AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think it’s best if you walk away, Declan. The damage is done.” Jace held himself firmly in place.
“I don’t even get to explain. Damned before I’ve had a chance to prove my innocence?” Declan asked, some blood on his teeth making her woozy.
“If you’d kept your hands to yourself in the past, Declan Rafferty, she would most likely be more inclined to hear you out. Now, if you would please leave my establishment, I am sure Bryn has a valid reason to be here, and it seems your visit has met its conclusion.”
Bryn froze, hearing Niamh’s voice behind her, the coldness in it telling everyone that Declan had crossed a line that not only could Bryn not forgive, but Niamh wouldn’t either.
“You—” Declan started, but Niamh stepped around Bryn and Jace, clasping her hands in front of her as she stood regally in front of him.
“You didn’t know your power then, when you tricked me into the geas, but now that Bryn knows about your extracurricular activities here, I am no longer bound by it.”
That was the geas Niamh had told her about.
Declan stared at Bryn for a moment longer, before sighing and shaking his head, leaving as quietly as possible. The temptation to go into the room he’d just left was strong. She wanted to see for herself the state of the woman in there, have the proof burned into her mind the next time she felt weak around the man.
But something in her heart didn’t need it. She’d been with Declan for the last time, and she was only now catching up to the truth of it. Trying to force a relationship because of previous history was a recipe for disaster, and even if he hadn’t been caught leaving a brothel after having spent the night with a woman, she couldn’t be his.
Even during the sex, she wasn’t his. It was mere satisfaction of body meeting body, but there wasn’t anything deeper than that. That was why that part of her didn’t want him to kiss her during the act.
Everything made so much more sense now.
“You all right, Bryn?” Jace asked as he turned to face her. His eyes full of concern.
“Yeah, I am. Surprisingly.” Turning to Niamh, she waited for her friend to meet her eyes, and when Niamh finally did, they were glassy as she worried her lip.
“I would have told you a million times over if I could that he frequented this establishment during your courtship, but due to the geas, I was unable to form the words or give any clues to guide you to this knowledge.”
“How could you have told me?” Stepping up to Niamh, Bryn hugged her, and Niamh released the breath she’d been holding. “I don’t blame you for Declan’s actions, Niamh. He is a grown man who made the choice all his own.”
A wet, tear-filled chuckle left Niamh’s lips before she spoke.
“I love who you were and who you will become, Bryndis,” Niamh whispered into her hair. “I’ve never truly had family until you came along, and I will treasure our bond.”
Bryn stepped back, realizing there was something Niamh wasn’t telling her.
“I can only hope when you see the true me for the first time, you feel the same.”
Niamh turned and walked down the hallway to where Danu had to be, leaving Bryn stunned at her parting words.
Chapter 30
Brynworkedtosteadyherself after Niamh’s mysterious statement, telling herself it was not the most important item on her ever-growing agenda right then.
Sitting across from Danu and the others in the drawing room of the Sanctuary, her mind went to how thankful she was that she didn’t have to face Declan, and her throat burned from the thought of all he’d done behind her back for so long.
Steadying her breath, she repeated the words said to her in the vision from the dead man at the pyre to Danu.
Callum had to repeat the actual language, which helped her settle her mind enough to speak of the dream from the night before. Danu’s face blanched at her words.
“I thought we would have more time,” Danu whispered, her frail fingers going to her paper-thin lips.
“Then he is sending his wraiths. Just like in my vision.” Bryn leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and hands clasped tightly in front of her to keep her from shaking answers out of the older woman.
“Before they were aware you were all here... Arawn is right, I did make sure to hide you among the enemy, as you are well aware of now that you’ve seen the church in a whole new light.” Danu spoke the words aloud, but Bryn felt like she wasn’t speaking to anyone in the room.
“You’ve been watching us? How? We never see you around town, and from what Justin has said, you were supposed to be on lockdown!” Jace was losing the patience he was known for yet again, but who could blame him these days?
“Young Sage has been stuck in her books and coming to me almost hourly. I’ve always loved her thirst for knowledge but forgot how tiring it can be.” Danu took a sip of her tea, but she did not look like a woman put out by Sage’s antics. If anything, she looked pleased.
