\u201cWhat the hell is wrong with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan took him by the arms and gave him a little shake.\u00a0 \u201cTell me your wife isn\u2019t pregnant.\u00a0 For the love of powers above, below, and sideways, tell me that Marin isn\u2019t pregnant yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thom blinked at him. \u201cIf she is, she hasn\u2019t said anything to me yet, and if she hasn\u2019t said anything to me yet, that\u2019s because she doesn\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze turned wary.\u00a0 \u201cWhat brought this conversation on?\u00a0 Do you know something I should know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/i>, I hope not,\u201d Phelan said with a faint shudder, glaring at his cousin.\u00a0 \u201cThe tides of time and prophecy are shifting rather seriously right now and I\u2019m not sure how many more surprises I can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Seamus handled us when we were young, you can handle whatever\u2019s coming at you now,\u201d Neve muttered, her glare shifting from him to the fire instead.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not like this baby is going to spell the world\u2019s doom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thom glanced between the two of them, his brows knitting.\u00a0 Phelan heaved a sigh.<\/p>\n
We can hope it\u2019s not\u2014pray it\u2019s not.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you need, Thom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just went looking for Jay and Carolyn told me he\u2019s sick.\u00a0 What the hell is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan winced.\u00a0 Of course no one told him.\u00a0 But wait, wasn\u2019t <\/i>he bleeding last night, too?<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thom\u2019s brows knit.\u00a0 \u201cWhy would I be sick?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t one of the hags get a piece of you last night?\u201d\u00a0 Phelan\u2019s heart started to beat a little faster.\u00a0 If they had and Thom wasn\u2019t feeling the effects, that was either a very good<\/i> thing or a very bad<\/i> thing.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got as much of our blood as anyone.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean that gash on my arm?\u201d\u00a0 The Seer flushed and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, that wasn\u2019t from them.\u00a0 I snagged myself on some scrap I was helping Matt with before the fight started.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t realize I was bleeding until after we were done with the fight.\u00a0 Marin disinfected it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me see it,\u201d Phelan said, his heart in his throat.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that he didn\u2019t believe the other man, but he needed to see it for himself, to prove to himself that what Thom was saying was true.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gash?\u201d\u00a0 Thom frowned but shrugged out of his jacket.\u00a0 \u201cYou sure you\u2019re okay, Phelan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFine,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cJust show me.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t need a stitch or anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that<\/i> deep,\u201d Thom said as he yanked off his shirt so Phelan could get a good look at the four-inch cut on his upper arm.\u00a0 \u201cJust stung like hell, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan studied the cut, ran his finger bare millimeters from its edge, then breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It looked normal, as if it was just what Thom said it was\u2014an accidental cut he\u2019d gotten while helping his brother-in-law.\u00a0 \u201cSorry,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cJust a little paranoid.\u00a0 With Cariocecus coming so soon, we\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me, you don\u2019t have to tell me that we\u2019re in the shit,\u201d Thom said.\u00a0 \u201cI know we\u2019re in the shit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell does he want with all of you anyway?\u201d\u00a0 Neve asked suddenly.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you do to piss him off, Phelan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPoint of fact, it\u2019s not Phelan\u2019s fault,\u201d Thom said, turning to Neve.\u00a0 \u201cVammatar and a possible attack by Swedish werewolves might be, but Cariocecus isn\u2019t his fault.\u201d\u00a0 A shadow passed over his expression, settled across his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cThat bastard\u2019s after Marin and I.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t even begin to tell you why, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve\u2019s eyes flicked toward her cousin, who winced and turned away.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut your shirt back on, Thom,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 He was momentarily worried and at the same time thankful as he belatedly noticed that Thom was still taping his ribs.\u00a0 Better to be safe with those than sorry, I guess.\u00a0 Maybe Marin\u2019s got a little more control of that situation than I ever thought she did.<\/i><\/p>\n
But with what happened to her yesterday\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n
Phelan swallowed bile and tried not to think about what Marin\u2019s collapse could mean.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t because she\u2019d overdone it, no matter how many times it was said.\u00a0 In the pit of his stomach, he knew that it was more than that, worse than that.<\/p>\n
Worse yet, he suspected she knew it, too.<\/p>\n
