{"id":2717,"date":"2015-12-30T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T05:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2717"},"modified":"2015-12-29T22:11:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T03:11:07","slug":"twenty-one-02-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2717","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-one – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

All the air left her lungs as she stood next to her brother, staring blankly at her cousin. \u201cSeamus,\u201d she whispered. \u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/em>, you\u2019re alive. What are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sound surprised,\u201d he said, a wry twist to his lips as he came to hug her tightly. \u201cThe only one of us that isn\u2019t here is Teague, it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeve\u2019s here?\u201d Aoife looked between the two men, her brows knitting. \u201cD\u00e9ithe<\/em>, how did that happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLuck or fate,\u201d Phelan said, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket, his staff caught in the crook of his arm. \u201cI\u2019m not entirely certain at this point, but there\u2019s a reason out there in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoife studied him for a moment. He did<\/em> look well\u2014better than she\u2019d expected, all things considered. He was thinner than she thought he should be, though, and paler as well. She chewed the inside of her lower lip, watching him even as he watched her. Seamus watched her as well, though only for a moment before he looked beyond her at someone else.<\/p>\n

Gray.<\/em> Aoife gulped down a breath and turned, shooting her mud-spattered companion an apologetic smile. \u201cSorry,\u201d she whispered as she reached for his hand.<\/p>\n

He shook his head even as he took her hand. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. You were understandably a little busy.\u201d His gaze flicked from her to Phelan and then to Seamus, one brow climbing higher and higher toward his hairline. \u201cGentlemen. My apologies for the interruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seamus crossed his arms. \u201cFriend of yours, Aoife?\u201d<\/p>\n

She felt a blush creep across her cheeks. \u201cYou could say that.\u201d Breathe. Just breathe. This will go just fine\u2014absolutely fine.<\/em> \u201cThis is Gray Miller. Gray, meet my cousin Seamus and my brother Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray nodded to them. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to finally meet you both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan smiled crookedly. \u201cWe\u2019ll see about that. Give me a few days and you\u2019ll want to strangle me just like everyone else.\u201d He pivoted on a heel. \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s get you two fed and cleaned up and you can meet the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest?\u201d Aoife echoed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMmhm. The rest.\u201d Phelan grinned over his shoulder at them and started walking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the air left her lungs as she stood next to her brother, staring blankly at her cousin. \u201cSeamus,\u201d she whispered. \u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh, you\u2019re alive. What are you doing here?\u201d \u201cYou sound surprised,\u201d he said, a wry twist to … 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":[124,179,14],"tags":[176,150,170,177,173,148,159,147,146],"class_list":["post-2717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-21-book-5","category-story","tag-aoife-ocredne","tag-awakenings","tag-fiction","tag-gray-miller","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial-fiction","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-HP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717","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=2717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2718,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2717\/revisions\/2718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}