An Immortal Descent

She gaped at me. “How can you say such a thing when you’re the one who be giving it away? Me throat’s afire, and I’ve terrible aches all over me body.”

 

 

“You think this is my fault? For heaven’s sake, I heal people! You’re the one descended from the goddess of death and disease.”

 

Her mouth tightened with anger. “Cailleach be more than that. She be a lot more than you can ever understand.”

 

I rolled my eyes in reply.

 

“Think what you will, but I’ve no gift o’ sickness and couldn’t give you a cold if’n I wanted to.” She huffed a breath and pushed her weight to one hip. “I’ve seen your power. Stop complaining and heal yourself just.”

 

Dropping my gaze, I scraped the toe of one boot over some loose pebbles. “I can’t.”

 

“Why not? There be a law forbidding it?”

 

“No law, I’ve just not learned how to yet.”

 

She considered me for a moment. “What a shame, having the gift o’ healing for everyone but yourself.”

 

My back stiffened from what sounded like pity. “I’ve been practicing and can almost do it,” I lied.

 

“But not yet,” she said quietly.

 

I sneezed again and shook my head.

 

“That be a piece o’ bad luck.”

 

“More than you know. This cold is nothing compared to the burn you gave me on the ship.” I tilted my neck to the side, easing the skin into a tentative stretch. A burst of icy pain brought a quick end to the action. “I think it’s getting worse.”

 

“Got one o’ me own to reckon with.” She turned her hand over, revealing an inflamed palm. “You’re the first o’ Brigid’s kin I’ve ever touched. Calhoun swore it wouldn’t be so bad, but the scoundrel lied through his rotten teeth.”

 

For a split second, I actually felt guilty for my part in her injury. Then I remembered who’d instigated the attack when all I wanted was to help. “Well, you get what you give between us.”

 

“That be the truth—” Her breath hitched over the remaining words.

 

I peered at her, surprised by the sudden reaction. “What is it? Did you hear something?” Fear ran up my spine, and I darted a quick glance around. Dark trees loomed nearby, and with the fog, could house any number of dangers. When nothing appeared, I turned back to Ailish for answers.

 

Her eyes met mine. “You get what you give.” She repeated the law slowly as though the words had found new form in her mouth.

 

“Yes,” I said, hesitant at the strange behavior. “We’re both painfully aware of the consequences.”

 

She shook her head. “Think about it, Selah. You get what you give.”

 

I gave her a blank stare.

 

“Tell me this, will you. When I touched your neck on the Sea Witch, what happened? Did you go somewhere different?”

 

“I got pulled to the Otherworld,” I said dryly. “Right after my skin almost exploded with ice.”

 

“Just like I guessed.” Her gaze dropped to my neck. “It’s got to work.”

 

I hugged the saddlebags closer, wondering if she’d received one knock too many from Calhoun. “What’s got to work, Ailish?”

 

“Don’t you see it?” Excitement hummed in her voice now. “I sent us both to the Otherworld.”

 

She’d missed the part about the ice and my skin, though the omission didn’t irk so much as her recounting of the other part. “You nearly killed me,” I corrected her. “And I’d rather not dwell on the experience, if you don’t mind.” The burn throbbed on my neck in full concurrence.

 

Frustration knotted in her forehead. “I only gentled you away from your body for a time. Nothing more.” She exhaled an exasperated breath. “But you’re missing the point. From the law we got between us, there’s no better blood than mine for healing you so.”

 

My eyes bugged with understanding. “You can’t be serious.” Did she really think I could heal her, and in turn heal myself? I drew another breath to speak, only to sneeze twice more.

 

Ailish sneezed next. “Dia Linn,” she said in Gaelic, wiping her nose on a sleeve. God be with us. It was an appropriate blessing for the situation, though at present it seemed to encompass a lot more than a few sneezes.

 

After our first experience, how could she even consider mixing our power again? The repugnant idea rolled through my stomach, and I would have crossed myself if not for the saddlebags. God be with us indeed, and keep us safe from ill-conceived folly.

 

She gave me an expectant look.

 

“It will never work,” I told her.

 

“And why not, I ask you?”

 

I opened my mouth to explain the many reasons, then clamped it shut for a lack of words. In truth, I didn’t know why not, except that it went against the natural order of things.

 

“There be no law to forbid it.” In her excitement, she rolled onto the balls of her feet. “I say we’ve nothing to lose for trying.”

 

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