The green haired woman, silent until now, crossed her arms and groused. “Bet your bullocks it’s not me.”
Bat continued, keeping her gaze locked on Finn. “Nor is it a red-haired wanker who came into a pub tonight and rudely stood like a statue through a celebration of life,” she said pointedly.
“Then who is it, Bat of the two faces, who is rumored to see the past and the future in her visions?” Finn’s body remained relaxed back in his chair, but an eager tension radiated off him. It almost made him handsome.
Also, hah! They already knew. So much for Dub’s cautions.
Mell pushed up from the table. “Dammit, I knew that pooka was going to be a problem.”
Finn shrugged. “Wasn’t the pooka, though I heard about that too. The guardi has some resources, which you would have access to if you would just reconsider my offer.”
“And we have gone off on another tangent.” Bat understood much better now why Mell didn’t want to join the guardi, and he didn’t need this not-man constantly throwing it in his face. “As you said,” she directed this to Finn, “I have visions. I know the shape and look of the hand that wielded it. It was a woman, and it was none of these people I have met.” She didn’t mention the vision of Ailis at Benbulben, unsure if that actually tied into their current situation, though it was likely. She also wasn’t sure she trusted this red-haired man.
Bat opened her mind’s eye, seeking answers, uncaring if she offended. At this point, either she would need to leave, or she would stay her allotted time.
Flash. Benbulben. A woman of amazing beauty, glowing in the sun, her red-gold hair a lovely complement to Finn’s light red. They were beautiful together. An argument. A kiss and a slap.
Flash. This same woman, weeping over a still body, her face ravaged by grief and madness, her hands gripping her hair, tearing at it. The blade on the ground next to her.
Flash. Finn, his hands cupped, holding water as he stood in a familiar alley.
Bat came back to herself as Finn pushed away from the table and jumped to his feet.
“You dare,” he said, glaring at her.
She raised one brow, intending to come out with some smart comeback, but instead, a question slipped out. “What happened to the woman?”
Finn froze, and his face turned to stone. “I will not speak of her.”
It was interesting that he did not ask what woman. “Really? You are willing to prod Mell into something you know he does not want, yet you will not ‘speak’ of a woman, one I just saw kneeling next to the very same blade I also saw stabbing Dano? It glowed with a dark light and had a serpent’s head on the pommel. What happened to it?”
Finn paced to the bar and spun, heading back to the table.
“What happened to the blade?” Bat asked again, keeping her voice gentle, needing him to speak. She almost had this. Almost had the answer, it was coming together...
“The blade was lost that night.”
“And you kept that hidden from everyone,” Dub broke in, but his voice was soft just as Bat’s had been. He sounded as though he knew the night Finn spoke of.
Finn looked at him, something like regret in his face. “Yes. The Morrigan knows for I would not lie to her, but most think it was placed in the vaults. The panic...”
“Ye’re a bastard.” Ailis slapped her hand on the table. “Ye’r a right bollix who should be swallowed in a bog and spit back out ye’re so sour. A soul blade, lost.” She rose and paced across the room, muttering, just as Finn had done.
The Irish are sure a dramatic people. A glimmer of an idea reached her, seeped into her mind and grew. It was almost like a vision…
“We can track it.”
Ailis spun around. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I can track it. I sensed something this afternoon, at the cottage. A point of—” she swallowed and shot a sneaking look at Dub. His bright blue gaze was trained on her. “A point of evil, of the chaos that threatens and must be held off by constant vigilance and order. That was what it felt like, and it moved. I could sense when it drew near, and when it faded with distance.”
Dub met her gaze and gave her a slight nod. He had heard her. Good.
Then he spoke. “It would be best if you stayed out of it from this point.”
“Excuse me?” Anger and hurt churned in her.
He looked first to Mell, then Shar, and his lips thinned. “I’d like you to let us deal with this. Finn can track the baobhan sith, once we get a starting point. If you were hurt...”
“I’m a goddess. Haven’t we already established this?”
Shar gave her a pleading look. “But you’re weak. A little blood loss had you out for the better part of five hours. And since the Morrigan put a ban on supplicants, you’re not going to get much more power than you have now.”
Then Finn jumped in. “I was able to break your hold on me very easily.” He sounded speculative, though, not agreeing or disagreeing with Shar and Dub.
“But if she can track the blade and the bitch without needing a jump off, I think that’s worth a little defiance. I could have dozens here by the morning with offerings...” Ailis spun around and resumed her pacing, muttering quietly to herself and pulling out her phone.
Bat looked to Mell, the only one who hadn’t spoken. His face was pale, his brown eyes haunted. “I—”
Finn cut him off. “If she can track the blade, we will need her.”
Bat gave this guardi, this red-headed man who—more than Dub—reminded her of Seth in the early years, a small smile. Then she reached for Mell’s hand and gripped it. “Goddess, remember? I’ll be fine.” She looked at the brothers and remembered Dub’s earlier concerns of what may come of he and his brothers. “If you’d rather not be involved, I understand. Finn and I can work on this.” She ran a thumb over Mell’s knuckles. “It is really all right. I would rather help in this small way than watch and do nothing. I have had too much of doing nothing.”
