Awakenings

They poured into the bed of the creek below, onto its banks, some jumping back and forth between the two sides of the ravine where they were closest to each other.  They were in wolf form as they came at us initially and as shots began to ring out all around me, I wondered if they would attack us as wolves or as men.

I got my answer as the first one transformed into a half-clad, howling madman with an axe, charging down the center of the ravine toward a likely pathway up the steep sides toward us.

Where the hell did that axe come from?

With a calmness I didn’t quite feel, I notched another arrow and let fly.

Thom was swearing under his breath—I barely heard him over the sound of gunfire mixed with howls and cries of pain from below us.  As my arrow caught the axe-wielding skinwalker in the shoulder, I allowed myself to imagine for the very briefest of moments that we might not have to face them at the top of the ravine—maybe we’d mow them down before they got to us.

But they just kept coming through the gunfire and I knew I was wrong.

“This looks like more than three dozen!”  I yelled over the din.

“Feels like it, too.”  Thom glanced away from me, toward Thordin, who was holding his fire, eyes in constant motion.  “What do you see?”

“Looking for the leader,” Thordin murmured, almost too soft to be heard.  “There’s always an alpha.”

And he wants to take him out so there’s no one there to keep order, to give direction.  I wonder if that would work.

I sucked in a breath and let fly on another arrow.  They were starting to climb the walls of the ravine, now, some maintaining lupine shape and others transforming into wild-eyed, half-naked men with weapons that were frightening as much for their size as the inexplicability of their appearance from thin air.

“Hold!”  Someone was shouting.  It took a second for me to realize that I was the one shouting, my voice booming out like some kind of general of old’s.  “Hold, damn you!  Stand fast.  Stand fast!”

Our friends were doing just that—holding position, calmly firing until they were empty, then reloading.  We were slowing the tide, but the Hamrammr kept on coming, the ugly bastards that they were.  They kept coming even as we peppered them with shotgun fire, as Thordin and I—and Cariocecus from the bridge, I saw in a momentary flash—feathered them with our arrows.

We’re running out of room to thin the—

They were on us before I managed to finish the thought, three cresting the rim of the ravine only a few feet from us.  I backpedaled frantically as Thom and Cameron both calmly discarded their firearms and drew their swords.

My heart threatened to beat right out of my chest as they moved in on the snarling trio, two wielding axes and one with a warhammer the size of my head.  All I could see was one of those axes cleaving through Thom’s ribcage, the hammer crashing down on Cameron’s skull.

I stopped thinking and fired another arrow.  It caught one of the trio in the mouth, punching through his throat and back out the other side.

He went down in a heap without so much as a whisper, his axe clattering from twitching, nerveless fingers that didn’t quite realize that their bearer was dead.

Thom spun to look at me, eyes widening in shock.

The second man with an axe moved.

Thom didn’t see him coming.

I screamed, but time had already run out.

Another howl echoed off the walls of the ravine as Thom and I reached the edge and I unslung the bow I was carrying.  The sound shot shivers down my spine and bile rose in my throat.  I said nothing, not wanting any of them to see how terrified I was.

Fucking werewolves.  What’s the world going to throw at us next?  I bit my lip for a moment.

“They’re getting close,” Thordin said as he and Thom flanked me.  Matt drifted up alongside Thom and Cameron did the same on the other side of Thordin.  “You can tell by the number of echoes.  I give it another five minutes or so, assuming they can find their way.”

“They’re tracking Phelan’s scent?”  It wasn’t really a question.  I knew that they would be.  We were lucky it had taken them this long to track him here.

“Like as not,” Thordin said, his expression grim as he stared out at the bare trees, their trunks ink-black against the stark white of the snow-slick slopes.  “He came from the south, did he?”

“From Chicago,” I said, feeling slightly numb.  “He’d been with Teague and Kira.”

Thordin didn’t bother to ask who Kira was, only nodded.  “That’d explain why they’re taking a more circuitous route.  Given the destruction west of here—”

“How do you know that there’s destruction west of here?”  Cameron interrupted.

