Phelan found them both standing there not too much later, shoulder to shoulder, staring out at the storm, which was worsening instead of abating. He stepped into line with them until Thom was sandwiched between them, the leader that is flanked by the leader that was and the leader still to come.
“He won’t attack until morning,” Phelan said after a moment, looking sidelong at Thom. “He can deal with snow, but he prefers not to.”
“I thought you didn’t know that much about him,” Thom said quietly. “You said you’d never faced off with him before.”
“Not then,” he admitted. “But I knew enough that did to know what he’ll do. He doesn’t like to fight in weather—he’s one of those who never did well in it, so he’s always tried to avoid it.”
Thom shook his head slightly. “Strange of him to decide on Midwinter’s Eve, then. Weather’s always iffy.”
Phelan smiled a grim little smile. “This is new territory for him. Believe it or not, we’re operating from a position of strength.”
“I don’t believe it,” Thom said with a wry smile. “But not believing it might work to our advantage.”
Strange way of looking at it. Cameron frowned, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His muscles twinged and he winced a little. “You have a strange way of looking at the world,” he said.
“Yeah, but it somehow works for me,” Thom said, his lips twisting in a wry smile. “Hasn’t gotten me killed yet. I’m hoping that it’s not going to in the next thirty-six hours.”
Phelan clapped him on the shoulder, squeezing gently. “You’ve survived getting shot, stabbed, clawed, and having a building collapse on you. You’ll make it through another close encounter with Cariocecus, too. I’m certain of it.”
Thom snorted humorlessly as Cameron looked at him askance.
“Shot, stabbed, clawed, and a build collapse?”
Thom shrugged with one shoulder. “It’s been a busy few months since the end of the world.”
“Apparently.” Cameron took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Speaking of a busy few months, when was one of you planning on telling me that I was carrying around Excalibur?”
Thom just blinked and Phelan growled under his breath, glaring at the sky beyond the tent.
“Thom didn’t know and it wasn’t my place to say,” he said, jaw set. “Don’t tell me that Neve didn’t tell you.”
Maybe she hinted. But she didn’t say it flat-out.
But the once and future…hell. Cameron squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s why she told me,” he murmured.
“Told you what?” Thom asked.
Cameron shook his head slightly. “She said something about prophecies and the Once and Future King. I should’ve really started putting it together when the whole princess of Avalon thing came up.”
One corner of Phelan’s mouth twitched toward a smile. “One would think sleeping with the last princess of Avalon would have been a clue.”
“I’m not the once and future king,” Cameron said. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. Christ, she’d tell me if I was, wouldn’t she? She’d have to. I know she would.
Wouldn’t she?
“Christ,” Cameron breathed. “She’d tell me. Wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Not if she was afraid of losing you,” Thom said quietly. He stared at the ground without really seeing it, his eyes focused on something else, something no one could see—perhaps the past, perhaps the future. Cameron couldn’t be sure. “You’d be shocked the lengths someone goes to when they love someone.”
Phelan put an arm across Thom’s shoulders. “Secrets are painful,” he said, speaking to both of them at once. “Some are kept for good reason. Others are kept for piss-poor reasons.”
Thom snorted. “Thanks, Phelan. Way to make me feel even worse about it.”
Cameron wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut, brows knitting. “So why do you think she didn’t tell me?”
“Probably the same reason Thom keeps secrets from Marin about what he’s seen,” Phelan said quietly. “Because she’s afraid.”
“What does she have to be afraid of?” Cameron wondered aloud, his stomach twisting, uncomfortably unsettled.
Thom smiled grimly. “What anyone who loves another person is afraid of. Losing the person they love the most.”
