“Sorry. Couldn’t stop it. Try again.” Each word came out in a panting gasp.
A tremendous shiver cut through me, and I clenched her small shoulder to maintain contact while more power flowed into her. This time the resistance was minimal, and I could feel that despite every instinct to attack, she stayed true and held her power at bay.
Even so, the pain was excruciating. A thousand frozen needles pricked my skin, turned my breath shallow while rendering me near blind to her individual wounds. To compensate, I went straight to the top of her head, releasing a flood of power that would slowly wash over and through every square inch of her body.
Ailish whimpered in pain but made no effort to break free. Power moved over her face, warmth infusing my skin in direct correlation. When it moved lower, a gasp lifted from my throat as it passed over the burn on my neck.
It’s working...
Brigid’s fire continued to move, and I held on for dear life as hot and cold chills shook me to my boots. Though Ailish didn’t openly fight back, just my presence was enough to set her power on edge. It pushed at me, jabbed at my mind with icy fingers.
I ignored it the best I could, focusing on the slow progression downward. The ring of bruises around my rib cage tingled next. Warmth infused my abdomen, wound a healing trail through the snugly fit organs.
A desperate groan came from Ailish. “Please hurry...”
All I could do was increase the flow of power. It moved at once to my hips before sinking into my legs.
Almost there...just a few seconds more.
Without warning, a burst of anguish rushed into me. Ailish started to writhe in pain, her control slipping away.
“Too much...” she whispered.
Cailleach’s power came out of nowhere, shooting up my arm to the very center of my head. White light flashed, and from the searing cold, it felt like my brain had been stabbed with an icicle.
There was a scream, high-pitched and unearthly. Then the world tilted upward, and my buttocks slammed into the earth. Frozen breaths tore from my throat. Ice skittered through every nerve, shaking me from head to toe and causing my teeth to clatter like a wooden clapper.
Near paralyzed, I concentrated on the fire still burning in my core. Little by little, the biting cold began to thaw, returning some control of my body. Opening my eyes, I blinked several times and found Ailish sitting at arm’s length, blinking back at me. Sweat drenched her face. A red hue tinted her pale skin, giving the impression that she had spent the day in the sun rather than shrouded by fog.
Even without the benefit of a mirror, I knew we presented contrasting images. To her red, I was undoubtedly blue, and as warm blood filled my veins, I must have looked a corpse returning to life. My head, sluggish at first, seemed to unfreeze at the same rate as my limbs. Water dripped onto my cheek from melting ice that clung to my lashes.
We stared at each other for a moment longer, too stunned yet to put our thoughts into words. No wind stirred, nor did any animals move in the nearby trees. Once my breath calmed and my teeth no longer clacked, the stillness seemed to deepen until it felt we were the only living creatures for miles around.
Was it so quiet before?
Ailish opened and closed her hands with a keen look of interest. “Do you think it worked?” she asked, the toes of her black boots tapping together.
I nodded. “The bruises are healed on your face.”
She ran a hand along the smooth skin of her cheek. “And that nick be gone from your nose.”
Anna’s attack from the barn came back to me, how the knife had grazed the tip of my nose. Only four days had passed since then, but with so many other injuries crying for attention, I’d managed to forget that particular one.
“What about your hand?” I asked. Even without stretching or poking at it, I knew the burn on my neck was gone.
She turned it over and wiggled her fingers. “Good as the day I was born.” A deep breath rushed through her nose. “And me cold’s gone.”
I did the same, testing my nose before adding a swallow for my throat. “Mine, too.” Other than a sore bottom from hitting the ground, I felt returned to perfect health.
A gruff laugh escaped her, and I caught the faintest hint of a shudder. “Brigid’s fire don’t be mixing well with Cailleach’s ice. I swore you’d turn me to ash afore we was done.”
A similar darkness haunted my own soft laugh. “You almost froze me through.”
She nodded. “Suppose it makes sense, the one giving life, and the other taking it away. There’s no telling what sort o’ havoc they may have caused together if’n you hadn’t let go when you did.”
Another droplet wet my cheek. I brushed it away, wishing I could so easily brush away the residual chill. Most likely, that would remain until I could drink a whole kettle of hot tea, while submerged to my chin in a steaming bath. Or even better, snuggled on Henry’s lap, his lips soft on mine.