While she had made a rule not to buy into fantastical things prior to all this for no other reason than her profession, Shannon could admit Riona had a gift. One heck of a gift based on the way her eyes shone blue, and she kept sketching away when Liam sat her down at the kitchen table.
A strange sensation rolled through her as Riona created an image with astounding speed. “What is that?”
“’Tis King’s End.” Liam’s brow lowered sharply. “Or at least one version of it.”
Shannon eyed what appeared to be a tall cylinder-like cove filling with water.
“That looks familiar,” she murmured. “Kind of.”
“Then you’ve dreamt of it?” Riona considered her before she figured things out. Eerily so. “You ended up there in your dream, and you were wearing the peach dress, weren’t you?”
She frowned. “How could you possibly know that?”
“I imagine because you’re every bit as much an Unnamed One as Madison and I,” Riona replied. “Which means we’ll be more connected than ever. Magically connected.” She eyed Shannon curiously. “So tell me about your most recent dream. What you made of it?” The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement as she looked from Liam to Shannon. “Who was there?” She shook her head. “And don’t tell me no one.”
“All I know is I was sliding downhill into that cove.” Shannon made herself a cup of coffee rather than look Liam’s way. “Quickly...too quickly. Then someone grabbed hold of me.” For some reason, not ready to share the wall of water and certain death, she swallowed hard and shrugged, determined not to show how terrifying it had been. “I have no idea if it was Liam.”
“So it seems you can lie too,” Riona chided, seeing right through her. But not all the way through her, it appeared, because she made no mention of the water. “You know darn well it was Liam because you heard him.”
“So?” She leaned against the counter and gestured loosely his way without glancing at him. “If anything, my mind transferred the sound of his voice outside my tent into my dream.”
“Right. Your tent.” Riona looked at Shannon with concern. “And why, again, have you been camping out?” She leaned against the counter beside her and rested her hand on her shoulder. “And why were you so sad? Did you remember something from your past life?”
“No.” Or had she? She had no idea.
“Why were you so sad, then?” Riona tilted her head in question. “Crying even?”
“I don't know,” she lied. “A horrible sense of sadness and longing just fell over me out of the blue.” She shrugged. “Not to mention a feeling of regret.”
It seemed Riona could only catch so much right now because she nodded and sighed. “I'm sure you'll figure things out.” She glanced at Liam. “We all do once we touch our guys.”
“Don’t look at him,” she grumbled, “because he's not my guy.”
Rather than let Riona go on about it, she raised her eyebrows and focused on her sister's news. “So you’re married now?”
Just as unsure about what to make of that as she had been of Madison and Cian marrying so fast, she worked at a smile. In her opinion, it had been too quick whether they loved each other in another life or not.
“Iammarried.” Riona smiled. “Happily.”
“I see.” She knew she should congratulate her sister, but it seemed like too much at the moment. Everything did. So she focused on what she felt was most important. “I’m so glad you’re okay, sis.” She pulled her into a tight hug when she sensed yet again just how much danger Riona had put herself in. “Really glad.”
“Thanks.” Riona hugged her back. “Coming into my magic helped tremendously, which of course, wouldn’t have been possible without Declán and I connecting and remembering our pasts. You’ll see when—”
“No.” Shannon pulled away and frowned. “I’ll help however I can, but I’m not up for connecting with anyone.”
“Of course, you’re not.” Riona perked a brow at Liam. “And I suppose you feel the same, huh?”
Shannon nearly said he would have rather hooked up with Riona if he’d had the chance but bit her tongue. That might have sounded like jealousy, and she was anything but.
“I will connect with one of your sisters long enough to save my country, Riona.” Liam shrugged. “But I have no intention of committing to any one lass for any length of time.”
She could only hope he meant that because she refused to ever get close to a man again. Especially an Irishman. She wouldn't risk that heartache.
“From what I understood, romance wasn’t a prerequisite to all this, sis,” Shannon reminded. “It just happened to work out that way for you and Madison.”
“True.” Riona wore a small grin. Her expression grew all-knowing again. “But that’s only because we found true love in our previous lives.” She shot Shannon a not-so-sympathetic look. “Just like you must have found true love with either Liam or Aodh.” She shook her head. “And we both know it wasn’t the latter.”
“And how do we know that again?” She frowned. “We don’t know that.”