Thordin ignored the question and continued.  “—it made sense that they’d come from due east, across that damned broken bridge, instead of from the south.”

“There’s three dozen of them,” Thom said.  “Do you think we have a chance?”

Thordin winced and sucked in a breath.  He exhaled it slowly and finally nodded.  “Aye, well, we’d better believe that we do.”

That’s incredibly comforting.  I bit down hard on my lip and stared down at the ravine, watching for colors and movement as a howl echoed, closer this
time.  “Better make sure that everyone’s loaded and ready,” I said, my voice shockingly steady.

Perhaps there was more from a past life in me than I’d dared to imagine.

Thom squeezed my shoulder and turned away from me, shouting to the others where they stood along the ravine.  “Load weapons and ready to fire.  They’re getting close.”

Thordin tested the pull on the war bow in his hand.  I could hear Cameron cocking the rifle he was carrying.  Matt loaded Thom’s shotgun, then his own, his expression grim.  I wanted to take my brother’s hand and squeeze it tightly, but there wasn’t time—and I was afraid that if I let go of my bow and the arrow I held at the ready, my hands would begin to shake so badly that I’d be useless for hitting any mark.

Keep it together, Marin.  You can do this.  You have to do this.

Why the hell did I insist on being on the front line anyway?

I swallowed hard again.  I was in front because I needed to be—because there was no other choice for me.  There was something inexplicable forcing me to the front of this, telling me where, exactly, I needed to be.  I wasn’t sure that I liked it.

Then again, the first time I’d had a vision, I’d been sure I hadn’t liked those.

Deep breaths, Marin.  Deep breaths.

Something moved beyond the bend in the ravine, a flash of gray and brown against the white and black.

In one smooth motion, I drew back the bowstring and let fly.

Suddenly, there was red splashed against the white of the snow.  Something howled angrily, and that angry howl was joined by a chorus of others.

The battle was on.

Thom stopped at the fire on his way to where they’d face the enemy, mostly to assure himself that the blessings were done and that his friend would at least be well-armed to face the enemy.  Jacqueline was gathering up the last boxes of ammunition into one of her spare baskets and Phelan and Marin were both rising from their knees.  Relief washed over both of their faces when they spotted him.

“Which way?”  Phelan asked quietly.

“The ravines, like we thought.  I told him to cover us from the bridge as best he could.”

“We’ll have to hope none of his arrows end up in us.”  Phelan shook his head and sighed, resigned.  “You don’t have to say it, fear fiach.”

“I know I don’t,” Thom said, is gaze steady.  He reached out to squeeze Phelan’s shoulder.  “But I’m going to anyway.  Have some faith, take a breath, and know that we’re praying right along with you that we all make it through this alive.  Having Cariocecus with us, as much as we may hate to admit it, might increase our odds of survival at this point.”  He could be the ace in the hole that we need because I’m more than half positive that we’re not going to have any sort of cavalry riding to our rescue anytime soon.  Not this time.

Maybe not ever again.

Marin’s hand slid into his and she squeezed his fingers.  “We’re wasting time,” she murmured.”

“You’re right.”  He squeezed her hand back.  “We’re ready, then?”

“Everyone else was getting into position,” Phelan confirmed.  “We’re the last because we were dealing with this last batch of ammunition.”

Thom nodded.  “Let’s go.”

Their friends had gathered in two ragged lines facing the section of the ravine most likely to be climbed by their incoming enemies.  The howls echoed off the trees and the ravine walls, but even as he jogged toward the edge, Thom couldn’t see any sign of the incoming skinchangers, either in human form or wolf shape.

Wait for it.  They’ll be on you before you know it.  “Marin, I want you in the second line.”

“Like hell,” his wife snapped.  “Someone has to cover your ass and it’s going to be me.  Besides, I’m the best hand with a bow you’ve got.”

“She’s right,” Phelan said.  “I know you don’t want to hear it, but she’s right.  We need her in the front with you and I.”

