\u201cYou\u2019re his lady,\u201d a voice said from behind us.\u00a0 I stiffened at the sound, swallowing bile that rose abruptly in my throat.\u00a0 I knew the voice.<\/p>\n
What is she doing here?\u00a0 What does she want now?<\/i><\/p>\n
But there she stood, clad in steel gray with a black owl perching on her shoulder, peering at us from the shadows of a pine tree.\u00a0 Her eyes gleamed in her pale face, her lips bright and red as the holly berries that still studded the bushes not fifty yards from where we stood.\u00a0 Momentarily, her sharp-eyed gaze flicked from Carolyn to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not worry yourself overmuch, Seer,\u201d she said, her voice a low, soft purr that I felt straight down to my bones more than heard.\u00a0 \u201cI have not come to exact my price from any of you this day, nor will I.\u00a0 Not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed again, throat dry.\u00a0 I wish that somehow made me feel better, but I know better than to bank on something one deity says when we\u2019re about to face down another\u2014maybe two.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d\u00a0 Carolyn whispered, taking half a step forward, then another.\u00a0 She was beyond my reach before I had the presence of mine to grab her arm and stop her.<\/p>\n
Dammit.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cA friend,\u201d the Morrigan said softly, a smile touching her lips.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone with a vested interest in your survival.\u201d\u00a0 Her gaze flicked to me for a brief moment.\u00a0 \u201cAll of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made my heart give a strange, painful double-beat.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the sound of that at all.<\/i><\/p>\n
I eased up behind Carolyn and put my hand on her shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019re not here to claim your price, then why are you here?\u201d \u00a0I asked softly.\u00a0 \u201cA warning?\u00a0 Something else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA warning,\u201d she agreed softly.\u00a0 \u201cYou are ill-prepared for his coming and even more ill-prepared for what she plans.\u00a0 She will be here well before your wounds have closed once you\u2019ve faced him, and the wounds that he will inflict upon you are grave indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.\u00a0 Carolyn shook her head slowly.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 I can\u2019t.\u00a0 We\u2019ll defeat him the way we did before.\u201d\u00a0 Carolyn glanced at me, then back at the Morrigan.\u00a0 \u201cMarin\u2019s seen us in her visions.\u00a0 Everything will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shudder ran through me.\u00a0 What did I do to deserve this much faith?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cCarolyn?\u00a0 Marin? Who are you talk\u2014\u201d\u00a0 Phelan stopped dead in his tracks, following our gaze.\u00a0 His eyes widened and he went chalk-white.\u00a0 \u201cBloody hell,\u201d he breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, cousin,\u201d the Morrigan said softly.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve been missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been exiled,\u201d Phelan said, his voice equally quiet.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I am perfectly fine with the arrangement.\u201d\u00a0 He swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you want with us?\u00a0 Who have you come for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cSimply to warn.\u00a0 You\u2019re ill prepared, cousin, even with Seamus\u2019s get among you, it may not be enough to sway Cariocecus from his goal of seizing this place from beneath your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan shivered.\u00a0 I took his hand and squeezed as tightly as I could.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll find a way,\u201d he said, hoarsely echoing what was in my heart.\u00a0 \u201cThere is no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo says the Taliesin,\u201d the Morrigan said with a faint, wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve faced far more and suffered far more deeply than any other to bear that mantle, cousin.\u201d\u00a0 She stepped out of the tree\u2019s shadow.\u00a0 The winter sunshine was blinding against her pale skin, turned her coal-dark hair to ink.\u00a0 She cupped Phelan\u2019s face between long-fingered hands.\u00a0 He squeezed his eyes shut.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s neither the place nor the time,\u201d Phelan whispered.\u00a0 I could feel him shivering at her touch, trembling.<\/p>\n
Phelan.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThere will never be another place, a better place, a better time,\u201d the Morrigan whispered.\u00a0 Her gaze took in Carolyn and I.\u00a0 \u201cAnd there will never be better witnesses than a guardian and a Seer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cold and shadows wrapped around the four of us and for a moment, I could see nothing at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou\u2019re his lady,\u201d a voice said from behind us.\u00a0 I stiffened at the sound, swallowing bile that rose abruptly in my throat.\u00a0 I knew the voice. What is she doing here?\u00a0 What does she want now? But there she stood, … Continue reading