And Finn… “What about you?”
He ran a finger over her shoulder then down her upper arm before drawing it back up to her neck. “I’ll be able to say the words once the true feeling is there. But while this has been growing in me, it is still new. Would you be saddened if I could not, in the end, love you in return? Fully love you, even if I do give myself to you?”
She twisted her head to hold his gaze with hers. “Yes.”
He leaned in to gift her with a light kiss. “Then I will try. I am willing, more than willing, goddess. You are one of the few truly beautiful people in this world. It is an honor to be loved by you, and it would be an honor to love you. But I will not give you the words until I am sure. It may be tomorrow, or it may be years. Are you willing to wait?”
“Yes,” she said again. For now, knowing that there was something there on his part, and that he wanted to try, was enough. And his honesty was a gift in itself, one of respect and courage. He told her the truth, and did not flinch from saying it. He gave her just what she had given all of them with her confession.
“Good.” He rose. “Eat. I will see you downstairs.” He hesitated at the door. “And I do not want you to worry about what the other fae or immortals may say when it becomes known that you are involved with all of us. Despite what you may have seen with Grainne, the fae have always been… free with their favors. It is only considered a violation of trust if you have committed yourself to someone and then betray that commitment. In this case, you have committed yourself to the four of us. There is no violation, no betrayal.”
A small knot of worry loosened. She had already made her decision on this point, but it was welcome knowledge that she was not violating a major taboo for the immortals. “Thank you.”
He gave her a nod and then, like the O’Loinsighs, was gone. She turned her attention to her now cold breakfast. She ate it all, even the eggs.
It was one of the most delicious meals of her existence.
As she set aside the tray and rose, she realized she had not told them of Balor’s tricks the night before, so caught up she was in confessing what she’d realized.
When she’d dealt with the men of ba, she would tell everyone. They would all need to be vigilant for his tricks, especially if he could break through the wards. And she might need to start scanning everyone each day. It would be a serious drain on her powers, but she’d received a boost from Dub last night, and a bit more from the breakfast.
Actually, the breakfast had given her more than she expected. She examined the well of her power. It was… steadier. Had she been losing a bit of herself every day due to the holes in her being?
Interesting.
Her mind turned to what still needed to be accomplished. As with finding justice for Dano, she would do whatever she needed to in order to send Balor truly on from this existence, and to his judgment at the hands of Anubis, Ma’at, and Ammit.
And as with Dano, she had the O’Loinsighs, Finn, and Ailis to help her. There were others as well: the men of ba, Cuchi, the Morrigan, the raven, Faolan. Each had helped.
She was not alone in this fight.
Another hole sealed itself as she laid out her clothes for the day and headed for the shower.
Chapter Seventeen
SEARBHAN
He studied the men of ba who were waiting on the other side of the wards, about ten yards from the cottage. When Oisin and Dub had reset them, they’d concentrated on the area in the back and around the forge. Only so much power had been available by the time they had made their way to the front of the property. Shar didn’t like how close the boundary was, but he understood the priorities.
Seven ba men stood there, including Ari. He’d expected more, and while it was hard to read his visage, Ari was not pleased.
“Where is the goddess? And why must we wait?” A ba man, slightly taller than the rest, crossed his arms and leaned forward, as though he were going to press through the wards.
Ari held up a hand. “Cease. I have explained why this is important. We will wait.”
The taller one stilled then nodded. “I am anxious. I do not appreciate the violation of our home or the slaughter of my friends.”
Shar could understand. He himself was not happy with the fact there were so many unknowns, that he didn’t know who exactly he could trust. He’d never been like Dub, skeptical of everyone except his brothers, nor was he Mell, using his powers to constantly monitor the reactions of those around him. Despite some very memorable moments, he preferred to trust.
But there was also something off. The trees whispered and reached out to him, as they had not when he and the others had first arrived at the cottage. He extended his senses and asked.
The one on the far left. There are shadows on his heart. We… do not like him here. It was a younger ash, maybe only a few decades along. The thoughts were unformed, more a general feeling.
The one to the right of the leader. He led shadows to the Rowans. This was from a centuries-old oak.
If this was true, why did the rowans not tell him when he was there, right beside them?
They do not trust anymore. Not just you, man of the green, but any. They do not trust any but the ancient ash and the oaks. A tangle of ivy along the path murmured.
Shar suppressed the sorrow those words brought to him, swallowing his guilt. His was not the only failure, but his had been the last. When he’d allowed Grainne and Diarmuid to overcome him, he’d betrayed the trust laid in him by the earth itself. Since then, though he’d always take comfort in the plants and the wood, he did not deserve that comfort.
And if he did not deserve the forgiveness of the wood, did he deserve a goddess, or her love?
He wasn’t sure, but he would do his best.
Studying the two men of ba in question, he didn’t see anything off about them. The one on the left stood a few inches behind the others, and the one to the right of Ari stood easily, feet spread and arms loose at its sides. Nothing about their demeanor would have caught his attention, as the taller one had with his belligerence.
