I pushed to my feet before J.T. was a few strides away and jogged to catch up with him.\u00a0 \u201cJay, wait up.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused, half turning back toward me.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not going to stick around here and watch Matt and Thordin after you\u2019re done with that holly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve got the stomach for it.\u201d\u00a0 Watching my brother possibly get his arm taken off in a training exercise?\u00a0 No thanks.\u00a0 <\/i>I shook my head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll just head back with you and we\u2019ll rescue Thom from Tala.\u201d<\/p>\n
J.T. nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat sounds like a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
We went three steps before J.T. stopped, brows knitting.\u00a0 He touched my arm to stop me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhelan\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blinked at him.\u00a0 \u201cHow the hell do you know that he\u2019s coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I can feel the spirit that\u2019s with him.\u201d\u00a0 J.T.\u2019s lips thinned and his fingers tightened around my arm.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t like it, Mar.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the spirit\u2019s going to hurt him, but I don\u2019t like the fact that it\u2019s lingering around him and I don\u2019t fully know why<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is it?\u201d\u00a0 I asked him.<\/p>\n
He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone he knew.\u00a0 His goddaughter or something, he said.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t elaborate much more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned, looking beyond him and toward the rest of camp.\u00a0 Phelan was walking, head down, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket, but I could see his lips moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod,\u201d I muttered.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone\u2019s going to think he\u2019s flipping nuts if they see him talking to something no one can see like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou say that like half of camp doesn\u2019t already know he\u2019s nuts,\u201d J.T. muttered back.\u00a0 He squeezed my arm again and stepped away, heading to intercept Phelan with me on his heels.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan!\u201d<\/p>\n
His head jerked up and he stared at J.T. and I for a moment before he just kept walking\u2014no hint of a smile, no nothing.<\/p>\n
I barely managed to suppress a shiver.\u00a0 What\u2019s going on with him now?<\/i><\/p>\n
I don\u2019t like this.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like this at all.<\/i><\/p>\n
Phelan crossed the holly hedges and headed for the bridge, leaving J.T. and I to jog after him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s gotten into him?\u201d\u00a0 I hissed at J.T.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to ask you the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
We caught up to Phelan a dozen feet before he hit the bridge, his head still bowed and his voice a soft murmur in his native tongue.\u00a0 I grasped his shoulder and he jerked away, spinning toward me.\u00a0 His eyes grew wide for a moment, pupils huge, then he shook his head hard and exhaled quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/i>,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 Did you need me for something?\u201d<\/p>\n
J.T. was looking at something\u2014someone\u2014I couldn\u2019t see.\u00a0 I swallowed hard, struggling to keep my gaze on Phelan and to keep my voice steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was she, Phelan?\u00a0 Who is<\/i> she?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes widened slightly, then he looked away with a quiet sigh.\u00a0 \u201cA friend,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBrighid\u2019s daughter.\u00a0 The one she took from the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
My lips formed the name even before I realized what I was saying.\u00a0 \u201c\u00c9riu.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded slightly, pain flickering through his gaze as he glanced toward the spirit J.T. was watching.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t know that she was still lingering,\u201d Phelan said softly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to convince her for hours to move on.\u00a0 She keeps telling me she can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
A voice I felt more than heard shivered through my bones.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true.\u00a0 I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
The voice was achingly familiar, heartbreakingly familiar.\u00a0 I could hear the child from my vision in the woman\u2019s voice that shivered through me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t leave until the children are born,\u201d<\/i> the voice said.\u00a0 \u201cI have to watch over them, Phelan.\u00a0 I have to.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cChildren,\u201d I echoed softy.\u00a0 \u201cWhich children?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the smile even though I couldn\u2019t see it.\u00a0 \u201cYours, Seer, and Princess Neve\u2019s.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
I wanted to puke all over my boots.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s going to be a long time,\u201d I said, mouth suddenly dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid not.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I pushed to my feet before J.T. was a few strides away and jogged to catch up with him.\u00a0 \u201cJay, wait up.\u201d He paused, half turning back toward me.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not going to stick around here and watch Matt and … Continue reading