“I didn’t say you were going to be in the front, either,” Thom said as he strode through the ranks toward where Matt stood with Thordin and Cameron near the edge of the ravine.  “You’re staying at the rear with us between you and them.”

“They’re coming after me,” Phelan said, his voice soft.

“And we’re protecting you.”  Thom stopped short of the front line and turned toward Phelan.  “Let us protect you.”

Phelan opened his mouth to protest.  Marin put her hand on his arm.

“Phelan, please.  You almost got killed the last time.  I don’t want to go through that again.  None of us want to go through that again.”

He winced at the pleading note in her voice, looking away.  “Leannán, you know that I can’t stand the idea of anyone else dying for me.”

“No one is going to die for you today,” Marin whispered.  “Don’t talk like that.”

She sounded more confident than she probably was.  Thom knew that slight waver in her voice, but he prayed that Phelan hadn’t heard it, hadn’t noticed.

The once-druid put his arms around the smaller woman and held her against his chest in a long, hard hug.  She hugged him back, exhaling a shaky breath.  Thom watched them, fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

Agree to stay back, Phelan.  Don’t be stubborn, just do it.

“Fine,” he whispered.  “For you two.  Fine.”

One victory, at least.  Thom nodded.  “You and Jac stay close to each other.”

“Right,” Phelan said with a slight sigh.  “You bloody well be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” Marin said with a wry smile.  “We will.”

She took Thom by the hand and led him toward the rim of the ravine, where her brother, Thordin, and Cameron waited for them.

“Matt, take Thordin and Cameron to a position on the edge of the ravine,” Thom said.  “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Where are you going?” Matt asked, brow furrowing as he hefted the axe Thordin had been teaching him to use, as if he was nervous to be wielding it in combat for the first time.

Thom shook his head.  “Cariocecus is going to meet me at the gate with a last few pieces of information.  It wouldn’t look very good if I wasn’t there to meet him.”

“You’re assuming he’s not going to double-cross us,” Phelan muttered, already on his knees in front of boxes of ammunition.  “He could decide that playing nice with the bitch-goddesses could be healthier for him in the long run.”

“Given the rounds he went with Vammatar himself, I doubt it.”  Thom tried to hide his discomfort.  Phelan’s suggestion was a possibility, but one that Thom hoped was a remote one at best.

One of these days, I’d rather have certainty than hope.  Maybe someday that’ll happen.

Marin caught his hand and squeezed as he turned to go.

“Be careful,” she whispered.  He smiled tightly.

“Always,” he said softly.  He squeezed her hand back before letting go.  “Jay, Matt.  Get everyone arrayed like we did when we faced Vammatar out there.  I’ll be taking Marin’s position this time.”  I want you where you can do some serious damage with that bow, not waiting to get overrun at the edge.

He heard his wife start to protest, but he was already jogging away, toward the gate where he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait too long for their erstwhile new ally.

Damn, I hope we’re not getting played here.  I hope he’s as trustworthy as Marin and I have assumed that he is.  They were all out on a limb with Cariocecus and they knew it.

We just have to hope.  Thom took a deep breath and slowed his pace, resting one hand lightly on the hilt of the sword that thumped lightly against his hip.  He’d taken to wearing it after his ribs had healed sufficiently—and after the second unexpected attack on their settlement.  It just made good sense.  To listen to some of their friends, he hadn’t waited long enough.

Cariocecus was waiting for him when he arrived at the gate.  The godling was out of breath, golden-bronze skin so pale the gash beneath his eye looked an angry, livid red.

“Three packs,” Cariocecus said as soon as he spotted Thom.  “Three.  That’s three dozen of the bastards, Seer.  They’re coming from the south, probably up through the woods and the ravine, the same way—”

“The same way Vammatar came after us,” Thom said, the calmness of his voice belying the quickened pace of his heartbeat.  Thirty-six of them.  Basically one apiece—and Phelan said these take a lot of killing.  We could be in big trouble.

Cariocecus hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded.  “Yes.  Seer, I don’t know if I’m capable of helping with this.”

