Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
SELENE
Iwoke up wondering if it had all been a bad dream. But one look at my wrapped hand told me the truth. I slid my gaze to my favorite sweater and nearly cried when I spied the large hole in my sleeve. A hole, like the one I’d witnessed in the sky the previous night.
My hand shook with residual fear as I gently drew my fingers across the top of the bandage, testing for tenderness.
None remained. That made me brave enough to remove the dressing.
The scratch from the thorny bramble wasn’t angry and red as I’d expected.
Instead, it was pink and healing, looking several days old.
The salve Bren had used must have contained a strong antibiotic. I was almost convinced.
I dropped my hand and traced the lines of the ceiling, uncertain how to meet the day now that my world had flipped. What did one do after such a shock?
The thought of a strong cup of tea allowed me to take my first step forward. I sat up in bed, only to find the lower half of me still tangled in the soft blanket Bren had wrapped around me. Had he delivered me home then? He must have, and I found myself wondering how long he’d stayed.
Not that it mattered.
For a quick moment, I considered whether I should stay in Killarney after what had happened. I might be safer somewhere else.
But even that was too much to think about.
I released a defeated sigh and tugged my most favorite sweater over my head. It was ruined. The hole was big enough that it couldn’t be repaired.
An image of the terrifying monster that had shredded it crowded my mind, and I quickly buried it again. Bren and I had survived its attack. That’s all that mattered.
Gods, he’d conjured a lethal sword from only moonlight.
I couldn’t make that make sense in my mind. It simply couldn’t be.
And yet it was.
I had so many questions and no answers.
Thirty minutes later, I descended the stairs, pulled toward the scent of fresh coffee drifting up from the kitchen, with no idea who’d brewed it. For a moment, I wondered if Bren had stayed, but then decided no. That wasn’t like him.
I found Nora at the kitchen table polishing silverware, a cloth folded neatly beside a row of sorted forks and spoons. She wore her hair in a twist, and the blue of her cardigan reminded me of the sea.
The morning light came in low and gray through the window above the sink, and she looked up when I entered. I did my best to speak in a normal tone. “Good morning, Nora.”
A warm smile brightened her expression. “Morning, hun.”
I glanced around the room and then back at her. “I’m surprised you’re here so early.”
Nora hesitated for a second too long. “Oh, it’s nothing. I sometimes work extra hours to keep up with the housework. Things pile up beyond the daily ones.”
She’d said it pleasantly enough, but I sensed something was off. If I had to guess, I’d say she was curious about my dinner date. She’d always been overly interested in Bren, and I was almost certain she didn’t want to wait until that evening to hear about it.
“Thanks for making the coffee. It’s a nice surprise.”
The keeper thumbed over her shoulder. “I made some tasty porridge for you too. It’s good for energy after a long night.”
I said nothing as I headed over to fill a mug, but her comment about a long night left me wondering. I dished up a bowl of the deliciously thick porridge and headed back to the table with both.
I stirred my steaming breakfast, debating if I should confide in her about what had happened. If it were anyone but her or Maeve, I’d never say a word about something so surreal.
But if anyone could tell me more about any of it, it might just be Nora. She’d lived in the area for a long time and worked so close to the castle and the fairy grove. If there were rumors of such creatures, she likely would have heard about them.
Nora set down a polished spoon and focused on me. “So, how was your evening? Did Bren behave himself?”
Her smile was warm, but I didn’t miss the glint of concern in her eyes. Normally, when someone asked about a date, they were cheerful and curious. Her gaze was more watchful, leaving me to wonder if she knew something horrific had happened. “Dinner was lovely. He took me to Treyvaud’s.”
Nora gave a satisfied nod. “I’d expect no less than the best from that man. And did he bring you right home afterward? Or did you stop for a drink at the pub?”
Her question sent my suspicions skyrocketing. “Actually, we took a walk in the forest. The full moon made it seem almost like daylight.”
She arched her brow. “That sounds very romantic.”
