“Come now, my boy. What’s done is done. Fretting won’t make it any better. Ye look as if yer wastin’ away to nothin’.” She pulled out one of the stools at the high table and gave the top a pat. “How about ye sit down, and I’ll make ye something special too? Perhaps a fresh batch of tarts?”
“I don’t want any tarts.” I grabbed an apple from a bowl in the sink instead. Water droplets cascaded down the red flesh toward my fingertips. “But maybe you could make a batch for her.”
Nothing numbed the sting of betrayal quite like a good pastry.
11
TADHG
Rían shiftedhis stance in front of me, resting his ear against the door.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I just couldn’t. “Well?” I gave his arm a poke. “What’s she saying?”
“Quiet. I’m trying to hear.” His brow furrowed in concentration. A few moments passed before his lips quirked into a smile. “She said something about…wishing she was still married to Edward.”
I shoved the chuckling bastard aside and pressed my own ear to Keelynn’s door.
“How is that possible?”Keelynn’s voice. My heart stumbled. She was back. Thank the heavens and the stars and whoever made them. My love had finally returned to me. “He was dead,” she said. “I killed him.”
“Rían brought him back with the dagger,” Aveen explained in a soft, soothing tone. “And then Tadhg kissed you.”
That fateful day with Fiadh felt like a million years ago.
Why the hell had I let Aveen convince me to let her be in the room when Keelynn woke instead of being there myself?
This isn’t about you.
This is about Keelynn and what she wants.
What if she wanted to move to Hollowshade with Aveen? That wouldn’t be the end of the world. If I conserved my magic, I could evanesce there any day of the week. But what if she decided while she was away that she no longer cared for me? Worse, what if she found someone else she cared for more? After what I’d done, I could hardly blame her for wanting someone better than me.
Keelynn gasped. “Are you saying I’ve been gone for an entire year?”
Was that pain in her voice? I should go to her. I grabbed for the doorknob. Rían smacked my hand away. The bastard.
“You said you’d give Aveen time,” he chided.
Five minutes should have been more than enough time for Aveen to explain what had happened.
Somehow, I gathered patience I didn’t even realize I possessed until Aveen had finished speaking.
Enough was enough. I was going in.
Before I could try for the knob, Rían stepped in front of me. “They’re done,” I told him. “Listen for yourself. They’re not saying anything.”
He pressed his ear to the door for a moment before easing the barrier aside.
This was it. The moment of truth.
Forgiveness or eternal misery. Two possible fates hinging on one woman’s whims.
“I see our guest has returned to us,” Rían said from the doorway, blocking me with his body. I could have evanesced but didn’t want to startle the poor woman. What if I gave her a heart attack from fright and she died for real? I could always kiss her again but honestly didn’t think I could survive another year without her.
“It’s about damn time,” Aveen said, a smile in her voice.
Rían bowed like an eejit. “Good to see you looking so well after your stay in the underworld, Lady Keelynn.”
I wanted toseeher, and I was this feckin’ close to killing everyone to get some time alone with my soulmate. Rían shot me a withering glare before turning back to the women. “Aveen, I’ve held him off for as long as I can. If you want to keep the castle intact, I’d suggest you catch up with your sister at dinner.”