“Is that what Fiadh told you?”A load of bollocks spouted by a vengeful witch.
Keelynn nodded.
“Let me guess. She also said if you used an enchanted dagger, then you could transfer his life force to Aveen, yeah?”
Another nod.
“Did it ever cross your mind that perhaps she was lying?” Keelynn didn’t trust me or any of my kin, yet for some reason, she chose to trust one of the worst beings on this cursed island.
Her shoulders fell. “You’re saying it won’t work?”
It’d feckin’ work, all right. And then I’d be dust, and that witch would have succeeded in breaking me. “Oh, no. Immortal blood is powerful enough to raise the dead, so it’d work. But it’s excessive. And entirely unnecessary.”
“What would you suggest I do?”
Give me the ring and go home, probably wouldn’t keep me in her good graces.So I said, “Nothing.”
Not a feckin’ thing.
Sit there, look pretty, and then let me into her bed so I could use my body to convince hers to give away her only bargaining chip.
“You think I should accept my sister’s fate even when I know I could change it?”
Here goes nothing. Either this would work or it wouldn’t. “The Gancanagh’s lips arecursed. So, whoever he kisses is—”
The words. They were right there. Right feckin’ there.
She reached for me. “Are you all right?”
“Whoever he kisses is—”Dammit. One more word. One more feckin’ word. Cursed. Not dead. Whoever I kissed was CURSED. I wanted to scream it, but every time I opened my mouth, it felt like my head was being cleaved from my body and impaled on a pike.
“The ring,” I gasped. If she gave me the ring, this curse would subside. I could explain. I could tell her what was actually happening. “Let me see the ring.”
Her hand flew to the ring hidden beneath her gown. “Absolutely not.”
Now wasn’t the time to be stubborn. Not when I was so feckin’ close. “I cannot say what I need to say unless you give me the ring.”
“Try.”
I was feckin’ trying! “I.Can’t.”
“And I’mnothanding it over.”
I’d saved her. I’d helped her last night. I hadn’t squeezed the life out of that beautiful neck all feckin’ week. She owed me this. She owed me that ring. “Keelynn, please–”
The door burst open. Thecrackof splintering wood rattled through the pub. Cloying magic spun on an icy breeze.
Two women entered, their faces concealed within the shadows of their hooded cloaks. The way they moved, perfectly in sync as they started for us, left my stomach filled with dread.
“Shit.” What the hell were they doing here?
When the twins reached our table, they lifted their hands to draw back their hoods. Caer and Cait. One as beautiful as the other, and both equally as wicked. Normally, I’d be up for whatever they had in store. But not here. Not tonight.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the bartender reach for his pistol. The witches paid him no heed. They could send him to the underworld before he pulled off a shot.
Caer’s lips tilted upward when her gaze met mine. “We heard a rumor you were here.”
I turned toward them, blocking their view of the human at my table too late. “You know better than to listen to rumors, Caer.”