When her sisters nodded in reassurance, she took the offered sip, then a few more, grateful for the burn of the liquor sliding down her throat. The warmth pooling in her belly. Spreading through her veins. Thankful that it eased her nerves enough that she could finally hold the glass on her own.
“Where’s Constance?” she managed after a few more sips. Fresh worry spiked through her. She looked around. “Is she here yet? Is she okay?”
She’d been too out of it when she arrived to see if her car was here.
“She’s fine,” Riona said. “Just caught up with all her charities.”
“You mean avoiding all of this like I should have,” Shannon said grimly. Her steady gaze never left Madison. “What happened?” She might try to hide it, but there was no missing the concern in her eyes. “Because you feel,” she blinked back what looked suspiciously like tears, “all broken up inside. Lost somehow.” She shook her head. “Not the sister I knew weeks ago.”
Unlike Riona, Shannon had never been all that good at being around people. Shewasgood at nailing how they felt, though. Almost as well as she knew what animals needed. How they felt. What ailed them. That’s what made her such a great veterinarian.
“I’m not the sister you knew weeks ago,” Madison admitted and took several more sips. “Not by a long shot.”
“Clearly.”
Shannon might appear stern, but Madison felt her worry. Her compassion.
“What happened?” Riona frowned. “Tell us.”
She could feel Liam’s rising tension. Or had it been there all along? How was she going to tell him that his brother was likely dead and his castle in ruins? That they had failed.Shehad failed. Even worse? That it might mean the end of everything they knew within minutes. That this was some kind of time glitch where seconds from now, reality would shift, and all of this would vanish.
“Ye tell me as ye saw it,” Liam said gruffly, his accent thicker. He clearly sensed her as much as she sensed him. “Then ye tell me everything in between. Everything ye did not have a chance to tell Riona.”
So she did after pouring herself another whiskey and downing half of it.
She told them every last bit. From their sordid previous lives to learning that this life was a way of redeeming themselves. She told them how Cian and his brothers and even the enemy had agreed to see through the prophecy if it meant being able to follow her and her sisters.
Find and love them again.
She told them about her marriage and everything that had happened in the end. How Cian and his people had been destroyed. All had been lost. How she’d let them down when she couldn’t stand up to Siobhán.
By the time she finished, they were down half a bottle of whiskey, and everyone had a glass in hand. Her sisters had sunk down onto whatever chairs they were closest to in stunned disbelief. Liam sat with his head braced in his hands. It seemed he had thought she was so broken up because magic had thrust her forward in time without Cian. Nothing so heartbreaking as this.
“Surely, it cannot be,” he eventually rumbled, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Surely not...”
She rested her hand on his shoulder, feeling his pain. Lost in it herself. “The last time I saw Cian, he was surrounded by hundreds of enemy warriors and...lost to me even though he hadn’t been cut down yet.”
“Then there is still hope,” he ground out with vehemence. “All might not be lost. My brother might not be dead.”
“Yet he’s gone from my mind,” she managed, in so much pain it hurt. “Lost from my soul.”
“Likely because there are nearly a thousand years betwixt you two.” He leapt to his feet and strode outside, throwing over his shoulder, “Imustgo back. I must help him if he’s in need.”
She flew after him only to find him roaring up into the tree branches. Roaring for Aisling to come assist him because surely Madison hadn’t seen things correctly. Surely Cian's fairy had not died.
“But she did,”came a sad voice from above that Liam could evidently hear as well.“She is lost to us.”
“Oran.” She teared up when she spied her raven perched on a branch. “You’re okay!”
“I am, m’Lady.”He sighed and hung his head.“I traveled here when ye did but needed a moment, as I’m sure ye understand.”
“I do.” She sniffled, feeling for his loss as well. “I’m so very sorry, my friend. I know how much you had come to care for Aisling.”
It didn’t matter if it had been days. Fairies worked on a different time scale.
“How do I get back?” Liam trembled with emotion. Rage and a need for revenge. A need to be there for Cian if there was still time. “Tell me.”
“I wish I knew,”Oran said mournfully.“I have only ever seen Aisling move people through time and mayhap Madison with Cian’s help.”He cocked his head, thinking about it.“Or mayhap she did it all on her own?”
