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I walked over to Badb, taking the sword from her hand. “Lay on the ground. It will be quicker and less painful that way,” I muttered.
Badb did as ordered, the rage and hate flowing in her eyes. As I raised the sword something different flashed in her fiery gaze. Respect. “I have underestimated you.” She shut her eyes. “I yield to a superior foe.”
“I’ll see you soon, Badb.”
She had defended me against the assassin. Macha had saved that child. There may be something left to love of my sisters yet.I added a promise to the binding. My sisters may have done bad things, but they’d done good things, too. And so I promised to seek a balance between us, one that would grant my sisters some autonomy.
A sob rose up. We were three bound together. From this day forward, there would be freedom for none. Only responsibility.
I brought the sword down and it bit into her neck, severing her head in one smooth slice as the blade crashed into the marble floor beneath, sending a jarring up through my arms. I dropped to the floor, blood soaking into my clothes before my warrior sister too burst into ash and rushed into me. I breathed her in, accepting her and all that came with it.
“I promise,” I whispered.
Chapter 39
Istoodintheinfirmary’s doorway and looked in at the rows of empty cots. Even after the chaos of what happened in the throne room, Dagda was the only one that needed protracted medical attention. I let my gaze settle on his long unmoving form laying among linen sheets.
He’d been brought here after the whole thing with Badb and Macha ended and been there ever since, healing. A snapped neck was more difficult than other things to heal because it was so similar to decapitation in that it separated the brain from vital functions.
Palon had told me that. I’d sent soldiers throughout the palace searching, and had found him knocked out from Rowan smoke in a random closet. Apparently, Badb hadn’t had the means in that moment to make him fall. She’d probably planned to return and finish him after Dagda’s Falling Ceremony.
I was so grateful that he was okay that I’d demanded that Roisin be brought to the castle. I gave her the recipe for Rocky Road ice cream that I’d jotted down on the plane on my way to Ireland. She’d given me the most curious look as I promised her it was the key to Palon’s heart, or as close as I knew how to get to it.
I twisted my hands together and chewed on my lip as I debated whether to step into the infirmary. I’d come to this point more times than I cared to admit—watching the steady rise of Dagda’s chest—reminding myself that he would heal. Daring myself to enter.
I’d returned to the Otherworld for Dagda, but it was also my fault that he had almost been killed, that he had ended up in that bed in the first place—and for the second time since we met. I was the one who had deceived him, nearly destroyed our bond—made him vulnerable.
I’d known after I went to the bog and abandoned him, that he’d hate me and I couldn’t stand the look in his eyes… to see the last vestige of the thread that held our bond together ruined for good.
Not when I’d realized just how badly I wanted that bond.
When I’d chosen it—him—for myself.
I very well could be one betrayal too late.
“Come in, Chels.” Dagda’s voice rasped across the room, even though he faced away from me.
My breath caught, and I considered racing down the hall and away. But no, eventually I’d have to face him. And despite the dread coursing through me, this was why I came every day, trying to work up the guts to speak to him.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“The healers glance at the door like they are afraid you will blast them to dust when you are here.”
Might as well get it over with.
I shut my eyes and sensed my sisters within me. They were there. They were always there, but they no longer took over against my will. With a little concentration, I brought Badb and Macha into being. They stood in front of me, exact replicas.
“You called?” Macha said in the most flippant way possible.
“Macha, go to the gardens. You may spend the afternoon there, but you may only interact with the guards. No seductions, no violence.”
“Your wish is my command, your majesty.” It literally was, ever since I’d defeated them in the throne room. Both my sisters had no choice but to obey my commands. Macha gave a mocking bow and sauntered off.
I turned to Badb, who watched me. “Join Keelin and keep guard. Do nothing more than what he says.”
She stared at me with violent, dangerous eyes, and it still amazed me I had somehow gained control over such a wild, insatiable creature. Without a word, Badb joined Keelin, who stood a little way down the hall.
I pressed trembling hands to my skirts, then took a slow step into the room. The healer, bustling about the space, saw my approach and gripped a nearby chair, placing it next to Dagda. I circled the foot of his bed and settled into the seat.
