smile while Junior went to join his sister. Lilly walked over and put both the babies in the bed. Arthur was snoring lightly and Lilly laughed quietly as the babies crawled over to his head. Junior put his finger in Arthur's nose and Arthur jolted awake.

"Woa, what!" he said as he sat up. The babies and Lilly went into hysterics. Arthur rubbed his face and looked at Junior. "What happened?"

Lilly held her stomach, trying to stop herself from laughing so much. "Arthur put his finger up your nose."

Arthur Sr. started laughing and then grabbed his son, tickling him. "You little stinker!"

Arthur Junior squealed in delight as Aoífe suddenly jumped up and down on the bed. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

Arthur looked at his daughter and smiled. Aoífe jumped to Arthur and he hugged her. "Oh, my little girl!"

Lilly leaned against the bed post and smiled as Arthur played with his son and daughter. This was a good moment to watch. He tickled them both and they giggled and screeched hysterically. Lilly laughed at the three of them and went over to the vanity table to brush out her hair. Brian and James got up and started barking at the door. There was a knock and Lilly got up. "You better put on pants, mo chuisle."

Arthur discreetly grabbed his black pants without taking off the bedsheets and put them on. When Lilly saw he was decent, she opened the door and saw a man standing there with a note. "For you, madam," he said as he held it out.

Lilly thanked him and grabbed it before watching him walk down the hall. Lilly started reading it as she shut the door.

To the Earl and Countess of Moycullen,

Your presence is needed at Buckingham Palace. Please come at your earliest convenience.

Signed,

Edward the VII, King of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Emperor of India.

Lilly sighed and looked at Arthur who went back to tickling his children, making roars and growls at them. The kids screeched and struggled to get away. "Mummy!" they both said.

Lilly folded and pocketed the note before going over to the bed with her family. She tickled her children and made growls as well. Her and Arthur eventually let the kids breathe and set them down on the floor. The kids waddled over to Brian and James to play with them. Lilly went to the sitting room and grabbed some baby toys, then brought them over to Aoífe and Arthur Junior. Arthur kissed his wife gently and ran his fingers through her hair. "What was in the note?" he asked Lilly.

"We both gotta go to Buckingham Palace today."

Arthur groaned. "God dammit. I guess Patrick wasn't able to get the word in."

"God dammit!" Junior squealed.

Lilly and Arthur sniggered. "No, Junior, that's a naughty word!" Lilly scolded with a giggle.

"God dammit!" Aoífe said with a big smile.

Lilly sighed and looked at Arthur Sr. who looked bashful. "We really need to watch our language around these two," Lilly said.

"Watch!" Junior yelled!

"Watch!" Aoífe shrieked.

They both started repeating the word "watch" over and over and Lilly laughed. "We better go find Da and Athair to take care of the bairns while we're there." [Father.]

Arthur kissed Lilly softly and swayed as he held her. "I'll go get 'em."

Arthur got dressed in his gunslinger attire and gave his kids kisses before walking to the door. Suddenly Aoífe started crying and Arthur frowned at her. "What's wrong, kid?"

Aoífe half ran to him and clung to his leg. "Daddy!"

Lilly awed, making a soft chuckle. Arthur picked up his daughter. "You can come with me. Let's go find Grandpa and Seanathair." [Grandfather.]

Lilly waved at the two as they left. "We'll be right behind you," she said before shutting the door behind them. Lilly looked over at Junior who was busy yanking on James' tail. "Arthur! Be careful!"

Arthur gave his mother a big baby frown. "Doggy!"

"Wolf."

"Doggy!"

"Wolf!

Arthur Junior started giggling. "Hungry!"

Lilly rolled her eyes playfully and went to walk over to him when all of a sudden, Dothur crashed through the window and into the room. Lilly screamed from being startled and the boys stood up immediately to protect their little nephew. Lilly was instantly pinned against the wall and the wolf bit her neck hard. Lilly screeched from the pain and felt her skin tear as the Evil tore her neck open. Lilly collapsed to the ground, grasping her throat as she tried to crawl to Junior. Junior was screaming bloody murder as Brian faced off with Dothur. Lilly lifted her hand and opened the door. "J-James. G-get...Junior...out..." she stammered. Why wasn't she healing faster?

Lilly, with her failing eyes, watched James grab a screeching Arthur by his blue suit collar to drag him out of the room.

Arthur knocked on Dutch's hotel room door and it opened. Hosea answered the door with a smile. "Hello! Come on in, Arthur!"

Arthur walked in with Aoífe holding out her arms to Hosea. "Seanathair!" she said excitedly. [Grandfather!]

Hosea took her and gave her a big kiss. "Lilly and I need to go report to the king today, so we were wonderin' if you both could watch the kids while we go do that?"

Dutch nodded. "Of course. Where's Lilly and Junior?"

"They're in our room, but they'll be here in a few minutes."

Arthur suddenly heard crying and walked back over to the door. He opened it and saw James with a squalling Junior...who had blood on him. Arthur picked up his son and in a panic, checked for any wounds. Hosea and Dutch came running as Arthur found nothing. He held his son close and James started barking. He ran up and down the corridor.