Thom’s eyes narrowed.  “You were a god of war.”

“Yes.”

“So find yourself some kind of projectile weapon, position yourself on that goddamned bridge and get ready to cover our flank.”  Thom’s eyes narrowed.  “Unless you’re scared of them.”

“I would be, were I you.”  Cariocecus shook his head slowly.  “Do you have any idea what you’re up against, Seer?”

Thom shook his head.  “It doesn’t matter.  This is our home and our family.  If we don’t stand together and protect this place, there’s no point in any of us surviving the end of the world.”

Cariocecus stared at him for a long moment before he looked away.  “You know, I didn’t realize until this very moment that I never could have won against you.”

“Better late than never,” Thom said, suppressing a shiver.  “Get to the bridge and cover us.  We’re making our stand at the edge of the ravine.”

Cariocecus nodded slowly, then turned and jogged away.

“How the hell are we supposed to know that whatever’s coming is actually hostile?”  Brandon was asking as Marin and Thom joined their friends by the fire.  “The last time we had howling visitors, they happened to be Drew’s naked half-brother and company.”

“Gut instinct,” Thom rasped, his throat still raw and his mouth sour.  “We’ll have confirmation soon enough.  Something tells me our luck’s been too good lately—we’re due to run out.”

“Plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Jacqueline said as she straightened from her crouch next to the fire, slinging the strap of her messenger bag medical kit across her body.  “If we’re sitting back on our heels, that’s the best way for all of us to get ourselves killed.”

“Exactly,” Thom said.  Marin pressed a mug of tea into his hand a moment later and he took a deep swallow, coughed, then started to talk again, his voice sounding more normal.  “Cariocecus is trying to get us a direction and delay whatever’s coming our way.  Carolyn, do our little friends have any information for us on that right now?”

“They’re coming from the south,” Carolyn said, stepping closer to J.T. and wrapping both of her arms around one of his.  “And they smell like fur.  I’m really not getting much more detail than that from them, but I don’t know how much more detail they’d be able to give me to start with.  This is kind of unknown territory for them.”

It’s unknown territory for all of us, really.  Thom glanced at Phelan, who stood near the fire with his arms crossed tightly against his chest, staring at the flames.  “Have any tactics you’d like to share?”

Phelan’s lips thinned for a moment, then he shook his head slightly.  “No.  Just that they’re berserkers that’ll take a lot of killing.  Chopping off a limb isn’t going to stop them and neither is gutting them.  You have to keep hitting them until they stop moving or they’re going to get up and come after you again—and sometimes they still do even when you’re think they’re down for good.  Watch your backs.  But no tactics.  Just keep hitting them until they’re dead.”

“What are we dealing with?”  Thordin rumbled as he and Cameron joined the group.  Neve was with them, pale-faced and unsteady as she leaned on her crutches, half hiding in Cameron’s shadow.  Phelan sucked in a sharp breath when he saw his cousin and then looked away again.

“Hamrammr.”  Phelan spat the word like a curse.  “The bitches sent skinwalkers after me.”

Thordin let out a low whistle.  “That explains the howling.  Almost worse than the Dirae, that.”

“Almost,” Phelan agreed grimly.  “But those bitches lost track of me before you guys showed up.  They were chasing Teague.”

“And Cameron,” Neve said.  “I doubt any of us will be safe from them, now that the Hecate knows exactly where we are.”

“One threat at a time,” Thom snapped, trying to keep everyone focused.  “If they’re coming from the south, we’ve got two points we’ve got to worry about.  Either they’re going to come up the river-side through the ravines, or they’ll actually hit the walls.”

“They’ll come up the ravines,” Thordin said.  “They’re used to woodlands.  We’ll have advantage of high ground, but not much else.  Our best chance is to cut them down while they’re making their initial charges.  Bows and shotguns.”

“Too bad we don’t have any silver shot,” Cameron quipped.

“It wouldn’t do us any good,” Neve said.  “But if we bless the shot and the arrows, that’ll help.”

