Part 17 (1/2)
”It's not funny.”
Austin kisses my hair. ”If you saw me with Gwyn, then you already know what happened.”
I shake my head.
”The girl I met was you.”
TWENTY-NINE.
I can't stop thinking about what Austin said. We met a thousand years ago. I know it happened. I was there, twice, and we talked for a few minutes before I came back. Why would that change things between Austin and Gwyn? And why didn't Austin tell me this before?
I take the car keys without asking. The Sons are in Cath now, so I keep to the outskirts of town. I pa.s.s an old Church with blackened stones then make a u-turn and park across the street.
I stare at the dark wall.
In seven generations the town has recovered, the fire that nearly destroyed it nothing more than a scar that is so old, it's woven into the fabric of the town. Still, the evidence is there. The rectory next door boasts charred stones along the entire east wall. I get out of my car and walk up to it, running my hands along the stones, the remnants of my seventh generation grandmother's revenge.
I don't need the proof that my power is dangerous, but it's sobering to see the lingering effects of a moment's rage from so long ago. The world is safe from me now that my powers are gone. But what of the other bandia? And what if Liam succeeds in bringing the G.o.ds back from the underworld? Austin has already said that they aren't happy. That they plan to put the humans in their place. How many people will suffer if we don't stop them?
”Brianna?” I turn to see Shannon standing just behind me. Her blonde hair is plaited in two French braids that meet in the back, but she's dressed casually, in jeans and a fisherman's sweater that hangs on her thin frame.
”Hey.” I drop my hand from the wall. ”Just doing a little sight-seeing.”
”Interesting choice of sights. Most people go into town.” Shannon places her hand in the front pocket of her jeans. ”Are you what my mum says?”
”A witch?” I shake my head. ”No.” Not anymore.
”I don't care if you are. I'm not afraid of witches.”
I glance back at the charred stone. ”Maybe you should be.”
”You sound like my mum.”
”I'm sorry I haven't stopped by your shop. I don't get into town much.”
She shrugs. ”It's okay. I heard that Lord Lorcan's in residence for a change. Is he as much of a bob as they claim?”
”A bob?”
”Is he hot?”
I smile and maybe blush. ”He's cute.”
”Is he now? No wonder you're not spending much time in Cath.” She walks up next to me, running her hand along the charred wall. ”You've heard the story?”
”h.e.l.l hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
”Unless it's a man.”
I laugh. ”Are there more? Stories, I mean.”
”We have many.”
I try not to get too excited, but it occurs to me that Shannon might know everything that my family failed to preserve. My stories. My history. I run my hand along the wall. ”What happened to the woman who did it?”
”She fled. She had to. They would've killed her otherwise. But justice was done a few years later. Her body was found in a field near Dunfield Abbey. Knife to the heart.”
”Did they know who killed her?” A Son, of course, but I needed to know if she knew her killer. If she was bonded to him.
Shannon shakes her head. ”Never did catch him. Not that anyone tried too hard.”
”Have you heard of a G.o.d called Pwil?”
”Friend to Arawn.”
”What's his story?”
”He was Arawn's second, lording over the underworld in Arawn's place when Arawn pa.s.sed between the worlds. Arawn gave him a special place when he learned that Pwil protected Arawn's lover in his absence.”
”Arawn's lover?” I can't ignore the dark feeling that starts in the pit of my stomach and spreads in a black wave. Austin never mentioned that he had a lover in the underworld. A G.o.ddess?
”Little is known about her. There are rumors that it was Callieach, but I like to think it was Danu herself.”
My stomach clenches. Austin has been holding back on me.
She touches a dark stone. ”If you believe my mother, we still live history, every day. We are tomorrow's past.”
”Can we change it? Tomorrow's history?”
Shannon doesn't take her hand off the wall. ”It is already written. We're just the players.”
”Yes, but do we win?”
Shannon smiles. ”Of course. Why else are we here?”
We can't all win. I think of my ancestor, bleeding to death, alone in a field. Some of us are here to lose.
THIRTY.
I don't go back to Lorcan. I'm not about to sit around the lunch table with Sherri Milliken and Liam after what he did to me this morning. And I'm not ready to talk to Austin about his girlfriend in the underworld.
I head for the pub where Braden is staying, not wanting to chance running into Blake at the Cath Pub. Braden is there, seated with the same group of guys, downing pints and laughing. He glances at me and winks before turning his attention back to the giolla at his left.
”Hey Braden.” I need to see what else I can learn about the Gathering.
He looks past me, like he's expecting someone else. When he sees I'm alone, he breaks into a huge grin. ”Finally ditched the excess baggage, I see.”
”Something like that.”
He scoots into the booth until there's only a small spot next to him. ”By all means, join us.” I spent most of my teens being invisible to guys, so I don't miss the way Braden's eyes stay with mine as I sit down next to him. It's so much more meaningless than I expected it to be. It turns out I don't necessarily want guys to see me like a present to be unwrapped.