Maeve held her mother’s book to her chest, sliding down the door until she landed on the cool ground. Her soul ached. Her heart wept. For the first time since her return to Niahvess, she felt completely alone.
Chapter Eleven
Tiernanfadedto the Vista.
Alone.
He needed to calm down. To breathe. But damn, Maeve was so incredibly stubborn. So recklessly foolish. He never wanted to limit her, he simply wanted to help her, and it infuriated him beyond belief that she was too blind to see it.
Dropping onto the bed, he stretched out and summoned his guitar. He plucked idly at the strings, trying to strum out an evocative melody that had been stuck in his head for days, but the chords wouldn’t come. Frustrated, he gripped the neck of the instrument, determined to at least get the opening chord out of his mind, but one of the strings snapped.
He tossed the guitar onto the foot of the bed. Attempting to do anything while agitated was useless. Maybe if he closed his eyes, he could recenter. Refocus. He threw his arm over his eyes, breathing deeply.
The scent of rose water and ocean mist filled the room as Ceridwenfadedinto the Vista.
“Tiernan?” Her voice was soft, lyrical.
“What is it, Ceridwen?” He kept his eyes closed.
“I take it Maeve returned from Kyol,” she mused, her gentle footfalls moving toward him.
He grunted. “What gave it away?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Possibly the raucous thunder and gale-force winds.” The bed shifted, sinking as she sat on the edge. “I’m sure she’ll come around. It was just a fight.”
Something about her words triggered him, setting him off. His exasperation skyrocketed. He jolted upright, staring at his twin.
“It’s not just a fight. It’s her playing a dangerous game with dire consequences.” Tiernan raked both hands through his hair, tucking his legs under him. “Why does she think she has to do everything on her own? Doesn’t she know we love her, that wewantto help her?”
Ceridwen’s lulling magic enveloped the space, and he struggled against it. He didn’t want her sympathy.
“You have to remember, Maeve has never known true love. Not of this magnitude. Not of this depth.” Ceridwen angled her head so her curtain of golden hair fell around her. “She was emotionally abused most of her life. She’s always had to do everything on her own.”
“What about Saoirse?” Tiernan countered. The silver-haired warrior loved Maeve dearly. Would probably die for her if it came down to it. “And Casimir?”
Because even though the drakon had been the one to hand Maeve over to Parisa, his conscience had gotten the better of him. He couldn’t bear to see her in pain. None of them could.
Ceridwen sighed, toying with the satin sash of her dark pink gown. “They answered to Carman. They loved her as best they knew how, but at the end of the day, their allegiance was to Carman. Not to Maeve. And she knew that, just like she knew she would never be a priority.”
Tiernan groaned, scrubbing both of his hands over his face. She made a valid point. “All I want is to keep her safe. I don’t want to lose her again.”
“I understand. But she feels on a level you and I never will. She is powerful, more so than ever before. She is a demigoddess, Tiernan. Magic incarnate. A creator and destroyer of worlds.” Ceridwen stood, smoothing her gown so it rippled around her. “I believe Saoirse was right…Maeve’s emotions could be the very thing that ends us all.”
Dread burrowed itself into Tiernan’s heart. It froze his blood, as though shards of ice were being pumped through his veins. Alarm caused the hairs along the back of his neck to stand on end and he shifted in an attempt to ward off the harrowing sensation.
Tiernan watched his sister carefully. She didn’t look troubled, her brow was smooth, but there was something in her eyes, something unsettling. His muscles tensed on instinct.
“What are you saying?” he asked.
Ceridwen remained solemn. “This war will change everything.”
She bowed her head, thenfadedfrom the Vista.
There would be no rest for him now. Not with Ceridwen’s ominous statement hanging in the air, unnerving him.
He reached for Maeve through their bond, preparing to be swept away by the flood of her emotions. There was a subtle pull down the witch thread, the remnants of dwindling frustration, hurt, anger, and…something more cavernous. Whatever this feeling was, she kept it locked away, hidden behind a wall she’d built around her heart. It was deep in her soul, festering in the darkness, untouched by the light. And worse, she was blocking him from it, keeping it concealed from his view.
If only she would talk to him, then maybe she would remember that she could trust him. With everything. Her timein the Ether had changed her, not necessarily for the better or worse, but she was not the same as when she left. She was bottling things up, shielding herself. He had to find a way to get her to open back up to him.