Cameron frowned, opening his mouth to say something, then closed it again, apparently deciding that now wasn’t the time.

It’s the Vammatar fight all over again.  All we can hope is that she didn’t have some insane way of communicating our defenses back to her sisters before Phelan ended her.  “Right,” Thom said, nodding toward Paul as he arrived with an armload of guns and shot.  “Phelan, get to work on those.  We’ll set up the fire-line at the edge of the ravine.”  He paused a moment, thinking.  “We could set a group on the bridge.”

“Assuming they come up that slope.”  Kellin frowned.  “It’s too big of a risk to arrange anyone outside of easy reach of the warding lines.  Maybe once we find a way to ward the bridge, too, but that’s—pardon the pun—a bridge we’ll cross at a later date.  After we make it through this alive.”  She held Phelan’s staff out to him.  “What else do you need, draoi?”

Phelan winced at the title and shook his head.  “Holly, which I’m sure you’ve got in hand already.  The same things I needed the last time.”  He glanced toward Marin and beckoned her over.  “You and Jacqueline help Kellin and I with this.”

“Me?” Jacqueline and Marin said in the same voice.

“Yes,” Phelan said firmly.  “Both of you.  Let’s get started before we’re too late.”

Another howl split the air and he shuddered visibly.  “We may already be too late.”

“Work fast,” Thom told him.  “We’ll take care of the rest.”

And we’ll pray that what worked the first time we faced an assault from that pantheon works a second time.

“For pity’s sake,” Thom muttered.  “Knock it off.”

Phelan jerked around to face him.  “Did you really just—”

Thom held his ground.  “Absolutely.  Who else would?  We’ve got bigger issues to deal with than your guilt complex right now.  Whether any of this is your fault or not doesn’t matter.  What matters is that we damned well live through it.  Right?  Right.  Now let’s get on with this.”  He glanced toward Matt.  “Was someone getting weapons?”

Matt nodded.  “Paul was handling the guns and Rory was gathering up blades and bows.  I think Greg was helping.”

“And Tala’s getting Neve moved somewhere safe?”  Phelan’s question was half plea, half demand.  Thom looked at him sideways, brows knitting for a moment.

“She was going to try,” J.T. said before Matt could answer.

“Try,” Phelan echoed, his expression darkening.  “Trying doesn’t imply success.”

Marin touched his shoulder.  “Think about how stubborn you are and multiply it by three, Phelan.”

“You’re implying that she’s more stubborn than I am,” he said.

“You know that she is.  Better not to deny it.”  Marin’s hand slid into Thom’s and squeezed.  “Keep your head in reality.  That’s what’ll help us and you know it.”

Phelan made an upset sound in his throat and broke into a jog.  Matt fell in behind him and Thom would have started to jog as well if Marin’s grip hadn’t restrained him.

Why am I thinking this means something’s wrong?  He frowned, looking at her.  “What is it?”

“I love you,” she said softly.  “That’s all.”

His stomach dropped to his knees.  “What do you know, Marin?” he asked in a whisper.

She shook her head slightly.  “I don’t know anything,” she whispered back.  “I don’t.  I just…”

“You have a feeling.”  I hate it when she gets a bad feeling.  A shiver shot down his spine and he swallowed bile.  I really hate it when she gets a bad feeling.

“Yeah.”  Her fingers tightened.  “But we’ll be okay.  We always are.”

Except for when we’re not.  He swallowed hard and nodded slowly.  “Right,” he said quietly.  “You’re right.  We’ll be fine.”

Something screamed to his left and he hit the dirt, diving and rolling and swearing at whatever had just taken a swing at him with a mace that emitted a deafening whistle when someone swung it.  All he could see was the creature’s bright golden eyes within the shadowed recesses of its hooded cloak as he tumbled away.  He came to his feet, cursing under his breath as he realized he’d lost his blade.

That’s not good.  Hellfire.

“Thom!  Down!”

He whipped toward the sound of Marin’s voice, spotted her perched on a rooftop with an arrow notched and ready.

