Chapter Ten
THWACK! THUMP!
Bréagha laid on the dirt of the sparring arena and just stared up into the darkening sky. Every bone and muscle in her body screamed at her. She was starting to think that the packed dirt underneath her was the perfect place to die.
“Whatcha doin?” Bracken and Cathal stood over her looking down with puzzled looks.
“I’m considering my life and examining my problem-solving paradigms,” she mused. They both grinned, recognizing the line from the movie they all watched last night, Sahara.
“Ah, Bréagha girl, it’s not that bad, is it,” questioned Bracken.
“How much time do you reckon I spend on my back in the dirt, Bracken? An hour, two? All freaking day,” she whined.
“Come on! Up, we still have some daylight,” commanded Killian as he joined the other Sentinels looking down at her. Cathal offered his hand which she clasped reluctantly, allowing him to yank her back to her feet.
“You are masochistic,” she groaned and bent over at the waist, her hands on her thighs. Before Killian could make her go another round, a pink portal opened next to where they were standing. Roz stepped out and waved at the Sentinels.
“Hey boys! And Bréagha! Time for a break. I can portal you all to Bréagha’s so you can shower.
Then it’s time for dinner!” She waved her hand to create a new portal, and she walked through without waiting.
Bréagha ran after her, not wanting the portal to close and leave her to continue being tortured.
She sighed when her little cottage came into view, the lights shining out through the windows a very welcome sight.
The other Sentinels followed, and she waved absently as they headed to their manor homes.
Bracken and Cathal raced each other through the small, wooded area that separated Bréagha’s meadow from the row of Sentinel houses.
Rozengwyn followed Bréagha into the cottage, flopping down on the sofa and picking up a book she had started reading last night before Colin and Drago had come to drag them to movie night.
Bréagha climbed the stairs to her room and her shower.
She could really use a nice soak, remembering the hot springs pool Roz had taken her to on her first day in the Garden.
She sighed. She would have to settle for a quick hot shower instead.
She promised herself a visit soon though, her muscles and bones could use more than just the rushed showers she usually took these days.
She washed quickly, then dried off even faster.
She pulled on a pair of soft black leggings, a long-sleeved purple dress that Roz had magicked for her, then pulled on a pair of comfy knee length boots.
She ran a brush through her wet hair, choosing to leave it loose and around her shoulders.
Even her scalp ached from the rough treatment of training with Killian and his Sentinels.
She trudged down the stairs and flopped down next to Roz on the sofa.
“I’ve imagined another way to kill that man,” she announced.
“This is what? Ways to murder Killian #436,” asked Roz, not looking up from the book in her hands.
“#438,” corrected Bréagha. “I thought of another one about noon, after he used Kaedryn’s strength to send me flying for about the millionth time.”
“Yep, that would do it.” Roz finished the chapter she had been reading, then slammed the book back down. “You ready to get dinner? The boys should be here any minute.”
Just as Roz finished, a fist slammed against the front door before it swung open.
Bréagha never understood why Killian even bothered to knock if he was just going to walk in regardless.
Roz bounced up and walked outside with Bréagha following behind.
She drew her rune to create her portal, then she grinned over her shoulder as she hopped through.
Bréagha sighed and followed her friend, ready to eat and climb into bed.
However, it wasn’t Stephen’s that Roz had opened her portal to. Nor was it any of the other places they went for food in the Garden. They stood outside the Phoenix Rising. The front doors had been replaced with ordinary oak doors but everything else looked the same.
Bréagha swung around and looked over at Aiden questioningly.
“Mark and Scarlett have been running it since we left. When I came and got the doors, I made sure they knew we would be gone for a while and let them know if they were interested, we would be open to allowing them to take over completely,” explained Aiden as he walked up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“I feel guilty that outside of a few moments here or there, I haven’t even thought about it,” admitted Bréagha, tearfully.
“To be fair, you’ve been getting your ass handed to you daily. You can’t think about your bar when you are flying through the air,” offered Bracken as he walked up on her other side and stood looking at the building in front of him.
“Are we going in? Or did we just get portaled to stand here and gawk?” grumbled Killian. Bréagha turned around and punched his shoulder.