Junior sniffled and pointed down the hallway. "Mummy...

"Oh my God..." Arthur said before handing Junior to Dutch. "Stay here."

Arthur went running after James and turned the corner with him. He ran to their room door, which was slightly ajar, and opened it wider. There was blood everywhere. Brian was on the floor whimpering, bleeding out slowly. But where was Lilly? There was a trail of blood that led out to the window and Arthur ran to it. There was blood and glass on the ground and people were outside screaming and pointing in the presumably direction in which Lilly was taken. Arthur grabbed his hair and went to Brian's side. "Brian. Brian. You okay?"

Brian was healing, but very slowly. Arthur picked him up and held his head in his lap, stroking his bloody fur. "What happened in here?" Dutch asked.

Arthur looked up to see Hosea and Dutch with Aoífe and a crying Arthur Junior. Arthur had tears in his eyes as she looked down at Brian. "I don't know, but Lilly was taken."

"I'm gonna go get Patrick," Dutch said as he took Junior and left.

James padded over to his brother and began to lick him. Brian whimpered but eventually he got up and shook himself to get some of the blood off. Blood spattered everywhere and Arthur got up to look out the window again. "Who the fuck took my wife?"

Hosea sighed and put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "This isn't the first time Lilly's been kidnapped, Arthur."

"Yeah, but...look at all this blood. She wasn't healing when she was taken. She...she might be dead," Arthur said, covering his mouth. Just saying the words threatened to break him.

"She is alive," a woman said. The men turned around to see The Morrigan standing in the room. "We just have to find her."

Arthur sighed in relief. "Who took her?"

"Willow and Dothur took her. I don't know where yet, but we will find her."

Patrick came running in and gawked at all the blood on the floor. "What in the bloody hell?"

"Lilly's been taken," Arthur said as he walked to his chest and opened it. He grabbed his gun belt and put it on, then he went to the closet and found his rifle. "I'm goin' to go find her."

Lilly's eyes lifted open slowly as she regained consciousness. She groaned and looked around. She was in a cage, and the cage was in a dimly lot cave. She slowly got up and grabbed her neck. It felt painful and raw where she had been bitten, and the bite marks were still present. She tried to focus on her surroundings but her vision kept focusing in and out in a blur.

"Well, look who is awake," a deep voice said.

Lilly slowly shifted around and saw Willow and Dothur standing outside her cage. She slowly got to her feet, wobbling a bit as she did. Willow tsked her. "Ya really should save yer strength," the woman said. "Yer going tah need it."

Lilly grumbled and leaned against the bars. "Where am I?"

"Far away from London. Ya been in and out fer a few days now."

"My son," Lilly snarled. "Where is my son?"

Willow held up a hand. "We didn't take him. We only wanted you."

Lilly sighed in relief. She tried to switch into Adair but was unable. Lilly felt cold metal on her wrists and looked to see iron bracelets with red gems in them. Great. She was enchanted now.

"Lilly," Adair said in her head. "I cannot reach my mother. We are going to have to find our own way out."

Lilly grunted and grasped her neck again. The slow healing wound burned to the touch. "What did you do to me?"

Dothur neared the cage. "You are going to be part of my army," he said. "It's only a matter of time until you go through the change, Countess."

Great. Now she had to worry about becoming a werewolf. "And how long do I have until then?"

"A week. The full moon rises in a week."

"Great. Grand. Fucking wonderful. Am I to be undead as well?"

"No. You're too powerful for that, but you will follow me all the same, young one."

Lilly chuckled and sat down. "Is it strange that I am incredibly thirsty?"

"No. That's a side effect," Willow said. She walked out of sight for a moment, then came back with a canteen and held it through the bars. "Here."

Lilly grabbed the canteen and opened it, but then she paused. "Is it poisoned?"

"No. Why on earth would we do that? Carman wants you alive."

"Why?"

"That's a secret. She should be here soon so you both can talk."

Lilly sighed and took a long drink from the canteen. "Why do you follow her?" Lilly asked Willow.

"My reasons are none of your business. Will you be requiring anything else?"

Lilly chuckled. "Yes. A way out of this hell hole."

Willow laughed. "That's my girl," Arthur said in Lilly's head.

"Arthur? Is my mother with you?" Adair asked.

"Yes. Lilly, do you know where you are?"

"I only know that I'm far from London," Lilly thought.

"Try to find out where you are."

Lilly sighed and took another drink. "So where are we, exactly?"

Willow neared the cage. "Does it matter?"

"Well, yes."

"Why?"

"For my autobiography," Lilly said sarcastically.

Willow laughed again. "I admire your courage, girl, but I'm not telling you where you're at."

"Don't worry, we will find you," The Morrigan said. "They don't know that we can communicate and they cannot keep you in the cage forever."

"No, but you have just before the next full moon to get me outta here," Lilly thought.

"Why? What happens then?" Arthur asked.

"She becomes a werewolf in Dothur's army," Adair answered.