He hit the ground just as she let fly.

His attacker screamed as the arrow thudded home.

Then, Marin screamed as one of its allies threw her off the roof.

“Thom?  Thom!”

He pitched forward, stomach heaving.  Marin’s hands curled into the fabric of his jacket as he offered his breakfast up to the world, gagging and coughing, eyes tearing.

“What is it?”  she breathed in his ear as he rested his elbows against his knees, wheezing and trying to gather enough moisture in his mouth to spit and rid his tongue of the taste of his own vomit.  Her fingers tangled in his hair.  He squeezed his eyes shut.

Another howl echoed off the trees and the ruins.

“No time,” he rasped.  “I’ll tell you later.”

Her fingers tightened, but she nodded.  “All right,” she whispered.  “Let’s get to work.”

She helped him straighten and they dashed off in their friends’ wake.

“You know, the tales speak of the Seers’ offspring, too,” Cariocecus said, his tone half musing as he stared out at nothing, lost in thought.  “I suppose I should have made those connections sooner, but understand that I wasn’t actually trying to kill either one of you.  Just scare you half out of your minds so you would be cooperative with me.”

“Strange,” Thom said, eyes narrowing dangerously, “seems you did a bang-up job of almost killing us both.”

“I have a temper,” Cariocecus said with a slight shrug.  “It got the better of me.  For what it’s worth, I apologize for that incident.”

I snorted humorlessly and shook my head.  “You were telling us about Seamus.”

“I was,” he agreed.  “And then Wanderer brought up his offspring, which brings us to…your offspring.”  He smiled.  “That’s happening about eight months from now, isn’t it?”

I rocked back against my heels.  Thom’s hand closed on my shoulder.  How the hell does he know?

Phelan swung around to face both of us.  “You’re sure?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

All I could do was nod, my heart going at three times its normal speed.  How had Cariocecus known?

Thom’s fingers tightened almost painfully.  “Breathe, Mar,” he whispered in my ear.  “Just breathe.”

I sucked in a breath, realizing I hadn’t drawn one since Cariocecus had voiced his question.  Phelan caught my face between his palms and stared me in he eye.

“How long have you known?” he whispered.

“Just since yesterday,” I whispered back, shaking my head and feeling tears begin to well up and ooze down my cheeks.  “You had so much you were already worried about, Phelan, I didn’t want to tell you.”

“I knew it was a possibility,” he said.  “You could have told me it was a sure thing.”

“I told her that I’d tell you,” Thom interjected.  “It’s my baby, too, Phelan.  I told her I wanted that honor.”

That burden, I thought, not a little bitterly.  I’d feared Phelan’s reaction, especially in the wake of everything that had happened recently.  He was unsettled enough by Neve’s pregnancy and the apparently very real possibility that the time table or a half-dozen prophecies had suddenly been pushed up much further than he’d ever been able to anticipate.

That was part of his task as the Taliesin, he’d told Thom and I.  Anticipating what would happen when and trying to be at the right place at the right time to nurture those who needed it.

His presence among us now, though, had everything to do with Thom’s cousin and far less to do with chasing prophecies.  The fact that everything seemed to swirl around to us, though—that was just a bonus for him, two birds killed with one stone.

Beyond Phelan, Cariocecus wore a puzzled expression.  “You hadn’t told him.”

“No,” I said.  “He has enough of a burden to bear without adding that to his load.”  I drew myself a little straighter and gently disengaged Phelan’s hands from my face, wiped away my tears, then stepped sideways to meet Cariocecus’s eye.  “You know too much, Shadow Man,” I whispered.  “and we still have a lot of questions for you.  You’re going to be on a tight leash—especially until I know everything I want to know.”

“Marin.”  Thom’s fingers dug painfully into my shoulder and I glared at him.

“What?”

“Listen,” he said.  “Just…listen.”

I shut up for a second and did as he’d asked.  At first, all I could hear was the sound of the wind and our breathing.  Then, I heard what he wanted me to.

Wolves.

“Oh hell,” I breathed.

