As they talk, she's wiping Kieran's body with damp towels, murmuring words and moving her hands over the wounds as she does so. A faint blue glow lingers for a second in the spots she touches. I can't help feeling a little jealous that a gorgeous woman is bathing him like this.
"I can't heal everything," she says. "Not right away. But I'll take care of the worst ones. The rest of it will need time."
He nods. "Save some energy for her wounds. Please." When he looks at me, I feel the heat of his gaze like a touch. I can't stand him gazing at me like that, like he thinks I'm beautiful, when I look like this.
Forcing my legs to obey, I stand up and stagger toward the bathroom.
"Aislinn, what are you doing?" Arden protests.
"If this is going to take a while, I may as well clean myself up."
In the bathroom, I stand in the shower to peel off the bandages. They're sticking to me, congealed into the cuts, and taking each one off causes the wound to bleed again. I bite my left wrist, shaking, while I pull away the stained strips. One at a time, I drop them into the trash.
When I turn on the shower, the warm water feels incredible and excruciating at the same time. I turn my back to it and let the water run through my hair, down my back. It feels amazing to be clean, to be home.
I was powerful enough to destroy the druids, to save us. Otherwise we would still be there, in that building. Kieran would be suffering in a cell, trying to plan an escape, and I would be Stanley's oh-so-very-special guest.
But I killed them.
Anyone is capable of murder. All of them were complicit, at the very least. But how am I any better? I'm a murderer, too.
When the tears start, I don't realize it at first because they mingle with the warm water streaming down my face. I just want to sit in the shower and cry and cry. But my wounds are running red, blood flowing freely down the drain, and I need to take care of them— I've already lost a lot of blood, and I'm only going to get weaker.
I rinse away the last of the soap and wrap myself in a towel, because of course I forgot to bring any clean clothes into the bathroom with me. The blood starts soaking through the towel almost instantly where my deepest wound is, where Stanley stabbed me.
I'm getting dizzy. Maybe this whole shower thing was a bad idea. Opening the bathroom door, I stumble out. I can make it to my room for clothes. It's just a few steps.
A few steps is apparently more than I can handle. My legs turn to jelly and I crumple, clutching the towel.
"Aislinn?" Arden rushes to me. "She's too weak. Help me with her."
Kieran is there in a second, his hands cool against my skin.
"Don't pick her up, you're not fully healed," Ériu says, but he doesn't listen. I'm in his arms, my skin against his. He carries me to the living room. When he puts me down on the sheets, where he was minutes ago, the towel slips a little, and his eyes dart down for just a second before he looks away.
He's seen me naked before, when he and the leprechauns brought me to his loft after a transformation. I still blush thinking about that. Somehow, this is different.
"Go take a shower," I snap, tugging the towel back into place. "You stink."
He laughs, and even though his breath hitches with pain in the middle of it, it's the best sound.
While he's in the shower, Ériu heals me; and by the time she's done, it looks as if my cuts and stab wound happened a few days ago. They still hurt, but not nearly as much.
"I can't do anything about the blood loss," she says. "You'll need to eat hearty meals and rest to restore your strength."
"Thank you," I tell her.
"Kieran is an old friend," she says. "We've had our differences, but the few of the Tuatha dé Danann who are left must help each other. I'm happy to help out his love as well."
My cheeks flame. "His what?"
She smiles, all perfect teeth and full lips fit for a magazine cover. "He loves you, you must know that. Trust me, he hasn't been like this about anyone in centuries. You're good for him. I think he might actually come back from this renegade path of his and regain his pride in being Tuatha dé Danann."
I stare at her. I have no idea what to say.
"One more thing," she says. "He told me what you did. The mass Life-Stealing." She hesitates. "I feel that I must warn you."
"You think the other druids will want revenge?"
"Surely, yes. But that isn't what you should be concerned about. Ending so many magic users' lives, all together, before their times— it will have drawn the attention of the Fates."
I raise my eyebrows. "The what now?"
She doesn't smile. "The Fates are no laughing matter, Aislinn. The Korrigan have an uneasy relationship with them at best, and what you've done will certainly have angered them."
"I didn't have a choice. The druids would have killed him and enslaved me. I thought he was dead."
"And I understand all of that. But they may not."
"What will they do?"
"I'm not sure. I'll be back tomorrow to see both of you, and to check on the other girl, the damaged one. We'll talk more of it then. For now, don't worry. The Fates move slowly in these matters." She rises from kneeling on the floor beside me. "I have to go. Sleep today, and eat."
Sure. Like I can sleep or eat after that.
"Wait!"
She turns back.
"Can you fix Kieran's finger? The one the druid cut off?"
"I've done something similar, once," she says. "But it takes days, and more magical energy than I have left right now. I think the mute girl's tongue should take priority, don't you?"
"You can fix it?" I'm astounded.
"With time. Healing is my gift." She smiles.
After Arden closes the door behind Ériu, she starts fan-girling. "That was Ériu. The goddess. Here, in our apartment. I didn't even know she was on this side of the ocean."
