Awakenings

“This doesn’t seem fair,” Carolyn said, watching Matt walk away. “All of us voting on whether one man is free or not.”

Marin grimaced. “He didn’t want to tell us why the Hunt had made the offer because of that, Care.”

“I know,” she said softly, chewing at her lower lip. “It still doesn’t seem fair. None of it does.”

“Neither was selling him to the Wild Hunt in the first place.” Thom shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned back against one of the storage bins where they kept the clean dishes. “None of this has ever been fair, it’s just been. No one’s had any control over that one way or the other.”

“Until now,” Kellin said. “We get to decide now.”

“For someone else—for a lot of someones.” Carolyn shook her head slightly. “It’s not fair, but I can’t think of a better way to do it.”

Phelan grunted as he settled in his spot near the fire, leaning against Jacqueline’s shoulder as she sat down cross-legged beside him. “This is the only way to do it,” he said quietly. “It may not be entirely fair, but it’s really the only way shy of someone putting their foot down.” He glanced at Kellin, then at Thom and Marin.

Marin rolled her eyes. “If this was a crisis, maybe that would happen. This isn’t that.”

Isn’t it? J.T. wondered. A man’s freedom is on the line. He closed his eyes for a moment. As uncomfortable as having the Wild Hunt live nearby might be, his heart told him that Seamus’s freedom would be worth the risk.

Who are we to deny him the chance at finally being happy?

No one, that’s who.

Matt came back with an old fedora in one hand, a notebook and a box of pencils in the other. “Are we ready?”

Kellin reached for the notebook and pencils. “Absolutely.”

“Good,” Matt said. “Let’s do this.”

Let’s do this indeed.

“There must be more to all of this than just that,” Phelan said after a moment. He wavered slightly on his feet and Thom got up to flank him, helping Jacqueline get him over to a seat near the fire. “It can’t be that simple.”

“It is,” Neve said, confidence audible in her voice and visible in the way her shoulders straightened and her chin lifted. “It absolutely is, Phelan. It’s all they want. They want a place they can come home to and we can offer that to them.”

“Why don’t they just find someplace else that seems likely?” Tala asked, shifting one of the twins from her breast to her shoulder. “Why does it have to be here?”

“Good question,” Paul muttered.

Davon frowned. “Probably something like wanting someone to be able to watch their homes while they’re away—I’m sure that they’ll drift in and out like so many ghosts or nomads.” He glanced toward Phelan and Neve for confirmation.

“They may at that,” Sif said, her tone thoughtful, musing. “They’re not known to stick around. I’m surprised they’ve lingered as long as they have here. Perhaps it’s Seamus.”

“We could gain his freedom,” Neve whispered. “We need him.” She glanced toward Marin and Thom, then over toward her cousin, pain reflecting in her eyes. “Don’t we?”

Phelan shook his head slowly. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “He’s alive.”

“He is,” she said. “He is and he’s here. Who knows if he’ll ever have another chance to be free of them?”

“What was their reasoning for freeing him?” Thordin asked. “They couldn’t fathom it without having some kind of loophole, some reason they’d be able to let him walk away beyond the opportunity to offer us this deal.”

“He’s loved,” Matt said. “That’s all the reason they need, all the opening they need. He is loved and the people who love him the most still live and breathe. They never should have taken him in the first place.” He glanced toward Phelan, then toward his sister and Thom. “Just like they never should have taken Ciar of the Imbolg. They have lesser claim than they.”

Marin blinked. “Matt, how do you—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Matt glanced at Kellin. “How are we making this choice? Casting ballots? Show of hands?”

“Ballots,” Kellin said softly. “Get a notebook and a hat.”

Matt nodded. “Done.”

Without another word, he turned and walked away.

“I’ll…go take a walk, then, while you all discuss this.” Seamus reached for Leinth’s hand. “Come with me?”

She hesitated a moment before she nodded. “All right.”

“We’ll send someone to find you once we’ve decided,” Kellin said quietly. “Be careful.”

Seamus smiled crookedly. “Of course.”

J.T. watched them as they walked away, holding his peace until they were out of earshot. “It’s quite an offer that they’ve made to us.”

“It is,” Kellin agreed. “And maybe not a bad one, either.”

“How do you figure?” Davon asked. “They’re maybe going to draw threats here—more than we already draw on our own. It could be dangerous if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain about assisting with any threats that show up.”

“The Hunt’s honorable, regardless of anything else,” Neve said quietly. “If they say they’ll do it, they’ll do it. It’s part of the way they are.”

“You mean beyond being a group of highly skilled killing machines?” Tala asked, her brow arching delicately. “Look, I’m not against saying yes—“

“I am,” Paul said, grimacing. “It’s too big of a risk—of a wild card.” He glanced toward Neve and Cameron. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

“No, it’s okay,” Neve said quietly. “Everyone’s entitled to be heard even if the decision lies with the whole.”

“What’s going on?”

J.T. jerked toward the sound of Phelan’s voice, blinking. “What the hell are you doing out of bed?”

Phelan leaned against Jacqueline’s shoulder, his color bad with dark circles beneath is eyes, his free hand locked around the haft of his staff. He forced a smile at J.T. “Instinct got the better of both of us and told us that we were missing something important. What’s going on?”

Neve looked at Jacqueline. “Seamus told everyone about the offer.”

Jacqueline winced. “Oh. And we’re deciding now?”

“What offer?” Phelan asked, his brows knitting. “What the hell did I miss while I was asleep?”

