\u201cWhere\u2019s Phelan, anyway?\u201d\u00a0 I asked, scrubbing a hand across my eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI thought he was with you, Sif.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA young lady waylaid him,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cBlonde, lovely, steel like a sword\u2019s blade beneath everything.\u00a0 I could see it in her eyes.\u00a0 From the sound of it, she\u2019d be tucking him back into bed soon enough.\u00a0 What happened to that bloody idiot, anyhow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis last time?\u00a0 The Hecate.\u201d\u00a0 I exhaled quietly and nodded my thanks to Thom as he pressed a fresh cup of tea into my hand.\u00a0 \u201cBefore that, it was Vammatar\u2019s sisters, and before that it was Menhit and then Vammatar before that and Cariocecus, too.\u00a0 At least one\u2019s dead and the other is our ally.\u201d\u00a0 My gaze slid toward Thordin for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cHopefully, we\u2019ll never have to deal with Vammatar ever again.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a deep swallow from my mug, shuddering slightly as the heat from the liquid bled through my chest and throat.\u00a0 Thom settled an arm around my shoulders and hugged me against his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many enemies,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cNot enough allies.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been lucky that we\u2019ve had the time to react, warning that they might be coming\u2014Menhit was the only one that took us by surprise.\u00a0 She subverted Cariocecus\u2019s control over some supernatural minions he\u2019d gathered and launched an attack during what he intended to be his moment of triumph over us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was working with the Hecate,\u201d I said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cAt least at the time.\u00a0 She may have broken away by now, double-crossed her\u2026or the Hecate might have taken exception to the camazotzi<\/i> trying to murder Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if she wants him for a partner\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Neve shuddered, her voice trailing away.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t like it.\u00a0 There\u2019s too much we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I snorted humorlessly.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Story of our lives, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
She choked on a laugh, nodding.\u00a0 \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the fire for a long moment, holding my mug against my knee, turning the memories of the encounter over in my head.\u00a0 \u201cNeve\u2026do you know if Brighid of the Imbolg ever stepped up against her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst who?\u00a0 Menhit?\u201d\u00a0 Neve grimaced slightly, swirling her own tea around in its mug.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething tells me she did,\u201d I said softly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it didn\u2019t end well at all for either side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow would you know to suspect such a thing?\u201d\u00a0 Sif asked curiously.<\/p>\n
Neve laughed, shaking her head.\u00a0 \u201cThey didn\u2019t tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sif\u2019s tone was bone-dry, like a desert in high summer.\u00a0 \u201cI just met them less than an hour ago.\u00a0 There\u2019s a great deal that no one\u2019s told me, apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last princess of Avalon just smiled weakly.\u00a0 \u201cThordin\u2019s soul isn\u2019t the only one that was spun back out into the world.\u00a0 You share a fire with Brighid of the Imbolg and Finn mac Camulos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man you shot this morning with that arrow was Ciar mac D\u00fabhshl\u00e1in, a ghlac Cernunnos,\u201d Thordin added, his voice quiet.<\/p>\n
Sif\u2019s eyes widened and her gaze snapped to Thordin.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re telling me I shot the Ridden Druid this morning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe shot<\/i> Matt?\u201d\u00a0 Neve asked, looking at me and Thom.\u00a0 \u201cNo one mentioned that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just knocked him off the wall,\u201d Thom said quietly, carefully avoiding Neve\u2019s gaze.\u00a0 \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a reason to get the whole world worried.\u00a0 She did it to get his attention and to show that she was serious about talking to Marin and I this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an idiotic stunt,\u201d Thordin said in response to Sif.\u00a0 \u201cYou should know better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no sense of\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
All he did was smile.\u00a0 \u201cIn this world, in this awakened world, nothing is at it seems, Sif.\u00a0 Absolutely nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhere\u2019s Phelan, anyway?\u201d\u00a0 I asked, scrubbing a hand across my eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI thought he was with you, Sif.\u201d \u201cA young lady waylaid him,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cBlonde, lovely, steel like a sword\u2019s blade beneath everything.\u00a0 I could see it in her … Continue reading