Smiling, I sit up. "Easy there. I'm sure it's not your first celebrity sighting."
"True, I did see her once, long ago, before I entered Maeve's service. She was just as amazing then as now." Arden shakes herself out of her reverie. "Time for you to get to bed. When a goddess prescribes rest, you obey."
Hitching my towel back into place, I get to my feet. It's easier to walk now, though I still feel light-headed.
My door is right next to the bathroom. I'm just about to enter my room when the bathroom door opens and there's Kieran, steamy and damp and bare except for the towel around his waist. His dark hair, slick with water, curls around his face.
Time freezes for a second as we stand there, so close, with so little between us. The air feels heated, magnetized. His gray eyes are drawing me.
"To bed," orders Arden from behind me. "Kieran, I suppose the couch is not too demeaning a resting place for the feared Far Darrig?"
"You don't seem to fear me nearly as much as you should," he says to her, half-smiling. How is anyone supposed to have a clear thought in her head when he's a few inches away, his lips twisted in that sexy smile?
"I feared you before I dragged your half-dead ass out of a druid stronghold," she says. "Ériu's advice goes for you, too— get some rest."
He smiles at me and moves past me to the living room without saying another word.
28
SORRY
Zane
I show up to check on Aislinn around mid-afternoon. I didn't get enough sleep to really recover from last night, but I feel better. Refreshed.
When I come in, the mute girl, Wynnie, is sitting on the couch, watching TV with a look of rapt attention and sucking on a smoothie. I wonder if it's hard for her to swallow, having no tongue.
"Ériu is coming back tomorrow, to start healing her tongue," Kieran says. He's sitting at the kitchen bar with a mug of something. Doesn't smell like coffee though. Of course he'd be the guy who drinks tea or something lame like that.
He looks better, though. Like, a ton better. Supernaturally better.
"Who's Ériu?"
"That
's right, you missed her. She's one of the Tuatha dé Danann, much older and more powerful than me. She has regenerative, healing powers."
What next? "That explains why you're lookin' better. She gonna fix your finger?"
"Eventually. It takes a lot out of her, so it will be slow. Wynnie's tongue is first."
I notice that Wynnie is watching me, her dark eyes wary. She looks almost normal now. Her straight black hair is clean and shiny, and she's in a T-shirt and jeans that I've seen Aislinn wear. She has a smooth, oval face, with rounded cheekbones, and small, full lips. I nod and smile at her in what I think is a friendly way; but she scoots further toward the end of the couch and looks away.
"Why do you think I'm out here in the kitchen?" Kieran says. "She won't let anybody near her but Arden and Aislinn."
Damn. What did the druids do to her in there?
"Where is Aislinn?"
"Balcony."
"She okay?"
He looks down at his cup and nods. "See for yourself."
"Take it easy," I tell him. I move toward the door, but then he says, "Wait."
"What's up?"
"I owe you an apology."
"Damn straight. About a dozen of 'em."
He nods. "I'm not good at apologies. Haven't made one to a human in— never."
I cross my arms and wait.
"The time I called you, in Aislinn's voice, I said things about you that were never true. I'm sorry."
"Okay, and?"
"I tried to make her kill you. And I'm sorry for that as well."
"See, I'm curious— how do you think an apology is gonna fix that?"
"It won't. But I'm—"
"Different? Changed? Maybe, but you gotta show proof of it, man. Can't just be words."
"I know."
I pause, not wanting to give him an inch. But hey, I'm a nice guy. "I respect that you said that, man. But I'm still gonna be watching you."
"Fair enough."
I've said my piece, so I go out on the balcony to see Aislinn. She's scrolling through her phone and sipping a sports drink, probably to re-hydrate. I sit in the other chair near her.
"I couldn't sleep anymore," she says, looking up. "Nightmares."
"But you look better. That Ériu chick fix you up?"
"Yeah. She's pretty incredible. I had no idea beings like that existed."
I can tell she's excited, that she wants to meet more of them, get to know them. When I hear about stuff like that, though, I just feel like going home and curling up into my normal life, like a safe, warm blanket. Magic belongs in movies and TV shows, not real life.
It's a difference between us. One reason why we don't fit.
"Thank you for coming for us," she says.
"I came for you," I clarify.
"Thank you." She's biting her lip, like she's got something to say and isn't sure how to do it.
"You got something to tell me, just tell me."
Those green eyes. Like laser beams, cutting right down to my heart.
"Zane, I treated you badly."
"Kinda, yeah."
"I hid things from you. My heart wasn't faithful to you, before I even really knew it. You have been nothing less than amazing to me, and you didn't deserve that from me. I'm just— I'm so sorry."
She draws in a shaky breath, like she's trying not to cry. "I didn't know who I was, you know? I was trying to figure it out. And I was trying to hold onto you and not lose him either, and that just made things worse. But I can't be good for either of you until I know who I am."
