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“What were you doing there?” he asked, still gruff, but definitely thawing.
“I was with Jamys when they got back. I thought I might help.”
“Now you and Jamys…” he muttered. Poured a third tumblerful. Downed it like it was water.
She thought about following his lead and having another whiskey. Decided against it. Her head still pounded, and she needed all her wits for this strange inner tug of war. “Your frothing at the mouth wasn’t helping anyone,” she ventured.
“And what would you know about it?” he snapped back.
“I know that yelling at Morgan gets you nowhere.”
“She’s a fool.”
“She’s an amhas-draoi. The same as you. Give her some credit. She got your grandmother home in one piece. If it makes you feel better, ride the boundaries again.”
“And what good will that do? They need constant monitoring. The magic across the stones is fluctuating so wildly, there’s no way to know when or if the mage energy will wane. Or where.”
She tried to pretend it was the whiskey that churned her stomach. Made her queasy and sick. But she knew it wasn’t.
It was guilt. Plain and simple.
She was the cause of this trouble. She was the reason no one was safe.
She sank into a chair. Closed her eyes while rubbing her temples.
Could this nightmare get any worse? “It’s not your fault, Ellery.”
She opened her eyes to find Conor kneeling in front of her, his hands braced on either chair arm, his gorgeous face inches from her own.
Oh, yes, it could get so much worse. “You read my thoughts,” she stammered, trying to focus anywhere but on the burnished bronze of his eyes. The hard line of his jaw. The sensual curve of his lips. Where was her loathing? Her fury? It was as if they’d packed up and moved out, leaving her adrift and empty. Completely confused.
“They’re not hard to read when they’re screaming in my head.” His lips twitched. How could such a little thing like a smile knot her insides and send heat rushing through her? It wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to feel anything—and certainly not lust. “I don’t ever want you to think this is your fault,” he said. “I brought you to Daggerfell because it was the safest place I could think of. It still is.”
“But I’m the one causing all the problems. Asher’s after me. And this ridiculous power you say I have is just making it harder. I’m putting everyone at risk.”
“It’s only until Beltane. A few more days.”
“A lot can happen in a few days.” He blinked as if coming up for air. Or back to his senses. Rising, he couldn’t put enough distance between them. Once again, stone-faced, the mask of the warrior firmly in place. He shuddered. “A lot already has.”
The voice sounded in Ellery’s head first. Like an echo of a drumbeat. Soft but insistent.
She pushed it away, not ready to swim up and out of sleep, but the voice would not be denied, and soon she could no longer ignore its relentless drone. She stretched. Opened her eyes. Choked off a scream.
Asher stood before her.
Throwing herself back against the headboard, she fumbled for the dagger beneath her pillow, its resting place since Simon’s attack. Barely a breath separated her seizing the handle and letting it fly toward the pale figure. But this time there was no blast of fire and brimstone as he disappeared. This time the blade passed through him, lodging with a thwang in the wall behind. Only a ripple of shadow across his body. Or was it a body at all? He glowed with a pale green light that lit the room.
Her gaze narrowed. The door. The paintings on the wall, the furniture. All of it was visible behind him. As if he weren’t really there. As if she imagined him. But his laugh as he flickered in and out of sight was all too real.
Amusement gleaming in his eyes, he spread his hands. “I’ll not hurt you. Couldn’t if I tried. I’m not really here. Not in the flesh.”
“I’ll scream.”
“I doubt it. You’d have done it by now. And what would that accomplish? I’ve already told you I’m not here to harm you.”
Ellery wasn’t convinced. She sidled toward the edge of the bed, praying she could get as far as the door. Even translucent, the demon’s inhuman stare sent tremors of panic sliding down every nerve.
He caught her in his gaze, freezing her to the floor. “If you don’t want your man to suffer, stay. Hear me out.”
