[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]
Thom looked up around the time I was coming down the hill toward the barrow. Even at a distance, I could tell that his brows had knit together in confusion. He moved away from the others, coming toward me, meeting us halfway between the path and the barrow.
“What’s the matter?” were the first words out of his mouth.
I shook my head, closing my eyes for a moment. I’ll tell him about Aoife’s ridiculousness later. “Cameron needed to talk to both of us.”
Thom frowned a little more, looking past me toward Cameron and Neve. “About what?”
“Is something wrong?” Leinth called from the barrow, already starting to move toward us.
Seamus lifted a hand to wave to her and I watched a relieved smile blossom on her face. I swallowed hard, hoping that whatever Cameron and Neve had to say wasn’t going to take that smile away from her. She and Seamus hadn’t gotten enough time these past few months to really be together, to reacquaint themselves and remember what they’d lost—and rediscover what they had again.
“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” Cameron said as Leinth and J.T. climbed the hill to join us where we stood. “I just wanted to talk to you guys as a collective instead of one at a time.”
Thom’s frown didn’t waver, but his brow arched slightly. “But nothing’s wrong?”
Cameron shook his head. “Not really, anyway. I just—Neve and I were talking.”
Thom slid an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me close to him. My lips thinned and my heart began to beat a little faster.
Those words shouldn’t fill me with dread the way they do. Shit.
“Just spit it out, Cameron,” I said. “Whatever it is, just say it before we jump to the worst possible conclusions.”
Cameron took a deep breath and nodded. “Right. I need to go.”
My stomach dropped to the ground.