“Hamrammr,” Cariocecus said simply.  “Sounds as if I’m about to start paying my debt and playing my role.”

“Aye,” Thom said.  “Sounds like.  Figure out where they are and report to the gate when you know.  I’ll be waiting there.”  He took me by the hand, caught Phelan by the arm, and started ushering us back toward camp at a jog.

“What if I can’t figure it out until they’re almost on top of us?”  Cariocecus asked our retreating backs.

“Improvise something,” Thom told him.

The three of us broke into a run.

“Right.”  I looked between Phelan and Cariocecus, my brow furrowing.  I could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on.  “Are you two done baiting each other?”

“He tried to break my face,” Cariocecus said, feigning innocence.  I swore under my breath and massaged a temple.

“You tried to break Thom and I,” I retorted.  “And tried to kill all of us, and subverted one of our friends…do I need to keep going?  Because I’m sure I can come up with more.”

Cariocecus just stared at me for a moment before he glanced away.  “No,” he said, his voice even, perhaps even a little remorseful.  “You don’t have to continue.  I’m well aware of the wrongs I’ve done unto you and yours, Seer.  I’ve no need to be reminded.”

“Good.”  I crossed my arms and stared at him.  “Then you can keep explaining.”

His eyes narrowed briefly before he let out a soft sigh and nodded.  “Very well.  There are tales that the Taliesin seems to want to forget—”

“How the hell do you know that’s what I am?”  Phelan demanded as Thom slowly let him up from the snow-covered ground.

“It’s a rather poorly kept secret in some circles,” Cariocecus said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the metal of the archway again.  “It began when someone sorted out that Seamus the Black had been the Taliesin before you and then began to think about who the mantle might be passed to when he’d left your homeland.  Chief among the possibilities were you and the Lord Teague, but the latter was summarily dismissed soon after.  Men watched you, Wanderer, and the pieces began to fall into place.  No matter how secret you think your intentions may be, how quiet you make your moves, someone will always notice.”

Phelan’s eyes narrowed dangerously and a muscle in his jaw twitched violently.  I smothered a wince as I turned away from him and back toward Cariocecus.

“You’re still baiting him,” I said, tone light and even.  “I’m not sure I like it.”

“I know he’s not a fan,” Thom growled.  “Stick to business, Cariocecus.”

“Well, I am trying,” he said, eyes narrowing slightly, “but a certain troublemaker is making that difficult.”

Phelan shook off Thom’s grip.  “I’ll leave.”

“No.”  I looked between the two of them, voice soft.  “If this is going to work, we can’t have the two of you constantly at each other’s throats.  It won’t do us an ounce of good to even try.  Either you two make some kind of peace or the deal’s off.”

My stomach gave an uncomfortable flutter at the idea of just giving up, but I hadn’t been sure that this little alliance was in our best interest in the first place.

When had I started to think otherwise?

That was enough to make me shiver.

Phelan gave me a baleful look for just a second, then sighed and drew himself up a little straighter, a little taller.

“Fine.  I will make a concerted effort to treat him with some modicum of respect.”

“I will endeavor to do likewise,” Cariocecus said.

“Good.”  I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.  Don’t push your luck, Marin, you can’t hope for much more than what they’ve just agreed to.  “Now that that’s settled, tell us how you know that Seamus is alive.”

“I did already say that it was because the Lady of Sighs told me.  In exchange for my sparing the Wanderer’s life, no less.”

“I still don’t believe that,” Phelan said.  “I don’t know how you expect me to.”

“Believe it,” Cariocecus said, “because it’s the truth.  She was in a cabin surrounded by Hamrammr, possibly about to get torn to shreds.”  He shook his head, looking at Phelan again.  “When you piss off goddesses, you pick some of the best, you realize that, don’t you?”

“It’s not like I try,” Phelan retorted.

“Of course not.  It’s just the way about you.”  Cariocecus grinned momentarily, then continued.  “I came to her rescue, of course.  I’ve always had a soft spot for your little sister, Wanderer.  She’s so much sweeter than the rest of you, but with such steel in her spine.”

