An evil chuckle crawled up my spine. “Oh, that would be a mistake, me lass. One you’d soon regret, mind you.”
“Come closer,” I snapped, “and we’ll see who’s making the mistake.”
He shook his head. “You can’t win, Miss Kilbrid. Put your hands down and step out here so. We won’t be harming you, will we, Captain.” He grinned at me, and the skin bunched up around his eye patch.
Revulsion pooled in my gut. So you can kidnap me? How gullible did I look?
I gauged the men carefully. It was possible to incapacitate them both, if everything went in my favor. One slip, though, and I could be knocked senseless.
“What say you, lass?” Calhoun continued. “Let’s make peace afore we wake your friends.” He tipped his eye toward the sword sheathed at the captain’s waist. “Then we’d have a heap o’ trouble, we would.”
I wanted to slap that stupid grin off his face, right before I set his nerves afire. “I’ve another idea, Calhoun. Leave the lantern and go back the way you came. I’ll return to my cabin, and we’ll just forget this encounter ever happened. But let me warn you, I won’t be so gentle as I was with Donal. One false move, and you’ll be begging for mercy.”
Captain Lynch clasped his hands behind his back and considered me for a moment. A sardonic smile spread across his mouth. “I believe you speak true, Miss Kilbrid. Which leaves me with one option.” Unclasping his hands, the captain drew the sword from his side. “Sorry, Calhoun. Deal’s off, unless you want the gents instead.”
I gasped as he moved the sword past my palms and pressed the tip into my bodice, directly below the sternum where no bone would impede a thrust.
Calhoun lifted both hands in a placating gesture. “No need to be hasty, Captain. We’ll find another way. Just give me a minute to think it through.”
“Time’s up, Calhoun.” Captain Lynch pressed a little harder, and I squeaked when the sharp tip bit through the wool of my stomacher.
“Do something, you brat,” Calhoun hissed.
Movement sounded behind me as the girl scrambled to her feet. She edged forward, and I shivered, cold and fear converged into one.
“Leave her be,” she said.
Calhoun jabbed a finger at her. “This be your doing, you ungrateful wench! Now finish the job afore it’s too late.”
The girl sniffed. “You should have listened,” she whispered to me.
Her hand cupped my shoulder, and I shuddered from the biting cold that passed through the many layers of wool and linen to the skin below. Understanding came too late. Turning, I glimpsed the brittle hatred in her hazel eyes.
“Too late for you now, Eanin.” She moved her hand to the exposed skin at my neck. Ice exploded in my veins. We gasped as one, filling the passageway with silent screams. My heart slowed. Darkness pushed in from all sides, and everything turned black.
Chapter Eight
Through the Curtain
One moment I was simply gone, absorbed in a pool of blackness without the least awareness. Then a finger of light cut across my vision, and the next moment I was whisked away, weightless as though carried on wings.
Instinct grabbed hold, pushed me forward, even as my heart and mind cried out to stop.
Don’t go...not yet...
The light grew brighter, separated from the darkness. A world loomed in the distance, marbled white, blue and green. In the space of a blink, an azure sky filled my vision. Craggy mountaintops flashed by, the snowcaps glistening like diamonds in the sun before plunging thousands of feet into verdant valleys below. Flowers and trees whirled past, and another blink found my stocking-covered feet firmly on the ground, nestled deep in a thick carpet of grass. Warmth suffused my skin. Power pulsed through me, a hundred times stronger than in Brigid’s gardens, or anywhere close to earth.
Where am I?
The new surroundings slowly came into focus. A clearing stretched to a circle, no more than ten feet in diameter. Mist swirled along the perimeter. Voices hummed nearby and dark shapes moved, heedless of my presence. Fragrant air brushed my nose, filled me with longing as it chased away the last remnants of cold.
Instinct flared bright. One step. That was all it would take to remain here forever. I knew it the same way an infant knew to draw breath upon entering the mortal world. The mist would clear in that instant, revealing the intense beauty and abundance of life just beyond. I could feel it, a familiarity that beckoned me closer. My toes curled into the grass with anticipation. I leaned forward, but a faint echo floated like a phantom in the back of my mind, anchoring me in place. I had forgotten something, but what?
Movement caught my eye. A shadow drew near, stopped at the very edge of the perimeter. The mist thinned around the sturdy form of a man. He looked straight at me, and my mouth fell open, the breath catching in my throat.
Father...