It had been up to a certain point, but I had no intention of mentioning our heated kiss. I snorted to disabuse her of such notions. “I don’t think either of us is looking for a relationship.” That part was true.
She hummed in response and continued polishing.
I lifted my mug and allowed myself a moment to remember the feel of his lips on mine and the possessive way he’d held me against him. If that dark entity hadn’t ruined everything, we might have done more than just kiss.
When I sipped, I found the coffee was hot enough to scald my tongue, and I winced.
Nora tilted her head, peering at me. “Sure, it’s hot. Be careful.”
I nodded in agreement, wondering if she was referring to the coffee or warning me about Bren. “We ended up at the most magical place.” Or at least it had been. “It’s near the waterfall, through what I call the fairy forest because of all the dense trees and moss-covered ground.”
Though I supposed that described many places on the island, so I added a touch more detail. “Apparently, there’s a story that a moonlight man haunts the area.”
She stilled. “And how was that?”
I lifted a spoonful of porridge. “Stunning. The moonlight glittered off the waterfall and hit the pond just right as mist hovered around it. I’ve never been anywhere like it.”
Nora put extra effort into the spoon she held. “I’ve heard it’s grand, but I’ve never been to the clearing. In fact, most folks can’t find it when they go looking.”
I tilted my head as I swallowed, wondering how that could be. I’d been there twice, and I’d found it easily on my own. Though not when I’d led Maeve and Clara back to it. I shouldn’t have dismissed that fact so easily.
The keeper left the table to pour a cup of coffee, and by the time she returned, I accepted it was pointless to try to keep everything from her. She wanted to know things, and I did too.
I set down my spoon. “Did you know that the sky can tear?”
She choked on her coffee, her eyes wide. With a deadly serious expression, she slowly nodded. “I do.”
An odd silence filled the room, and she kept her gaze fixed on me. “Did that happen?”
The question cracked something open inside me. My eyes filled with sudden tears as the whole of the previous night slammed into me.
Nora was out of her chair and beside me before I’d managed a breath. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders in a comforting hug. “Hush now. You’re fine, aren’t you? Bren’s okay, too?”
I sniffed and nodded. She straightened, retrieved a box of tissues from the side cabinet, and set it in front of me before resuming her seat. She reached across the table and gently took my hand. “Tell me everything.”
My voice shook as I spoke. “We were near the pond when it happened. A…creature came through a rip in the sky.”
Nora whispered under her breath. “That’s the Veil, then.”
I wiped my tears. “The Veil?”
She patted my hand. “The invisible shield between Earth and the other world. The Veil keeps things where they belong.”
I shook my head quickly, trying to rein in my fear. “Except it didn’t. This unbelievably dark creature, created from thorny vines and brambles, slipped from the sky. I thought it would kill us. But then, then…”
I paused to gather myself, filled with disbelief over what I was about to say. “Then Bren pulled an incredibly lethal sword from thin air.”
Nora nodded, not seeming surprised in the least. “From the moonlight, then?”
I swallowed and nodded, shocked that she knew about him and what he could do. “What even is he?”
She gave several quick nods, none of them reassuring. “I’ve wondered if he was a guardian for quite some time. This confirms it.”
I stared at her in utter disbelief. “So you knew? And you let me go to dinner with him?”
A soft, understanding smile curved her lips.
“I didn’t want to frighten you, hun. Most people go their entire lives completely unaware of the other world.
It’s how it’s meant to be. As a protection.
I’m sure nearly all people who know Bren are unaware of his duty to protect us.
Life is easier that way. Do you understand? ”
I thought about it for a moment. The answer was yes, but I still resented her keeping it from me. Seeing that creature had been nothing less than an ontological shock. I would never be the same. “But why me? Why did I have to see that?”
Nora nodded slowly as she searched back and forth across the ceiling, as though she might find answers there. Then she released a resigned exhale and pinned me with a serious look. “I suppose it will do no good to try to protect you further. What’s been set in motion can’t be undone.”
Panic shot through me. “What do you mean?”
She gave me a kind smile. “I’ve been wondering something about you, too, for a while now. You have a way about you. A magic.”
