\u201cYou promised you wouldn\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aoife O\u2019Credne stiffened, her hands going still against the fabric of her pack. She swallowed hard and willed her voice to be steady. \u201cI said I wouldn\u2019t leave until spring and I wouldn\u2019t leave alone. The calendar says it should be spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about going alone?\u201d Gray Miller stepped closer to her, one large, work-roughened hand resting lightly on her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeca said she\u2019d come,\u201d Aoife said quietly.<\/p>\n
Gray was silent for a long moment before he called her bluff. \u201cYou asked her, but she said no.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said not yet,\u201d Aoife said, straightening and turning toward the taller man. \u201cGray, I can\u2019t stay here. My brother\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fine, Aoife. We know that he\u2019s fine, Teca\u2019s scryed and we\u2019ve seen him and you said yourself he seems all right and seems happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing him in that mirror isn\u2019t the same as touching him, as talking to him.\u201d Aoife caught her lower lip between her teeth, her stomach doing an uncomfortable backflip. \u201cI have to go to him, Gray. I\u2019ve been here for too long. I should have been with him months ago.\u201d All my life I\u2019ve tried to get out of Phelan\u2019s shadow and now all I want is to be with him. All I want is to know that he\u2019s all right, to touch him with my own hands and hear his voice.<\/em> She exhaled. \u201cWhen he\u2014when he was sundered, I know something went wrong. I have to make sure that he\u2019s really all right, Gray. Don\u2019t you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t just abandon Wat and Kes and Teca and the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n She blinked. \u201cWho said anything about we<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to let you go alone, Aofie.\u201d He brushed her curls back from her face and smiled ruefully. \u201cThat was part of the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGray, they need you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo do you.\u201d He kissed her forehead. \u201cCome on. Dinner\u2019s ready. Give this a few more days. Think about it. We\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m fine alone,\u201d she said in a whisper, her heart giving a painful squeeze. I want him with me, but they need him too much.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey might be, too. We\u2019ll talk about it. Come on. Food.\u201d<\/p>\n Aoife laughed weakly and nodded, drifting in his wake toward the smell of laughter and stew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYou promised you wouldn\u2019t leave.\u201d Aoife O\u2019Credne stiffened, her hands going still against the fabric of her pack. She swallowed hard and willed her voice to be steady. \u201cI said I wouldn\u2019t leave until spring and I wouldn\u2019t leave alone. … Continue reading