Thirty – 06

“Princess of Avalon, wake up!”

Neve groaned, snuggling closer to Cameron. He was snoring softly, sprawled on his back with one arm curled around her. It was warm beneath their blankets and she knew full well that it wasn’t even close to dawn. She had to be dreaming.

“Neve!”

Tendrils of ice skated over her cheek, ice laced with lightning. She jerked upright, swearing in the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dim glow of Eriu’s spectre lurking next to the bed.

“He’s here, Neve,” the spirit whispered. “Seamus is here.”

Neve threw herself out of bed, yanking on her coat and boots, eschewing crutches and ignoring pain in her haste. She tore out of their sleeping quarters, through the tents, out into the snow. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and she sucked in deep lungfuls of icy air, gaze darting wildly.

“Where?” she breathed, realizing in an instant that she’d somehow left Eriu behind, that the ghostly guardian angel wasn’t with her.

Then she felt it, the barest trace of a link, so faint that she nearly missed it. It was like a gossamer thread, translucent and weak, shining faintly silver in the darkness, no thicker than a single strand of spider’s web. Her heart thudded painfully against her breast and her eyes started to water.

“Seamus,” she whispered. “Conas chaill mé tú, deartháir mór.”

She followed that thread toward the edge of camp, toward the bridge. Two figures stood in the shadows on the bridge, leaning against the rail and staring out into the heart of the ravines. One was clearly Phelan—his staff was glowing slightly in the darkness, so dimly than she doubted that he’d noticed it. The other figure with him, though…

“Deartháir mór.” She sucked in a ragged breath and ran to them, catching the dark-cloaked figure around the waist with both arms, knocking the breath from him and sending them both pitching into Phelan, her brother’s name on her lips.

“Seamus!”

They crashed to the ground together in a tangle of limbs, brother cradling sister as they fell. His eyes widened in the darkness and he breathed words that froze her heart in her chest.

“Déithe agus arrachtaigh. There’s two.”

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