29. Lorcan
LORCAN
Ishould have stayed with her.
The thought repeated over and over through the haze clouding my head.
The cold soaked into my back where I lay against the floorboards, each breath scraping through my chest as warm blood slid down the side of my throbbing neck, the metallic smell choking the air.
I should have told her I didn’t care who her father was or who mine was; all I cared about was who she was.
And who I was becoming because of her.
My breathing turned shallow and uneven as an icy numbness crept across the edges of my body. The pain dimmed and my vision fogged over from the edges in.
I should have kissed her.
I should have grabbed her face and kissed her until she stopped looking at me like she didn’t know who I was.
I should have stayed there with her in the tower.
But it was all too late now.
Deargán’s scowling face grew unfocused. I could no longer see him properly. Did not have enough energy left to hate him. All that was left was a sadness that he and I never got to know each other in any other way apart from enemies.
And then even that faded.
All I could see was her.
The way her lips pursed right before she said something smart enough to put me in my place.
The way her laughter tumbled out of her so uninhibited.
The way those sharp intelligent eyes looked straight through every mask I ever tried to hide behind.
The way she challenged me instead of worshipping me.
The way she said my name when she was angry.
The way she said it when she wasn’t.
A muttered curse cut into my thoughts. There was a clatter of metal against the floor and the rip of cloth.
Then fresh pain burned across my neck at a steady pressure as he tied something around it.
“Hang on, boy.”
Strong arms hooked underneath me and my ribs protested as I was lifted from the floor. He swayed under my weight before staggering toward the door.
There was the uneven rhythm of his breathing, the footfalls, but it all sounded muffled as if far away.
I could hear my own heartbeat slowing strangely in my ears. The room flickered again as darkness tunneled my vision.
Liath.
And then there was nothing.