Chapter 21 #2
“I concur,” Abnus said.
“I’m so glad, my lord. It is a wondrous thing indeed when a noble fae agrees with a common one,” she said with an eyeroll, and Abnus didn’t react, but I couldn’t help the scowl that appeared on my face from her mocking tone.
She grinned at me. “Perhaps you do have some fire, much like your older brother. It just lurks beneath the surface.”
When she approached, Abnus pushed me behind him. “Do not touch Mr. Byrne unless you wish your head to be separated from your shoulders. I tolerate much, Iris, but not that.”
“My, my. How fierce,” Iris said, but she paled and moved away.
Neil came to my side. “Are you well?”
I slapped the remaining tears from my cheeks. “I’m fine.”
“It’s alright to mourn, Oren,” he whispered before tousling my hair.
I didn’t respond. How could I grieve for a man I didn’t know. However, as I listened to Mrs. Hillridge’s sobs, I couldn’t help but tear up.
Nevan rubbed my head before kissing it. “Come on, Oren. Let’s see what we can find.”
Mrs. Hillridge and Miss Quirke stayed where they were on the ground as the former cried with heaving sobs. My brothers, Father, Georgie, and I headed to the farm, wandering around. I didn’t know what we were searching for, but we looked.
Iris walked a good distance from us, her brown eyes on the snow as she waved a hand over the ground.
Abnus didn’t seem to be searching for anything as he remained close to my side.
Every time I shivered or sniffed, he stared at me as if I would fall over, which was ridiculous. Him and his insane worry of chills.
“Are you sensing anything, Iris?” Nevan asked.
“Not beyond the general stink of this place. I can no longer sense the trolls who destroyed this farm, though that’s unsurprising since three months have passed. But there is a tang of magic I cannot identify.”
Neil glanced at Abnus, but he wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was staring at me. Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Lord Abnus.”
“Are you unwell?” he asked, resting his palm on my forehead. “Are you chilled?”
“N-no,” I stammered.
Father’s eyes narrowed on Abnus’s hand, but he didn’t remove it, so I gently pulled it away and tucked it into my elbow.
“Do you sense anything, Lord Abnus?” Neil repeated.
He took a deep breath, his eyes closing. His head cocked to the side, the black strands of his hair brushing his pale jaw. “I sense Iris’s magic. I sense distant blood. I sense something dark and cold, but I do not know what it is.”
I asked, “Necromancy?”
“I don’t know. I have never met one before. Cethin has. He was here at the signing of the contract and met Lord Rhett’s necromancer, not to mention fought said necromancer many times.”
“Of course it’s the other cousin we needed,” Iris commented. “I could do without either of you, but now when we need one of you, you could have the decency of being here.”
“I do not believe he planned for a necromancer,” Abnus remarked. “If either had suspected the danger lurked here and not to the north, Lord Byrne wouldn’t have left and then neither would have Cethin.”
“We still don’t know it’s a necromancer,” Father said.
“True,” Abnus replied. “But when ghosts tarry, necromancers walk.”
I pushed my food from one side of the plate to the other.
I’d decided to have dinner in my room because I was tired from the events of the day.
Nevan and Neil had done the same, as had Georgie, though they had pulled their daughters close, holding them tight, even when they complained to be released before they took the children upstairs.
Only Father and Sevrin appear unaffected.
Father had gone to Aidan’s bookroom, and Sevrin remained in the parlor, drinking with Phineas, who had remained behind with Frances and the children.
A knock sounded, and I jumped, my fork clattering on the plate.
Hope swelled in my chest for a single moment, then I forced it down.
Most likely, Nevan or Neil were coming to make sure I was alright.
Still as I stood, I couldn’t help but smooth my nightshirt and slick back my blonde hair, though the strands immediately flopped over my forehead.
I opened the door and swallowed. Abnus stood in the darkened hallway. He gently cradled my cheek, thumb brushing at the skin under my eye. “Are you well?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice but a whisper.
“Do you want me to come in?”
“Yes.” I did, so badly. I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts or the memories of Mrs. Hillridge sobbing. He stepped inside and closed the door before his arms slid around me, gathering me to his chest. One of his hands cupped the back of my head as his nose buried in my hair.
“I’m here.”
Something about those simple words cracked the dam in my emotions. Tears welled, and before I knew it, they coursed down my cheeks. I tried to step back so I could wipe them away, but Abnus wouldn’t let me go.
“I’m sorry,” I warbled. “You came here for something, and I’m sobbing on you.”
He moved back to hold my face between his palms. “I didn’t come here with expectations, Oren. I came here for you. To make sure you are well.”
More tears slid down my cheeks, and he wiped them away. I confessed, “I’m not in the mood to do anything.”
Abnus ran his nose along mine. “Then we shall not.”
I hiccupped. I wanted him to hold me, but the last time he was here, he’d left as soon as I came. Abnus kissed the top of my head. Without words he pulled me to the bed and helped me lie down before settling right behind me like he knew what I wanted without words.
With his arms wound around me, Abnus burrowed against my back. “I shall hold you until you fall asleep.”
“Thank you.”
“Sleep,” he whispered, and like his words held magic, my eyes closed as the sound of his beating heart filled my ears.