Chapter Sixteen
Rory
I squeeze Brigid ’ s hand as we approach the suite door, my grin widening. Fuck, I can ’ t wait to see their faces. With a dramatic flourish, I swing the door open.
“ Honey, I ’ m home!”
Callen, Lochan, and Tiernan freeze, eyes wide as saucers. The silence stretches for one glorious moment before chaos erupts.
“ Rory, you magnificent bastard!” Callen shouts, tackling me in a bear hug that nearly knocks me off my feet.
Lochan and Tiernan pile on, a tangle of limbs and laughter.
It ’ s surreal to be here again, after months alone in that hellish void, though only days passed here. But I push those thoughts aside. I ’ m back now. That ’ s what matters.
“ Miss me?” I extricate myself from the group hug.
Tiernan angles his head. “ What was it like? The void.”
Lochan cuffs the back of Tiernan ’ s head, causing Tiernan to turn around and raise his arms in a ‘ what? ’ gesture.
Sometimes, I feel like everyone and everything is something to dissect and figure out to Tiernan. I shrug, not wanting to talk about it. Not yet. “ Time ’ s weird in the void. Felt like months to me.”
“ Months?” Brigid says. “ Rory—”
“ Later.” I grab her hand again, not ready to relive that nightmare. “ Right now, I want to bask in everyone ’ s adoration. Come on, tell me how much you missed my rizz.”
Lochan snorts. “ I ’ d forgotten how humble you are, wolf.”
The banter feels good, familiar. But beneath it all, my mind ’ s a mess. The void left scars, ones I ’ m not ready to share.
And the way they ’ re all looking at Brigid... something ’ s off.
I pull her closer, protective instinct flaring.
Tiernan ’ s gaze shifts to Brigid, his hazel eyes probing. “ How exactly did you manage to open the rift? After—” Tiernan looks like he had more to say, but he stops talking abruptly.
I feel Brigid tense beside me. Her hand goes loose in mine, and I know that look. She ’ s about to bolt.
I push my hair off my face, stepping slightly in front of her. “ Oh, you know how it is. Girl meets void, girl rescues handsome blond sex god from said void. Tale as old as time.” I nudge Brigid. “ Though I ’ ve got to say, the welcome back celebration was definitely my favorite part.”
Brigid ’ s cheeks flush, and I can practically feel the embarrassment coming off her. I ’ d rather have her embarrassed than ready to run, though.
“ Rory,” Tiernan presses, not deterred. “ The implications of—”
“ Like I said, later,” I cut him off, my tone firm despite the easy smile I maintain. “ Look, I know you ’ ve all got questions. Hell, I ’ ve got a few myself. But right now?” I pat my stomach dramatically. “ I ’ m fucking starving. Haven ’ t eaten in months, remember?”
The joke lands with mixed results. Callen chuckles, but there ’ s an undercurrent of tension that wasn ’ t there before that makes me wonder what the hell happened while I was gone?
I glance at Brigid, and my stomach twists. She ’ s let go of my hand and is standing apart from us, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her gray eyes dart between the guys, confusion and hurt etched into her features. Fuck. This isn ’ t how I imagined our reunion going.
“ Brigid?” I call softly, reaching for her hand.
She flinches, almost imperceptibly, before forcing a smile. “ I... I should go grab something from my room before dinner.” Her voice is steady, but I catch the slight tremor in it. “ I ’ ll meet you in the dining hall, okay?”
I frown. “ You sure? We can wait—”
“ No, it ’ s fine,” she cuts me off, already backing towards the door. “ I won ’ t be long.”
As she slips out, the door clicking shut behind her, I feel a pang in my chest. Something ’ s off, and I don ’ t like it one bit.
“ What the fuck is going on?” I demand, rounding on the guys.
Callen ’ s staring at the door. “ You don ’ t know what ’ s been happening, Rory. Things have changed.”
“ Then enlighten me.” My earlier good mood evaporating. “ Because right now, all I see is you treating Brigid like she ’ s got the plague.”
“ Rory. What ’ s the last thing you remember?” Tiernan asks.
I think about it. What is the last thing I remember? After so long in the void, I realize it ’ s kind of a blur, actually. I remember Brigid, seeing her face… but when I try to remember what happened before, I can ’ t quite catch it.
“ We were in the basement.” I say, more asking than stating.
“ Right.” Tiernan ’ s voice is even. “ Do you remember the Council guards, Rory?”
I squint, trying to recall. A flash of memory comes to me. My claws, some guy ’ s chest, blood and guts. Well, shit .
“ Okay. Alright.” I take a breath. “ So what the fuck happened after that? No one goes against the Council and keeps their balls. Yet, here you all still are, not nutless—I presume.”
Callen clears his throat. “ After you were… lost, we fought, but there were too many. We had to escape, but there was no way out. Until—”
“ Until that asshole Marius conveniently located a secret passageway,” Lochan breaks in. “ We found an ancient ritual chamber.”
“ Something happened down there,” Tiernan tells me. “ Brigid almost died.”
“ Brigid almost what!?” I crack my knuckles.