Finn exited the front door and stepped down onto the path to stand beside Dub. Mell leaned against the cottage wall behind them, idly plucking at the air as though playing his guitar. Ailis was near Cuchi on the other side of the cottage’s front stoop, arms crossed and eyes narrowed at the men of ba.
Did she sense something as well?
Killer bounded around the corner, three pixies clinging to the fur of his back, and charged the men of ba. He stopped just short of the wards and lowered his head, letting out a menacing growl.
Shar stepped forward. There was something off. “Ari,” he called out. “Cross over for a moment. The goddess will be out soon to see the rest of your men, but we need to speak with you in the meantime.”
Mell straightened from the wall and strolled over to stand between Shar and Dub. None of the others changed their stance, but the immortals were now positioned in such a way that they could effectively cover the goddess when she did arrive.
Ari tilted his head and opened his mouth then shut it. Without a word he nodded, stepped forward across the wards and around Killer—who didn’t budge from his warning crouch.
Tension hung in the air, the situation a delicate balance. While Shar knew who the trees were suspicious of, and that the others suspected something was off, he didn’t have a way to convey this, or to coordinate a strategy for dealing with them. Despite the slaughter he’d seen of their home, the men of ba were known as fierce warriors, and were feared and avoided for good reason. If the wards did fail, he had no doubt those gathered before the cottage could subdue the traitors, but there was no guarantee they could do it without injury.
And time lost to injury was not something they could afford at the moment.
He also didn’t want to give them the opportunity to run, to report back once more to the enemy.
Ari stopped in front of him. “What did you need to speak to me about, Protector?”
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sp; The word rang with the weight of a title, and Shar pulled his shoulders back. Once, he’d been unworthy of the designation. This was his chance to earn it back. “The men with you. Who did not accompany us back to the guardi office?” He was relatively certain the guardi wards would have reacted to anyone entering with evil intentions, so matter how well disguised.
Ari’s red eyes narrowed. “Can you not tell the men of ba apart from each other, Fomoiri?”
This was new, this antagonism. What had happened when Ari went to retrieve additional men? Shar’s heart sped. Had Ari been corrupted somehow?
Razor claws clicked together, the man of ba’s many-jointed fingers twitching in agitation.
“Shar…” Mell’s voice carried on the breeze in a low warning.
Shar braced himself as Ari planted a foot behind him and half turned to Dub, who had taken his attention from the ba men still on the other side of the wards and slipped up to position himself near Mell. He was close enough that, with a little strength applied to his speed, it would take him a fraction of a second to close the remaining distance to Ari.
Killer started up a low growl as the pixies’ glow intensified. Shar reached out with his power to the ivy, the closest vegetation. It stirred, a couple vines snaking across the grass toward Ari’s back foot.
Then he paused. Killer still focused on the men of ba outside the wards, not on Ari. And though Ari’s fingers flicked and his shoulders were pulled back in readiness, his teeth—those razor weapons—were not exposed.
Wood creaked behind them all. “Wait.” Bat’s voice rang through the yard. Shar didn’t turn to face her. In fact, none but Ailis even so much as turned their head to the goddess, and the tension rose, like a bow pulled taught. The slightest change would release the potential of the moment.
Soft steps padded behind him as Bat descended the stairs and crossed the yard to stand beside Shar. Her hand landed on his back, over the tensed muscles, and she rubbed in small circles. “My friend,” she said, focused on Ari. “My friend, we have a problem.” Her tone was gentle, but there was steel in her words. “And I believe you know what, and who, that problem is.” Her voice was low enough it would not carry to those beyond the wards.
The man of ba closed his eyes and inclined his head. “Yes, goddess.” His fingers twitched then curled into fists, hiding those deadly talons.
“Would you like me to have them taken care of?” she asked, again in that tender voice.
Shar’s chest grew heavy as the weight of those words settled over him. His goddess was too generous sometimes. She worried for the feelings of this man of ba while traitors waited yards away. Would you love her this much if she was any other way?
No. He answered his own heart. No, I would not.
“No, goddess. I will take care of it.” Ari’s head tilted back and he looked up with shining red eyes. “I had hoped…”
“You hoped that you were wrong. And it is why you chose who you did to come with you here. If there is time, and I have the strength, I would offer to examine the hearts of each of the remaining men of ba. But…” Here she paused to kneel beside the man of ba and lay a hand on his arm. “I think you have maybe learned the trick of it? Of seeing into the core of another?”
Shar wanted to back away. This seemed like too private of a moment to be witnessing. He turned his attention to the remaining men of ba—Ari was not the threat here. They shifted restlessly. The pixies had pulled away from Killer to hover in the air above him, just on the edge of the wards. Their wings gleamed and the sunlight flashed off something in the red one’s hands.
“I have, goddess,” Ari was saying. “I have.” There was such sorrow in those words.
But Shar couldn’t pay attention to that now. Something was coming through the trees.
The shadows, an ancient oak whispered. They are far, but they come this way. Help also comes.
At that moment, the ba man who’d stood to the right of Ari twisted, swiping his claws through the one who stood to his left, and the other traitor pulled a blade, this one gleaming with a dull light similar to that of the lann de anam—or the cauldron.
