by Laura Howard
“Liam knows his way, right?” Ethan said, glancing between them.
“Of course,” Niamh said, but she didn’t meet my eyes.
Aodhan carried me to Niamh’s house and Ethan stayed by my side as he walked. When we arrived, Aodhan sat me in one of the chairs in Niamh’s dining room. I laid my head on the table. My lids felt way too heavy and my thoughts were hazy. It wasn’t until then that I realized how much I hurt, inside and out.
The last thing I remember was Ethan standing in front of me. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked, but everything slipped away before I heard the answer.
I opened my eyes to darkness. It took a few minutes before everything that happened came back to me.
I bolted upright and realized I was in a bed. The blankets moved and I felt Ethan sitting up next to me.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out a hand and touching my cheek.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We’re in one of Niamh’s guest rooms. You were in shock and Eithne said your body needed to shut down so you could rest. You’ve been sleeping for a few hours.”
“Eithne was here? But what about…” Ethan put his finger over my lips
“Shh,” he said. “Niamh went to get her after you passed out. She healed your ankle. You had a very nasty break.”
I tried moving my foot. There was no pain.
Liam’s look of panic flashed in my memory. “Liam. Oh God, Liam.”
“Come here,” Ethan said, pulling me into his lap and smoothing his hand over my hair.
Tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks again. I buried my face into Ethan’s shoulder. Liam was gone. I’d barely had a chance to know him before he was so violently torn from my life. And chances were my mother would be, too.
“Look at me,” Ethan said, grasping my chin to tilt my head up so I’d meet his eyes.
I shook my head. “It’s my fault. What was I thinking?”
“You were trying to make things right,” he said, wiping away my tears.
I dragged in a ragged breath and nodded. “I was.”
“You should try to get some more rest,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “And then I want to take you home.”
I didn’t want to rest, but I did want to go home. As far away from Tír na n’Óg as I could get. Ethan helped me to my feet. For the most part I felt fine, if a tiny bit stiff.
We walked into the dining room where Niamh and Aodhan sat talking with Eithne and Diarmuid. They all looked up when we came in.
Eithne came over to where I sat down and, hands fluttering around me, asked how I was feeling.
“I feel completely fine,” I said, my voice still a little wobbly with tears. I sniffed. “I really just want to go home.”
“Of course,” Niamh said, giving me a tight smile. “We’ll go right away.”
“I’m coming, too,” Aodhan said, getting to his feet.
“But, what about…” Niamh started to say.
“I don’t give a damn about any of that,” Aodhan said. “Deaghlan can handle that without me.”
“Don’t leave on my account,” I said, frowning at Aodhan.
“I’m coming,” he said, and his tone was final.
The journey back was fast and uneventful. I was barely even aware of my surroundings as we went through the portal. Ethan drove us from Wheelwright back to Stoneville and all I could think about was going to my mother. If she were going to be taken from me, too, I wanted to be with her for as long as I could.
We went to Liam’s house first so Niamh could call the decoys back and get briefed on what we’d missed.
My decoy said I’d been granted the leave of absence I’d applied for. I’d been working at the hardware store and spending most of my time with Ethan, Jeff and Nicole planning the wedding. Nothing out of the ordinary happened with my mother during our time away. My grandfather had been to a specialist because of chest pains, but they’d put him on medication and he was doing well.
Aodhan didn’t say much while the decoys, who’d taken back their own appearances, filled us in. He was just a silent presence in the corner, watching and listening.
Ethan walked me home and stopped at the bottom of my porch steps. “You’re awful quiet,” he said, giving me a tired smile.
I nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ve just been trying to keep control of my thoughts.”
His eyebrows knitted. “What do you mean?”
I smoothed my T-shirt. “I didn’t want Niamh to know what I’m thinking, so I’ve been trying to think about things like sunshine and flowers.”
“And what are you really thinking about?” he said.
I stood up straight and met his gaze. “I think I’m going to kill Aoife, or die trying.”
A great big thank you to my family for putting up with me when I go for days without coming out of my book-writing fog. To my husband Kevin and four kiddos— I love you even if I ignore you!
A special shout-out to my Super Sekrit Ninjas for their undying support through the last year. I love that I can always count on you!
I’m so grateful for the book community we have on FB— authors, bloggers, editors, etc. Thank you for putting up with all my random questions and rants!
And thank you last, but not least to my editor Becky Tsaros Dickson for helping me to write more and write better.
Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known.
Blog:
http://laurahoward78.blogspot.com/
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