Page 82 of Immortal Game

Daniil crossed his arms. “That’s not going to happen without some demands being met.”

Midir stared at him in disbelief. He gestured around him: the shovels planted into the earth beside his spear, the dirt scattered in haphazard mounds, the exposed roots of the apple tree. “Do you consider your conscience clean? Is your mind at ease?”

“Yes,” Daniil replied matter-of-factly.

“What you have done here ripples across Bri Leith. The common fae have flocked to my stronghold.” His tone indicated this was very unwelcome indeed. Ciara had said he’dbecome reclusive over the years—or perhaps he didn’t care to have his tournament interrupted by the problems of fae he considered beneath his notice. “My duty to defend this site has not been invoked in centuries. This is a brazen violation of the agreements between our worlds. I am well within my rights to demand satisfaction for this trespass.”

Shea had no doubt he would kill them where they stood. She had to salvage this quickly. “We had no other way to get a warning to you.”

The anger bled out of his face. Changeful as quicksilver, his expression morphed into one of idle curiosity. “A warning?”

His interest was a relief beyond measure. He would listen to them. But she would have to hold his attention if they were to survive his annoyance.

“Does the name Fuamnach mean anything to you?” Shea asked.

Midir’s entire bearing changed at the sound of the name. Every muscle was drawn as tense as a bowstring. But his eyes… Shea had expected rage, maybe even amusement, depending on how credible he found Shea. He looked almost afraid. Beneath his fear, another emotion stirred—something more human than she believed him capable of. It was no more than a shadow passing over the serene waters of his preternaturally beautiful face, but Shea had seen it: regret.

Guardedly, he asked, “Where did you learn that name?”

“You gave it to me,” Shea said. “To Aideen, really. I was young, but I still remember every detail of the day you first showed up to ruin my life.”

He did not react, so Shea could only assume those kinds of declarations were commonplace to him. The only indicationhe’d even heard her was the beginnings of a frown. “It is not a name to be invoked lightly.”

“I don’t invoke it lightly. She’s returned.”

Now came a flash of the irritation Shea expected. “Do not jest.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Shea protested. “She’s been—”

The chains of Fuamnach’s enchantment pulled taut around her heart. Her breath lurched out of her. Her tongue felt as though it would tear in two. Midir regarded her with some surprise.

“She’s been interfering with your tournament,” Daniil interjected. He was, fortunately, always quick on the uptake. “We can tell you where she is.”

“The sorceress you speak of is dead.”

“Did you see her death yourself?”

The question clearly opened an old wound—a doubt he’d wrestled with many times before. “Our foster son hunted her down and burned her alive. So he told me.”

It chilled her: both the image and the casual disinterest with which he admitted it. Ciara had not mentioned that detail. Shaking her head, Shea pulled out her phone and held it up to Midir. “Does she look familiar?”

Midir squinted into the blue light of the screen. His eyes roved over an old black-and-white photo of Fuamnach in a feathered bonnet. She looked serious—and painfully beautiful without her glamour, even through the grain of the image.Immortal.At first, no recognition lit them. Then, with some astonishment, he said, “It is as you say. What sort of conjury is this?”

“It’s a phone. Just… Don’t worry about it.”

Midir’s troubled expression smoothed over. With his righteous fury forgotten, he now regarded the two of them as though they were unruly children he did not know what to do with. “Tell me where she is.”

Shea glanced at Daniil imploringly. He said, “The player calling herself Lily Keenan is Fuamnach. I assume she intends to harm your wife if she wins.”

Midir’s gaze flickered between them. “She’s bound you to silence on this matter.”

“Correct,” Shea gritted out.

“I can sense a spell on you,” he admitted begrudgingly. “You’ve done me a service. I should call us even for the defacement of my fort, but clearly, you have come here with some other purpose beyond generosity. What will you have of me, beyond your lives?”

Shea decided not to begrudge him the sarcasm. Letting them live probably was more than a fair trade. To offer something more… Aideen’s safety was valuable enough to him that he considered this warning a great boon. On some level, she’d always known he loved her. Why else spend a thousand years searching for her? Why else go to such lengths to keep her? It changed nothing. It didn’t make her hate him any less.

“You know what I want,” she said quietly.