Cameron darted forward as soon as Neve started to collapse. Thom took a deep breath, pulling the door closed behind him and latching it, watching as Cameron sidestepped the sword laying on the floor and crouched in front of Neve.
She looked like she’d fainted dead away as Marin held her half upright. Cameron made a sound halfway between a sigh and a sob as he gathered Neve into his arms and cradled her against his chest.
“I don’t understand any of this,” he whispered, voice broken and confused. “What does Seamus have to do with any of this?” He glanced sidelong at Thom as he slowly straightened and carried Neve toward their bed. “What does he have to do with that woman?”
“More importantly, where have you seen her before?” Marin asked, carefully picking up Caliburn and returning it to its sheathe. “That seemed to upset Neve more than anything.”
“There were pictures,” Cameron said. “Old, old pictures back from the very earliest parts of the twentieth century—the teens and twenties, I think. She was in a white lace dress with my great-great grandfather. Maybe it was my great-great-great grandfather. I don’t remember. I remembered thinking that they both looked really young and I didn’t quite believe my aunt when she was telling me about them—if the clothes hadn’t been right for the time frame she was talking about, I’d have thought that she was wrong about when the pictures were taken because they just didn’t look old enough.” He stared down at Neve, brushing her hair back from her face. “I don’t know why it matters,” he said softly. “I don’t care where she comes from. Why should it matter who I may have in my family tree?”
Thom and Marin exchanged looks. His wife shivered a little, gnawing on her lower lip as she hung Caliburn up again.
“You know what she implied, right?” Marin asked softly.
“Of course I know what she implied,” Cameron snapped. “She’s making it sound like—like—” He stopped and sucked in a breath, leaning against the edge of the bed. “Like somehow, I’ve got Seamus the Black’s blood already running through my veins, god only knows how many generations back.”
“You’re the last legacy Seamus could leave to her,” Marin said, staring at Neve for a long moment. She went to the side of the bed and tucked the blankets up over her.
“We’re fucking related,” Cameron said, his voice flat. “Dammit, I love her and we’re somehow related.”
“Half a dozen generations back and more,” Thom pointed out. “And trust me, it’s not as weird as you think.”
“Right,” Cameron muttered. “Sure.”
“Does it change how you feel about her?”
“Of course not,” he snapped, glaring at Thom. “How could it? She has me already, body and soul. My heart’s hers. It always will be.”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about.” Thom shot him a weak, wry smile. “She’ll be fine once the shock wears off.”
“You sure?”
Thom’s gaze flicked toward Marin. She met his gaze head-on, one corner of her mouth quirking toward a weak smile of her own.
“Yeah,” Thom said. “I’m sure.”
whew…. it just keeps rolling along.
Seems I have caught up. Good thing too, I do need to sleep.
S.
Talk about marathon reading!
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it thus far.