If she knows it, odds are she doesn\u2019t want Thom to know it, either.\u00a0 Did he ever tell her why he was so afraid?<\/i><\/p>\n
Did he ever tell her that he tried to run away from his own abilities because his visions were showing him her death?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cPhelan, what the hell is he talking about?\u201d\u00a0 Neve asked, her tone growing more insistent.\u00a0 \u201cVammatar<\/i> came after you?\u00a0 And now Cariocecus is knocking at your door?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir door, not mine,\u201d Phelan mumbled, unable to quell the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.\u00a0 Thom didn\u2019t need to step up like that.\u00a0 Cariocecus is my problem, too.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Vammatar?\u00a0 I suppose they pissed her off somehow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u00a0 That was all me.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced at Thom.\u00a0 \u201cAnd they\u2019re just Scandinavian, not Swedish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry,\u201d Thom said, gaze narrowing for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all Greek to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan snorted humorlessly.\u00a0 \u201cClever, Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop changing the subject, Phelan,\u201d Neve said.\u00a0 \u201cI have a right to know.\u00a0 Something pulled Cameron here and he could be dying because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo could Jameson,\u201d Phelan snapped.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we both know that the Dirae<\/i> and the Hecate didn\u2019t show up here to tangle with me.\u00a0 They were after him<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she knows where you are now and she\u2019s always had a hard-on for you.\u201d\u00a0 Neve started to struggle upright.\u00a0 Thom bent down to help her, wincing slightly as he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful,\u201d he murmured quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to have busted ribs and a busted leg.\u00a0 Easier to stay put even if you don\u2019t want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook him off once she got the crutches under her.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t need<\/i> to be careful right now.\u00a0 I need answers.\u00a0 Bloody hell<\/i>, Phelan!\u00a0 I thought we\u2019d be safe when I realized you were here.\u00a0 That we were here because there was something you needed to teach Cameron, or to tell him, or something<\/i>.\u00a0 But no, apparently we\u2019re here and there\u2019s some kind of war about to break out and now Cameron might be dying and there\u2019s not a goddamned thing I can do about it so just tell me what the hell happened with Vammatar and why Cariocecus is coming here soon to pick another fight!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVammatar\u2019s dead and I killed her,\u201d Phelan said flatly.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s all there is to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve sucked in a breath through her teeth.\u00a0 \u201cNow her sisters are going to come after you, aren\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course they are, but they\u2019ve got to find me first.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced sidelong at Thom.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it seems that there\u2019s a group of friendly skinwalkers trying to put their hounds off my scent.\u00a0 They showed up to warn us that they\u2019d be coming, but something\u2019s kept them from finding us thus far.\u201d\u00a0 And I\u2019m continually thanking my lucky stars that they haven\u2019t shown up here yet.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the fucking war god?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas here before I was.\u201d\u00a0 Phelan glanced sidelong at Thom, who winced slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true.\u00a0 He had his minions chasing Jay and Care and Drew weeks before Phelan got here.\u00a0 He almost killed Marin and I.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve\u2019s expression softened for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cSo he really is<\/i> after you, not Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently so,\u201d Thom said.\u00a0 He shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re still trying to figure out why, but that seems to be the case.\u00a0 On my wedding day, he gave us until Midwinter\u2019s Eve and promised he\u2019d be back then.\u00a0 For some kind of reckoning, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lips thinned.\u00a0 \u201cCameron isn\u2019t going to be better by then.\u201d\u00a0 She looked at Phelan. \u201cNeither is Jameson, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe, maybe not,\u201d Phelan murmured, expression darkening.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll just have to find a way to fend the bastard off without them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you do that?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Thom was the one who answered with a grim, wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan just nodded, staring at the sun as it reflected off the fresh snow beyond the tent\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n
If the world\u2019s going to survive with something close to a soul, we certainly will.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhat the hell is wrong with you?\u201d Phelan took him by the arms and gave him a little shake.\u00a0 \u201cTell me your wife isn\u2019t pregnant.\u00a0 For the love of powers above, below, and sideways, tell me that Marin isn\u2019t pregnant … Continue reading