“You stupid trotter!” He pushed a meaty finger in her face. “I own you, I do, body and soul.”
“Do not!” she yelled. “You’re not even me real family.”
“I’m not, huh?” Calhoun jeered. “Paid for you in blood, I did, the night I sliced your da’s throat.”
My hand flew to my mouth. Merciful saints.
Ailish swayed under the weight of the revelation. “I don’t believe you.”
“Swear it on Balor’s eye. Had to be done, or your gift would have gone to waste.”
She shook her head. He reached for her again, but she moved too quickly. “Get away! I hate your bloody guts!”
Calhoun edged closer. “Paddy’s waiting on the road for us. Come with me now, and I won’t have to hurt you.”
“The devil take you, Calhoun. I’ll not be going anywhere with you ever again.”
“Is that so?”
She took another step back. “You’ll have to kill me first.”
No! Don’t say that.
“Oh, I think there be another way.” His hand moved to his face. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Please, no—”Ailish screamed.
He lifted the patch and her entire body went rigid. Both eyes rolled into her head and she shook as though struck by a convulsion. Air wheezed back and forth over her throat.
All reason fled me. In its place, Brigid’s fire seared a path to my hands, snapped between my fingertips. I charged Calhoun, my only thought to stop him from hurting Ailish.
She screamed again, and I lunged at him, pressing both hands into his back. Power flowed from me, sped on a lightning course through thick layers of muscle and fat as it raced toward his skull. No ice met my hands...no corresponding heat echoed in my own body.
Cailleach’s blood, my foot.
Emboldened by the discovery, I stunned the optical nerve of the offending eye before diving headfirst into the gelatinous mass of the vitreous humor. Once there I released a burst of fire.
Calhoun cried out and twisted toward me, his arms flailing in pain. Blood dripped from his eye, and he growled like a wild animal, spittle spraying from his lips. “You’ll pay for that!”
I pushed my hands against his chest this time, grabbing his waistcoat to maintain physical contact. Focusing on his wandering nerve, I started to draw more power when a prickling sensation scratched at my core.
Oh, not now...
Calhoun reached for my neck, a savage sneer contorting his bloodstained face. In a fit of panic, I forced more fire to the surface, gasping as the prickling grew to searing nails. His sneer deepened, then turned to surprise the same moment a rush of cold jarred my hands. I tried to fight it, but a river of ice poured into my arms, drenching me from head to toe. Shocked beyond thought, I sucked in a hard breath just before I flew backward and slammed into the ground.
A burst of frigid air exploded from my lungs. Nails pricked at my core. Icicles pierced each temple, and I gripped my head hard between both hands to keep it from bursting.
Blast and curses! How many more times would I have to be injured or near frozen to death before this was all done?
I leaned forward and rocked back and forth, my eyes pulled tight against the pain. Every last nerve cried out. Blood moved sluggishly through my veins, and a small groan escaped me. At that moment, Calhoun could well have trussed me like a pig, I was incapable of any movement other than the slight rocking motion.
Long minutes passed before the worst of the nails and ice began to recede, leaving behind a residual queasiness. Someone moved nearby. I peeked through the narrow slits between my eyelids.
A large stone stood in the same place where Calhoun had been. All around it, the trees undulated in an eerie dance. I pressed my eyes shut again, and drew several slow breaths to help steady my vision. Feeling somewhat better, I opened my eyes once more to see a wash of green wool skirts.
“We best go,” Ailish said. “Paddy’s near, and there’ll be hell to pay when he sees what we’ve done.”
“Where’s Calhoun?” I managed, though just barely.
Ailish stepped aside and the stone came back into view. “That be him.”
Oh, merciful heavens. Was it possible? Had we really turned him to stone?
“What happened?” I asked.
“I grabbed him after you did, and gave him a fair dose o’ Cailleach’s power to stop him from hurting you. The ice and fire mixed inside him, and he be pushed to the very edge o’ life, same as the grass under our boots yesterday. “ She shifted back, and Calhoun vanished again behind the wall of green skirts. “Get up, Selah. We need to go.”
The slow thaw had left my mind heavy. Even so, I knew she was right. We had to leave before Paddy discovered what we’d done. Then there’d be hell to pay, and I was in no state to engage in another fight.
I pushed my hands into the wet ground and attempted to stand.
The world swayed as a wave of nausea rolled through me. Lurching to the side, I braced myself the best I could and retched a mouthful of clear liquid onto a pile of dead leaves.