“Déithe agus arrachtaigh,” Neve said suddenly from the other side of the fire. “Jacqueline, what happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” Jacqueline murmured. “I don’t know. What the hell’s out there, Neve? What did this to him?”
Neve dropped into an awkward position next to her, leaving her enough room to work but edging close enough to get a good look at her cousin. She shook her head slowly, lips thinning. “The gremlins were coming,” she said quietly. “He and Seamus were holding the bridge so Leinth and I could get away.”
“Leinth didn’t come back into the tent,” Tala said.
Jacqueline froze. “Wait a second—Seamus? As in your brother Seamus? The one who’s supposed to be dead?”
“Yeah, that one.” Neve mustered up a smile from somewhere. “Not so dead. Here, give me that. I’ll pulp the herbs while you have a closer look at the bleeding.”
Numb to her core, Jacqueline handed Neve her mortar and pestle. Neve pulled Phelan’s bag close and rifled around in it until she found the appropriate herbs. She filled the bowl of the mortar and got to work as Jacqueline struggled to get her bearings.
What is going on out there?
If she wasn’t so damned worried about Phelan, she’d have gone to check it out herself.
A shrieking laugh shattered the sudden silence and all three women jumped at the sound. Tala swore heartily and Neve shuddered. Jacqueline’s hands tightened on the wet rags in the basin, the ones she’d been reaching for, to clean more of the mess from Phelan’s wounded back.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jacqueline said quietly. “Not at all.”
“None of us did.” Tala settled her daughter back into her basket. “You two stay here. I’ll find out what that’s all about.”
“Matthew, you get your arse over by that fire and you bloody well stay there, you hear me? She’s coming after you.”
Matt glared at Thordin as the bigger man propelled him toward the fire and the women clustered there. “How the hell are you so sure of that?”
“Because I heard it from her own damned lips. She knows you’re here and she wants you. You heard her.” Thordin glared over his shoulder toward Cameron. “Make sure he stays put.”
“What’s going on out there, Thordin?” Neve asked, her voice faint and frightened.
“What happened to Phelan?” Jacqueline asked at the same time.
Thordin put up a hand. “Thesan and you don’t want to know. Just make sure he doesn’t bleed out and make sure that Matt doesn’t go anywhere near the damned wards.” With that, he spun on his heel and headed back toward the wards, where he was probably needed.
“What is he talking about?” Jacqueline asked. “What is going on out there?”
“A mess,” Matt snarled. “That’s what. I should be out there with them. My sister’s gone out hunting god knows what and I’m stuck back here.”
“Settle,” Cameron said. “Jac, do you need another lamp?”
“Please,” Jacqueline muttered, setting her jaw. “Do you know what’s actually happening?”
“Not much more than you.” Cameron exhaled a frustrated sigh and brought over another lamp. “I wish there was something to tell, Jac.”
She shook her head, wincing as the light revealed some nasty bruising around the marks on Phelan’s back. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, then. I need blankets, Matt.”
Matt stared her for a moment, then sighed. “Right. I’ll get on that.”
“Tala, go with him,” Neve said without looking up. “Make sure he comes back.”
“It’s so nice to be trusted,” Matt muttered.
The shrieking laugh sounded again, closer now, followed by a woman’s sing-song. “Come out, Ciar! I know you’re near; come out and see me!”
“Oh damnation and hellfire,” Neve whispered. “This doesn’t end well.”
“Who was that?” Matt asked.
“Someone who sounds exactly like her mother, that’s who.” Neve shuddered. “And knowing what I know now, that’s bad for us all the way around.”
