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Ignoring the impulse to go to him, ask what was wrong and offer her support, she was happy when Danu took the lead and pulled everyone’s focus to her.
“Now, we can get down to business. I hate that I have to give you such a narrow timeline on all of this, but the Fomori have never bothered to work with us on anything.” Danu took Callum’s hand as he moved to stand beside her. “As Bryn now knows, Callum is a Druid, and it’s his power that sustains me as I try to continue feeding the earth. Without him, I would have died long ago.”
“So the Tuatha Dé Danann have powers based in nature?” Sage asked, her fingers tapping out a rhythm on the arm of the couch.
“Without the Tuatha Dé Danann, nature and life itself cannot thrive. The fall of the Tuatha Dé Danann over two hundred years ago is why the earth is as it is now. Each of you held a power that worked in tandem to keep the balance. A balance that the Fomori threw into chaos and now the earth has no strength to continue.”
A collective breath was released. They were going to get answers so they could move forward and slip into their new roles. She looked to Niamh, but the woman wouldn’t look back at her, instead cleaning under her nails. Her focus completely engulfed in the task.
“We each have a role you said, so I am Dian Cecht, the healer of this group,” Jace started, placing his hand to his chest before pointing to Declan. “You claim he is Dagda... who is...?”
“Oh, his outburst confirmed he is in fact Dagda.” Danu smiled at Declan, his face continuing to remain a scowl. Ignoring his attitude, she continued. “A very Dagda way to handle it. I am glad to see some personality still shined through without your powers in play, but to answer your question, he is the leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann and has power over the natural order of life. He is most likely what kept this town from dying from starvation,” Danu replied, adding on to what she had started explaining before.
Bryn thought of the seeds the farmers swore were magic and his ability to trade. It all made sense now.
“Then there is Arawn, the opposite to Dagda, who watches over the dead. The Otherworld is his domain. In some stories, he is call Donn, others he is called Manannán,” Danu stated.
“Then the man claiming to be my father swoops in and takes the dead to his home away from home?” Declan sneered at Mr. Rafferty.
Bryn’s head snapped up to look toward where Mr. Rafferty stood with his arms folded near the door, his eyes narrowed on his son. He didn’t deny it.
Arawn was Mr. Rafferty. Here this whole time, and yet he said nothing to them about who he really was.
“As you all now know, our dearest Bryn calls for death as the Morrigan and walks the battlefield for worthy souls before she brings them to Arawn to care for,” Danu continued, ignoring Declan’s outburst, but he wasn’t one to be ignored when in a temper.
“He knew who he was this whole time and never said a word!” Declan slammed his fist into the wall, creating a hole in the plaster and ignoring the ire in Niamh’s glare.
“Declan—”
“Nope! No more lies. How could you pretend to be one of us?” Declan was hurt by more than the omission, and Bryn realized that not only had Declan learned he was someone else, but he also realized his father was too.
Her heart skipped a pained beat for the man she had spent so many years loving.
Standing, she moved to take his hand in her own and gave him a reassuring squeeze. The look he gave her shimmered with tears before he blinked them away and refocused on the man in question.
“I am your father, Declan. Maybe not by blood, but I’ve cared for you all the same.” Mr. Rafferty’s gaze held Declan’s, a change in the normal self-assured politician as his eyes begged for forgiveness.
Letting go of her hand, Declan spun away from them and left the room, slamming the front door to the Sanctuary.
“Give him time. He has always been a bit hotheaded.” Danu waved away where he had left.
“Who am I? I looked through all my books. . .,” Sage asked with a curiosity that was beating at the walls of her words. Bryn gave her friend a look of thanks for taking the heat off Declan.
“You, Sage, are wisdom. You hold so much of it inside yourself and desire more. You can heal with herbs in a way others cannot, correct?” Sage nodded at the words, her fingers rubbing together in a nervous gesture. “You protect mothers, you bring life into the world. You are Brigid.”
Bryn could already see Sage making a mental note to look into Brigid the moment they left.
Turning from Sage, Danu took in the large, quiet man in the corner.
“Kessler, my dear Goibiu, you are a miracle at bringing to life the inanimate. Your smithing skills are something I’ve long thought a true blessing.”
Kessler simply grunted as Danu faced Justin. Bryn could tell Kessler was still skeptical of everything, but Bryn could understand that. He didn’t have a crow and shadow man speaking into his mind or leaving feathers all over his room.
“You are my golden one. My Lugh, bringing us justice.”
“Guess I picked the right line of work then, ma’am.”
Danu’s face lit up, and Bryn swore she could see the woman’s skin illuminate, a shimmer of who she once was lighting her up from within.
