Page 84 of Pints & Potions

The room was eerily silent after everyone’s departure. Only Aeden remained like a tiny wraith in the corner, ever watchful and perhaps a little fearful.

“Is this also the sacrifice forthe One, I wonder?” she murmured. “Does this count as a two-fer?”

Aeden didn’t answer and Cian couldn’t.

“Well, Cian O’Malley. I’m here to save your life, so you’ll have to deal with me one last time.”

30

Cian didn’t recognize the park he wandered through. On the pond, ducks paddled about as if they’d no care in the world. Birds sang melodic little tunes only they knew the lyrics to, and deer grazed in the distance, unafraid of the intruder in their midst. There was an air of wrongness, as if he shouldn’t be here. As if, it wasn’t real but an illusion.

Where were the people?And how the hell had he gotten here?

He hated this place. It in no way resembled Ireland, and he’d no desire to be anywhere else. Determined to find a way home, he took off in another direction but ended back where he started.

Minutes turned to hours, but the sun never shifted in the sky.

Definitely off.

With a guttural yell toward the heavens, he stomped to a stone bench and plopped down.

“You have no patience, Cian O’Malley. Perhaps you’ll learn some as you wait.”

Jumping up, he spun to face the woman sashaying toward him.

She was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her hair was a shimmering blue-black, and her all-knowing amber tiger eyes were kohl-lined. She wore a sheer, white dress that reflected the perfect amount of light to provide modest coverage of her natural assets. The dress draped over her left shoulder, held together with a jeweled clasp. A gold scorpion bangle balanced the look and graced her upper right arm. In her hand, she held a long staff with a dark yellow stone cradled by the branch at the top.

Elements of her watchful expression reminded him of Piper. More than that, she actuallylookedlike Piper to a large degree. Her skin was a shade darker, more olive in color, and Piper was more full-figured, but they shared a similarity of features and those eyes were the same, minus the makeup.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “And how have you trapped me here?”

Wicked laughter curled around him and drew him in. He appreciated a woman’s uninhibited laugh, and his desire to share in her merriment was strong, but he held himself back. He would not give in to whatever enchantment she was weaving.

“If you look to your heart, you’ll recognize me.” She glided past him with a not-so-subtle sway of her hips, but it was as if the gesture was ingrained and not deliberate.

“I’m afraid I don’t, love. But based on your beauty and blinding glow, I’d say you are a powerful witch. Why have you trapped me here?”

Again, she laughed. “Witch? No.”

“Enchantress?” His heart beat harder. Please, don’t say goddess, he silently begged her.

She cast a sardonic glance over her shoulder at him, and her lips twitched as if she fought a smile. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Beloved, but I’m neither witch, nor Enchantress, nor Guardian. I’ll leave it to you to deduce what option is left.”

“Goddess.” He closed his lids against eyes that wanted to weep.

He was dead.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Cian O’Malley. I’m Isis.”

“Yeah. I’d like to say the same, to be sure, but I’m a wee bit distraught by the knowledge I’m dead.” He blinked and ran a hand through his hair. At this rate, his ghostly form would be bald soon.

She did smile then. “You’re not, you know.”

“Dead?”

“Correct. You’re in a deep stasis.” Lifting her arm, she brandished the staff. The pond turned gray and an image began to form—a picture of him on his deathbed with Piper beside him, her hand clutching his to her breast. “It’s not a snapshot, as you’d call it. It’s in real time. This is what is happening as you and I watch,” Isis explained.

Cian was too choked up to speak. The sight of Piper’s distraught, helpless expression was too much for him. The shadow in the corner shifted, and he wanted to call out a warning. But after peering closer, he recognized his nephew.

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