“Hold still,” Jacqueline snarled. “I’ve got work to do.”
Phelan almost jumped right out of his bed, wishing for a moment that he could take leave of his skin as well if only to quell the fiery pain in his side and the roiling of his stomach. As it was, he crammed himself into the corner at the head of his bed, wide-eyed and staring at her. She met his gaze with a baleful one of her own, her jaw tight with one muscle twitching in it and her pulse visibly pounding in her temple.
His mouth went dry. “I—”
“Save it,” she snapped. “Lie back down. I’m not finished.”
“I—send Jay,” he said, swallowing the bile that suddenly rose in his throat. “You’re in no state—”
“No,” she agreed. “I’m not in any state to work on you. Do you know why? It’s because you’re being a damned idiot and I can’t take it. I just can’t take it. Do you have any idea what would happen to us if you left? We wouldn’t survive.”
“Of course you would.” You’re all too strong, too brave, too smart to just lay down and die. You’re clever. You’d outwit anything that came up against you. Somehow, you’d all find a way to come out on top.
They’ll do that with or without you. So why can’t you stay?
“No,” she said. “No, we wouldn’t. Even if we have Neve and Thordin, we all know that they don’t have half the knowledge that you do rattling around that thick skull of yours. We need you and I can’t believe you’d think for a second of leaving us.” She swiped angrily at the tears that were welling up, threatening to spill down her cheeks. “If you left us, I think I’d hate you and I don’t hate anyone.” She capped the bottle of rubbing alcohol and flung it back into her basket. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
She spun, then, and marched out the door. Phelan sagged into the corner, mouth dry and heart beating at twice its normal speed.
The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stirred and he smelled the scent he always associated with Ériu.
“I suppose you’ve come to scold me, too,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
Her voice was like bells. “She fancies you, Uncle. Don’t judge her too harshly. She can’t help her heart any more than you can help yours.”
A shudder went through him as words failed.
For one of the very few times in his life, Phelan O’Credne didn’t know what to say.
