\u201cYou asked us to help you that day when your brother and your cousin and all of them were in danger,\u201d Gray reminded her, his breath warm against her hair.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we rose to the challenge.\u00a0 We\u2019re a part of this now, Aoife.\u00a0 We\u2019re absolutely a part of this now.\u201d<\/p>\n
His nose was close enough to her ear that she could feel the heat from his skin through her hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t push us away in a vain effort to protect us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conversation feels way too familiar,\u201d she whispered, resting her chin on her knees.\u00a0 \u201cHaven\u2019t we talked about this before?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe once,\u201d he said, tugging her gently toward his chest.\u00a0 She fell against him with a sigh, her eyes falling shut.\u00a0 He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she sighed again, curling against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t really want to leave,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t want to leave us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she admitted in a whisper.\u00a0 \u201cBut the road is calling.\u00a0 I can\u2019t deny it forever.\u201d\u00a0 Lady of Sighs, Maiden of the Gray Towers, your feet will carry you hither and yon unto the very breaking of the world.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe very breaking of the world,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
Gray\u2019s arms tightened.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is this if not the breaking of the world, Aoife?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her heart gave a painful squeeze and she swallowed.\u00a0 He\u2019s right, isn\u2019t he?\u00a0 The world is broken.<\/i><\/p>\n
Let it be born anew.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Seamus used to say.\u00a0 The world will break, will die, so it might be born again.<\/i>\u00a0 A tear squeezed out of one eye to run down her face.\u00a0 She missed him, her kind-hearted cousin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to find them, Gray,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cWhen the weather breaks, I have to go find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u00a0 Your brother and your cousins?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cNo, not them.\u00a0 I\u2026Seamus.
\nMy cousin Seamus, the oldest of us, the one we\u2026we lost.\u00a0 He had children.\u201d\u00a0 She swallowed hard, the long-kept secret bubbling out as she pressed herself more firmly into Gray\u2019s arms, feeling safer now than she had in a long, long time.\u00a0 \u201cNone of our family knew except for me.\u00a0 I carried the secrets, I kept them.\u00a0 I need to find those children\u2014his descendants.\u00a0 I need to find them, Gray.\u00a0 Someone has to find them.\u00a0 Protect them.\u201d\u00a0 She swallowed again.\u00a0 \u201cThey don\u2019t know who they are, what potential they have\u2014what power they hold.\u00a0 There are so many out there in the world that will be trying to use them\u2014to ensnare them somehow.\u00a0 I can\u2019t just let it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to,\u201d Gray said.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not in this alone.\u00a0 I\u2019ll help.\u00a0 We\u2019ll all help.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze drifted away from the fire, up toward the stairs to the loft above.\u00a0 \u201cAny of us will hep you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll help me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a doubt.\u201d\u00a0 He tucked his knuckle beneath her chin, tilting her face up toward his.\u00a0 \u201cNever doubt that when the chips are down, when it\u2019s all said and done and everything\u2019s coming apart, I will be there for you doing whatever you need me to do when you need me to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her gaze met his and she sucked in a weak, ragged breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love you,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI think I do, anyway.\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019d never been given to the hard and fast fall into or out of love that seemed to plague her cousin Teague, nor the inability to find someone to love that her brother had.\u00a0 Uncertainty, though\u2014that had been her curse for as long as she could remember.<\/p>\n
Never sure of how you feel, what to do\u2014not unless someone\u2019s told you what needs to be done, pointed you in the right direction.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d Gray whispered.<\/p>\n
Then, when he kissed her, she felt for just one moment that all would be right with the world\u2014somehow, someday.<\/p>\n
Somehow, someday, everything would be all right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou asked us to help you that day when your brother and your cousin and all of them were in danger,\u201d Gray reminded her, his breath warm against her hair.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we rose to the challenge.\u00a0 We\u2019re a part of … Continue reading