Page 44 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

Thankfully, Ciaran was able to channel power to Sage, so myanamdid not begin to show any signs of weariness until late in the day when the end of the line was in sight. And there was so much to do in helping to direct and guide the aes sídhe through his portal that I was able to mostly keep my mind away from all my dark concerns. Away from the morbid curiosities.

Like what it would look like if a world collapsed.

“Ornella!” called a familiar voice, and I turned to see Asha approaching quickly. I smiled at Sage’s mother with immense relief. It felt like it had been days since I’d last seen her when it had only been a night.

Before I could speak, the aes sídhe Sua had thrown her arms around me. “Thank you,” she said fiercely, and my heart gave a painful throb, emotion aching in my throat.

I parted from her reluctantly after a moment, trying to swallow the emotion, but I knew I was doing a poor job. Tears crested my lashes, my mouth warbled, and I had to fight for every steady breath as she kissed my forehead. When she straightened away from me, I saw Shay and Verin were standing behind her with Rory strapped to the front of the tall, auburn-haired male. Shay cradled a tiny bundle I knew instinctively was the baby she’d birthed.

“You should be resting! Are you in pain?” I blurted at Shay whose brows rose in surprise.

“I have been resting all morning. I am alright now,” she said quietly with an uncertain glance at Verin who had an arm around her and his other wrapped around Rory. “Ornella, I must thank you—”

“There is no need,” I interrupted, knowing this would be as painful for her as it would be for me. Shay hadn’t liked me from the moment she set eyes on me. I still had no idea why, but I wanted her forced and ingenuine gratitude even less than that of all the other villagers.

“Then I must apologize,” Shay insisted a little more firmly, shocking me, since I had not gauged her to be a female who apologized to anyone. “I have not been kind or fair to you. I had a quarrel with my brother that I did not feel I could bring to him yet, and I foolishly laid it at your feet instead. I would like you to know that I do not harbor any ill will toward you.”

I felt defensive of my mate and was tempted to ask about the quarrel she had with him. It seemed strange to me that she hadn’t wanted to confront him since Sage was always so approachable to me, but I forced myself to nod. Unsure how else to respond to her apology, I removed my glove and reachedfor her arm. Shay was understandably hesitant but allowed me to slip my cold fingers under the cuff of her outer jacket. She allowed me to press the tips of my fingers to her pulse where I allowed my magic to seep into her and the baby to help strengthen him too.

Shay gave a soft gasp and tensed in discomfort when her body healed abruptly, and then her mouth opened as she looked up at me in astonishment. I forced a smile to my lips before I turned away and nodded to Asha.

“Shay—” Verin began to ask his mate.

“She healed me!” I could hear her gasping in shock. “Verin, the pain isgone!”

I did not hear whatever response he made before I had moved too far from them and focused on checking the last of the heavily laden carts in the line.

“He told younotto do that,” said a familiar voice that made me immediately roll my eyes without even turning in his direction.

“And I’m sure he probably toldyounot to talk to me, yet here you are!” I pointed out as Ciaran fell into stride next to me while I walked along the line.

“He said not to accost you. You may not be able to perceive the difference in civil and uncivil conversation, but there is one,” he retorted.

“Do you not have enough to occupy you right now without spying on me?” I demanded, trying to quicken my strides and lose him. He merely adjusted his long-legged steps to stay right beside me even though I kept my eyes on the aes sídhe villagers and away from him.

“Why did you heal her?”

“Go away,” I growled at him in exasperation.

“I will go away when you’ve answered my question,” Ciaran informed me doggedly.

“What is your issue with it exactly?” I snarled at him furiously, stopping abruptly to spin back in his direction. “Would you really rather that I let her suffer even though I could help her?”

“You have had opportunities to heal our people before and always opted to keep the ability to do it to yourself,” Ciaran pointed out.

I narrowed my eyes at him, ignoring the fact that the massive male absolutely towered over me as I stepped forward threateningly. He stepped back.

“I sincerely hope you are not under the delusion that you may attempt to tell me when I can and cannot choose to use my magic,” I warned.

“Merely making an observation,” he assured me.

“Good for you, but I’m fresh out of fucking gold stars, so why don’t you just keep your unasked for observations to yourself?” I suggested. I could tell he was confused by the human reference to gold stars, one that I didn’t even understand myself, before I stomped away from him.

“You do not like to be thanked, and yet you insist on helping others,” he said, catching up to me easily.

“Shit, I am going to kill him after all,” I muttered to myself in English so he would not understand.

“You cannot fault me for wondering why you suddenly have a conscience when our suffering never moved you to expose these gifts before,” Ciaran insisted in frustration.

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