Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SELENE
It had been a long time since I’d asked a man on a date.
That was about to change.
The constraints placed against me had rubbed for too long, and now that I knew the reason Bren kept his distance, I’d searched until I found a possible way around them. My plan had merit, and it was worth pursuing.
The problem was Bren would discard my idea without considering it. That left me with no choice but to lure him to my selected testing site under false pretenses. Then I’d tell him. Maybe once he understood the risk would be minimal, he’d be willing to take a small chance.
I supposed I hoped our attraction to each other would influence him too.
I couldn’t ignore that I’d condemned Cillian and Bren for using underhanded tactics, and now I intended to do the same. But handing over my choices without questioning anything had become impossible to bear.
By the time the workday ended and Maeve and Rian were gathering their things, I’d rehearsed the outing far too many times. Maeve had been willing to help me from the start, and she’d already secured a ride home with Rian.
The only thing left was to ask him.
Bren sat at the oak table poring over a map. At first glance, I couldn’t tell if it was the area surrounding the castle or perhaps the area he patrolled, in and around Killarney. If my nerves weren’t a frazzled mess, I might have asked.
When he gathered his papers, I knew my time had come. It was now or never.
My heart thundered in my chest as I casually crossed the hall. I was highly aware of the constant hum of the castle vibrating beneath my boots. It had mildly increased in intensity earlier in the day and remained so, as if it sensed my emotions and responded accordingly.
Which was a crazy thing to think, but so were a good many other things that I knew to be true.
Bren looked up as I approached, a question hovering in his gaze. I smiled, pretending to be far more relaxed than I was. “Hey, I heard about an interesting piece of medieval stonework I’d love to show you if you have the time. Something that’s recently been discovered.”
His gaze slid past me to the door where Maeve and Rian had just left, and then back. “Stonework?”
I nodded. “It’s in a church about twenty minutes from here. But if you don’t want to go—”
He gave me an agreeable smile. “Sure. I’d like to see it.”
Bren quickly stuffed his maps into a leather case and latched it. Then looked up at me. “Ready?”
I could barely breathe. “I am.”
Without another word, I turned toward the door and didn’t wait to see if he followed.
His footsteps sounded behind me as I opened the castle door and stepped outside. The cool breeze caught my hair and teased it as I looked back to see him approach the threshold. Once he was there, I strode to my car, knowing he would pause to lock the door.
I was in the driver’s seat by the time he turned around. The questioning look on his face as he strode forward didn’t surprise me. Of course, he would wonder why we were taking my compact car instead of his luxury one, but I needed to be in control this time.
He opened the passenger door and peered in. “If you’d prefer, we can take my car.”
I offered him a smile as I shook my head. “I don’t get enough practice driving in Ireland, and this is a good chance.”
Bren dipped his head, accepting my excuse, and folded himself into my compact car. His knees bumped the dashboard as he clicked his seatbelt into place.
I backed up and drove off before he could reconsider.
The roads beyond the central part of town were narrow and walled with hedgerows that pressed close on both sides, and I had not yet made peace with driving on the left-hand side of the lane or with turning left instead of right onto the roundabouts.
Though it was nerve-wracking, concentrating on driving kept me from uselessly wondering too much if my plan would go up in flames. If things went badly, if not trusting him enough to tell him beforehand made him angry, my failed scheme might take our relationship back into uncomfortable silence.
Bren said nothing for most of the drive. He sat with his hands resting on his knees, watching the hedgerows. Though he braced his hand on the dash a few times when I had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.
Overall, I’d say my driving was definitely improving.
When I turned onto the long drive leading to the church, he released a noticeable breath. “You kept your side mirror intact.”
I glanced over, catching a smile hovering on his lips as he stared straight ahead. “I did. I also didn’t go the wrong way on a roundabout. I would like that acknowledged.”
He dipped his head. “Noted.”
The stone church appeared ahead of us, its walls darkened by centuries of Irish weather. When I spotted the three-tiered arch, I inhaled a delighted breath.
Bren nodded. “The arches then?”
I grinned at him and nodded. “They’re amazing. I can’t wait to get a closer look.” At them and the space beneath the church.
