\u201cI still can\u2019t believe you hit him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a lying bastard and he lied<\/i> to me,\u201d Phelan snarled as we walked across the bridge toward the arboretum.\u00a0 I was sandwiched between he and Thom as we headed for the meeting spot we\u2019d arranged a day after Phelan had slugged Cariocecus.\u00a0 Salvaging the alliance had been a near thing and Phelan hadn\u2019t wanted to do it at all, but I\u2019d talked him into it.<\/p>\n
Strange how the tables turned.<\/p>\n
Phelan was still convinced that Cariocecus was lying about his cousin Seamus being alive.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t so sure\u2014not after having talked to Neve about it, hearing the certainty mixed with hope and doubt in her voice.\u00a0 She knew the evidence of her brother\u2019s death had been circumstantial at best, only made solid by the fact that he\u2019d never tried to contact them in all the centuries since.<\/p>\n
Or had he tried and they\u2019d just never recognized the attempts for what they were?<\/p>\n
The others had agreed.\u00a0 We needed to talk to Cariocecus and get to the bottom of this\u2014if we could, if there was a \u201cbottom of this\u201d to get to in the first place.<\/p>\n
I refrained from telling Phelan how ridiculous he sounded and just shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll figure out why he lied to you about it\u2014you\u2019re sure<\/i> he\u2019s lying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said my sister told him that Seamus was alive.\u00a0 She wouldn\u2019t do that, not even to save me.\u00a0 She wouldn\u2019t spin a lie like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally,\u201d Thom said, giving him a wall-eyed look.\u00a0 \u201cNot even to save your skin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t,\u201d Phelan said firmly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd if, by some miracle, it wasn\u2019t<\/i> a lie, why didn\u2019t she tell us<\/i> that Seamus was alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure she had her reasons,\u201d I said, shoving my hands into my pockets.\u00a0 It was bitterly cold, but the sky was clear.\u00a0 Thom had expressed a faint hope that the next big snow would hold off a for a few days so we could get some construction done back at camp.\u00a0 He\u2019d left that in Davon and Matt\u2019s hands in his absence this morning.<\/p>\n
Phelan skewered me with a sharp look.\u00a0 \u201cYou believe<\/i> him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t disbelieve<\/i> him outright,\u201d I said, meeting his gaze and lifting my chin slightly.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan, you of all people know that sometimes secrets are the only thing that keep a person alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed twice and looked away, eyes darkening as his brow furrowed.\u00a0 \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d he said after we\u2019d walked another dozen feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither does anything else,\u201d I pointed out.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re still just kind of rolling with the punches and hoping that everything turns out the way it\u2019s supposed to.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re going to get the story and the answers that we all wanted from Cariocecus\u2014as long as you can refrain from trying to break his nose again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was his jaw,\u201d Phelan said, mild indignance coloring his voice, \u201cand my fingers still hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt serves you right,\u201d Thom growled.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe you shouldn\u2019t have hit him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you shouldn\u2019t lecture me about when to hit people,\u201d Phelan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to listen to the two of you fight,\u201d I said, glaring at each of them in turn.\u00a0 \u201cWe just need to get through this meeting without killing each other and<\/i> get the answers we want.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Now stop pouting, Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not pouting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I just gave him a look and he rolled his eyes, turning away again.\u00a0 There wouldn\u2019t be any real reasoning with him until we got to the bottom of this.<\/p>\n
I was hoping that after this meeting, everything would be sorted and we could concentrate on bigger problems\u2014like Menhit, surviving the winter, and the possibility that there\u2019d be more Scandinavian bitch-goddesses of the Underworld coming after Phelan.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe you hit him.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s a lying bastard and he lied to me,\u201d Phelan snarled as we walked across the bridge toward the arboretum.\u00a0 I was sandwiched between he and Thom as we headed for the meeting … Continue reading