The pair were squared off, Cameron to the left and Neve to the right, each looking more desperate than the other.<\/p>\n
Neve leaned against one corner of the room, Caliburn unsheathed and gleaming in the lamplight, leveled at Cameron.\u00a0 \u201cHow?\u201d\u00a0 Her voice shook, either with shock or outrage.\u00a0 \u201cHow do you know her, Cameron?\u00a0 How the hell<\/i> do you know her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeve, I will tell you everything you want to know once you get back into bed please<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Cameron looked haggard, eyes sunken into dark hollows.\u00a0 Thom\u2019s stomach twisted, bile rising in his throat.<\/p>\n
I can see the resemblance.\u00a0 He looks like Leinth a little.\u00a0 The cheekbones.\u00a0 Bone structure.<\/i>\u00a0 His hand spasmed around Marin\u2019s.\u00a0 She squeezed his fingers, then let go and left his side, slipping past him and deeper into the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeve, put down the sword,\u201d she said gently, moving toward her trembling friend.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to talk about all of this like civilized adults.\u201d<\/p>\n
The look she shot Marin was one of pure agony.\u00a0 \u201cShe betrayed us,\u201d Neve whispered.\u00a0 \u201cShe betrayed us to them, Marin\u2014so many years ago that I cannot count them anymore. She\u2019s the reason that hundreds\u2014thousands\u2014died.\u00a0 And now he knows her face and she calls him family and she comes here looking<\/i> for him.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why would she do that?\u00a0 How am I supposed to accept that?\u00a0 How can we all trust him and her and all of it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sword chose him,\u201d Marin reminded her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwords can be wrong.\u201d\u00a0 Her voice was desperate, but uncertain, as if she wasn\u2019t entirely convinced that was the case.<\/p>\n
Somehow, I don\u2019t think this sword is wrong and I think that there\u2019s a lot more going on right here, right now than any of us are quite aware of.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cShe loved Seamus,\u201d Thom said without thinking.\u00a0 \u201cShouldn\u2019t that be reason enough to hear him out and give this a chance to start making sense?\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve went rigid, her face pale.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loved Seamus,\u201d Thom repeated.\u00a0 \u201cAnd she\u2019s been watching over all of you for a very, very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not possible,\u201d Neve whispered, the sword\u2019s tip drifting toward the floor.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sword slipped from her nerveless fingertips and Marin caught her as she fell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The pair were squared off, Cameron to the left and Neve to the right, each looking more desperate than the other. Neve leaned against one corner of the room, Caliburn unsheathed and gleaming in the lamplight, leveled at Cameron.\u00a0 \u201cHow?\u201d\u00a0 … Continue reading