“Why?”
“Dere once was a young Faerie prince from a powerful family—he was a de Graham. At da time, dere were Faeries aplenty in da world and everyone knew da name. One day, an aingeal appeared ta dis prince. Da Cherub told da lad a tale of epic adventure. He said dis prince would face a terrible demon and fall to him. He told da lad he would suffer for his sacrifice, but in return, da demon would be slayed and his family would have peace. So dis prince agreed ta meet dis terrible demon, Aodh. He agreed ta sacrifice his life and da light of his soul for his family. Da aingeal told him dat one day a queen would come and she would rescue him from da horror of Sheol. Do ye know who dat lad was?”
“You.”
“Me. Da aingeal’s name was Atwater.”
“Atwater? Brennus’ guardian angel?”
“Da very same.”
“Why you?” I ask. “Why not Brennus?”
“Why me? Because I can make a wicked weapon, Genevieve. But, ye’re wrong about one ting. ’Tis Brennus, too. Atwater lied ta me. He told me dat me family would be safe. But dat didn’t happen. Instead, he recruited me brudder as well for dis mission.”
“How long have you waited for me?” I whisper in anguish.
“Too long,” Finn replies.
I look from Finn to Brennus. There is sorrow in the king of the Gancanagh’s eyes. I gaze at the battle hammer next to me. “Do you know what it can do?” I ask, running my hand over the metal again. It sings some more. I lift my hand and the melody stops.
“It can kill anyting ye swing it at,” Finn replies. “Anyting.”
Brennus comes closer to us. Finn growls a warning at him. Brennus stops. He’s stunned by the aggressive response from his brother. “Finn?”
“Ye’ll na interfere wi’ her mission. I’ll na allow it,” Finn responds, his body rigid, ready to strike at anyone who gets too close to me.
“’Tis na me intention ta interfere, Finn,” Brennus replies. “I’m here ta help as well. I want her ta live more dan anyone.”
“Evie,” Reed says softly, extending his hand to me in a nonthreatening way, indicating that I should move to him. He wants to extract me from in between them. Finn turns his attention to Reed and narrows his eyes, assessing his threat level. Finn growls at my aspire, apparently finding something amiss in Reed as well.
“Finn,” I say, touching his arm. “It’s okay. We’re all here for the same purpose.”
“I’m na all here,” he says, and the torturous depths in his eyes make my heart squeeze and ache for him. “Ye’ve come ta fix dat.” A shiver runs through me to my marrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Me light—ye’re here ta free it.”
“Your light? I’m sorry—I don’t—”
“Me light is me soul. Whah was inside me was me light—most o’ whah was good and whah made me special—’tis Faerie. It has been gone ever since Aodh made me Gancanagh. I’ve been waitin’ for me queen ta arrive ta free me from dis and make me whole once more.”
“How do I do that, Finn?” I whisper, desperate for information.
“I do na know, but I know ye will na fail me.”
“How long have you known I was your queen?”
“I dared ta hope ’twas ye when Brennus touched ye at da library—dat night in Houghton. Ye did na lose ta us—ye did na become jus another wan. But ’twas when ye destroyed Keegan in da mines dat I truly began ta believe ’twas ye. I tought den dat if yer soul separated from ye, ’twould travel ta Sheol and free us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?”
“I could na. Someting has always kept me from speaking of it—a magical force like da one we created wi’ yer contract. But ’tis gone now. I do na know how or why, but ’tis no longer a slipknot around me throat.”
Brennus speaks to Finn, “Atwater told me da only way ye’d survive, Finn, was if I went after ye. Ye’d already been made Gancanagh, but I didn’t know it. I went ta meet Aodh and yer whole crew had already been changed inta undead craiturs.
“I remember. I know whah ye did for me. Ye’re still me king, brudder,” Finn says, “but Genevieve is me queen. She’s da one I fight for now. She’s here ta dig up me soul and reunite it wi’ me bones.”
I look from Finn to Brennus. “We need to prepare for battle. We have to mobilize the fellas and get them to Crestwood—”
“’Tis done,” Finn says. “Most of our army is near dere already. We have a few hundred or so fellas here ta protect ye until we depart. Ye need ta prepare for da battle now. I’ve armor dat I made for ye.” I look at the medieval Faerie armor beside me. He catches me and smiles for the first time, “’Tis na like dat armor. Da armor I created for ye looks modern and will chafe ye less. His eyes travel over my entourage. “I have armor for all of ye and modern weapons charmed by our best spell crafters.”