proved tha' time and time again. Ye sold me to him once before. What’s to stop ye from doing it again?” Aidan’s own eyes were icy as he and the woman stared each other down.
“I am here to help, Aidan. The same as before, as always . Please—”
Aidan laughed, a cruel, humorless sound that made Heather ill. “Help? I know yer kind of 'help'. Death, blood, fire and heartbreak. 'Tis all ye’ve ever been good for. Leave me in peace, Bav and take your cursed ‘help’ with ye!”
“Tha' isna fair—“
“Ye dare, dare to speak of fair to me ?! Ronan, give me tha' bloody sword!” When the dark man didn’t move, Aidan snatched the weapon from his hands.
There was a moment when the sword seemed to tremble in Aidan’s gri p— as if a powerful magnet was pulling the point back to the earth against his will—but the moment passed. The blade came up, glittering in the moonlight. The tip hovered at the woman’s throat. She looked as if she might faint.
“Ye would never ,” she breathed.
“Wouldna I?” Aidan’s eyes gleamed just like the sword.
Not a word was spoken. The branches of the trees hissed high above in the night breeze. Heather’s own heart thudded in her ears as her fingers clung to the wet grass.
The red-haired woman turned pleadingly to the big man. Ronan.
“I helped yer woman, didn’t I? I saved her .”
He cleared his throat, appearing at a loss. “Aye, tha' ye did, my lady. I will n'ver forget it—ye can be damme sure of tha'—but I know well what Aidan canna n’ver forget, too. Let it be, Bav. At least for this night.”
There was another tense moment of silence. With a despairing look at Aidan, who lifted his chin and gave her a hard stare, the woman vanished in a streak of emerald flame.
Heather made a soft sound of disbelief. What the hell had just happened here? Her vision sparkled with a riot of mad, swirling lights and her breath came short and fast.
It was just too much, way too fucking much.
When Heather went over sideways, she heard Aidan’s sigh. She barely registered him lifting her to his shoulder after he passed the sword back to the other man.
“Ye’ve no brains at all, O’Neill! Pissing Bav off innit wise, especially—”
“And ye know better than most why I could give a rat’s arse about Bav and her bloody feelings.”
“Aye. But when dealing with gods it’s better to use yer head than yer heart, mate. Who is it taught me tha' one, eh?”
It was at that point that Heather lost the thread of the conversation completely. Her eyes closed and the world went dark.
Next thing she knew, someone was shouting in what had to be rapid-fire Gaelic. It made Heather wince and turn her head away.
A cool hand brushed her forehead.
“You two! Take it outside, goddamn it!” The furious half-whisper had her muddled brain whirling. Heather knew that voice, and that tone all too well.
“Lace?” She opened her eyes and struggled to sit up.
She was lying on an enormous bed, in a room lit only by a hearth dancing with flame. Aidan and the man Ronan stood in front of the fire, both having frozen sheepishly at her friend’s sharp tone.
“We canna go out, luchóg . 'Tis too close to sunrise…and tha’s another thing, O’Neill! Where’s the damme potion, eh? Yer thieving arse—”
“Leave Aidan’s arse out of it and get up to the big house now . Both of you!” Lacey’s big, gorgeous eyes were blazing as she shooed them out with a determination Heather had rarely seen in her friend. When pressed, though, Lacey could be quite a force of nature—not unlike her big sister. Kate was just far more irritating and less adorable about it.
Lacey looked ridiculously tiny shoving the two towering men towards the door.
“You have time if you make it snappy. Best to get Aidan under proper cover anyway. He can stay in the library. There’s no windows in there, so it’ll be safe enough. If you want to yell at each other then, go right ahead, but you’ll be
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