From what I’d learned, it was a working parish. They allowed tourists to wander the building without a guide, and several websites mentioned the carved lintels and the stained glass above the altar were must-sees.
As a precaution, I’d checked with Cillian, and he assured me there was nothing supernatural about it. Nor was it near any portals or known thin places.
So far, so good.
I parked and glanced at the other cars in the lot until I spotted Cillian’s sleek black sedan. Then I turned to Bren with a pleasant smile. “Ready?”
He agreed with a nod and stepped out. As we walked side by side toward the sturdy building, he glanced down at me. “There’s a new finding here? I hadn’t heard.”
I did my best to hide my guilt behind an innocent look. “Apparently.” I hated lying, but I would confess once we were deep inside with all that glorious stone above us. I hoped he would forgive me.
The geometric patterns on the second-order arch before the door slowed my progress, but I found it impossible to resist studying them for a few moments.
Bren insisted on paying the suggested donation, and more than once, I had to resist reaching for his hand as we walked through the nave. Instead, I commented on the coursework, the age, and the way the stones suggested some had been added later and left a visible seam along the wall.
He listened while I chatted, adding the occasional mundane comment. We were almost at the stairwell when he cleared his throat. I glanced up to find he was no longer studying the architecture. “Is there a problem?”
He cocked his head, studying me. “Did you truly bring me here to discuss masonry?”
I waved him on. “We’re almost to what I want to show you. Just follow me.”
The stairs led down, and the temperature dropped with each step.
The air below smelled of old stone and damp and cold mineral, a scent once unfamiliar to me, but it now smelled like home.
The ceiling overhead was made of pale limestone.
The walls were thick, close, and dark with age, with no windows.
Two bare bulbs provided enough light to see by, and not much more.
We were the only ones in the space, and it was easy to see why.
Bren stepped off the last stair behind me, his presence more noticeable with nothing to distract me. The silence in the chamber settled over us.
I glanced around. “The type of stone down here differs from that in the nave. And you can see the mortar is older, the joints wider, the technique pre-dating the main structure by at least a century.”
I tried to contain my interest but couldn’t. “The water has stained along the north wall, and the blocked arch over there suggests an earlier passage. I wonder where it originally led.”
“Selene.”
The tone of Bren’s voice tugged hard at my desire. He stood only inches away, watching me with an unreadable look. I swallowed against my tight throat. “Does this bore you?”
He slowly shook his head. “It doesn’t. But there’s nothing here that’s been newly discovered. What made you think there was?”
I forced air into my lungs and reached for his hand, touching it only briefly. The feel of his warm fingers against mine was electric.
He froze. “That wasn’t accidental.”
I shook my head.
Several heartbeats passed before he spoke. “You know this is dangerous. We talked about this.”
I might have taken his rejection personally if not for the fearful look on his face. “Please don’t be angry with me for bringing you here. For touching your hand.”
I expelled a deep breath full of tightly wound tension. “This is an experiment. The newly discovered thing is that there may actually be a way I can hold your hand without endangering anyone.”
Bren slowly shook his head and then stilled. “And you think that just because we’re underground, my reaction to touching you won’t cause a ripple?” His expression broke my heart. “It’s not that simple.”
I clung to hope, refusing to give up. “But maybe it is. I told Cillian about us touching hands in your car. He was quite surprised and admitted to feeling nothing.”
I shifted my stance, praying Bren wouldn’t storm off. “I have a theory. When we caused the disturbances before, we were in your grove, a known portal point, right? A place that was used by the gods to traverse between realms.”
He remained stoic for a long moment and then nodded. “It’s true.”
My smile grew bigger. “Then it makes sense, doesn’t it, that those places are more sensitive to Veil disturbances? But what if we’re not near one? What if we’re deep under a solid stone structure with no thin places nearby?”
Bren shifted his gaze between my eyes repeatedly. “How were you to know this wasn’t a thin place? Are you capable of sensing those things now?”
I huffed softly and shook my head. “No, not like you. I asked Cillian.”
He blinked in surprise. “You involved Cillian in this?”