“ She ’ s fine, loverboy.” Callen says. “ Long story short, there were some pornographic murals with Brigid and the Raven King, or someone who looked like Brigid, and one with all of us and Brigid, then some weird fucking magic attacked Brigid, but in the end, the most insufferable asshole in the world became exponentially more insufferable when he saved her life.” Callen takes a breath. “ I ’ m talking about Marius, obviously.”
“ The punchline,” Lochan says, “ is that when we finally got ourselves out, planning to run, we ’ re stopped by our new dean and some council guards. And she ’ s sweet as honey, tells us everything ’ s bygones, and we can all go back to normal.”
“ And you didn ’ t think that was odd?” I ask.
Lochan snorts. “ Of course we did. But you haven ’ t heard the best part. The dean was someone Brigid knew. Her friend Fiona. From before.”
I ’ m trying to keep up, but my head is fucking spinning. “ So who the hell is this Fiona?”
“ We don ’ t know yet,” says Tiernan. “ But she ’ s with the Council, and getting cozy with King Cillian.”
I gape at Callen. “ Your dad was here?” I ’ ve never laid eyes on the king, even after all these years of friendship with Callen.
Callen sighs. “ Yes. Dear old dad stopped by for a visit, and to impart some fatherly advice that went something like ‘ stay in your lane or Brigid might meet an untimely demise ’ .”
“ You ’ re fucking joking?” I want to leave now, find Brigid, and make sure she ’ s safe. “ Why?”
“ Again, we don ’ t know.” Lochan leans back in his chair. “ But if the Council is watching us because we ’ re with Brigid, we can ’ t do what we need to do. Which is figure out what ’ s going on.”
“ And protect Brigid,” Tiernan adds.
Lochan grunts.
“ So we came up with a plan.” Callen starts pacing. “ Make the dean, and the Council, think we ’ re interested in someone else instead. They stop being interested in us, and we can move freely. Investigate. Find out what they ’ ve got planned that involves Brigid.”
“ Interested in someone else… like who?” I ’ m afraid to ask.
“ Laria.” Lochan says her name with about as much warmth as an iceberg.
I inhale.
And exhale.
And then I lose it.
“ You ’ re all fucking morons, you know that?” I stalk across the room to Tiernan. “ Him I ’ d expect this from,” I say, jerking my thumb toward Callen. “ Even Lochan.” I ignore Lochan ’ s growl. “ But you? You ’ re supposed to be the smart one.”
Tiernan blinks.
Idiots . Every last one of them. “ I don ’ t suppose any of you filled Brigid in on your half-assed plan?” I wait for an answer.
“ We thought it would be more authentic if she wasn ’ t aware.” Tiernan backs away from me as he speaks, watching my hands as I crack my knuckles one by one.
“ Oh really?” My voice is calmer than I feel. “ Yeah, that ’ s not going to work for me.” I smile. “ The three of you have no idea what I ’ ve just come from. It ’ s worse than anything you could imagine. And I didn ’ t survive it just to come back and have you fuck up everything with Brigid.”
“ We ’ re doing this for her,” Lochan says, standing up.
“ Bullshit. Even if you are, it ’ s the dumbest thing I ’ ve ever heard. Do you really think anyone will believe it?”
“ Brigid seems to,” Callen says, shrugging. He ducks as my fist flies towards him.
Tiernan steps between me and the others. “ Let ’ s calm down.” He places a hand on my chest and I ’ m about to break his arm. But then he uses some kind of druid shit on me and all I feel is calm and relaxed. Which is disorienting as I ’ m still angry as hell.
“I ’ m with you, Rory. This doesn ’ t feel right. It makes me sick.” Callen speaks from his new position on the other side of the room, out of arm ’ s reach. “ But you weren ’ t here when King Cillian threatened her. I know my father. He will have her killed.”
I shake off Tiernan ’ s calming influence, my anger simmering just below the surface. “ So your solution is to treat her like shit? Push her away when she needs us most? Real fucking heroic, guys.”
“ We ’ re trying to help her,” Lochan growls, his eyes flashing with frustration.
“ By breaking her heart? Yeah, that ’ ll end well,” I snap back. “ I ’ m going to dinner with Brigid. You all can sit here and wallow in your misguided bullshit or come apologize like actual men.”
As I turn to leave, Tiernan ’ s quiet voice stops me. “ Rory, how did Brigid open the rift? It shouldn ’ t have been possible.”
I pause, my hand on the doorknob. I was hoping to avoid this conversation. “ Marius,” I say, and I brace for the explosion.
Lochan ’ s reaction is immediate and predictable. “ I knew it.”
Tiernan tilts his head. “ She went to Marius?”
“That shadow fucker—” Callen starts.
“ Oh, shut the fuck up,” I snarl, rounding on them. “ Without Marius, I ’ d still be trapped in that hellhole. You want to bitch about it? Fine. But do it after you ’ ve spent months in a void that makes your nightmares look like a fucking picnic.”
The room falls silent.
My stomach growls audibly, reminding me that I haven ’ t eaten and now that I ’ m back in a world where time actually matters, that means food is kind of necessary.
“ I ’ ll be in the dining hall with Brigid, if you three spanners come to your senses.”
The slam of the door shutting as I leave reverberates through the corridor.