Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
brEN
Cormac was deep in thought when I approached his table in the back of the Silver Hart pub. He straightened the moment he spotted me, and he broke into a grin as I took the seat across from him.
My friend dipped his head, gesturing toward the glass of whiskey on the table in front of me. “I took the liberty of ordering for you. It seemed like the occasion called for it.”
I held his gaze, trying to guess his thoughts. “Occasion?”
He couldn’t have known what I endured that day or the night before beneath the church.
My earlier hours had been long and filled with frustration.
I hadn’t been able to refuse Selene when she’d asked me to help the crew, which meant she’d been within my reach for hours, and all I could think about was the taste of her on my lips and the way it felt to hold her.
But he knew none of that.
Cormac sipped the amber liquid in his glass before answering. “You invited me out to the pub. I figure we’re celebrating something or something bad happened. Either way, you’ll need a drink.”
I lifted my glass without answering and downed a healthy swallow. “I appreciate it. Next round is on me.”
He released a hearty chuckle. “Oh, we’ll be here a while then? It must be serious.”
I’d had no intention of telling him anything when I asked him to meet me. I just needed to be out, away from all the things that reminded me of Selene. But his question cracked my fortitude, and a few details slipped out. “She found a way around it, Cormac.”
His brows rose sharply. “She? I’ll take it you mean Selene, and what did she figure out?”
I dug deep, searching for the common sense I seemed to have lost. “You know we can’t touch without alerting others, right?”
At his nod, I scrubbed my jaw and cursed. “Let me back up a little first.”
After listening to the tale, he cocked his head. “What exactly do you mean when you say she cornered the wraith? She captured it? Contained it? I can’t believe that’s true.”
I struggled with the same thing. “She was alone, and she’d identified the threat correctly. She used her ward magic to trap it with sticks and branches. Cormac, she did what I’ve been doing for centuries, with no training. Just instincts.”
And I truly did not know what to do with that. “Of course, she knew nothing of the dangers of remaining close to one. My fault. I may have spoken more harshly than I intended when I explained.”
His brows arched with sarcasm. “May have? Come on, Bren. We both know you did.”
I pushed out a breath ripe with frustration. “She took offense that I didn’t appreciate her abilities, and we fell into several days clouded with silence. I knew if I didn’t explain things to her, she’d continue to be angry with me, and she might do something foolish again to endanger herself.”
Things had unraveled from there. “That led to me explaining Cillian sensing our kiss and why we couldn’t touch.”
Cormac’s chuckle was deep and rich. “I bet that went over well with her. She’ll be after Cillian’s hide, no doubt, but the bastard deserves it. She knows he’s a vampire then?”
I shot him an annoyed look. “Of course I didn’t tell her that. It would only muddy the waters more. She knows he sensed her arrival and sought her out. But this is about her learning why I avoided her.”
He cocked his head, his eyes full of suspicion. “Wait a minute. You said avoided, not avoid. Has something changed?”
Christ, it had. I slid my chair back and stood. “I’ll need another drink first.”
Cormac’s chuckle followed me as I crossed the floor, where many folks were well into their cups and having a grand time. I reached the bar and ordered four glasses of their finest whiskey, and the man turned away without blinking an eye.
I glanced about while I waited, glad to have spoken some of my worries but also regretting it at the same time.
I was halfway through pondering how to explain the rest when I caught sight of Maeve’s fiery curls, followed by her profile, and then my gaze drifted across the table to the man she sat with. Rian Doherty.
Maeve laughed and lifted her pint. Rian tapped his glass against hers, and they both drank, obviously enjoying each other’s company. I wondered if Selene was aware of their growing friendship. Or whatever was between them.
I envied the way no worries stood between them, the way they could chat and laugh and not fear the results of their interactions. I envied their ordinary lives.
I filled my lungs with a deep breath and turned away. Those kinds of thoughts hadn’t haunted me for years. And now, Selene leading me deep under a church had changed everything.
The man returned with our drinks on a small tray. I handed him enough euros to cover the whiskeys and then some before returning to our table. Cormac arched his brow at the number of glasses. “Planning on getting drunk?”
I pinned him with a dark look. “Maybe.”
Cormac’s gaze drifted past my shoulder toward the corner table. “Looks like Maeve likes the lad.”
I shot a quick glance in her direction and found her watching me. She smiled and lifted her glass as if she knew what Selene and I had done and was toasting it. Truth was, she probably did know.
I smiled and did the same before turning back to Cormac. “I think they’re just friends. Both new to town and likely enjoy the company.”
