Not at first, anyway, not until I began to see the way the light filtered through the trees, reflecting off the snow.
We came out of the Morrigan’s shadow warp at the center of the bridge over the ravine, standing in snow that was up to the middle of our calves. Carolyn gave a little yelp of surprise and I’ll admit that I jumped a little when I realized where we were.
“Why did you—”
The Morrigan interrupted me. “The line below us is one reason he wants this place, child,” she said softly. “Why he comes, why he will not stop unless you defeat him soundly and sue for peace at the coming battle.”
“They know about the lines here, cousin,” Phelan snapped, clearly more than a shade annoyed with his so-called relative. “They know how important they are.”
Her glare turned artic-cold. “Do they understand what’s at stake, Taliesin?” she hissed. “Do they understand the magnitude of what they may face, of what they must do?”
Phelan fell back a step. I reached out a hand to steady him, one he didn’t shake off the way I expected him to. His muscles bunched under my hand as he swallowed hard. His voice was hoarse as he spoke. “Why do you think I’m still here, cousin? I didn’t have to come just because Teague asked me to. I didn’t have to stay.”
“You stay because you love them,” the Morrigan said, her voice halfway to a snarl. “Do not act like it is because of everything they will face.”
“I stay because I love them and because I won’t let them face it without me,” Phelan whispered. He drew himself up straight, then took Carolyn and I each by the hand. “Thank you for your warning, cousin. We know the threat we face is dire but we’re not going to fail—and we’re not going to turn into monsters in the doing. What good are bloody heroes if we turn into the very things we fight?”
The Morrigan stared at him for a long moment, expression hard and stern before it softened into something close to understanding—possibly even affection. “I know where you’ve heard that before.”
“She was right,” Phelan whispered, then closed his eyes for a moment. His fingers tightened around mine and Carolyn’s. “We’re going now. Thank you.”
The Morrigan inclined her head to the three of us before she turned and walked away. I watched for a moment as something erased all trace of her passage—an errant wind, something magic. I shivered.
“Come on,” Phelan muttered. “Let’s get back behind the wards before something tries to take advantage of an unforeseen opportunity.”
“What was that all about?” Carolyn asked, her voice hushed. I looked past Phelan toward her. Her face was pale, fear lighting her pale eyes.
I shook my head slightly. “A warning, I guess.”
“And an object lesson—and more.” Phelan’s voice was frighteningly grim. “She was trying to make a point to me and she was trying to see what the two of you are made of for whatever reason.” His expression darkened. “She’s interested in J.T. I don’t like that.”
“She’s interested in J.T. because he can see dead people,” I said, eyes narrowing. “She’s a fucking death goddess, Phelan.”
“More than that,” he said, tone still grim. “And don’t let her hear you say that’s all she is, either.”
“Perish the thought,” I said, trying not to snap. I took a pair of breaths and tried to settle down. “Why now?”
“If she waited any longer, I’m guessing that Cariocecus would have known she was here and thrown even more crap at us,” Phelan muttered. “Not that she’d help us, but he’s the type that prepares for every contingency.”
“And he won’t notice right now because he’s too busy frying other fish?” I guessed.
“Frying other fish?” Carolyn asked. “What other fish is he frying?”
“The Hecate,” I growled quietly as we crossed the line of wards. Power shivered through my bones as we crossed that boundary and not for the first time, I was impressed by the work we’d done on them.
“The who?”
“Greek bitch,” Phelan said. “Nasty type who’s gunning for me and a half dozen others, including Cameron and probably both of your men.”
Carolyn just stared at him for a moment before she snorted. “You know, I never really thought of them that way. Our men. But they are, aren’t they?”
Phelan shook his head. “Without the two of you, I think they’d both end up spiraling into madness. They’re lucky.”
Carolyn sighed. “Speaking of, I should get back to Jay. Maybe he’s lucid now.”
I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “You want me to come with you?”
“No, it’s okay.” She smiled. “But thanks, Mar. You should probably get up to the forge and see if Thom and Matt need help. They might.” She tilted her head toward the faint flicker of blue and green light that lit on her shoulder before it vanished from my view. “A little fairy godnephew of mine told me so.”
I managed to laugh and nod. “Will-do. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
She sobered and nodded. “Don’t worry, I will.”
She broke off from Phelan and I. He stood for a moment and watched her go before he sighed softly.
“This is going to get harder for them before it gets better,” he murmured.
“Story of our lives, Phelan.” I squeezed his hand. “Come on. We’ve got work to do, too.”
He grunted and followed me up to the forge.
