His cousin didn’t react except to sway slightly on his feet, as if he didn’t realize he was standing. He gave Seamus a little shake and his cousin snapped out of whatever strange fugue he’d sunk into, blinking blearily at Phelan.
“It’s Leinth,” Seamus murmured. “She’s trying to hold them off. I need—” He broke off, taking a slow, deep breath. “We need to alert the Hunt and move.”
“Jac’s getting my staff and our kits. You should probably grab your weapons, Seamus.”
Seamus’s lips thinned to white and he nodded slowly. “Yes. Yes, you’re right.”
This doesn’t bode well. Phelan frowned, but squeezed his cousin’s shoulder before he looked over at Aoife and Gray. “You two should probably stay out of this. Find Neve and make your introductions, then stay here where it’s safe.”
“Where it’s safe,” his sister repeated, giving him a deadpan stare. “Is anywhere here safe?”
“They like to think so,” Sif said, taking Aoife by the arm. “Come on, I’ll take you to Neve.”
Gray hesitated. “Are we under some kind of attack?”
Another whistle echoed, followed by shouting—Thom’s voice, giving orders, coordinating their defense, quickly and urgently. People were moving and it was almost as if they stood in the eye of the storm.
“Probably,” Phelan said as Jacqueline appeared at his elbow, thrusting his staff and his kit into his hand. He gave her a tight smile as he took them both.
“Let’s go?” she suggested.
He nodded. “Let’s go.” He leveled a finger at Aoife. “Stay out of this, little sister.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Phelan.”
“Then consider it a strongly worded request. Stay out of it. We don’t know what we’re facing and I really don’t want to see you hurt.”
And people getting hurt is what tends to happen in these kinds of situations.
“Just humor me,” Phelan said, his voice soft. “Please.”
Aoife stared at him for a long moment before she nodded. “All right. But if I feel—”
“If you feel me get hurt, I know that nothing I’ve asked of you is going to stop you from ending up in the thick of things.” Phelan smiled wryly. “So I’m going to try to avoid that.”
He turned and jogged toward the sound of Thom’s voice, trying to quell the sick feeling rising in his gut.
Who was targeting them this time?