“Eh, it wouldn’t be just you and the arrogant oaf.” Ailis dropped back into her seat. “I’m in. I called Meara as well. The banshee’s in for some light surveillance and will spread the word to others who can keep an eye out for the bitch, though yer likely to only see the sith at night.” Ailis nudged Bat’s leg with a foot. “Maybe the Morrigan doesn’t want you here, but most don’t mind a goddess who gives a shit.”
“I think you do not give your Morrigan enough credit.” Why Bat felt the need to defend the goddess she didn’t know. She recalled the look she’d seen when the other goddess spoke of Dano’s death. Whether it was for Dano, or the trespass of her authority, there was a part of the goddess that cared very much.
Ailis waved a hand in dismissal but didn’t speak again. Bat caught her shooting wary looks at the guardi. She suspected if the man had not been here, Ailis would have been much more vocal.
Bat took a breath, avoiding the stony looks of the brothers. “So, where do we start?”
Chapter 17
SEARBHAN
Shar clenched his fist under the table.
Release. Clench. Release.
The little fool was determined to get herself into trouble. Oh, the folly of protecting a goddess. She would always do what she willed.
And Finn had officially taken over their little conference.
Fucking Finn.
Shar shouldn’t be so angry with the de Danann for holding back what he knew of the blade, and the most likely person to have taken it. After all, hadn’t Shar himself fallen under Grainne’s spell, even if only for a bit, in the Dubros woods? And hadn’t he failed in his own duty to protect the Rowan? And wasn’t he, even now, holding back by not speaking up?
Finn had failed in far grander, though less obvious, ways. He was the one who let Grainne and Diarmuid evade the hunters all those years. Oh, it wasn’t obvious, and every time the couple slipped through his hands, there was a reasonable explanation. And when Dub had stabbed Diarmuid, Finn had delayed in his healing, not because he wanted jus
tice for those slain, but because he feared that if the man lived, he would never gain the woman.
But Shar had seen Finn’s expression as he avoided each mention of that woman tonight. There was anger and pain, but there was also a longing still. He wasn’t fooling anyone. Grainne had had him on the road to twisted, and after all these centuries, he lingered with one foot on that dark path.
As Bat said, she was evil chaos. He wondered if what his goddess had sensed was not the blade, but the woman. Pure speculation on his part, as they had no confirmation that she was involved in this, only the snips of images that Bat received. They could be putting the pieces together in all the wrong ways.
But someone had shot her at the pixie’s farm, and Bat had sensed that something was amiss before the shot was taken.
Bat, Ailis, and Finn sat, heads bent together, and made plans. Shar wanted to snatch his little goddess back and pack her into her room.
Then he remembered the look in her eye when Dub had told her to stay out of it. The anger, and yes, hurt, that clouded her starry gaze. It had only grown when Shar spoke, backing his brother up.
No matter what she thought, and what Dub implied, they were not worried for their own safety. They were concerned for hers. And, yes, for Mell as well. Shar sometimes wondered if his brother might not wake one day and welcome death, decide to take that final step and fade to the Otherlands. He never did, he always found a reason to continue, but if anything happened to the little goddess… Mell had not reacted well to her injury.
Confusion churned inside Shar. He was not built for this emotional warfare. Despite his size, he was always more comfortable with his plants, and his wood. He shifted in his seat, drawing the eyes of his brothers. Bat kept her head averted, not looking at any of them.
It was a small loss and not one he was okay with.
He stood. “I’m going out to the garden.”
His goddess turned her head to him and he caught a glimpse of her round features, closed and distant, as they had never been, not even at that first moment when she stood on their doorstep and Dub had been so rude to her.
Dub rose beside him, and Shar waved him away. “Please, no. I just need a moment to think.”
Mell glanced up at him and then back down. His middle brother had a tight leash on his powers, and his emotions, at the moment.
She is a guest. Shar reminded himself of this. No matter what she makes me feel, what she makes all of us feel, she is no more than a guest and will be gone soon. Besides, what would happen if the brothers decided they did want her and did something about it? Dub’s kiss earlier had been abrupt, but he would not have done it if he did not feel something. Mell’s reaction to her being shot was very telling, and Shar himself had very much enjoyed the brief moments he had held her body to his. After just one day, even his thoughts were telling, filled with possession. He already thought of her as his.
Maybe he could gather some berries for the morning.
He made his way to the back hall and the small laundry where he kept many of his tools. Pulling down a small basket, he mused over what had him upset.
Is it really that she wants to be involved?
He strode through the kitchen and to the back door.
Is it that I want an excuse to protect her?
He pulled the door open and bounded down the steps, taking two at a time.
Is it that I fear how my brothers will react if she were harmed?
He opened the small gate and stepped among his plants, his babies, and sent a small tendril of his power snaking among the leaves and stems.
Is it that I fear how I will react if she were harmed?
His babies answered him, sending sleepy feelings of dark and contentment back at him.
Or is it that I know my brothers and I will never be the same now that we have met her, and we will break apart when she leaves?
