In another moment, I slammed into something hard. At first, there was nothing, then the blood roared in my ears. My nerves shrieked as frozen and fiery nails tore at me. No! The scream shattered inside my skull.
It was too much, every part of me exploding and contracting at once. But I could make it stop. I could drift away, back to the blessed darkness where I didn’t have to feel anymore. It crept around me, a promise of peace, if I would just let go...
“Selah!”
My name drifted through the screaming pain, a sigh on a windstorm. Deep and familiar, it carried the promise of life, but not without effort. To stay, I had to fight, to wade through the torments of death.
“Selah!”
My name again, turned to a plea this time and laced with a different form of pain than what ravaged my body. No ice or fire, it was the pain of pure anguish, of a heart near breaking. My soul shuddered at the sound. More than escape, more even than the sweetness of oblivion, I had to answer, to let Henry know that I loved him and would never leave him.
I reached out. Sparks glimmered and the darkness trembled. Brigid’s fire roared to life. Rising from my core, it flowed like lava through my veins. Yet for the first time, it didn’t race along the worn path to my fingertips, ready to spill over to save another. It stayed and infused each layer of tissue, wrapped around bones and nerves, calming and healing.
As I had done with every patient before, I watched the fire move, to mend, stitch and restore. My heart came into view, strong and steady from the renewed blood that pumped through the intricate highway of vessels. Life returned, jumped at every pulse point. Air flowed into my lungs and, reborn, my eyes opened.
At first I thought the light had been extinguished. Then something rough scratched my nose, and I realized that I was staring at the wool of Henry’s greatcoat. He knelt on the stone floor, my torso held against him. Head bowed, his breath warmed my neck with each desperate word.
“Fight, Selah...fight for me.” His voice broke and tears fell onto my cheek. “Please don’t leave...”
Cradled in his arms, I tilted my face toward him until my lips found his skin. “I’m here, Henry.”
Surprise jolted through his arms. He jerked his head up to look at me, his expression shifting from anguish to wonder. “Selah...”
Once more my name left his lips, reverent as a prayer. His arms strengthened and he crushed me to him. “I thought you dead.” He inhaled a ragged breath. “I thought you had left me.”
“Never,” I whispered and buried my face into him.
“Julian and Deri are gone. You’re safe now.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “We’re all safe.”
The soft pad of footsteps approached. Expecting Cate, I turned to see Nora instead. Henry helped me up, and with a small cry, I threw myself at her. “Oh, Nora.” Tears ran down my face. “I’m sorry I let that monster take you. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here...” I sniffed, tripping over my words. “Please say you’re all right and that you forgive me.”
Nora’s arms went around me, familiar as a sister. “I will be with time, once I’ve come to terms with the past week.” She drew a breath, and I felt the tension in her body. “Did you...did you know about me before?”
I pulled back just enough to see her face. “Until an hour ago I had no knowledge of your Tuatha Dé blood.”
“All while we were growing up, I knew you were different somehow. Just not how different. I guess this truly makes us sisters.” Her chin quivered while she spoke.
Like Henry, the knowledge of her Tuatha Dé forebear had no doubt turned her world upside down. But while Henry first learned of this ancient race months ago, Nora had received everything at once, while under the control of an insane child.
“Henry told me that Deri’s gone.” My mouth clenched as I stared straight into her eyes. “I promise on Brigid’s mantle to bring her to justice.”
“You needn’t worry. Justice has already found her.”
“What do you mean?”
With one arm still on my waist, Nora turned and nodded toward a large boulder. “She’s there, Selah.”
It took a moment for my mind to catch up. The boulder appeared lopsided, one half taller than the other, as though two stones had been melded together. Green light flickered over the odd shape, illuminating what could have been a man, his towering form curved over a child who embraced him around his middle. I could only stare at the two of them, reduced to the most basic form of life, as Ailish believed.
Nora leaned her head on my shoulder. “Thank you for not abandoning me.”
“It was never a choice,” I said quietly.