Thirty-nine – 02

J.T. sighed and rolled to his feet, juggling his coffee mug to avoid spilling the hot liquid all over himself. “Well, guess I’d better go check on them, then.”

Davon startled. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay,” J.T. muttered, taking a deep draught from his mug. “You were right, I shouldn’t have just left them. She’s going to be too distracted by the fact that he remembers her to actually think straight.”

“Who?”

J.T. jumped at the sound of Seamus’s voice, twisting toward the master of the Wild Hunt. “Jacqueline.”

“Did you find Eriú?” Neve asked, her tone becoming hopeful. “Phelan’s remembered Jacqueline, but who knows if anything else has come back.”

“Leinth’s looking for her,” Seamus said quietly, folding his arms. His brow furrowed slightly and he stared at the fire for a long moment. “She’s probably better equipped to find one ghost than I am.”

“I’m still surprised that you’re not with her,” Neve said softly. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s time that we all had a conversation,” Seamus said. “Where are Marin and Thom and the rest?”

The sick feeling in the pit of J.T.’s stomach only got worse. “What’s this about?”

Seamus shook his head. “There’s an offer on the table from the Wild Hunt,” he said. “I don’t want to say much more than that without everyone here. It’s not something I want to explain again.” His gaze flicked toward Neve, who winced.

“Seamus,” she began. He cut her off.

“It’s all right,” he said. “If they say no, they say no.”

“They won’t say no,” she said.

“They might once they hear what the offer is. Some prices are too high to pay.”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Davon said as he got up. “I’ll go round everyone up. Jay, were you still going to check on Phelan and Jac?”

“No,” J.T. said as he sat back down. “Something tells me that they can wait. I need to be here for this.”

And I hope it’s not nearly as bad as I think it might be.

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