{"id":2237,"date":"2014-09-17T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T04:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2014-09-16T20:45:02","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T00:45:02","slug":"thirty-five-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2237","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-five – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/em>,\u201d Neve said suddenly from the other side of the fire. \u201cJacqueline, what happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jacqueline murmured. \u201cI don\u2019t know. What the hell\u2019s out there, Neve? What did this to him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Neve dropped into an awkward position next to her, leaving her enough room to work but edging close enough to get a good look at her cousin. She shook her head slowly, lips thinning. \u201cThe gremlins were coming,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cHe and Seamus were holding the bridge so Leinth and I could get away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeinth didn\u2019t come back into the tent,\u201d Tala said.<\/p>\n

Jacqueline froze. \u201cWait a second\u2014Seamus<\/em>? As in your brother Seamus? The one who\u2019s supposed to be dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that one.\u201d Neve mustered up a smile from somewhere. \u201cNot so dead. Here, give me that. I\u2019ll pulp the herbs while you have a closer look at the bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numb to her core, Jacqueline handed Neve her mortar and pestle. Neve pulled Phelan\u2019s bag close and rifled around in it until she found the appropriate herbs. She filled the bowl of the mortar and got to work as Jacqueline struggled to get her bearings.<\/p>\n

What is going on out there?<\/em><\/p>\n

If she wasn\u2019t so damned worried about Phelan, she\u2019d have gone to check it out herself.<\/p>\n

A shrieking laugh shattered the sudden silence and all three women jumped at the sound. Tala swore heartily and Neve shuddered. Jacqueline\u2019s hands tightened on the wet rags in the basin, the ones she\u2019d been reaching for, to clean more of the mess from Phelan\u2019s wounded back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like the sound of that,\u201d Jacqueline said quietly. \u201cNot at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us did.\u201d Tala settled her daughter back into her basket. \u201cYou two stay here. I\u2019ll find out what that\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew, you get your arse over by that fire and you bloody well stay there, you hear me? She\u2019s coming after you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt glared at Thordin as the bigger man propelled him toward the fire and the women clustered there. \u201cHow the hell are you so sure of that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I heard it from her own damned lips. She knows you\u2019re here and she wants you. You heard her.\u201d Thordin glared over his shoulder toward Cameron. \u201cMake sure he stays put.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on out there, Thordin?\u201d Neve asked, her voice faint and frightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to Phelan?\u201d Jacqueline asked at the same time.<\/p>\n

Thordin put up a hand. \u201cThesan and you don\u2019t want to know. Just make sure he doesn\u2019t bleed out and make sure that Matt doesn\u2019t go anywhere near the damned wards.\u201d With that, he spun on his heel and headed back toward the wards, where he was probably needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is he talking about?\u201d Jacqueline asked. \u201cWhat is going on out there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA mess,\u201d Matt snarled. \u201cThat\u2019s what. I should be out there with them. My sister\u2019s gone out hunting god knows what and I\u2019m stuck back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSettle,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cJac, do you need another lamp?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease,\u201d Jacqueline muttered, setting her jaw. \u201cDo you know what\u2019s actually happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much more than you.\u201d Cameron exhaled a frustrated sigh and brought over another lamp. \u201cI wish there was something to tell, Jac.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head, wincing as the light revealed some nasty bruising around the marks on Phelan\u2019s back. \u201cI guess we\u2019ll just have to wait and see, then. I need blankets, Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt stared her for a moment, then sighed. \u201cRight. I\u2019ll get on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTala, go with him,\u201d Neve said without looking up. \u201cMake sure he comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so nice to be trusted,\u201d Matt muttered.<\/p>\n

The shrieking laugh sounded again, closer now, followed by a woman\u2019s sing-song. \u201cCome out, Ciar! I know you\u2019re near; come out and see me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh damnation and hellfire,\u201d Neve whispered. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t end well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho was that?\u201d Matt asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone who sounds exactly like her mother, that\u2019s who.\u201d Neve shuddered. \u201cAnd knowing what I know now, that\u2019s bad for us all the way around.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh,\u201d Neve said suddenly from the other side of the fire. \u201cJacqueline, what happened to him?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jacqueline murmured. \u201cI don\u2019t know. What the hell\u2019s out there, Neve? What did this to him?\u201d Neve dropped into … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,118,14,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-4","category-chapter-35-book-4","category-story","category-winter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-A5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2238,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions\/2238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}