I stood in a clearing, the ground covered in snow, trees all around me, looking like ink against the snow and sky. I knew it was cold, but I couldn’t—didn’t—feel it, standing there in my jeans and sneakers and a sweater. The sky above the clearing was bright with stars, the Milky Way a ribbon of light stretching across the vista of a moonless night.
“You’re not afraid.”
I went tense at the sound of the voice, achingly familiar and enough to send shivers down my spine.
“Where are you?” I asked. “Where am I?”
“Someplace safe.” She stepped from the trees, dressed in the same gray robes that swayed in a non-existent breeze as if they were woven of nothing but mist and shadow. Her amber eyes gleamed in the darkness, bright against her pale flesh. Starlight caught in her silver-white hair, setting the curls ablaze with pale flame. “Worry not. Your physical body is still in bed with your husband.”
“What warning do you have now?” I watched the Morrigan quietly as she came within a few feet of me, our eyes meeting in the darkness. Years ago, she’d whispered a warning in my ear—take a breath and wait to die—presaging the end of everything we’d ever known. It had just been more years in coming than we’d ever dared to believe.
Why she gave a damn, why she watched over us, I still wasn’t sure about.
She stood in silence for a long moment, watching me even as I watched her.
Then she smiled faintly, berry-red lips quirking.
“They need to take Seamus with them.”
“What?”
“You heard me, child.”
I shook my head hard. “I heard you, but—”
“No buts,” she said, turning away. “He goes with them or the fate that awaits you all is far worse than death.”
uh oh. Seamus must have to go on the hunt again or off on the trip looking for trade, perhaps. Either way….off he goes.
Good story. Thanks for sharing it with us.