"I hear that," I say. "And I get it, I do. But it still hurts."
She looks at me, my pain reflected in her eyes. "I care about you so much— you're family, and our friends are like family to me. Please don't shut me out of it all."
Part of me wants to. Wants to tell her to go to hell and get out of my life, that she can't be connected to my family or my friends any more. That she can go be with him, and leave all of us alone.
But she needs friends. Hell, we all do. And I love her, in spite of everything. If Laurel still has a place in my life after our breakup, I guess I can make room for Aislinn, too. But that's it! No more ex-girlfriends crowding up my friend circle. I'm at max.
I reach out and rub her shoulder. "You're in my life, girl. I guess you can stay."
She leans over to hug me, as she's done so many times— and just then, the smell of her and the feel of her hair— it's too much, and I feel like my heart is cracking open. Because she's going to be around, but I won't be allowed to love her.
"Gotta go," I say quickly, standing. "Things to do. Feel better."
I'm out of the apartment and down the steps faster than thinking.
It's over. It's really over.
There's a park near here, with a trail, where I can run myself out of all the thinking and feeling. Run till there's nothing left of me but my feet, and my eyes, and my pounding heart.
29
HOME
Aislinn
Kieran and I make a strange game of avoiding each other the next day. I'm not sure why he's giving me space, but I know that I'm doing it because I simply have no idea what to say to him.
You're crazy and maybe wrong for me, but I want you anyway just doesn't sound right.
You're half of me and I need you, so never ever leave my side again. Too needy, too desperate. Kind of a mistake I made with Zane when I first met him.
I've called you horrible names and rejected you a bunch of times, but I changed my mind after you gave up your finger for me. No, I'm not fickle at all. Please be my boyfriend.
What do I say to him? What the heck do I say?
"What is wrong with you two?" Arden hisses at me when she brings home sandwiches for supper and Kieran goes to eat his on the balcony. "You'd think you were some kind of old married couple fighting, not two kids with the hots for each other."
I choke on my soda because she called us "kids" and said "the hots." When I recover, I say, "He's hardly a kid, Arden. I just don't know what to say to him."
"You better figure it out," she says. "He can stay here till he recovers, but I'm not putting up with this weird tension. This is our apartment, supposed to be my safe space."
"Arden, I wanted to ask you— when I told you about Maeve— dying, were you— are you okay?"
Her sharp face relaxes a bit. "The woman who was my queen in everything for hundreds of years, who would have made me live in fear the rest of my life for my betrayal, is gone. I am so much more than okay."
She slaps a sandwich into my hands. "Go to that man and tell him to come with you for a walk right now."
"Arden, it's hot. We're healing."
"A slow walk through the park won't kill you. And it's only 88 degrees today. Go!"
I shuffle reluctantly to the balcony's sliding door and push it open. "Arden is forcing us to go for a walk in the park. Apparently she doesn't want company right now."
He stands without a word, and we walk outside with our sandwiches, down the building steps. The park isn't far, but in our weakened state we both have to stop and breathe a couple of times before we reach it. Finally we collapse onto a bench under a big live oak. There's a tennis court, and a walking trail, and a playground some distance away. The sounds of children laughing and yelling float to us through the thick heat of the late afternoon air.
"It's so hot," I say. "We should go back. She can't force us to stay out here."
He sighs. "Remember when you and I sat on that bench, after the leprechauns chased you into the woods for me?"
"I remember. Not a fun memory for me."
"Sorry," he says. "I felt something, but I wasn't sure how to approach you again. And I was curious. I wanted to talk to you."
The rich afternoon sun slants through the branches, lighting up his face. He squints against it.
"It's all right," I say. "No permanent damage."
"So much has happened since then," he says. "I'm glad we're finally— friends."
&n
bsp; "Is that what we are? Friends?"
"That's what you wanted. And it's what you need right now, isn't it?"
Maybe I don't want to be friends. Maybe I just want to leap into his arms and press my lips to his. But my heart is still sore from losing Zane, and I don't want that pain to influence what Kieran and I could have— what I promise myself we will have.
Instead of answering, I move closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder.
Deep down, I know that Samhain is coming, and with it whatever the druids are planning. And the Fates may come to punish me for what I've done. But for now, the night is over, and we've escaped the dark claws of the forest. And there is heat, and him, and the green grass, and the golden sun.
THE END
If you enjoyed Druid, or even if you didn't, please consider writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can do it right now, or anytime that's convenient for you. Reviews help other readers find the series, and they encourage me to keep writing!
The Next Installment...
If you enjoyed Druid, look for the other books in the series:
Korrigan (Secrets of the Fae - Book 1)
Samhain (Secrets of the Fae - Book 3)
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to all my ARC readers and beta readers, you are amazing! Thanks especially to my handsome husband Tristan and my two adorable kids, who put up with my manic typing and random scribbling of notes on every available scrap of paper. I love you more than I can say.
Druid (Secrets of the Fae Book 2) Page 23