Well, at least he’s back to normal—maybe. J.T. sighed as Marin answered.

“In exchange for our allowing the Hunt to settle nearby, they’ll free Seamus from their service. He’d be free. All we have to do is say yes.”

“So the Hunt has a proposal for us?” Marin finally said, shattering the tension with those simple words. Seamus shifted from one foot to the other, nodding slowly.

“They do,” he said. “It’s hard to fathom, but they’re tired. They want a home.”

The words were met by a few minutes of stunned silence before Kellin cleared her throat. “A home,” she echoed. “Are we to assume that they want that home to be here?”

Seamus grimaced , though he met her gaze head-on. “That was their hope, anyway.”

“All of them?” Davon asked. “There’s three dozen of them.”

“Not all of them,” Seamus said. “And not all at once. But there are some that I’ve—that I’ve ridden with for a very long time and they’re tired of being rootless, of having nowhere to stop and lay their heads and be safe for a time. They’re not asking for us—for you—to welcome them with open arms. They just don’t want to be turned away.”

“Their presence could put us in danger,” Kellin said quietly.

Seamus nodded. “I won’t deny that.”

“Would they?” she asked.

Seamus shook his head. “They know it. They would more than willing to aid in any defense needed.” He swallowed hard, voice cracking. “This would be their home, too.”

Neve bit her lip. “Tell them why the Hunt asked, Seamus. Tell them what they offered in return.”

“That’s not important.”

J.T. tilted his head, arm tightening around Carolyn. “Are you sure, Seamus?”

“It shouldn’t make a difference,” Seamus said.

“Lay all the cards on the table, Seamus,” Thom said, his voice quietly commanding. “Let us decide if what they’re offering in exchange matters or not.”

Seamus shook his head again. “I can’t.”

“Then I will,” Leinth’s voice said from behind him. “They offered us Seamus—his freedom. He wouldn’t be bound to the Hunt any longer. All you have to do is give them a soft place to fall and a place to lay their heads when the fancy strikes.

“A small price to pay, if you ask me, for a man’s freedom.”

It took fifteen minutes to round up everyone they needed for the proposal. Seamus began to show his nerves more and more as the gathering grew larger, starting to fidget and staring at the fire. Neve went to him and touched his arm, spoke quietly to him—quiet enough that she wasn’t to be overheard by anyone nearby. J.T. watched them carefully, reflecting that he really wasn’t sure that he wanted to know what they were talking about, anyway.

Obviously, she’s already aware of the proposal that he’s about to tell us about. A shiver crept down J.T.’s spine. He glanced toward Marin, who didn’t look curious as she joined the group by the fire. I wonder if Mar knows, too. From the frown on Thom’s face, he was guessing she did and had declined to share that information with her husband.

This has to be a doozy. I don’t think Seamus would be this worried if it was anything less. J.T. exhaled quietly and took a slow sip of his coffee, smiling at Carolyn as she joined him next to the fire. “Hey.”

“Hey. What’s going on?”

He slid his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze. “Seamus has something he needed to ask all of us on the behalf of the Wild Hunt. Sounded like it had the potential to be something fairly ominous, but we’ll have to see.”

Carolyn rested her head against his shoulder, studying Seamus for a long moment, her brows knitting. “Well, he certainly looks nervous. Must be big.”

“We’ll see,” J.T. said quietly. “Your little friends haven’t noticed anything untoward in the last few days, have they?”

“No,” Carolyn said. “But then again, they’re mostly concentrated on making sure that we have reaction time if Thesan tries something. She hasn’t yet, but they don’t trust it. I don’t blame them.”

J.T. choked on a laugh. “Well, it’s nice to know that they’re helping with our security.”

“They care about us, Jay. Would you ever expect anything else?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I guess not.”

J.T. sighed and rolled to his feet, juggling his coffee mug to avoid spilling the hot liquid all over himself. “Well, guess I’d better go check on them, then.”

Davon startled. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay,” J.T. muttered, taking a deep draught from his mug. “You were right, I shouldn’t have just left them. She’s going to be too distracted by the fact that he remembers her to actually think straight.”

“Who?”

J.T. jumped at the sound of Seamus’s voice, twisting toward the master of the Wild Hunt. “Jacqueline.”

“Did you find Eriú?” Neve asked, her tone becoming hopeful. “Phelan’s remembered Jacqueline, but who knows if anything else has come back.”

“Leinth’s looking for her,” Seamus said quietly, folding his arms. His brow furrowed slightly and he stared at the fire for a long moment. “She’s probably better equipped to find one ghost than I am.”

“I’m still surprised that you’re not with her,” Neve said softly. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s time that we all had a conversation,” Seamus said. “Where are Marin and Thom and the rest?”

The sick feeling in the pit of J.T.’s stomach only got worse. “What’s this about?”

Seamus shook his head. “There’s an offer on the table from the Wild Hunt,” he said. “I don’t want to say much more than that without everyone here. It’s not something I want to explain again.” His gaze flicked toward Neve, who winced.

“Seamus,” she began. He cut her off.

“It’s all right,” he said. “If they say no, they say no.”

“They won’t say no,” she said.

“They might once they hear what the offer is. Some prices are too high to pay.”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Davon said as he got up. “I’ll go round everyone up. Jay, were you still going to check on Phelan and Jac?”

“No,” J.T. said as he sat back down. “Something tells me that they can wait. I need to be here for this.”

And I hope it’s not nearly as bad as I think it might be.