Cormac accepted my comment with a nod and lifted his whiskey, eyeing me over the rim as he sipped.
I did the same. My thoughts shifted repeatedly as I tried different versions in my head, uncertain how much to reveal. He’d known me long enough to wait, which was something I appreciated.
Finally, I heaved a deep breath. “I suppose it’s best to be out with it then.”
He nodded. “That’s my philosophy. It all comes out in the end anyway.”
I held that thought for a moment and then spilled my guts. “Her name should be Siren instead of Selene. She’s determined to draw me in no matter my objections.”
Cormac choked on his drink. “Gods, man. Could you have said that when I wasn’t swallowing?”
I lifted a hand, palm up. “I’m not following your every action. You wanted to know, and that was the moment I could say it.”
He cleared his throat and set down his drink. “Fine. But I’ll need more details than that. What happened?”
I didn’t want to revisit that memory so soon, but I’d lost my ability to think clearly and needed his opinion.
“I’d known she was up to something when she invited me to look at stone, and yet I went along anyway.
She drove us to a church in County Cork, wanting to show me a new discovery, as she put it.
” I paused for a hefty swallow. “The discovery wasn’t stone. She had a theory.”
I explained how I’d accidentally touched her hand, how Cillian hadn’t felt us as he had before, and how she’d forced him to stand watch while she tested her idea. “Cillian didn’t respond when she held my hand or when she hugged me.”
Cormac widened his eyes in interest as the words poured from me. “So, she kissed me, and I didn’t stop her.”
Seconds ticked away as he stared at me, stunned or dumbfounded. Maybe both. Eventually, he let out a low whistle. “That’s a savage move. Sounds like you’ve met your match.”
That couldn’t be right.
He processed for another few seconds before narrowing his eyes. “Christ, man. Have you fallen for her?”
I hadn’t. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
I leaned back against my seat, away from the accusation, and answered before I’d examined his question more deeply. “Hardly.”
Cormac nodded slowly, studying me with that damned annoying look he had. “Then maybe not fallen, but perhaps falling?”
I huffed and tossed back the rest of my whiskey.
“I can’t be with her, Cormac. Even if there weren’t a group of people out there undermining my guardian efforts at every turn, we’re not compatible.
Her witch blood might keep her alive longer than most, but I’m a guardian for fuck’s sake.
I’ll never know peace in my life, and I won’t subject her to that fate. ”
The argument in his eyes glinted a second before he spoke. “And you believe you have the right to make that choice for her?”
I scoffed. “I believe I have the right and the duty to protect her. To protect everyone in my region.”
He drew his brows inward. “I’m not talking about your guardianship. This is a matter of the heart.”
I shrugged off his comment. “It makes no difference.”
My friend challenged me with a sarcastic smile. “It might to her. And from what you’ve told me, she’ll make her own decisions.”
His comment drew a groan of frustration from deep inside me. “How do I stop her? What if she gets herself killed?”
It was Cormac’s turn to brood silently for several moments as he slid his third glass of whiskey closer and stared into the amber liquid. Then he nodded and lifted his gaze. “Seems to me the best option is to keep her close.”
My pulse spiked before I could stop it. “That’s dangerous in and of itself.” To her, whether she’d accept that truth, and to me.
He pierced me with a hard look. “I’ve learned some about ward witches since we last spoke. Are you aware they were practically hunted to extinction back when the Veil was first created? To this day, if any survived, they remain in hiding.”
The reminder struck my heart. “I’m aware.”
My friend inhaled sharply. “Wait a minute. How did Ashcroft know she’d arrived?”
I stilled. “I’d assumed it was because he was a vampire, but I truly don’t know.”
He lifted his glass, his gaze as serious as I’d seen it. “You’d best find out what he possesses and who else might. If the Unbound are growing bolder, as we suspect they are, how long until they learn of her existence? Even if you keep your hands off her?”
His words fell upon me like darkness. I shouldn’t have needed him to tell me. “I’ll contact Cillian immediately.”
Cormac nodded. “And think about it. If they were to strike at her, would you want her as close as possible or not? Perhaps allowing your heart to open to her might be the thing that saves her.”
He tilted his head as he regarded me. “It might be the thing that saves you both.”
His suggestion rooted in my soul before I could stop it.
I turned my empty glass on the table, realizing the pub noise had thinned and the fire in the hearth burned low.
These things he suggested had been nothing but impossibilities I’d never wasted much time considering. But they echoed what my mother had said long ago.
The right person would come.
If Selene was the one, I was not ready.