He crossed the garden to the back corner where the berry bushes grew. He took his time, selecting only the best berries. They needed to be just this side of ripe. Too far and they would be over sweet. Not ripe enough and the tartness overwhelmed. A branch rustled, and he reached deeper, finding a perfect berry. “Thank you.” He sent an extra bit of power to the plant’s roots and it quivered, happy to have pleased him.
Or it could just be that she fit so damned well in their little slice of life, like she was always supposed to be here, and we are asshats trying to push her away for our own selfish protection.
Yeah, it was that. What kind of coward did that make him, all of them? With that sudden clarity, he made a decision. He didn’t want her to go. Not now, not in two months. Never.
Shar spun on his heel. He needed to talk to his brothers, and then he needed to see his goddess, reassure her, make it clear that she was welcome, in whatever capacity she cared to take on. Whether that was lazing all day while he brought her berries to eat and Mell played music for her and Dub... well Dub would not be very good at letting her laze, but he would certainly make her beautiful things to wear. She could don armor and find a noble steed and gallivant all around the county seeking justice, stepping on toes and pissing off the Morrigan. She could drink tea and have visions and huddle next to a fire, and they would always make sure she was warm.
He could get her the puppy.
Shar pushed through the gate, never seeing the shadow that crept behind him. But he felt the knife as it plunged into his shoulder.
He fell to the pavement, the basket of berries slipping from his grasp.
One strawberry, of a perfect red ripeness, rolled to a rest in front of him as his vision faded.
Chapter 18
Bastie,
The most horrible thing happened tonight. My giant…
I do not have the words. But I am growing attached to these not-men, and am beginning to dread the time when my two months are up.
Could it have been these men the visions were trying to show me, and not the place?
- Bat
BAT
Bat jumped up. It was back, that feeling. It was here.
Where?
Her gaze darted around the room, trying to get a handle on the direction of the feeling.
She froze. Shar. Where was Shar? Shit, he’d left, gone out the back. She had pretended to ignore him, still mad at the treatment he and his brothers were giving her, but she’d been very aware of his movements.
She was beginning to think of them as hers.
Which was silly. A few offerings did not a worshipper make.
Even Dano, if she was truthful with herself, had only given her some boots. He probably had simply been being nice to a wet and cold traveler, and it had nothing to do with her being a goddess.
She grabbed Finn’s arm and the vision of him in the alley returned to her.
Fudge. That was now.
“We need to get outside. Now. It’s here.”
Mell and Dub, who had risen when she did, rushed to the back. “Shar!” Dub called out.
Bat yanked again on Finn. “He’s going to need you.”
Finn moved reluctantly, and Bat growled. “No time for your games, warrior. Move.” She pulled at his arm and pushed with her power, all the reserves she had, and he moved. Ailis came close behind them, Bat suspected to push the guardi as needed.
“Water.”
At Bat’s word, Ailis veered off to the sink.
Bat didn’t wait. Her new friend would take care of that detail. She needed to get to Shar.
Bursting through the back door, she practically flew down the stoop, never letting go of Finn. A dark mound lay in the alley, still. Two figures stood over it, shrouded in shadow. Then one of them moved, and Bat recognized the angry movements of Dub.
“Get over here Cumhaill. Now.” Those growled tones were familiar as well.
If Dub wanted them, that meant Shar was still alive. Bat took in a deep breath as she dragged the guardi over to her giant. And, yes, he was hers. To Ammat’s jaws with anyone who said otherwise. For the next two mo
nths, these brothers were hers.
She yanked Finn to Shar’s side. “Heal him.”
“I need the water.” Finn’s voice was stiff, and his head twisted back and forth, searching.
“It’s not here anymore. They must have fled as soon as they attacked Shar.” Bat’s fingers dug into the man’s arm.
Flash. A masculine hand, holding the soul blade. A woman with red-gold hair kneeling, her tearful gaze shining up, green eyes deep as pools and just as mesmerizing. She held out a hand. “Please.” The dagger wavered.
Bat threw off the vision. She’d look at it later. She’d look at all of them later, and demand the answers. There was a reason she kept seeing this woman.
Ailis arrived with the water. Bat snatched the glass from her and turned to Finn. “Water.”
“He needs to drink it from my hands.”
“Turn him over.”
As Dub and Mell struggled with their brother’s body, Bat knelt, pulling Finn down with her. Something firm squished under her knee. She saw the small basket and the strawberries that lay scattered in the alley.
Oh, my giant.
She sent a sharp look at Finn. “Hands.”
He held out his hands, cupped, and she poured the water into them. Dub propped Shar up on his thighs, so the giant’s head was tilted slightly forward. Mell held his mouth open.
“Come on, Shar, my giant, drink. Please drink. Drink for me now.” Bat barely heard her own words, she was so focused on the slight trickle of water that ran from Finn’s hands and to Searbhan’s lips. Most of it continued down and ran off into his beard, but some made it into his mouth.
At first, nothing happened, and Bat scrambled for Shar’s hand, hoping to sense something of his soul, or maybe give him some of her power. Except she had used it all getting Finn out here, and she had nothing more to give.
Her chest tightened, and a shaky breath escaped her.
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