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“Aye, I do.” Cormac steadied himself, wiping blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. “You’re Rian. Head of Magicks. Outcast.”
“Oh see, for a moment there I was thinking to go easy on you. But you make it quite hard to be nice.” Rian pressed his lips together, the coppery tang of his own blood fueling the fight inside of him. “You might as well tell me Cormac. You’re going to die either way.”
Rian blocked the first paltry wave of magick that Cormac tossed at him, a spear of ice, as easily as if a child had come up to him and kicked him in the shin. His grin widened.
“Is that fighting like a man? I thought you wanted to give it a go. Come on then. I’ll even let you go first.” Rian offered his chin, waiting for the man to land a blow. Cormac rocked back and forth on his feet, his hands in the air, before leaping at Rian and landing an uppercut to his chin. The blow snapped Rian’s head back, the pain validating all of his emotions, and his arms were already coming up to block Cormac’s next punches. The man could throw a punch, Rian had to concede, but sheer force didn’t make up for lack of style. With one twist, Rian kicked Cormac’s knee out, and snapped his head back with a nasty straight cross as he fell to the floor again. There, he curled for a moment, wheezing, and Rian happily kicked him in the ribs.
“Shite,” Cormac wheezed, doubling over, coughing. Blood splattered from his mouth to the floor once more and Rian chuckled, enjoying this much more than he thought he would have. He’d put all of his other emotions neatly back in a box, and only allowed anger to fuel his current mission.
“Speak, Cormac. Now’s the time.”
“Eoghan couldn’t get Marias pregnant. They’d been trying for a long time. So I stepped in to do what he couldn’t. I suggested it, and she took me up on it. I didn’t blackmail her, and it was easy enough to seduce her. The promise of my strong seed? How could she resist? She liked it, too. I know that, once I was with her, she could tell what a better lover than Eoghan I was. She kept coming back to me, didn’t she?”
“I wouldn’t know.” Rian slammed his fist into Cormac’s face again, simply to watch the blood spray across the floor once more. “And what about your sister?”
“What about her?” Cormac wheezed, scuttling away on all fours when Rian eased off of him. He let the man crawl to the other side of the room and then pull himself up on the bed frame.
“What about her? You fought with her, didn’t you? Your entire family stopped speaking to her. Because she dared to ask questions.”
“Stupid. She should have left well enough alone. It’s her own fault, isn't it? Asking too many questions. Taking care of your mother. She should have let it be—”
Cormac gasped as Rian was upon him, pinning him to the wall by his throat. His eyes bulged as he gasped for air.
“What did you say about my mother?” Rian’s voice was deadly calm, and he squeezed tighter, enjoying the way panic skittered through Cormac’s eyes.
“She… Terra … took care of…”
“Rian! No!” Terra shrieked from behind him. Only she was strong enough to break his shield, Rian realized, as her hands came around his waist and pulled at him. Still he held on, wanting to take Cormac’s last breath from him, much like he’d stolen Rian’s last moments with his mother. “Stop, please stop. It’s not worth it. Please, please… I’ll take him to High Council. We’ll have him punished. Please, Rian. You can’t have this on your conscience.”
She wept, Rian realized. Not for Cormac. But for him.
Slowly, Rian released his grip on Cormac, and the man crumpled to a ball on the floor.
“You stand for him. Even when he betrayed you. You’re as much a victim at his hands as I am.” Rian spoke to the wall, where streaks of Cormac’s blood were smeared into the wood. Terra’s arms were still wrapped around him from behind, and he could feel the soft press of her breasts heaving against his back as she sobbed.
“I fight for peace, Rian. I only want peace. And justice. Violence does nothing.”
“I don’t know about that. I feel pretty good right now.” Rian looked down at her hands, so very tiny, clenched at his waist. Gently, he untangled himself from her grip and stepped back before turning to look down at Terra.
“Oh, Rian. Your face.” Terra moved forward, her hand raised, but he stepped back. His adrenaline was too high from fighting with Cormac, as well as the information he’d gleaned from the man. He didn’t know whether he’d hurt Terra or throw her to the ground and take her over and over until she screamed his name. Either way, he couldn’t be touched right now.
“Is it true? My mother? You cared for her?” Rian clenched his fists at his side, his future hanging on Terra’s next words.
“I … well, I did what I could for her, Rian. She didn’t have many people after you were exiled…” Terra trailed off when Rian winced.
“And?” Rian asked. He needed to know. Terra was now the last link he had to his mother — the last person potentially to have ever spoken to her.
“She was a lovely woman, Rian. She loved you so very much.” Terra’s eyes were bright with tears as she watched him. Even now, when he’d walked away from her on the cliffs, she’d come back and saved him. Ever the nurturer, his Terra. She was too good for him, too good for her family, and he was no match for her. What kind of man was he —one who sought vengeance and the destruction of the Earth Fae — to be a mate to someone so pure?
“Were you with her … when she died?” Rian’s voice came out in a rasp.
“I was, Rian. She went peacefully if it helps you to know it. I planted a bush for her, after … with a small ceremony. By my favorite spot at the stream.”
Of course she had, Rian thought. Because that’s the kind of woman Terra was. His heart broke open, knowing that his mother hadn’t suffered alone like he’d thought all these years.
“Thank you.”
It was all Rian could say before he forced himself to walk away from the cottage before the grief that he’d done such a good job of hiding all these years overwhelmed him and he killed Terra’s brother in front of her. At the moment, him leaving was the kindest thing he could do for her.
