What was the word?Ahhhh. . . Heavy. That was it.
Ruairi hauled me inside and up the stairs. Why were there so many? The building wasn’tthattall. He reached for a knob, twisted. A waft of musty air assaulted my nostrils.
“In ye go, drunken sod.” Ruairi shoved between my shoulder blades.
I caught myself on either side of the doorframe. The wood groaned under the pressure when Ruairi tried again to push me in. “Wrong room.”
“Right room,” he insisted, shoving me again.
The bed linens were more tatty than my overcoat, and the dank darkness felt cold and empty, and, “I don’t want to sleep in here.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest, scowling down at me like the imposing fecker he was.“Where do ye think yer going to go?”
Which floor were we on? Keelynn was near the stairs. I think. “I need to find someone.” I ducked around him, heading for the first door. I’d knock on every feckin’ one if I had to. Keelynn would let me in. I would ask nicely.Verynicely. I’d get on my knees and beg.
A hand caught my collar, hauling me back toward the open room. “Yer going to say or do something ye will both regret. And she’d have every right to kill ye for it. Into bed with ye.”
Why couldn’t Keelynn be ordering me to bed instead? I fell face-first onto the mattress. It smelled like sweat and old socks. Turning my head, I gasped for fresh air. “She smellssooogood.”
“I’ve noticed. Now, go to sleep.”
When he made to leave, I tried to sit up. “And where might you be going?Hmmm?”
“To keep a certain human from being mauled by a drunken prince.”
“I would never—”
“Tadhg? Get some rest. After what ye did, yer gonna need it.”
After what I did? What had I—
Oh, right. I’d killed Áine.
19
Ruairi had beenright to take the dagger last night. Because if I’d had it that morning, I’d be on my way to the underworld. My head. Pounding wasn’t a strong enough word for the way it rattled. My stomach revolted when I rolled onto my side. The gray walls tilted. The wooden ceiling spun. If I hadn’t died so many times before, I’d be convinced this was the end.
“Up and out, sunshine.”
The moment I heard his voice, the pounding got infinitely worse.
I peered through blurry lashes at my brother’s scowl. Rían perched on the window ledge, arms folded across his chest, judging me. Definitely not the first thing I wanted to see in the morning.
“What’re you doing here?” I croaked, reaching for the pint of water waiting beside my boots with a trembling hand.
“I just missed your cursed face. What the hell do you think?”
Closing my eyes, I pressed the cold glass to my thumping skull. Was all the shouting really necessary?
“I went into the parlor this morning and found a feckin’ body.”
Oh, right. That.
Each stomp of his boots when he crossed the floor was like a hammer to my temple. “You killed Áine.Áine.”
“I know what I did.”
“And did you consider the consequences of your actions?”