A weight lifted from his heart, one he’d never noticed before but now, in its absence, he realized he’d been carrying for as long as he could remember. Phelan smiled, his bare fingers brushing against her cheek. She caught his hand and squeezed those fingers gently.
“Who’d have thought, huh?” she asked softly.
He laughed and rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t know, Jac. Gods only knew, if anyone.”
“Wanderer, I’m going to ask you a very, very stupid question,” a voice said from somewhere to their left. Phelan winced, recognizing Cariocecus’s almost-familiar drawl.
“Do you mind?” Phelan asked him, glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. “We’re kind of in the middle of something.”
“Yes, yes, congratulations on your imminent nuptials.” The amber-eyed godling waved a dismissive hand. “This is important, Wanderer. Apologies to the fair angel.”
“I’ll decide whether or not to accept them once we hear what you have to say, Cariocecus,” Jacqueline said, planting one hand on her hip and giving their enemy turned reluctant ally a level stare. “Get on with it or leave us the hell alone.”
“Mm.” Cariocecus sniffed, then turned to Phelan. “I noticed that you’re out here without your staff. Why in the name of all the gods and monsters of this world and every other would you do something so stupid?”
Phelan blinked at him. “I’ve stepped beyond the wards without it before,” he said evenly. “Why should today be any different?” His eyes narrowed. “What’s out there, Cariocecus? What were you coming to warn us about?”
“She’s coming back, Phelan,” Cariocecus said softly.
Ice shot down Phelan’s spine. He didn’t need to ask who Cariocecus was talking about. His hand spasmed around Jacqueline’s and she winced.
“Hecate?” she asked in a whisper.
Phelan swallowed hard and nodded, unable to speak.
“She won’t give up on what she wants, Wanderer,” Cariocecus said. “You know that.”
“She can’t have him,” Jacqueline said, an undercurrent of threat in her voice. “I warned her once. That’s all the warning she gets.”
ohhhhh poop (O.O)
Might we be about to see some divine wrath?