I wanted to argue, but other things rushed back all at once.
The way the oak had fallen when I lifted my hand.
Maeve always insisting I was some kind of ward witch, whatever that was.
But now, in the morning light, after everything I’d experienced, including the odd things that had happened in my work that I’d chalked up to instinct…
I shook my head. That I had magic was utterly impossible. “No. You’re wrong. I’m just a regular human.”
A touch of amusement flickered in her knowing blue eyes. “You must accept it, Selene. Denying will only make things harder for you.” She pointed toward my right arm. “Pull up your sleeve.”
“What? Why?” My aunt’s warning that Ireland wasn’t good for our family landed hard, and I stilled.
Did this have something to do with why she’d never wanted to discuss our heritage, why she’d changed the subject whenever I’d brought up visiting, and why she’d always found some reason it wasn’t the right time and next year would be better?
I’d been so distracted by that realization that I had my sleeve halfway to my elbow before I remembered the slash the creature had given me.
Nora spotted it immediately and gasped. “Sure, God help us. This can’t be.” Her gaze flew to me. “From last night?”
I studied her intently, watching for anything she might be holding back as I nodded.
She clucked her tongue as she took my hand, carefully turning it to examine the scratch without touching it. “At least the man knew enough to care for it.”
The keeper shifted her grip, turning my arm to expose the inside of my wrist, and went quiet. Then she lifted her eyes to mine, and whatever she’d been wondering about me, I could see in that look that she no longer was.
Nora pointed at a small mark on my wrist, a faint half-circle I’d carried as long as I could remember. “That’s the mark of a ward witch.”
I scoffed. “No, that’s just a scar. My aunt said I’d fallen when I was little and cut my wrist on a rock.”
Nora shook her head. “I’m not talking about the thick, curved one. Look closer. Do you see the faint open circle, and the tiny line at the top of it? That’s an old warding sigil.”
I leaned in and squinted. “I suppose I can see something. Maybe.” I lifted my gaze to her. “Are you sure about that? It doesn’t seem right.”
She shrugged. “You can believe or not.”
The keeper settled back in her chair. “Let me ask you this. Have you ever controlled a space? Sensed something was wrong and found a way to correct it, even when the answer shouldn’t have been obvious?”
I scoffed. “You just described my job. It’s what I’ve been formally trained to do.”
Nora held my gaze. “That’s what a ward witch does. It’s a powerful gift, and I suspect it may be part of why Bren wanted you involved with the castle. Things have not been right at that place for some while now.”
I shifted in my chair, not comfortable with her suggestion, nor the echo of Maeve’s constant declarations in my head. “Except Bren didn’t choose me. He made the offer to Cillian. He didn’t even know me.”
The corners of her eyes creased as she smiled. “Didn’t he? Are you sure he didn’t know of you?”
I blinked, wondering if Bren might have known what I was from the first moment we met. “I…I don’t know. I guess, maybe?”
A sudden thought occurred, and I stiffened. Had Bren recognized that about me when I’d first kissed him? Is that why he allowed me to? Had he been using me all along?
I lifted my gaze to Nora, entirely uncertain of my place in this new world. “I’ll have to think about that. About all of this.” A short, slightly desperate laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “It’s a little much to take in all at once.”
Nora patted my hand again. “It is, hun. Take your time. There’s no rush. You’ll figure things out soon enough. I’m here to help in any way I can.”
She paused. “Just for safety’s sake. Don’t show anyone that mark until you’re positive you can trust them.”
Her friendly advice eased the tightness in my chest just a fraction. “Thank you, Nora. That means a lot.”
My aunt and my mother were gone, so that door was closed. Clara would only laugh. Maeve would want every detail, though she actually might know something useful.
Cillian was another option, but he wasn’t easy to approach when it came to things that lived outside logic and documentation. He operated with certainty. I wasn’t sure I had any of that left.
I wrapped my hands around my coffee mug. It had gone lukewarm while we talked. “Will I see you this evening?”
Nora winked. “Indeed, you will.”