“I blame you! If you weren’t so intent on killing me, I would actually have time to think of things besides just enduring,” she accused. He grinned.
“But it’s so much fun to see you flying and I get immense amusement from the sounds you make when you land,” teased Killian. He reached up and pulled her hair as he walked past the group and went into the Phoenix Rising. She growled and followed.
“Anyone else think she’s sounding more and more like him?” observed Liam as he followed the two.
As soon as the group walked through the doors, Bréagha took a deep breath and looked around.
The smells of fried foods and mixed alcohol assaulted her senses, and she sighed.
There were three pool tables to one side of the bar, and a small dance floor, where a few couples were two-stepping to Islands in the Stream, on the other.
The space between the two was filled with tables and chairs, 10 to be exact.
It had taken her and Aiden several weekends of visiting flea markets and thrift stores in every city and town around them, to get enough to fill the space.
About half of the tables were taken up by familiar faces who all called out greetings when they saw Bréagha and Aiden walk through the doors.
Scarlett was behind the bar, and she waved them over.
She set down the drinks she was working on before vaulting over the bar top to give Bréagha a hug.
“You know, there was a perfectly normal path around the bar,” observed Bréagha dryly as she tried to breathe around Scarlett’s bearhug. The bartender was an amazon of a woman with long red hair which never seemed to stay in any ponytail, or bun Scarlett tried to put it in.
“Now what fun would that be, huh? Now who do you have with you? So many gorgeous puppies, and not nearly enough time,” drawled Scarlett in her thick Texas accent. Aiden groaned and face palmed which just made her laugh. “Mark! Get your ass out here and see what I found!”
In answer to his wife’s bellow, Mark swung out of the kitchen behind the bar, wiping his hands on the towel that was permanently draped on his shoulder.
“You bellowed, my sweet?” Mark was the exact counterpoint to Scarlett, where she was bright flame, he was warm chocolate.
His mocha skin and dark eyes were the perfect backdrop for her pale skin and bright blue eyes.
He grinned when he caught sight of Bréagha and Aiden.
He hurried forward and enveloped her in his own bearhug.
“Bréagha! I’m so glad to see you girl!” He stepped back and she swore he had tears in his eyes, but he turned to Aiden and gave him a big hug as well. “Who are your friends,” he asked as he eyed the wall of men behind the pair.
Bréagha turned and shook her head. Seven Sentinels stood behind her, all had their arms crossed over their chests, and though they were all smiling it was still a formidable wall of muscle.
“Scarlett, Mark, let me introduce you to our friends. The one on the end there, is Jaxx, the fool next to him is Bracken, then there’s Travis, Liam, Mason, Cathal, and last but not least the very bane of my existence, Killian,” introduced Bréagha as she pointed to each man.
They all tipped their chins in acknowledgement.
She stepped forward and pushed Liam and Mason aside to pull Roz through. “And this is Rozengwyn.”
Roz waved and smiled shyly. Her wings had disappeared, so Bréagha assumed they worked like her own, which she was quietly thankful for.
She would have struggled to explain a tiny woman with wings walking in the bar.
She remembered a time when they had ten brides to be doing bad karaoke decked out in tutus, wings, and glittery wigs.
On second thought, they may not have even noticed the wings.
“Well, the back room is open, go ahead in there and someone will get your orders,” instructed Scarlett as she raised her hand in acknowledgement to someone yelling for a refill.
Aiden led the way to the back room. This room was used for events and large groups.
There was more than enough room for all the Sentinels and Roz to spread out and be comfortable.
Bracken, Liam, and Mason pushed several tables together however, so they had one long table to sit at in the middle of the room.
A waitress came in to take their orders, and Bracken tried to flirt with her.
“Bracken, knock it off. Penny is married with three kids. She doesn’t need another aggravating male,” yelled Bréagha from where she sat at the opposite end of the table.
“Aww…Bréagha, don’t kill my joy,” he pouted, then winked at Penny. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. All three of those kids were boys, and she worked at Phoenix Rising four nights a week, it would take more than one handsome face to shake her.