Thom put a restraining hand on Phelan’s shoulder and I swallowed another sigh.

Yeah.  This…isn’t going well.  Not at all.  “So she told you that Seamus was alive because she was grateful that you’d saved her life?”

“Oh, no, she bargained,” Cariocecus said.  “She bargained for her brother’s life and I granted her that boon.  Then she told me.  Of course, I suspected that he was still breathing because the signs point to it—and there are some who have scryed his blood in the world, started to track it.”

Phelan’s eyes narrowed.  “That could just have easily been his offspring.”

“Indeed,” Cariocecus said, tone thoughtful and eyes distant.  “Indeed.”

Christ.  I don’t like where I think this is going.  I don’t like it at all.

Cariocecus stood near the archway where Thom and I had gotten married.  He was studying the dormant vines that tangled around the metal thoughtfully, so intensely that I more than half wondered if he was trying to figure out what kind of vine it was—and if it could be turned into a weapon in a pinch.  He didn’t seem to notice our approach until Thom cleared his throat loudly.

Then he spun toward us, gaze lighting on Thom and I for a moment each before his eyes narrowed at the sight of Phelan.

“Going to hit me again?” he asked.  There was a purpling bruise on his jaw and I could see the faint imprint of Phelan’s hematite ring along Cariocecus’s jawline.

He’s lucky that he didn’t break his jaw—and Phelan’s lucky he didn’t break his fingers.

Phelan glared at him and I put a hand on his arm to restrain him.  “No,” I said.  “He’s not going to hit you again.  At least not before we get to talk.”

Cariocecus stared at me for a long moment, then nodded slightly and seated himself on a nearby bench.  “All right,” he drawled, crossing his arms.  “Let’s talk, Seer.”

I glanced toward Thom and he gave me a slight nod.  I nodded back and then turned my focus back toward Cariocecus.

Your show this time, Marin.  Let’s see what you’ve got.

“Why are you looking for Phelan’s cousin?”

Cariocecus’s brows shot up.  “Of all the things you could have asked me, you lead with that?”

My eyes narrowed and I took a step forward.  Sometimes, I wish I was bigger, just so I’d seem more imposing.  “Something tells me finding that out is more important than some of the other things I could lead off with.  ‘Why us’ and ‘why here’ are answers that can wait—or that we can figure out by some logical deduction.  I can’t bloody well fathom the answer to the question I just asked because I don’t know enough yet.”

Cariocecus’s gaze flicked toward Phelan for a moment and he grinned ferally.  “Keeping them in the dark about little things, are you, Wanderer?  So much for secrets.”

Phelan’s jaw tightened.  “Shut up, you lying bastard.”

“Touchy.”  Cariocecus smiled a little and I grimaced.  The bastard was enjoying this—probably more than he had any right to.

“Enough,” I said, my voice deliberately quiet but hard.  “Why are you looking for Seamus?”

His eyes narrowed briefly, then he sighed.  “If you absolutely must know, it’s because he and his descendants are keys to everything that comes after the end of everything, according to the old tales.”

Next to me, Phelan stiffened.

He’s wondering how much more Cariocecus thinks he knows—not just about Seamus and his potential offspring, but about all of us.  It took every ounce of my control not to reach over and squeeze his hand.

Now wasn’t the time to show any sign of weakness.

“Really,” Thom said from his spot at Phelan’s shoulder.  “Because he hasn’t been dead for centuries so far as anyone’s known.”

“Since the last war,” Phelan muttered.

Cariocecus shrugged.  “All I know is what the legends and tales say.”

“And clearly, you believe them all,” Phelan spat.

He canted his head to one side as he looked at Phelan.  “Clearly, more than you do, Wanderer.  What a sorry fate for the Taliesin, not to believe the stories he’s supposed to cherish and protect, to pass on to other generations.”

Phelan spat a curse and launched himself at Cariocecus.  Thom tackled him.

Me?

I just stood there and sighed.