It took every ounce of my strength and control not to put an arrow in her eye. If not for Thom\u2019s restraining hand on my arm, I might have done it.<\/p>\n
Revenge. Revenge on <\/em>who, you crazy bitch?<\/em> I swallowed bile and tried to tamp down my rage. Seamus had wanted us here to back him up, but at some point, this was all going to become too much and I was going to take matters into my own hands.<\/p>\n I was sure of that<\/em>.<\/p>\n Seamus spread his arms. \u201cIf you want to take your vengeance, Thesan, then do it. Have your pound of flesh from me and have done with it. You don\u2019t need to involve poor Phelan in this. He\u2019s been through more than enough trying to shoulder the burdens I foisted onto him when I was called to wed your mother. Leave off and return him to himself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mistake me,\u201d Thesan said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t want revenge on you. I want revenge on everyone else. I want revenge on all the ones who wronged you\u2014Mother, Grandfather, your brother, your father, all of them. I want vengeance on those who kept me from being happy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother. Teague. What the hell does Teague have to do with\u2014oh shit. Shit.<\/em><\/p>\n Seamus\u2019s voice hitched. \u201cMy father is beyond revenge now, Thesan, and you have no quarrel with my brother unless he\u2019s wronged you in a way I\u2019m not aware of. They left the shores of this world long ago and have only recently returned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe<\/em> was meant for the Wild Hunt,\u201d Thesan snapped. \u201cDon\u2019t you see? Don\u2019t you know that? Had she had him to hand over, all would have been well.\u201d<\/p>\n My fingers ached from gripping the shaft of my bow too tightly. \u201cIdiot,\u201d I snapped, my tongue no longer my own. \u201cYour mother was a lying bitch, that much you know well. Teague or Seamus, it made no difference to her which went to the Hunt. She thought to break the Hunt, to bend it to no will but her own. She failed in that and cost you a father in the doing. The only vengeance you should seek is on her<\/em>. Now return to us the Taliesin and have done with this foolishness!\u201d<\/p>\n Thom\u2019s hand was like iron around my arm. My fingers itched to feel an arrow\u2019s fletching between them. There was a strange haze at the edges of my vision, silver and green haloing my sight.<\/p>\n \u201cMar,\u201d he whispered, \u201cget a hold of yourself. You\u2019re speaking in tongues.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked at him and tried to jerk free of his grasp. The eyes I saw weren\u2019t his and yet at the same time they were.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not my husband and yet he is.<\/em><\/p>\n The words echoed like a hammer\u2019s blow inside my skull.<\/p>\n Thesan was laughing at me.<\/p>\n \u201cOh dear,\u201d she cackled. \u201cSeems I\u2019ve stumbled upon even better prey than I could have hoped! I see the Archer\u2019s soul. Does that mean the Ridden Druid is near, too?\u201d<\/p>\n In an eyeblink she was gone and I was sagging into Thom\u2019s arms, heart hammering at three times its speed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened?\u201d I asked in a weak whisper. My head pounded like there was a small fairy inside my skull hammering away at an oak log.<\/p>\n \u201cYou said something in old Erse to her,\u201d Thom said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou told her that she\u2019s an idiot,\u201d Seamus said, his face gray as he stared at me. \u201cYou\u2019ve shown too many cards, child. You\u2019re Brighid of the Imbolg come again, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does that matter?\u201d I asked, squeezing my eyes shut. My eyes stung. Something wasn\u2019t right\u2014nothing was right. \u201cWe\u2019re wasting time. We need to figure out where she\u2019s holding Phelan\u2019s anima<\/em> and what it\u2019s in while she\u2019s distracted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarin, you don\u2019t understand,\u201d Thordin said hoarsely. \u201cShe\u2019s going after your brother. Right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It took every ounce of my strength and control not to put an arrow in her eye. If not for Thom\u2019s restraining hand on my arm, I might have done it. Revenge. Revenge on who, you crazy bitch? I swallowed … Continue reading