Killer leapt, his jaws closing around the arm holding the blade. The pixies darted in, the red one darting past the ba men and growing. He twisted and landed on feet now large enough to belong to a young adolescent. His blade had grown with him.
Shar’s muscles tensed, but his goddess was still beside him. He would not leave her side, not for Killer, not the men of ba, and certainly not for the pixies. He glanced down.
A single tear welled in Ari’s bright red eyes and spilled over. Then he was gone, sprinting back toward the wards. Dub, his strength in full display, also headed for the men of ba. Finn and Cuchi were a beat behind, as Mell and Ailis headed for Bat. Shar pulled her behind him until she was surrounded, immortals on all sides.
She spoke not a word. What was she thinking? How did she remain so calm? Was it because she claimed she couldn’t die? If she was different from the other deities, was she different in this way as well?
The men of ba fought, needle teeth and razor claws sparking in the morning light. Killer whined as claws slashed into his side, but he didn’t release the arm in his jaws. Bat pressed to Shar’s back at the sound and his belly twisted, but he didn’t move.
Dub reached them first. Shar knew it was only a fraction of a second, but time seemed to have slowed as he waited for the end of a battle he would not enter—not unless it crossed the wards somehow.
The eldest brother had pulled his sword from the pocket of space he kept it in, and slashed down across the arm of the ba man with the blade, sending Killer rolling away, the limb still between his teeth.
Then Ari was there, hand outstretched and fingers pressed together, forming a spike with his claws. These he drove into the chest of the other traitor, whose jaw hinged wide in a silent scream. Behind Shar, Mell, and Bat both let out small groans.
What was this? Shar watched as the red of the traitor’s eyes faded and darkened to dried blood, his rough skin, so like bark, cracking and shrinking like a tree being eaten by rot from the inside out. It took only a second or two, then Ari pulled his hand away to reveal a fist clenched in blood. He held it up, twisting it in the air as the second traitor—now minus an arm—dropped to his knees. The other for ba men flanked him.
Dub stepped away, Finn and Cuchi following his example. Again, this didn’t seem like something to be witnessed, but no one was willing to turn away. Killer, three slashes cutting through the fur at his ribs, stood and, with only a slight limp, trotted over to Shar and dropped the arm—and blade—at his feet. Then the hound turned once more to face out, toward the danger.
The pixies—including the red one who was back to its original size—zipped back to hover around Killer. “We do no’ want to be witnessing this part, giant,” the silver one said. He really did need to learn their names. “The immediate crisis is over, but if ye’re talking to the wood again, ye’ll be knowing there’s more trouble on the way. Ye’d best not linger.”
“We’ll help.” This from the red one. “But ye’ve got two days, mayhap three, before the shadows arrive. They’re gathering and hunting, but they’ll be here soon enough. The trees whisper to us as well. And we listen better than you.”
Shar nodded and they were gone, flitting around the corner of the cottage and no doubt off to spread gossip.
Ari, one hand still clenched in a bloody fist, stepped up to the kneeling man of ba.
“I did not know they could do this,” Bat whispered. She wrapped her arms around Shar’s waist in a hug. Mell made a low and soothing sound. Ailis remained silent.
Shar laid a hand over one of his goddess’s and gave it a light squeeze. He wanted to close his eyes, to go back to the time just this morning when Bat confessed her love. To the stars that had shone in her eyes in soft swirls. To the glimpses of flesh, and the promise he’d seen in her face as she gazed at him as though he was the rock she wanted to cling to. When he�
�d first glimpsed her that morning, and seen her apprehension at his reaction to her having slept with Dub, his hesitation had melted away. No, he did not like seeing her with others, but he liked even less that expression on her face. And could he begrudge his brothers the happiness she was bringing to them? Or Finn?
Could he be the cause of her pain, for the sake of a few bruised feelings?
No.
Also, he still had to make her tea.
Ari thrust his non-bloodied hand into the second man of ba. Shar watched as the life was ripped from this immortal. Then Ari stood with two red fists held to the sky, and he flung his hands open. Cries filled the air, so faint it could have been his imagination, or simply the breeze on a bright Irish morning.
Bat took a breath, her chest pressing to his back, and let out a soft sigh. “It is over.” The words were more a vibration against him than audible sounds. “The souls will be on their way for judgement.”
Shar loosened her grip on her and turned. “Have you checked the other men of ba?”
“Yes.” Her eyes were clear, though her mouth pulled down in sadness. “It was just those two.” Then her expression hardened. “And they will receive judgement, I have no doubt of that.”
“Good.” He picked her up, one arm under her butt. “We are going to finish getting you your tea while everyone gets cleaned up, and see to Killer’s wound.”
“It is better now,” she said.
Sure enough, Killer, the wounds now neatly scabbed over, had picked up the arm once more and stood beside them, looking up.
“Good dog,” Shar said, and Killer wagged his tail.
Bat let out a soft laugh. “Sometimes I think he likes you brothers more than he likes me.”
The Legends That Remain Page 18
