\u201cLeinth was here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan stared up at the ceiling, his breathing shallow and his face pale in the lamplight.\u00a0 He swallowed hard, his gaze never wavering from the rough beams above his head, the bundles of herbs hung to dry there.\u00a0 \u201cWas she?\u201d he whispered, lips barely moving.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did she want, leann\u00e1n<\/i>?\u00a0 Do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
I reached over and brushed some of Phelan\u2019s hair away from his brow.\u00a0 He winced and turned his face toward mine.\u00a0 \u201cCameron,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cShe wanted to talk to Cameron.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t really feel like it.\u00a0 Neve freaked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan snorted softly, almost laughing, then winced.\u00a0 \u201cOoh.\u00a0 Bloody hole in me is going to be the death of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo it\u2019s not,\u201d I said, feeling my stomach twist painfully, bile rising high in my throat for a brief moment before I swallowed it back again.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t say shit like that when you\u2019re flat on your back like this, Phelan.\u00a0 One of us might forget that Jac and Jay said you\u2019d be fine and believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d he said, his gaze drifting back toward the herbs he\u2019d hung to dry weeks ago.\u00a0 \u201cSo they both freaked out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised you\u2019re not,\u201d I said softly, drawing my bad knee up to my chest, wincing a little as the stitches pulled.\u00a0 \u201cNot after the way she reacted.\u00a0 She said that Leinth betrayed\u2026I guess everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan\u2019s eyes drifted shut.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s how she remembers it, anyway.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another mystery, Phelan?\u00a0 Just what we need, right?\u00a0 More intrigues, more secrets.\u00a0 It\u2019s never ending.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cWhat did she miss?\u201d I asked softly.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeinth loved Seamus,\u201d Phelan said simply, his eyes still closed.\u00a0 \u201cI knew that she did when I saw her last.\u00a0 I could practically taste her desperation, the pain when she brought word that Rasenyr fell during the wars.\u00a0 She knew that Seamus had been there when it fell.\u00a0 I saw the pain.\u00a0 He meant the world to her.\u201d\u00a0 A shudder ran through him and he opened his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cAnything she did, she did it to protect everyone she loved.\u00a0 I can\u2019t fault her for anything she\u2019s done.\u00a0 But Neve never saw that\u2014she never had the opportunity to.\u00a0 All she ever knew were the stories, the legends.\u00a0 Leinth had betrayed her people.\u00a0 Winter befouled the grand boot.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure some would have blamed more on her if they could have found a way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wet my lips.\u00a0 \u201cShe came to warn Cameron because of who he is.\u201d\u00a0 I had to swallow bile back down again.\u00a0 \u201cDid you know, Phelan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDepends on what you\u2019re asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants to know if you knew that Cameron was Seamus\u2019s descendant,\u201d Neve said from the doorway.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t heard her come in over the sound of the wind that still screamed above the rooftops.\u00a0 The storm was unrelenting.<\/p>\n
Neve shuffled forward on her crutches, her expression bleak.\u00a0 \u201cDid you know, Phelan?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer\u2014he just looked away.\u00a0 That was how I knew.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s known all along.\u00a0 Somehow, he\u2019s known all along.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cLeinth was here.\u201d Phelan stared up at the ceiling, his breathing shallow and his face pale in the lamplight.\u00a0 He swallowed hard, his gaze never wavering from the rough beams above his head, the bundles of herbs hung to dry … Continue reading